This Ramadan, MuslimMatters is pleased to host the Institute Of Knowledge‘s daily Ramadan series: Keys to the Divine Compass. Through this series, each day we will spend time connecting with the Qur’an on a deeper, more spiritual, uplifting level.

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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين

Allah ﷻ says in Surah Sajdah: 

﴿تَتَجَافَىٰ جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ ٱلْمَضَاجِعِ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفًۭا وَطَمَعًۭا وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَـٰهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ ١٦ فَلَا تَعْلَمُ نَفْسٌۭ مَّآ أُخْفِىَ لَهُم مِّن قُرَّةِ أَعْيُنٍۢ جَزَآءًۢ بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ ١٧﴾

“Their sides shun their beds in order to pray to their Lord in fear and hope; they give to others some of what We have given them. No soul knows what joy is kept hidden in store for them as a reward for what they have done.”

Allah ﷻ over here is highlighting one of the characteristics of the true believers. He talks about the true believers in the previous āyah stating that they are those who fall into prostration and glorify the praises of their Lord and are not too proud. Allah ﷻ then highlights particularly this quality of theirs that when everyone else is going to sleep, when everyone else is tired, when everyone else wants to rest at night, the true believers are those who turn to Allah ﷻ and those that remember Allah ﷻ at night. So over here Allah ﷻ says they call out to their Lord, they pray to their Lord, out of fear and hope. There are a couple different understandings of this that the scholars have mentioned. The majority of scholars mention that this is talking about praying at night and others mention this is talking about generally speaking remembering Allah ﷻ at night. This can include praying. This can include doing duʿāʾ. So when we think about this, oftentimes we hear this and we think waking up for tahajjud is a big step. Waking up in the middle of the night is a big step. In the month of Ramadan it may be a bit easier because we have that environment. We have everyone motivating one another, and so it becomes a bit easier. But when we start thinking about post Ramadan, how can we build on our Ramadan, and how can we build good habits that we can continue after Ramadan? The majority of Scholars say that this this āyah is talking about waking up for tahajjud, but I wanted to focus on on the opinions of other Scholars on this, so we can have we can set realistic goals depending on where we are in our journey, depending on how our habits are. Some scholars mentioned that this this simply means remembering Allah ﷻ at night, and so if if we’re not at a point where we can wake up for tahajjud, maybe we’re in a situation where we wake up in the middle of the night from time to time. We’ll wake up in the middle of the night and we’ll check our phones. We’ll see if we have any messages. We’ll go on social media. We’ll do all these things. Let’s try to replace those habits with remembering Allah ﷻ. There are specific duʿās the Prophet ﷺ taught us to read in different situations if we wake up at night to remembering Allah ﷻ. 

The next opinion that scholars have is that this is specifically talking about ṣalāh, praying Isha and praying Fajr and in the masjid. There’s a couple beautiful statements of the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ says that if someone prays Isha and Fajr in the masjid, then he gets the reward of praying the entire night. 

«من صلى العشاء في جماعة فكأنما قام نصف الليل، ومن صلى الصبح في جماعة فكأنما قام الليل كله»

The Prophet ﷺ says that whoever prays Isha in congregation they get reward for praying half the night, and whoever prays Fajr in congregation they get reward for praying the other half of the night. In Ramadan, almost all of us pray Isha in the masjid on a daily basis, and many of us also pray Fajr in the masjid as well on a daily basis. We’re already up for suḥūr, so we go to the masjid for Fajr. For those of us who haven’t been doing that, especially since we’re coming across the last 10 nights, we should try to build those habits, and then make a goal to carry those habits over after Ramadan. Start making goals of things we want to carry over after Ramadan, and try to make this a goal. If we can’t do both Isha and Fajr, at least try for one of those. Going back to the āyah, the Prophet ﷺ highlights the reward of the the people mentioned in this verse where Allah ﷻ describes them saying, those whose sides shun their beds. They give up the comfort of sleep for the sake of Allah ﷻ.

عن ابن عباس قال: «إذا كان يوم القيامة نادى مناد: ستعلمون اليوم من أصحاب الكرم، ليقم الحامدون لله على كل حال، فيقومون فيسرحون إلى الجنة. 

ثم ينادي ثانية: ستعلمون اليوم من أصحاب الكرم، ليقم الذين كانت جنوبهم تتجافى عن المضاجع “يدعون ربهم خوفا وطمعا ومما رزقناهم ينفقون”. قال: فيقومون فيسرحون إلى الجنة. 

قال: ثم ينادي ثالثة: ستعلمون اليوم من أصحاب الكرم، ليقم الذين كانوا ﴿لا تلهيهم تجارة ولا بيع عن ذكر الله وإقام الصلاة وإيتاء الزكاة يخافون يوما تتقلب فيه القلوب والأبصار﴾ [النور: ٣٧]، فيقومون فيسرحون إلى الجنة.»

ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās (RA) narrates that when it is the Day of Judgment a caller will call out, “You will know who the honorable people will be this day.” All of us are striving for honor in this life. We strive for promotions. We strive for a better job. We strive for a nicer house and a nicer car. We strive for all of these things that will give us honor, things that will give us respect. But true honor and true respect is on the Day of Judgment. Just imagine all of humanity from the first human being, from Adam (AS) to the last human being; everyone will be gathered over there. There are these particular groups of people that will be honored amongst all of creation. May Allah ﷻ make us from them. So the first announcement he makes is, “May those people stand up who used to praise Allah ﷻ and thank Him in all situations.” Regardless of whether it was a difficult situation or an easy situation, they always saw the glass half full. they always saw the subtle blessings in every situation, and so they always thanked Allah ﷻ. Thus, they will stand up, and they will go to Jannah. Then a call will be made a second time, “You will know today who the honorable people are.” Then he will say those people should stand up that were highlighted in this verse in Surah Sajdah. They will be called out, “Those people should stand up whose sides shunned their beds calling to Allah ﷻ in fear and hope and giving from the rizq that they were provided, the sustenance that they were provided.” These people will stand up, and they will go to Jannah. Then, finally, a third group will be called out, and the same announcement will be made, “You will know today who will be the people of honor.” Then the caller will say those people should stand up who trade and business do not distract from the remembrance of Allāh. In our cases that may be things like school, work, and investing. That would be anything related to the world. It does not distract them from the remembrance of Allah, establishing ṣalāh, and giving zakah. They fear the day when hearts and eyes will turn over. On the Day of Judgment, people will be scared and worried. This is in reference to an āyah which comes in the context of talking about people who go to the masjid on a regular basis despite their worldly occupations; despite being busy with work; despite being occupied by business and trade; despite school or any other worldly occupation. So these are the three categories that are highlighted in this Hadith. 

Then Allah ﷻ closes off this passage, these few verses, by highlighting the reward. Souls do not know what has been hidden for them from the coolness of the eyes as a reward for what they used to do. Allah is describing the reward of these people, and He says, “What I have hidden for you” to describe it. In other places, Allah tries to give an example of the reward, “The example of the paradise that has been prepared for the God conscious.” In other places He mentions different examples. Here Allah ﷻ just leaves it at “What I left hidden,” and this is to allow one to use their imagination and to motivate someone that this is a special reward. These people will have a special status on the Day of Judgment. They will be honored specifically on the Day of Judgment. 

May Allah ﷻ make us from those who remember him at night when other people are asleep. If we cannot wake up we should try to wake up for tahajjud. If we are not there yet then we should try to pray in the masjid on a regular basis. If even we are not there yet then try to have a habit of remembering Allah ﷻ on a regular basis at night at whatever time is convenient for us.