Dawn
I missed the fajr (dawn prayer) this morning- a combination of a late night, and worrying about getting to the Canadian embassy on time. It always sets my day back – a whole lot! One of my biggest challenges as a practising Muslim is being consistent with the dawn prayer, which involves having a fairly regular sleeping pattern coupled with a very strong will to get out of bed in the wee hours of the morning and semi-bathe! The fajr is the first and one of the 5 daily prayers which is part and parcel Muslim life. For me, the fajr is an anchor – helping me to stay focused and keep things real. Waking up before the crack the dawn to bow before Allah (God) is the most humbling experience. At the same time, I feel as if those few seconds of prostration – my head touching the floor, my knees bent under me – when I am at my lowest point physically possible, I am at my highest, spiritually.
Reading your “take care of yourself” post reminds me of a saying by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him) who said, “your body has a right over you”. I too sometimes fall into the trap of neglecting my self, slouching in front of the computer for hours, sleeping far too much and over-indulging in the wrong kind of foods. I have found some respite in taking up yoga! The physical and mental stimulation of the exercises help me to be in tune with my body, and I think it complements my usual prayer rituals quite well.
I’m glad you’ve been reminded to take care of yourself, and “to grow”. It reminded me as well – about my own lazy habits, which turn the simplest of tasks into mountains that need to be scaled.
“Verily never will Allah change the condition of a people until they change it themselves (with their own souls)” Quran: 13: 11
Love
Safiyyah
Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments
Tags: fajr, health, islam, spiritual practice, spirituality
can relate to that!
totally agree. I only started praying regularly at the beginning of the year and at first I used to kind of ignore Fajr and after a couple of weeks I realise that in some ways that’s the most important one. So I started to drag myself out of bed for it, the day felt incomplete when praying 4 and missing Fajr.