Can You Really Pray All Night Every Night?

In the final verse In the final verse of chapter number 73, of chapter number 73, verse number 20, verse number 20, has mentioned in this verse which we which we discussed discussed has mentioned in this verse a a kind of a bird's eye view of kind of a bird's eye view of last night. last night. And that is the discussion of whether whether this verse this verse And that is the discussion of was revealed was revealed in the Meccan era in the Meccan era or the Medinan era. or the Medinan era. And the correct opinion, And the correct opinion, and and both both opinions opinions have their scholars and their have their scholars and their those who have adopted it. those who have adopted it. However, the However, the correct opinion is that it is correct opinion is that it is Meccan or Medinan. Meccan or Medinan. Meccan or Medinan? Meccan or Medinan? Medinan. Medinan. What's the conclusion we came to last last night? night? What's the conclusion we came to That it is That it is that it is a Meccan that it is a Meccan verse. verse. Even though it seems Even though it seems out of place out of place in the sense of in the sense of the the rhyme scheme rhyme scheme and the verse lengths and the verse lengths of the verses that preceded it in the preceded it in the same chapter, Surah same chapter, Surah of the verses that al-Muzzammil, al-Muzzammil, and it has mention of things that and it has mention of things that were only really were only really obligated obligated in Medina, in Medina, jihad jihad and and zakat, zakat, etc. etc. However, we'll get into However, we'll get into the reasoning behind that. that. However, it is a Meccan chapter. However, it is a the reasoning behind Meccan chapter. Allah Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in ta'ala says in this chap- in this verse, this chap- in this verse, subhanahu wa verse number 20, verse number 20,.

[Silence]

He says subhanahu wa ta'ala that which translates to, "Indeed, your Lord," speaking to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, "Indeed, your Lord knows that you stand for prayer in the night a little less than 2/3 or even half or 1/3 of the night each night along with a group of those who are with you amongst your companions." And it is Allah who has designated who it is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has is the one who has judged the lengths of the night and day, and he is the one that alternates the lengths lengths of the night and day. He says subhanahu wa ta'ala, He knows that you will not be able to sustainably stand for prayer in the entirety of the night every single night. Fataaba alaykum. Hence, he has relieved you. And that relief is recite of the Quran what you are able to. It changes every night. Some nights you'll be able to pray half the night, some nights 2/3 of the night, some nights 1/3 of the night, some nights a portion, some nights a lot or a little. And this goes with the human being and the human being's abilities. We're not robots. You cannot predict a person's spirit tomorrow. The scholars tell us wal laha adbar. Fa an-naaji wan-naajih wal-muflih huwal-ladhi idhaa aqbalat nafsuhu istaghalla iqbaalahaa. Wa in adbarat mana'ahaa.

[Arabic recitation]

The scholars tell us that a person's spirit, his nafs, it has days when it is very anxious where when it is very enthusiastic, and it has other days where it is much less enthusiastic. We have days where we are ready to get out of bed and face the world, and we have days where we can barely roll ourselves out of bed. So, what is the true hallmark of a person who is in control of his nafs? It is someone whom when his nafs, when his spirit, when his enthusiasm, it is is at its peak, he capitalizes on that enthusiasm. And he does and squeezes as much as he can out of that enthusiasm. But on the days and nights when that enthusiasm is at its minimum, and a person finds that his nafs is fighting him, that he places a boundary of bare minimum that he expects from his nafs. So, what does that mean? Meaning, let's say a person wishes to recite one juz of the Quran, one part of the Quran every night in salah and qiyam. There's going to be nights where he is tired, where he's in pain, where he's sick, where he's unable, he's traveling, he is under certain kind of stress, what have you. In this instance, the person places a bare minimum. Say the bare minimum is one page. But on the days when I'm really feeling it, I'll go up to one part, two parts, three parts, as much as I can. But I place a bare minimum, a line in the sand. And I tell my nafs, "This line in the sand will never be crossed. I will never miss my five daily prayers. I will never miss my sunnah salah, and I will always at least make two rak' at night and one rak' for witr." The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam taught us this, this methodology. He says sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, Yaa ahlal-qur'an, alaykum bil-witr. Inna Allaha witrun.

[Arabic recitation]

"People of the Quran, stand for witr. Allah is witr, he is one, and he loves that odd number on that odd cap, that witr on your prayer." And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has been narrated to have said,.

[Arabic recitation]

Yaqulu, man lam yusallil-witra falaysa minna. Whoever does not at least pray the witr salah, he is not one of us." Now, what does this mean? Some scholars have viewed this to mean that witr is obligatory. However, that is the lesser or the less correct opinion. The correct opinion is that the five daily prayers are what are obligatory upon a person, except that which is obligated because of an occasion or an event or an occurrence. Okay, that's outside. But a constant, continuous every single day is the five daily prayers. A man came to ask the Prophet sallallahu.

[Arabic recitation]

And he said, "You have to pray five daily prayers in your day and night." He said, "Is there anything more obligated upon me as far as prayer is concerned?" He said, "No, unless you wish to unless you wish to offer that which is more. When the man left, he said, He said, "I swear by Allah I will not add to what you have commanded me here, nor will I take away." The Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam said, He will be successful if he is true in what he has said. The scholars take from this that recurring daily prayer, there is nothing obligatory outside of the five daily prayers. However, this doesn't mean that a person that foregoes something as simple as one raka' for witr has not fallen short in a bare minimum of that which is optional. And that is what the scholars have understood these narrations to mean. In Sahih al-Bukhari, the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam said, regarding a man who sleeps all night and misses prayer, He says Sallallahu alaihi wasallam, "That is a man whom a shaytan has urinated into his ears." into his ear. Why the ear? Why the ear? Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala says, The ear is the only thing that stays awake of your senses while you sleep. And so how were the people of the cave made to sleep for all those decades? Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala covered their ears. He put them completely to sleep senseless and separated them from their bodies in that way. When a person sleeps through the entirety of the night and misses salat al-fajr or misses salat al-isha, a shaytan has urinated in his ear. Not only is it a humiliation from a shaytan, but it is a way that a shaytan uses to prevent a person from connecting with Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala during that critical time. In Sahih al-Bukhari, the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam tells us that when a person goes to sleep, a shaytan comes and ties three knots onto his head. And then he pats those knots and says, He You know, when you finish doing something, you kind of tap it. It's finished. Put the final touch on it, right? A shaytan, he ties these knots on a man's head before as he goes to sleep at night. And then he pats his handywork and says, "Sleep. Enjoy the night's sleep." Your enemy is watching you while you sleep. He's watching with a smile. And why is it three knots? The scholars tell us that if he wakes up and the first thing he does when he wakes up is remember Allah, one of the three knots becomes undone. And if he gets up and makes wudu, the second of the three knots becomes undone. And if he stands to pray at least two raka' or more, all three knots have become undone. So when you wake up and you pray, even though this is no longer obligatory. This was at the beginning of Islam. Now it's not obligatory anymore to pray at night. Now we have the five daily prayers. These verses were before the five daily prayers. Now we have the five daily prayers. But to get that extra edge on your enemy, a shaytan, you wake up, you first first thing you do when you wake up, you remember Allah. This is one of the highest levels of remembrance in all of the Sunnah. Is that as soon as your eyes open, your tongue moves with the remembrance of Allah. The second thing you do is you fight off that warmth. You fight off your your wife's soft arms around you. You fight off that soft pillow. And you go and you make wudu. The second knot is undone. And then the third thing is you stand and you make at least two raka'. Let's say a person said, "We want to start making salat at night. How do we at night? How do we do it?" You start with what Allah says, "Faqra'u This statement, "Faqra'u" it's a reference to recitation, but it really means prayer. And we will discuss the intricacies of that on Wednesday night, insha'Allah. But the point is is that pray what is easy for you. If you start out hot and heavy, you're not going to be able to sustain that. Start with a number and then stick to that number. When your nafs is enthusiastic, give it more to carry that day. But when your nafs is down, don't let it cross that line. I'll end with this one thing. There is a a statement that Ibn al-Jawzi made in his book Sayd al-Khatir, a very interesting statement. He said, "A man in dealing with his nafs has to be a king deals with his subjects." You have the image here? A A man in dealing with his nafs to get it to to get it to do what he needs of it, he needs to use siyasa. He needs to use the same diplomacy that a king uses with his subjects. How was that? He says, "If the king is too strict and too tough and too tyrannical, they'll overthrow him. They'll overthrow him and put him to death and they'll dance around the guillotine. But if he is too lenient and he's constantly joking and letting his subjects do whatever they want, they'll never take him seriously and he will be relinquished to be nothing but a a a cardboard cutout, a silhouette of a king." There has to be a middle ground that he takes with his subjects. He shows mercy when he's able to when he's able to when he's justified, he shows mercy, but he does not allow his subjects to overstep their bounds. And this is what Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala tells us here in this verse. So this verse is teaching us the beginning fundamentals of how to deal with our nafs and how to combat the aggression of our enemy, a shaytan.