Creation of Allah – The Day and The Night

There are many creations of Allah and each of them should remind us of Allah. The trees, the sun, the moon, the stones that make up the mountains, the very earth we live in, wind and rain are all signs of Allah. We should remember Allah just by looking at His creations and consequently increase our worship to Him. There is a creation of Allah which most of us overlook, what is it? It is the day and night.  

The alternation of the day and night is something that Allah has told us to ponder upon. Allah instructed us by saying, إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلَافِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ لَآيَاتٍ لِّأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ 
"Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the Earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding”. [3:190] 

To encourage contemplation, have you realised that the prayers that we pray during the early hours of the day and during the night are recited aloud? The imam recites loudly during the Fajr prayer, a prayer for the early hours of the day, and recites loudly during Esha, a prayer for the night. According to scholars, one of the many wisdoms behind this is to ponder and contemplate more about the creations of Allah. As believers, with the break of dawn and with sunset, we should spend some time reflecting on our lives. We should check if we have prayed the morning prayers and the night prayers. We should try to resolve any problems we have with our friends or family. We should ask Allah to forgive any sins we  committed during the day and night.    

The ahadith about the first prayer of the day and the last prayer of the night are amazing. The Prophet ﷺ said,“Two Rakahs of prayer before the Fajr (fard) prayer are better than the world and whatever is in it”. [Muslim]  

Here the Prophet ﷺ is telling us that just the Sunnah prayer itself, meaning the two rakah of Fajr Sunnah, is better than anything and everything the world can offer. It is so rewarding that nothing in this world can match it. What about the night? Is there an action that we can do during the night that will help us gain the love of Allah? Is there a simple action that will keep us in the good books of Allah? The Prophet ﷺ said:“Allah is single (Witr) and loves what is single, so observe the Witr, oh you who follow the Qur’an”. [Abu Dawud]  

Is it not amazing that just by praying Witr at night, it will help us earn the love of Allah? Imagine this, we start our day by achieving better than what the world has to offer and we end our day with the love of Allah. You cannot be any more successful than that. Really! You start your day with a positive attitude and a lot of motivation because you have just achieved something big. Then you end your day by asking Allah to accept your efforts and to love you. And we all know that if Allah loves you, you are only going to one place in the hereafter, Jannah - a place where life gets better by the second. 

The day and the night and the morning and evening are important for the people who are alive as well as for the people who have passed away. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:“When one of you dies, he will be shown his place in Jannah or Jahannam, in the morning and evening. If he is one of the people of Paradise, then he is one of the people of Paradise, and if he is one of the people of Hell, then he is one of the people of Hell. It will be said to him, this is your place until Allah resurrects you to go to it on the Day of Resurrection”. [Bukhari and Muslim] 

The people buried below us or in the cemetery are viewing Jannah or Jahannam twice a day my brother and sisters. Twice a day. It is too late for them to change their situation as they cannot perform good deeds. What would you like to view twice a day in your grave? Would you like to see hellfire and consequently be frightened and terrified for hundreds of years? Or do you want to have a blissful life in the grave whereby you view your perfect eternal destination, Jannah?  

If you want to enjoy the view of Paradise whilst in your grave then at least start your day with Fajr. Try your best to wake up early for Fajr, pray and then go to sleep if you want. Let us do some good during the day and do some good during the night so then we can live in peace in our graves. We all sleep during the night. Some of us, we sleep for 6 hours, most sleep for 7-8 hours. Imagine being rewarded for all those hours during the night. Do you want to get the reward for sleeping for 8 hours? We know it is very hard to do something good for even one hour but imagine being rewarded every night for sleeping for 8 hours. The task is very simple. Before you go to sleep, make the intention to sleep in order to gain energy to pray Fajr. This simple intention will help you earn mountains of good deeds. One may ask as to how to earn a lot of reward during the day. The answer is simple as well. When you wake up in the morning, make the intention to do everything for the sake of Allah. Make the intention to do your studies for the sake of Allah. By getting good grades and skills, you can get a good job and use it to help the community. Use it to help the Muslims portray a good image to the world. Get a good job, give charity, and help people build lives. If you make good intentions in the morning and throughout the day, then you get the reward of every single second that makes up the day. Throughout the day, spend just 4-5 minutes reciting Qur’an and reading its meaning. Spend few minutes every week reading about the life of the Prophet.   

I ask Allah to give us the tawfeeq to worship Him during the day and during the night and may Allah make us amongst those whom He loves. Ameen.