Remembrance of Allah — Page 65
Thirteen Methods of Waking up for Tahajjud 65 this rule, one can get help in getting up at night in the fol- lowing way. Perform dhikr for a while after offering the ‘Ish a’ Prayers [night Prayer before going to bed]. The benefit of this will be that the amount of time spent by one doing dhikr his eyes will open that much time before morning. 2. THE SECOND METHOD is that one should not talk to any- body after having performed the ‘Ish a’ Prayers. 16 The Holy Prophet s as has also prohibited speaking after the offering of ‘Ish a’ Prayers. Although it is also established that at some times he did continue talking, as a general rule he had forbidden it. The reason for this is that if you start talking after the ‘Ish a’ Prayers, you will stay awake longer and, thus, will get up later in the morning. And secondly, if such talk is not about faith or religion, then your attention will be diverted away from faith on account of them. This is why the Holy Prophet s as said that one should go right to sleep after offering ‘Ish a’ Prayers with- out talking to anyone so that you should go to sleep while your thoughts hover on matters of faith and you get up early in the morning. It is not forbidden to carry out office work or other important assignments after ‘Ish a’ Prayers, but it is necessary that one should engage in the before going to sleep. So this is the second method. 3. THE THIRD METHOD is that when one comes home after offering the ‘Ish a’ Prayers and is about to go to sleep then regardless of whether one’s wu du [ablution for Prayer] is intact or not, one should still perform ablution afresh before going to bed. This affects the heart and creates a special kind