speak today of an act of worship that we can describe as being the introduction to prophethood an act of worship that we can describe as being Paradise on Earth we speak today of none other than the night prayer the messenger sallahu alaihi wasallam said in the famous Hadith which I'm sure you have come across and this Hadith is going to be our template for the short reminder today he said uphold the night prayer take care of the night prayer because memorize these three phrases now because it is the way of the righteous people before you
and it is a means of drawing closer to your lord and it is a means of erasing sins and it is a means of guarding you from sins this one Hadith is sufficient on its own to transform our perception towards this act of worship so that we never ever see it the same way again but what is the night prayer is it limited to bowing and prostrating in the night is it an act of that is exclusive to the month of Ramadan no the Hadith that we just heard makes it clear that this is something
all together different what is let us analyze now and examine the Hadith that we just heard phrase by phrase what was the first phrase do you remember it is the way of the righteous people before you IM Ahmed had a guest who visited him once and he was a student of Hadith and so Imam Ahmed wanted to host him that night and allow him to spend the evening with him and so he prepared for him a container of water so that he can do his W when he wants to pray at night the next morning
IM Ahmed came to wake him up and he noticed that the container of water had been unmoved he hadn't prayed at night so iMed was shocked and he said Subhan Allah he said Subhan Allah I have never seen this before a student of Hadith who does not have a portion of night prayer a student of Hadith who doesn't pray at night and we could repeat the exact same words a Muslim parent who wants to raise Muslim children who are protected from The Temptations and doubtful matters out there in society and he or she doesn't pray
at night an IM a an attendee of a a deliverer of a a person who shares Islamic reminders on Facebook and does not have a portion of night prayer somebody who believes that the squeeze of the Grave is real and believes that he shall see the face of the angel of death and believes on the day of judgment that will be 50 ,000 years long and does not have prayer at night how can that be so this is phrase number one from the Hadith do you remember it it is the way of the righteous people
before you what was phase phrase number two it is a means of drawing closer to your lord for those who ask about a staircase that leads to the pleasure of Allah for those who inquire about one of the shortest routes that lead to the acceptance of Allah I say that you will find such a staircase in the middle of the night perhaps dear brothers and sisters this is one of the secret why Allah offers so much to those men and women who pray at night because it is a means of drawing closer to your lord
those who discipline themselves to pray whether after straight away or in the later parts of the night before this is a means of drawing closer to your lord as he saidat he has offered so much in thanks so much as a reward what is the reward you're probably now thinking what is the reward of praying at night IM he said because the same way that they would make an effort to pray at night and to not allow anybody to see their Good Deeds Allah Almighty will reward them by give them a reward by giving them
a reward that no human being has ever seen they made an effort to hide their Good Deeds by praying at night so Allah Almighty has thanked them and compensated them by giving them a reward that is also hidden however does this mean that we don't know at all what the people of the night are going to be given on the day of judgment we have no perception of the reward in Jenna for them no no we do have some perception the messenger sallallahu alaihi wasallam said there are three people whom Allah Almighty loves and he
smiles at them and he is happy with them and he mentioned one of the three people one of the three categories as being as follows one of the three categories he says is a person who has a beautiful wife a beautiful spouse and a very comfortable soft bedding but then in the middle of the night he gets up and he leaves his spouse leaves his desire to remember Allah so Allah Almighty will say to his angels look at how my slave has left his bed and his desire in in order to remember me and if
he wanted you could have continued sleeping Allah Almighty Smiles at such a person so you may think now okay what is the significance of the smile of Allah what happens when Allah Smiles at a person immed nites in his musnad that the messenger sallallah alaihi wasallam said answering this question when your lord Smiles at a person he said when your lord Smiles at a person in the life of this world he will not have any accountability on the day of judgment back door entrance into Jenna all of the horrors that you and I hear about
it doesn't apply to these people because they will not be held accountable what was phrase number three he said and the night prayer is a means of erasing sins and is a means of protecting you from sins dear brother dear sister if you have accumulated certain sins today or yesterday or at some point in your past sins that you are so scared that Allah Almighty is going to remind you about them on the day of standing then those sins can be erased at night if you also have sinned that you are afraid that you're going
to redo sometime in the future because they're so addictive they're so appealing they look so good you are afraid that after your repentance you're going to go back to them you will find your shield and I will find my shield in the night it is a means of erasing sins meaning of the past and a means of protection from sins meaning from the future all of that is found in the night and perhaps this is one of the secrets dear brothers and sisters why the messenger sallallahu alaihi wasallam refers to the night prayer as the
honor of the believer because a person who minimizes his sin is honored in the eyes of Allah he says speaking about this paradise on Earth he said the people of the night as they worship Allah they experience a sweetness that is far greater than the joy of the Sinners and if it wasn't for the worship of the night I would have asked Allah Almighty to cause me to die these were the words of who was describing his relationship with the night prayer and he spoke about this process I forced myself to pray night for 20
years and then I enjoyed the night prayer for the remaining 20 years it will take time dear brothers and sisters until you and I are able to unlock that sweetness but when it comes we will not want to replace it for any other joy in existence it is really a paradise on Earth congratulations to those who illuminate their graves congratulations to those who please their lord before they meet him I ask Allah subhana wa tal to forgive our sins and to make us the people of the night
