Six Tips for Waking Up for Fajr When You Have Young Children

Last updated on: March 10, 2017 at 11:20 pm by Bushra Tobah

Six Tips for Waking Up for Fajr When You Have Young Children 2017-03-10T23:20:11-04:00 Bushra Tobah

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Sleepless nights. As I look back at the blur that was the first year of my children’s lives, I most vividly remember exhaustion. I reached a new level of “tired” that penetrated into my bones. When I thought I could not get more tired, my exhaustion reached a new peak. Yet as a practicing Muslim, I was supposed to find the will to get up and pray fajr in between my children’s night wakings. But how? How could I forgo sleep when it’s barely there in the first place?!

It becomes an arduous inner struggle to get up and pray when you feel you are almost justified in not getting up: you need to get SOME sleep before the baby gets up again so you can somewhat function in the morning.

But every time I turn off the alarm and feel myself sinking back into warm, blissful slumber, a powerful story rings in my heart: years ago, a friend’s father was jailed and tortured by a dictator in the Middle East. Once released, someone asked him if, after having seen the worst humanity has to offer, he was afraid of anything. He responded, “I only fear the day I don’t wake up for fajr”.

When you have children, there are so many things that can go wrong throughout the day. From minor things like being late for school, to major things like—God forbid—a child gets injured or worse. Just thinking about such possibilities shoots my anxiety through the roof. But if I start the day armed with fajr prayer, I know that my day is blessed. When I have prayed, there’s an extra pep in my step: I feel confident knowing that I am facing the day prepared with fajr. In fact, the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) tells us, “Whoever prays the fajr prayer, he or she is then under Allah’s protection.” [Muslim]

To help muster up the will to lug myself out of bed, I compiled the following list of tips:

Make the intention before bed and set the alarm. Before going to sleep, I make the intention, or niyya, to get up for fajr, no matter how many times the babies wake me up. I set multiple alarms through out the time designated for fajr, just in case I don’t get up the first time. As much as I am tempted to use the babies as my fajr alarm, since they are likely to wake up sometime during the time to pray anyway, I think to myself: if I had an exam in the morning, would I leave it to the babies to wake me up? No. So why would I let them wake me up for something more important than an exam?!
Sleep early. As tempting as it is to stay up late after the babies have slept to enjoy some much-needed “me time” or “husband time”, it’s important not to stay up too late. It’s much easier to wake up for fajr when you’ve gone to bed earlier rather than later.
Say a’uthu billahi min al shaytan al rajeem (I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Devil). The shaytan is full of glee when you choose your bed over prayer. So when your alarm rings and you would love nothing better than stay under your cozy covers, think of it as a war against your biggest enemy: the shaytan.
Think of all the things you have to get done and how much you need His help. When I’m tempted to skip fajr and get some continuous sleep, I think of the day full of tasks ahead of me. I remember how much I need Allah’s help to accomplish everything and suddenly I’m motivated to get up. I know I need Him to help me and praying fajr is the best way to enlist that help.
Get your spouse on board. Make sure your husband is just as motivated to wake up and pray. Get him to set his own alarms. That way, if you have an off day, you’ll have a cheerleader to get you out of bed. It will bring you closer together as you overcome the fajr struggle and it will help accomplish your early marriage goal of “bringing each other closer to Allah”.
Make dua’a. The most sure-fire way to accomplish your goals is to make dua’a for them. If you’re in a fajr slump or if you just want to make sure you keep getting up, make dua’a that Allah gives you the inner strength to get up when it’s hardest.

Waking up for fajr is no easy feat. Add young children to the mix and it’s often nearly impossible. But motherhood is one of the hardest jobs of all-time and there’s no better way to get some help from Above than waking up for fajr.

Bushra Tobah is a mother of two, residing in Toronto, Ontario. She has an MSc in International Business from the Ivey School of Business and has currently put her PhD on hold to stay home with the kids. She loves writing because unlike young children, writing makes sense.

Connecting with Allah

Previous Post

March 2, 2017

Why I Never Prayed For a Son

Next Post

March 16, 2017 Toys for Boys and Toys for Girls? Grow Mama "Debate" Part I

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book and Movie Reviews Community Connecting with Allah Counselor's Corner Environment fatherhood five stars GrowBaba Spotlight GrowMama Picks Growmama Roundup Health Light Fare marriage Motherhood Reflections moving Parenthood Photography Poems Schooling Self-development tragedy Tutorials Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 November 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who prepared Jesus' body for burial?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Joseph of Arimathea Peter, James, and John Mary the Mother of Jesus Roman Centurions