Know that regular performance of the night prayer is very
difficult except
for those whom Allah `azza wa jall guides. There are seven external
and
internal factors that facilitate performance of this prayer.
External Factors
1. Not eating and drinking a lot, so that one is not overcome by
sleep. As
some have said: "Do not eat a lot, so that you do not have to drink
a lot and
sleep a lot!"
2. Not preoccupying oneself during the day with daily tasks
exhaust a
person's physical and mental strength, for this also causes
sleep.
3. Not leaving daily afternoon nap, so as to help oneself with
it in
performance of the night prayer.
4. Sinning as little as possible during the day, for sinning
causes the heart
to harden and prevents it from receiving mercy.
Even kings of this world do not allow seclusion and intimate
discourse with
them except to the people who obey them, whom they love and who are
sincere
to them.
Some said to Ibn Mas`ood, may Allah be pleased with him, "We are
unable to
perform the night prayer." He told them: "Your sins are distancing
you (from
it)."
Someone said to al Hasan al Basri: "We are unable to perform the
night prayer
so prescribe me a cure." He said, "Do not disobey Him during the
day and He
will help you stand before Him during the night."
Ath-Thawri said, "I was prevented from standing in prayer at
night for five
months due to a sin I had committed."
Al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, when he would
enter the
market and heard all that people say in it from shouting and vain
talk, he
would say: "I think that these have bad nights."
All types of sins contribute to hardness of the heart and
prevent from
performance of the night prayer, even though some sins are more
harmful than
others, such as eating what is haram. On the other hand, eating
what is
halal, like few other things, cleans the heart and guides it to
what is good.
This is best known by those who watch and control their hearts, due
to
experiencing it, after the Sharee`ah's testimony to this fact. This
is why
some of them rightly said, "How many bites have prevented
performance of the
night prayer! How many glances have prevented recitation of a
Quranic soorah!
Verily the slave eats a bite or does an action and because of it
he
is prevented from standing in performance of the sunnah (i.e. the
night
prayer)."
Internal Factors
1. Protection of the heart from innovation, hatred towards
Muslims and
superfluous worldly concerns. One preoccupied with this world is
unable to
perform the night prayer and if he does, he does not think about
his prayer,
but about his worldly concerns, wandering in his sinful thoughts
(whisperings
of Shaytan). It has been said about such:
The guard informed me that you are sleeping
And you, even when you are awake, are sleeping.
2. Fear of sins and death and short hopes keep the heart alive, so
when the
servant thinks about pits of the Hellfire and people's condition in
the
hereafter, his sleep immediately disappears. `Abdullah bin Rawaaha
said:
"Verily, when the servant of Allah is reminded of Paradise, his
longing for
it increases, and when he is reminded of the Fire, his sleep
immediately
disappears."
Ibn al Mubarak, may Allah have mercy on him, said,
When the night is completely dark,
It finds them staying up in the night.
Fear has chased away their sleep so they stay up,
While those who feel secure in this life quietly sleep on.
3. Knowing the virtue of standing in prayer at night, as related
in Quranic
verses and traditions, until that knowledge intensifies one's hope
and
longing for its reward, and when that state is achieved, one's
desire for
higher levels in Paradise will also increase.