How to remember Fajr prayer.

It seems that in this day in age with all the many activities and responsibilities that we have on a daily basis, it’s becoming way too “easy” for brothers and sisters to miss fajr prayer on a regular basis. Making your five daily salat is an important part of being a Muslim, and is one of the five pillars of Islam. The Quran says “Establish regular prayers at the sun’s decline till the darkness of the night and the recital of the Qur’an in the Fajr prayer, for the recital of the Fajr is witnessed” (Qur’an Al-Israa 17:78). So how do you get rid of the bad habit of forgetting and sleeping through it?

Following are a few tips to help get you started. In shaa Allah these tips will help you get in the habit of making fajr and you will quickly begin to make it on a regular basis and on time!

1. Keep in mind your intentions. You should wake up with Allah (swt) on your mind and in your heart. This will motivate you to make the prayer because you will think about your intention of making prayer for Allah (swt).

2. Consider how you want your day to go. When doing so, keep this hadith in mind: “During your sleep, Satan knots three knots at the back of the head of each of you, and he breathes the following words at each knot, ‘The night is long, so keep on sleeping.’ If that person wakes up and remembers Allah, then one knot is undone. When he (or she) performs ablution (wudu) the second knot is undone. And when he (she) prays, all the knots are undone, and he (she) gets up in the morning lively and in a good mood, otherwise he (she) gets up dull and gloomy.”(Bukhar­i)

3. Stay motivated with family. If you do not live on your own and have a roommate or family that engages in salat as well then use each other as motivation. Whether your Ummi or Abu is your wakeup call or you get your sister or brother to bang on your door. If you can get that help and support do so. You’ll be more likely to wake up and even start doing it on your own whether or not they are there to do it for you.

4. Get help from your brothers and sisters. If you know someone who is getting up for fajr prayer and they live in the same time zone as you then ask them to give you a call when it’s time for salat. Yeah, the phone call may be annoying so early in the morning, but remember- INTENTIONS!!

5. Don’t eat too much before bed. You should also avoid eating right before you go to sleep. This will cause your body to naturally want to sleep. The infamous “itis”! Grab a light snack instead. If you must eat, space that meal out to at least 3-4 hours before going to bed.

5. Go to bed early. No one likes to do this. We all stay up late. Some of us fall out on top of our laptops because we’ve been Facebooking all night while others fall out on the couch watching TV. Some of us simply act like insomniacs and refuse to go to bed at a decent hour; I have to admit that I was guilty of this. Go to bed. If you’re not tired you should still go to bed. DVR and record your “shows”, create better time management throughout your day. Once you stop going to bed two hours before fajr is due you’ll have an easier time waking up for it.

6. Take advantage of technology. Hate the sound of an alarm clock? Or don’t have one at all? Use that technology! Set your alarm clock at a decent sound level to ensure you’ll hear it in your sleep. If you sleep heavy then maximum volume is suggested. A good alarm clock for fajr should also have a snooze feature, just in case. Be sure to set your alarm for at least 20-30 minutes before fajr. This will allow you to wake up and make wudu. This helps on those mornings where you get up and stare at the clock for ten minutes. If you don’t want to use a traditional alarm clock then use your cell phone. There are two ways to do this for some people. If you have a Blackberry or Android phone there are several apps for salat that have the feature of the Adhan recitation. This way you can wake up to Adhan. Or you could simply use the alarm feature on your phone. This is helpful when you hate the sound of an alarm clock. You can choose a “ringtone” or a particular ring instead. Don’t forget there is always a salat alarm available with most online Islamic dealers as well as in Islamic stores.

That’s it! Now there are no excuses. You know what you need to do so In shaa Allah, get to it! See you at fajr!