Description of the Servants of the Most Merciful, ( Part III, Chapter:25 Verses 63-77)

Description of the Servants of the Most Merciful

Part III — Surah Al-Furqan (25:63–77)

We talked about how the servants of the Most Merciful are humble with people, and we talked about how when they deal with people, they deal with the best of manners. They never lower their standards. When they deal with someone who is ignorant, no matter how low the other person goes, they keep themselves high.

And now Allah described them by saying: they are those who spend a good portion of the night prostrating themselves and standing before their Lord. So after He explained to us how they conduct themselves during the daytime, now He is telling us what their situation looks like in the night — that they don't just lay down and sleep the whole night, or spend the whole night watching, playing, and socializing. No, the night is filled with salah.

The Night Prayer of the Prophet

The belief regarding the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم — his night prayers were truly amazing. They began from when the night started.

Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه once said: my father sent me to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.

Ibn Abbas said: I came and found the Prophet ﷺ sitting with some of his companions.

My father had told me to speak to him about something private, so I waited until Maghrib came. After the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم finished Maghrib, I said I will talk to him.

I came to the Prophet ﷺ and found him praying after Maghrib. He continued praying until Isha came in.

I said, I will talk to him after Isha.

After Isha, the Prophet ﷺ prayed four rak'ahs — they were so long that everyone in the masjid prayed, finished their adhkar, and left, while the Prophet ﷺ was still in his prayer. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 117; Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 301)

Then the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم came to Ibn Abbas and said, "Young man, why don't you spend the night with me tonight? I am spending my night at Maymunah's" — خالتك — your aunt, who was his mahram. "Spend the night with us." Ibn Abbas was a young boy, perhaps 7 or 8 years old.

He said, "Absolutely, I will come with you."

Ibn Abbas said: The Prophet ﷺ slept for a short period of time, then made wudu and prayed.

Ibn Abbas said: I acted as if I was asleep but I was watching the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. Later the Prophet noticed him and said, "Pray with me." He prayed with the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, and subhanAllah — due to the length of the prayer — he prayed most of the night. He said the Prophet would sometimes touch his ear just to keep himself alert. Then the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم slept a little before Fajr, and then Bilal came and called him for the prayer.

But from this hadith, you can see — from Maghrib all the way to Fajr, the night was occupied with salah. That is the spirit of Qiyam al-Layl. That is why when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم prayed to the extent that his feet swelled, Aisha said, "Ya Rasulallah, that is so much." He replied, "Should I not be grateful and thankful to Allah?"

The Meaning and Virtue of Qiyam al-Layl

The Quran speaks about those who make Qiyam al-Layl even while traveling, even while in Jihad في سبيل الله. And Allah told them, "I will reduce that for you — you don't need to do the whole prayer; perhaps one-third." Even in Jihad and traveling for trade and all of that, Qiyam al-Layl remains part of their life, part of their routine.

Unfortunately, so many Muslims today don't know what Qiyam al-Layl means. The word Qiyam al-Layl has two meanings. One: qama means standing — so it indicates that this salah is long, longer than your Sunnat al-Maghrib or Sunnat al-Dhuhr. Or it could mean qama as in "you wake up" — meaning you were asleep and then you wake up solely for salah. Both meanings are correct and both are applicable to the concept of Qiyam al-Layl.

But no doubt, the one that comes after sleep has more mujahada — more struggle and effort.

Not just do they leave their beds — تتجافى من الجفوة — they actually dislike their beds because it cuts them off from Allah. They leave their beds because they love to stand before Allah.

Many verses speak about the believers — that they spend most of their time, a big portion of their time, praying.

What Helps You Establish Qiyam al-Layl

One of the things that will help you establish Qiyam al-Layl and develop this quality — Al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, was once asked by a man: "I cannot wake up for the night prayer." He replied:

"The sins of your day have shackled you." (Attributed to Al-Hasan al-Basri)

He said the reason you cannot wake up is because the sins of the day have prevented you from being alone with Allah and praying with Him in the night. Just leave those sins. And I would say — it is hard for me to see how you can make Qiyam al-Layl when the last thing you were doing is watching Netflix, or listening to music, or backbiting — that is how you went to sleep. Sins have a very big impact on you when it comes to Qiyam al-Layl.

Vice versa, the scholars say:

"Is the reward of good anything but good? Whoever does good and puts forth a good deed during his day, Allah rewards him by drawing him close to Him in his night."

Those who do good during the daytime — and you do good with the intention that you want it to be a reason for you to enjoy Qiyam al-Layl, to be able to do it. See, in Ramadan we do it — why? Because we did something great during the day, which is siyam, fasting. That is why Qiyam in Ramadan is easy — because you already did something good, and Allah rewards you in return by giving you the strength and ability to do it.

If you think about it — eleven rak'ahs in some masajid and twenty rak'ahs in others, every single night. That is not something everyone is used to. But you do it because you have done good during Ramadan; you gave sadaqa. So the good that you do during the daytime helps you make Qiyam al-Layl.

Also, obviously — sleep early. What is also interesting: kids these days go to school, waking up at 5:00 or 5:30 to get ready — and the adhan of Fajr hasn't even come yet — yet they won't even think about praying two rak'ahs for Allah, or praying the witr before they go. My brother, five extra minutes — just spend it for the sake of Allah.

People have become very careless about Qiyam al-Layl, while this is something that great scholars struggled for. One of them said:

"I struggled with Qiyam al-Layl for twenty years, and then I enjoyed it for twenty years." (A statement attributed to various early scholars)

Also, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم gave us this beautiful image of a husband and wife waking each other up for Qiyam al-Layl:

The Prophet ﷺ would go to his family and encourage them to pray in the night. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1168; Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 1674)

You should encourage one another as a family to pray in the night, because praying in the night has a very special reward. And if you did your witr early and you happen to wake up and want to pray — it is okay, you can pray, as long as you pray two rak'ahs at a time. It is confirmed that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم prayed two rak'ahs at the end of the night even though he had already done his witr earlier.

Supplicating for Protection from Hellfire

Then, those people who are spending their nights praying — what are they doing during that prayer? That is the next quality. Allah says:

Those who are in such a state — they pray, they prostrate, they bow, they stand in the night — and then they say: "Our Lord, keep the punishment of Hell away from us, for its punishment is indeed relentless." غراماً means something that is permanent, enduring, unceasing. The punishment of Hellfire will not stop. إِنَّهَا سَاءَتْ مُسْتَقَرًّا وَمُقَامًا — certainly it is an evil place to settle and reside, an evil place to be. May Allah protect all of us from it.

That is what they are supplicating. That is what they are asking for — those who are praying in the night. So what do you think we should do? Or what should those who don't have that commitment feel about the Hellfire? May Allah benefit us from what we say and what we hear.

Here you see that the 'Ibad al-Rahman don't have empty hopes. They don't just say "keep Hellfire away from us" and leave it at that. They combine hopes with actions. They combine supplication — asking Allah to protect them from that fire — with Qiyam al-Layl, with sujood, with fulfilling all the previous requirements, doing everything that Allah is asking of them.

And this is something important to keep in mind: the more you worship Allah, yes — the more you develop trust in Him and love for Him. But that also makes you fear Him more at the same time. How is that?

I will give you an example — and Allah has the best of examples. When you love someone so much, you begin to have a kind of fear associated with it — fear of losing them, fear of making them angry, fear of them leaving you. When you love your wife so much, you are afraid to upset her. You love your mother and father so much, you are afraid to upset them. You are afraid of losing a job you love. So the more love, interest, and attachment there is, the more fear comes with it as well.

That is the state of the believers. They are so afraid before Allah because they love Him so much. They are always afraid that maybe it won't be good enough. That is why Allah says:

Those who give and spend and do what they do for the sake of Allah — their hearts are filled with fear. Aisha said about this verse: "They must be the ones who do bad deeds alongside good deeds." The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم replied: "No, O Aisha. This verse is about the one who prays, who fasts, who gives sadaqa — and they do all of this while they are afraid that Allah will not accept from them."

"Are not those the ones who pray, fast, and give charity — yet they fear that it may not be accepted from them?" (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3175)

That is why Ibrahim and his son, while they were building the Ka'bah — can you think of anything greater than that? — they said:

"Ya Allah, please — please accept from us." Begging Him to accept. Ibrahim and his son — building the Ka'bah — and they are still begging Allah to accept from them and asking Him for forgiveness. This is an incredible quality that we must have as believers — the fear of the Day of Judgment — because the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: those who fear the Day of Judgment today will feel safe tomorrow. Those who think about it and are concerned about it today will be safe upon the Day of Judgment. Those who don't care, who don't pay it any attention, for whom it is not part of the equation — those people will fear it the most.

"Two fears will not come together in the heart of a believer — the fear of the Day of Judgment in this dunya and the fear on the Day of Judgment itself." If you fear it today, you will be safe tomorrow. (Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4260)

Many verses in the Quran describe this. So make sure that we ask Allah for protection from the Hellfire, and that we truly and sincerely fear it. Ask yourself: will this lead me to the Hellfire? Will this cause me to receive the punishment?

And you know what the worst thing in the Hellfire is? The scholars of deep God-consciousness said: the worst thing in the Hellfire is that you will not be able to speak to Allah, you will not be able to see Allah, you will not be able to be in the company of Allah, you will not be unable to be in the company of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم and the righteous. You will be in the company of the worst. Meaning that Allah is angry at you — and that in itself is worse than any punishment.

That is why meeting Allah, being with Allah, seeing Allah in Jannah — that is the greatest reward. And that is why it has come in the hadith:

The people of Jannah will be called: "You have an appointment that will never be broken." (Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 452)

The people of Jannah will say: what are we being called to? To meet Allah. Allahu Akbar.

"They will leave everything in Jannah — all the pleasures of Jannah — and be satisfied with this. This shows that seeing Allah and meeting Allah is the greatest pleasure in Jannah."

They will leave everything else behind and go just to meet Allah. May Allah grant us this. And as He has gathered us in this masjid as a community, may He gather us on the Day of Judgment all together around Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم.

Du'a

صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ

And establish the prayer, and may the mercy of Allah be upon you.