Have You Prepared Your Witnesses?

Have you prepared your witnesses?

Allah says what can be translated as: (And the earth will shine with the light of its Lord, and the record [of deeds] will be placed, and the prophets and the witnesses will be brought, and it will be judged between them in truth, and they will not be wronged.)39:69

On that day when we are all gathered Allah will call our Prophets and all the witnesses to testify for or against us.

Prophet Mohmmad peace be upon him will stand before us and testify that he taught us everything and left us with a complete guide and a straight path, he will testify that you and I have no excuse to not pray on time, no excuse to not read the Quran and understand it, no excuse to not wear the Hijaab, no excuse to not lowering our gaze, no excuse to eating Reba (Interest) and simply no excuse to not following the Quran and sunnah fully.  What will be our situation then!!?

And the witnesses!!!
Make sure you have lots of witnesses on that day if you really want to make it through.

But who are the witnesses?
The witnesses are not necessarily the people around you because if you work hard to have them be your witnesses you might end up in Reya’a (Show off) wal eyathu biLLAH. 

Your witness is the sa-ja’dah (prayer matt) which you have placed in a corner in your room and you wake up to it every night for qeyamulail just to ask Allah for His forgiveness and  blessings.
Your witness is a poor person you did not know but you helped with a few dollars or shillings you had.
Your witness is a dead person you knew or did not know whom you prayed for Rahma and forgivness.
Your witness is that Mus-haf (Quran) which you have up on a shelf. Is it going to say I was collecting dust or will it testify that you were reading it every single day and trying your best to understand the message?
Your witness is (Al Zahrawain) surat Al Baqarah and Aal Imran.
The Prophet peace be upon him said: Recite the Quran as it helps the reader to come on the Day of Judgement. Read Zahrawain, namely Surah al-Baqarah and Aali-Imran, because they will come on the Day of Resurrection like two clouds will overshadow its readers or as two groups of birds in flight in the goal to defend its readers. (Sahih Muslim)

Your witness is your tongue which you made say a lot of good, kind and encouraging words or maybe tortured it by forcing it to gossip and eat the flesh of dead people.

Your witness is your eyes which you safe guarded not to look at what is haram just because you know no one is there but He is indeed watching.

Your witnesses are those fingers which you use to do dhikr every single day.

Your witness is a brother or a sister who found the right path through a reminder from you, a talk or message or a video.

Your witness is your child who grows learning to pray, read Quran and love their deen.

Your witnesses are the pigeons or the cat which you fed just because they are the creatures of Allah and because you want every chance for reward.

Your witness is an orphan whom you put a smile on their face on any day not just on Eid day.

Your witness is a sick person who needed help financially and you didn’t have much but you helped them because you remembered the hadith of the Prophet peace be upon him: He who relieves the hardship of a believer in this world, Allah will relieve his hardship on the Day of Judgment. Sahih Muslim

Your witness is a friend you helped in a difficult situation without expecting anything from them.

Your witness is a poor worker whom you gave a cold drink on a hot day.

Your witness is the adhaan which you hear and repeat every day five times.

Your witness is your spouse whom you treated with kindness and took chances to put a smile on their face just for the sake of Allah.

Your witnesses is your computer or your phone and what you do with it, your profile and what you post on it. You don’t know how many people will be affected by it in a good or a negative way. Remember it’s a chain and it continues and it will last until the Day of Judgment.

Your witness is a masjid which you donated to build or repaired for people to pray comfortably and worship Allah.

And the list goes on but above all is our main witness, our Shafee (Intervener), our beloved and our role model the Prophet Mohammad peace be upon him. Imagine this moment every time you aim to do something which is not right. What will you say to him? Why you disappointed him? He went through a lot to bring you this beautiful deen ready and complete without any effort from your side. He was abused and beaten up, he was cursed and mocked, he stayed hungry for days but he never gave up for us. Why we are giving up on yourself?

When Abdullah ibn Masoud was reading surat Al Nisa’a to the Prophet peace be upon him, he reached this ayah:
So how [will it be] when We bring from every nation a witness and we bring you, [O Muhammad] against these [people] as a witness? 4:41

The Prophet peace be upon him was crying and he asked him to stop! he could not bear the thought of him standing as a witness against us!!
Allahum Sal’I wa sal’im wa barik alah ashfraf Al Mursalieen sayyedina Mohammad

TAHAJJUD.

Do you want to be from Eibadul Rahmaan (the servants of the most merciful) and win the highest level of Paradise?

I am sure you are thinking “of course, is that even a question”!!

Allah Ta’alah says what can be translated as: ( And the servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth easily, and when the ignorant address them [harshly], they say [words of] peace,
And those who spend [part of] the night to their Lord prostrating and standing [in prayer] ) 25:63-64

Those who spend part of the night prostrating to their lord means those who pray Qeyamulail.

What is Qeyamulail (or the prayer of the night)?
Qeyamulail is an honor given by Allah to those who serve His deen, do good in this dunia and worship Him with sincerity. Not just anyone gets to do Qeyamulail!!

I will give you a simple example in our daily life to help you realize what I mean: Your son or daughter, will not get to meet the president of the country unless they do exceptionally well in their studies or sports compared to the rest of the students within the area, city or country. Wa LeLLAHUL mathalul A’alah.

So Qeyamulail is like an honorary grade. This person who served Allah and their deen during the day, Allah wakes them up at night to meet and connect with Him as an honor and a reward for their hard work…… Subhana Allah, can you feel the tranquility of that!!?

If you were looking to apply for a job in one of the companies or ministries and you heard that the CEO or the Minister walks on the beach every morning at 6 AM. I am sure you will go and buy yourself some sports shoes and outfit even though you have never played sports before and may be your belly is one meter away from you!!! However, you will go walking on the beach at 6 AM just because you have a need and you are ready to do anything to achieve it. We do this with humans, what about the lord of the humans!!? Aren’t we supposed to do more with him?
I am not saying we have to be like the companions of the Prophet peace be upon him, who used to pray the whole night or half of it. We do not have to be like Ata’a ibn Rabah who used to wake up third of the night and sometimes half of it. We do not have to be like Imam Abu Hanifa who used to pray fajr with the wudu of isha for forty years. We do not have to be like all those because our iman is still weak. Let us work in conjunction with our iman.

Qeyamul Lail starts from only two Raka’ahs or four any time of the night, the beginning of the night (after Isha), the middle (before you go to bed) or the end of the night ( just before athaan of fajr). Of course you can do more than the two raka’as if you wish and if you increase the reward will also increase. But if you pray just two raka’hs and one Raka’h witr, that is considered as Qeyam also and when Allah Subhanhau wa Ta’alah calls on the day of Judgment for those who used to pray Qeyamul Lail you will be one of them in shaa Allah.

The best time for Qeyamulail is the last part of the night just before fajr, because Allah descends to the lowest heaven every night. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Our Lord (glorified and exalted be He) descends each night to the earth's sky when there remains the final third of the night, and He says: 'Who is saying a prayer to Me that I may answer it? Who is asking something of Me that I may give it him? Who is asking forgiveness of Me that I may forgive him?'" [Bukhari (also by Muslim, Malik, at-Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud).]
Sadly most of us are either sleeping at that time or in a wedding listening to Music and dancing or committing other sins waleyathu biLLAH . We are missing a lot of Khair.

Oh you who have problems in your life, wake up just an hour or 45 min before fajr and pray to Allah and ask Him for what you want. Tell Him your problems and cry. Do not lift your head from Sujoud and there is still something in your heart you have not said, you will see wonders and you will have so much peace in your heart.
After learning all this, let’s not waste these chances any more.

Let’s have a plan for Qeyamulail:

For my brothers, let us start praying isha in Jama’ah (congregation) and fajr in Jama’ah. The Prophet peace and blessings be upon him said: "One who performs `Isha' prayer in congregation, is as if he has performed Salat for half of the night. And one who performs the Fajr prayer in congregation, is as if he has performed Salat the whole night.'' [Muslim]

He (peace and blessing be upon him) also said, “If people knew the reward in praying Fajr and Isha in congregation, they would go to the mosque even if they had to crawl.” [Bukhari & Muslim]

For my brothers and sisters, let us set up our alarms half an hour before the athaan of fajr, just half an hour. What shall we do in this half an hour?
Use the first 15 minutes to read Qura’an so your heart will open up, and the next 15 minutes pray two rakahs or four raka’s plus witr.
Continue with this plan for three months or even six months then increase it to 45 minutes instead of half an hour. Use 15 min. for Quran, 15 min. for Istighfaar and 15 min. for salah. Continue like that for another year and then make it one hour. Use 15 min. for Quran, 15 min. Istighfaar, 15 min salah ala rasoul, and 15 min. for salah.

Once you get used to this, you will find yourself waking up without an alarm and you will see so much khair in your life. You will have light on your face, you will have a better concentration and you will function more efficiently in all aspects of your life and more importantly you will be from the special people of Qeyamulail.

Qeyamulail is the only form of worship which is completely away from Reya’a because you do it late at night when everyone is asleep, just you and Allah. The companions of the Prophet peace be upon him used to walk on their toes not to make anyone feel them praying Qeyamulail. Make it as your secret deed between you and Allah.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The best prayer after the obligatory prayer is prayer at night.” Narrated by Muslim, 1163

Allah praises those who have faith and are pious for their noble characteristics and good deeds, one of the most special of which is qiyaam al-layl. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Only those believe in Our Ayaat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), who, when they are reminded of them, fall down prostrate, and glorify the Praises of their Lord, and they are not proud. Their sides forsake their beds, to invoke their Lord in fear and hope, and they spend (in charity in Allaah’s Cause) out of what We have bestowed on them. No person knows what is kept hidden for them of joy as a reward for what they used to do” [al-Sajdah 32:15-17]

The Prophet peace be upon him said: “You should pray qiyaam al-layl, for it is the custom of the righteous who came before you and it brings you closer to your Lord, and expiates sins and prevents misdeeds.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 3549; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Irwa’ al-Ghaleel, 452.
Al-Haakim narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Jibreel came to me and said: ‘O Muhammad, live as long as you want, for you will die. Love whomever you want, for you will leave him. Do whatever you want for you will be requited for it. Remember that the believer’s honour is his praying at night, and his pride is his being independent of people.” Classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 73.
So let’s strive to not miss Qeyamul Lail even if it’s only 2 raka’as. May Allah grant us tawfeeq and help us achieve this honor Ameen.