Preparing Our Souls III

Identifying the 'True Dawn'.

Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem

We live in an era where we have everything at our disposal, we know the time, we know whether or not it may rain the next day, we even know the traffic situation simply by searching on our cell phones or computers, but the world was not always like this, in more remote times there were no watches, cell phones or research tools as accessible as they are today.

Many generations of Muslims in the past did not have the convenience we have: a watch in hand to know when to pray.  However, it is obvious that there has always been a way of estimating the time of each prayer, when it starts, when it ends and the best period within the 'time' of each one.

We always have the convenience at hand but at some point we may be without access to it, the possibilities that one day we will end up with no signal, no battery or somewhere further away can never be ruled out, so it is important to learn ways of orientation and identification.

This will not be the only thing to be covered in this article, as we will also talk about the importance of prayers.

The time of Salat al-Fajr

Firstly we're going to start with the Dawn (Morning) Prayer; what is the established time?

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: The time for morning prayer begins when dawn opens, until morning (with rays) brightens the sky. It is not proper to delay it on purpose; however, there is time for those who are preoccupied, forget or are sleeping.”

أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ الْسَّلام) قَالَ وَقْتُ الْفَجْرِ حِينَ يَنْشَقُّ الْفَجْرُ إِلَى أَنْ يَتَجَلَّلَ الصُّبْحُ السَّمَاءَ وَلاَ يَنْبَغِي تَأْخِيرُ ذَلِكَ عَمْداً لَكِنَّهُ وَقْتٌ لِمَنْ شُغِلَ أَوْ نَسِيَ أَوْ نَام

[Kitab al-Kafi]

However, there is still a question rising, what is the "Dawn"? 

The True Dawn

Before learning how to identify it, we need to know what is the reality of it, we need to know what is the Dawn.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: Dawn is when you see it, widthwise, like the whiteness of the suray (canal) (Euphrates river).

أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَم) قَالَ الْفَجْرُ هُوَ الَّذِي إِذَا رَأَيْتَهُ مُعْتَرِضاً كَأَنَّهُ بَيَاضُ سُورَى

[Kitab al-Kafi]

By the words of the Imam (peace be upon him) we understand the whiteness refers to a light in the night sky.

The picture above shows 'The False Dawn', indeed it is a light in the sky but not wide like the Euphrates...

Now, this is 'The True Dawn', a widespread light in the sky that happens horizontally, cutting the darkness to bring in the first sun rays. The false always happens before the real one; it can be tricky during the night but carefully it can be identified, thus the time for Fajr is set, from the dawn until the morning (sunrise).

In case of...

Performing the prayer mistakenly...

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) was asked about a man who performs the morning prayer during the night mistakenly because of moon light and then goes to sleep until sunrise, then is informed of having performed his morning prayer during the night.

The Imam (peace be upon him) replied: He must perform it again.

أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ (عَلَيْهِ الْسَّلام) فِي رَجُلٍ صَلَّى الْغَدَاةَ بِلَيْلٍ غَرَّهُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ الْقَمَرُ وَنَامَ حَتَّى طَلَعَتِ الشَّمْسُ فَأُخْبِرَ أَنَّهُ صَلَّى بِلَيْلٍ قَالَ يُعِيدُ صَلاَتَهُ

[Kitab al-Kafi]

The best time

The periods of time in which we have to perform our prayers are indeed longer than what they seem to be at first glimpse, however, there is the best time within those periods... 

Zurarah said the following: I once said to Abu Jafar (peace be upon him): I pray Allah keeps you well; about the timing for prayer, what portion is better? Is it the beginning, the middle or the end of time?’ 

The Imam (peace be upon him) said: It is the beginning of it; Rasulullah (peace be upon him and his family) has said: Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, loves of good things the most that which is done earlier.

زُرَارَةَ قَالَ قُلْتُ لأَبِي جَعْفَرٍ (عَلَيْهِ الْسَّلام) أَصْلَحَكَ الله وَقْتُ كُلِّ صَلاَةٍ أَوَّلُ الْوَقْتِ أَفْضَلُ أَوْ أَوْسَطُهُ أَوْ آخِرُهُ فَقَالَ أَوَّلُهُ إِنَّ رَسُولَ الله (صلّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِه) قَالَ إِنَّ الله عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يُحِبُّ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ مَا يُعَجَّلُ

[Kitab al-Kafi]

Merits of prayers and those who keep it 

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: The most beloved deed in the sight of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Glorious, is praying. Prayer is the last item in the wills of the prophets. How nice it is of a man who takes a shower or wudhu’ properly and then moves away where no one can notice his presence when he is in ruku’ or sajdah! When a servant of Allah is in sajdah which he prolongs, Iblees (Satan) will say crying: Woe is on me, he (this servant of Allah) obeys Him but I disobeyed, he is doing sajdah but I refused to do so.

[Kitab al-Kafi]

Reflect on the above, an act so loved by the Creator, so loved that even Iblis weeps to see God's servants in prayer. Salat is one of the things that keeps our feet on the ground, it is what gives us a sense of direction and goals, when we place ourselves prostrated before the Creator, we recognize our position, we recognize our condition: we are here to glorify and worship He, we are here to obey our Creator.

An act as important as this should never be ignored or neglected, what brings us closer to God must be the priority so that we can live the essence of religion... don't pray just for the sake of it (just because it is obligatory), pray so you can be closer to God, don't do it to impress people, don't do your duties just hoping to be seen and admired by people, Allah is the one who deserves admiration.

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: Those who consider their prayer insignificant are not of my people, as well as those who drink intoxicating liquor. They will not be able to come to me at the pond of al-Kawthar, no, by Allah (they will not be able to do so).

أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ (عَلَيْهِ الْسَّلام) قَالَ قَالَ لاَ تَتَهَاوَنْ بِصَلاَتِكَ فَإِنَّ النَّبِيَّ (صلّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِه) قَالَ عِنْدَ مَوْتِهِ لَيْسَ مِنِّي مَنِ اسْتَخَفَّ بِصَلاَتِهِ لَيْسَ مِنِّي مَنْ شَرِبَ مُسْكِراً لاَ يَرِدُ عَلَيَّ الْحَوْضَ لاَ وَالله

[Kitab al-Kafi]

We must cling to the act of praying, we must develop a special love for this act so loved by the Creator himself and keep our intentions pure before God. As I always like to say, we all go through different stages in life, different difficulties and problems that only God knows, each of us goes through a struggle, a challenge so that we can keep moving forward, start with small steps and head back towards the path of God, do not hurry but also do not delay what is necessary. Imagine if someone tried to take away your right to pray? Imagine if the world started to harm you so that you couldn't perform such an act? Imagine if you were somewhere far away without the convenience of a clock to know when to pray Salat al-Fajr? Would you know how to do it?

Look at Salat in a different way until you learn how to really love it: prayer is not just an obligation, it is one of your rights; Can you imagine if someone tried to take away one of your rights? So why do we neglect ourselves?

Reflecting is needed so that we can proceed.

Now you know how to identify the true dawn in the sky but what about the True Dawn inside of yourself? It is time to bring a new day for your mind, heart and faith.

To finish this article, I will leave here a beautiful supplication taught by Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him).

Sulayman al-Daylami said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): May I be sacrificed for You, your shia say that faith (Imaan) can be established or loaned (temporary). So teach me something that when I say it, my faith is perfected/completed. 

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: Recite the following after every obligatory prayer:

رَضِيتُ بِاللَّهِ رَبّاً، وَ بِمُحَمَّدٍ نَبِيّاً، وَ بِالْإِسْلَامِ دِيناً، وَ بِالْقُرْآنِ كِتَاباً، وَ بِالْكَعْبَةِ قِبْلَةً، وَ بِعَلِيٍّ وَلِيّاً وَ إِمَاماً، وَ بِالْحَسَنِ وَ الْحُسَيْنِ وَ الْأَئِمَّةِ (صَلَوَاتُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِمْ)، اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي رَضِيتُ بِهِمْ أَئِمَّةً فَارْضَنِي لَهُمْ، إِنَّكَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

Translation:

“I am satisfied with Allah as Lord, with Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) as a prophet, with Islam as a religion, with Quran as a book, with Kaaba as the Qiblah, and with Ali (peace be upon him) as the Wali & Imam, and with al-Hasan and al-Husain and the Imams (peace be upon them), O Allah, I am satisfied with Them as Imams, so make me desire for Them. Surely You have power over all things.”

[Tahdhib al-Ahkam]

All praise is dedicated to Allah, Lord of the worlds, may Allah bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad and withdraw His mercy from all those who deny the rights of Ahlul Bayt.