1. Stop Sinning and Do Istighfar
If you seek to experience the honour of conversing with Allah Almighty and finding comfort in His presence during the stillness of the night, then strive to stay away from sins, and make constant istighfār.
It was said to ʿAbdullah b. Masʿūd (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhu), “We are unable to perform qiyām at night.” He said, “Your sins have prevented you.” Al-Fuḍayl b. ʿIyāḍ (raḥimahullāh) said, “If you are not able to perform qiyām at night and fast in the day, then know that you are deprived and shackled by your sins.”
2. Take a Midday Nap
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Take a nap, for the devils do not take naps” (Ṭabarānī). Isḥāq b. ʿAbdillah (raḥimahullāh) said, “The midday nap is an act of the righteous; it refreshes the heart and gives one strength for the night prayer.”
Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (raḥimahullāh) passed by some people in the marketplace in the middle of the day, and heard the noise and commotion they were making. He asked, “Do these people not take a nap?” He was told, “No.” He said, “I think their nights will be poor.”
3. Make Duʿa and Plan for Tahajjud
Beg Allah sincerely to help you wake up for tahajjud. Make a firm intention and plan to wake up for tahajjud. Your plan can include:
- Placing your alarm clock far from your bed.
- Having a ‘qiyam buddy’ to wake you up.
- Drinking plenty of water, so your body forces you to wake up. Experiment with the right amount for you.
Even if you do not manage to wake up, you will be rewarded for it. The Prophet ﷻ said, “Whoever goes to bed intending to wake up and pray during the night, but sleep overcomes him until he gets up in the morning — (the reward of) what he intended will be recorded for him, and his sleep will be a charity given to him by his Lord” (Nasā’ī).
4. Follow the Sunnah Etiquettes of Sleep
Follow the sunnah etiquettes of sleep, including:
- Sleep with wudu’ as the angels remain in the company of the one who sleeps with wuḍū’ and say, “O Allah, forgive your such and such servant for he slept in the state of purity” (Ibn Ḥibbān). Allāhu Akbar! Imagine that! The angels could be making du‘ā’ for you every night.
- Sleep on your right side. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would sleep on his right side and place his right hand under his right cheek (Bukhārī).
- Don’t sleep on your stomach. Abū Dharr (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhu) said, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed by me and I was lying on my stomach. He nudged me with his foot and said, ‘Junaydib! This is how the people of Hell-fire lie’” (Ibn Mājah). He ﷺ also said, “Allah dislikes that one sleeps in this manner” (Abū Dāwūd).
5. Go to Sleep Early and Disconnect From Devices
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ disliked sleeping before ʿIshā’ ṣalāh, and talking after it (Bukhārī). The wisdom in sleeping early is that one gains sufficient rest before waking up for tahajjud, one is able to wake up for Fajr on time, and more so in our times especially, one is protected from much fitnah. Allah ﷻ has designated the night for rest. By altering this divine design, where we sleep in the day instead of sleeping at night, we cause great damage to ourselves.
It has been reported that ʿUmar (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhu) would hit people for talking after ʿIshā’ and he would say, “Do you chit-chat in the first part of the night, and sleep in the latter part? Give your scribes (i.e. angels) a rest!”
Muʿāwiyah b. Qurrah (raḥimahullāh) used to say that his father would tell his children after praying ʿIshā’, “My children, go to sleep; perhaps Allah will grant you goodness during the night.”
6. Don’t Sleep on a Full Stomach
Reduce the amount of food you eat as excessive eating leads to excessive sleep, making it difficult to get up at night. The Prophet ﷺ said to a man who burped in his presence, “Burp less, for those who eat the most in this world will be the most hungry on the Day of Judgement” (Ḥākim).
Maʿqil b. Ḥabīb (raḥimahullāh) saw some people eating a lot, so he said, “I do not think that our companions intend to pray at night.”
Wahb b. Munabbih (raḥimahullāh) said, “There is no one among the children of Adam more beloved to his devil than the one who eats excessively and sleeps excessively. For whoever eats a lot will drink a lot, then sleep a lot, and thus lose a lot on the Day of Judgment.”
Sufyān al-Thawrī (raḥimahullāh) said, “Eat little, so that you will be able to perform qiyām al-layl.”
7. Avoid too Much Comfort
A bed which is too comfortable will make it difficult for you to wake up. Make your sleep uncomfortable on purpose so that you can wake up easily.
Whenever night fell, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. Abī Rawwād (raḥimahullāh) would come to his bed, place his hand on it, and say, “You are soft, but by Allah, there is something softer than you in Paradise.” He would then continue to pray for the entire night.
8. Fight Your Nafs
Battling the nafs (inner self) is an essential prerequisite to performing qiyām al-layl. The nafs in its nature is inclined towards ease and comfort. Allah ﷻ says, “As for those who strive in Our way, We will surely guide them along Our Way. And Allah is certainly with the good-doers” (29:69).
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “When a man from my ummah gets up to pray at night, striving against his nafs to get up and purify himself, there are knots on him. When he washes his hands, one knot is undone. When he washes his face, another knot is undone. When he wipes his head, another knot is undone. When he washes his feet, another knot is undone. Allah ﷻ then says to those who are veiled (in the Unseen): ‘Look at this servant of Mine! He is striving against his nafs and supplicating to Me. Whatever My servant asks for, it shall be granted to him.’” (Ahmad).
Thābit al-Bunānī (raḥimahullāh) said, “I battled with my nafs to pray at night for twenty years, and then I enjoyed it for the next twenty years.”
ʿUmar b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (raḥimahullāh) said, “The best of deeds are those that the nafs was compelled to do.”
ʿAbdullah b. al-Mubārak (raḥimahullāh) said, “The righteous of the past used to find it easy to do good, while our souls almost never incline towards good unless we force them. Therefore, we must compel them.”
9. Remember the Hereafter
Before sleeping, spend some time thinking about death, the grave and the hereafter. This will help to mentally detach yourself from worldly worries and concerns, and help you to realign your focus.
After one third of the night had passed, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would stand up and say, “People, remember Allah! The quake has come, and the next one is to follow. Death has come with all that it contains! Death has come with all that it contains!” (Ḥākim).
Ṭāwūs (raḥimahullāh) would lie on his bed and toss and turn as a grain tosses on a pan. Then he would jump up and pray until morning, saying, ‘The mention of Hell has driven sleep away from the worshippers.”
The wife of Abū Muḥammad Ḥabīb (raḥimahullāh) used to say to him at night, “The night has gone. Ahead of us lies a long journey, and the provisions are little. The caravans of the righteous have sped ahead of us, whilst we have remained behind.”
10. Be Consistent and Make up What You Miss
ʿAbdullah b. ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀaṣ (radiy Allāhu ʿanhumā) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to me, “O ʿAbdullah! Do not be like so-and-so: he used to stand at night in prayer, and then he stopped” (Bukhārī).
ʿĀ’ishah (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhā) said, “Never miss the night prayer. Indeed the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would never miss it; and when he was sick or tired, he would pray sitting” (Abū Dāwūd).
If for some reason, you miss your daily portion (wird), then you should make up for it. This will help you to stay consistent. The Messenger of Allah ﷻ said, “Whoever slept through all or part of his nightly ḥizb (portion of recitation), but recited it between Fajr and Ẓuhr, its (reward) will be recorded for him as if he had read it at night” (Muslim).
Ibn Taymiyyah (raḥimahullāh) said, “For those who miss out on qiyām al-layl, ṣalāh al-ḍuḥā serves as its substitute.”
