12 Helpful Tips To Wake Up For Fajr On Time

Waking up for Fajr is something we all struggle with as Muslims. No matter how much we want to wake up, sometimes we slip and before we know it, the sun is already shining bright and we’re scrambling from the bed trying to rush for Fajr prayer.

This is definitely not the ideal lifestyle of a Muslimah since the Fajr prayer is wajib (compulsory) for us Muslims to do on time on a regular basis as a major part of worship to Allah. 

If you have a plane to catch at 5 am tomorrow morning, how would you prepare yourself to wake up on time so that you won’t miss your flight? It’s all about priorities right?

Prophet Muhammad said,

‘If the people knew what (reward) there is in the ‘Isha’ prayer and fajr prayer, they would come even if they had to crawl.’ (Sahih Ibn Majah)

So how do we set the daily disciplines to wake up for Fajr on time each and every morning without fail insyaAllah?

1. The key is your intention

If you take only one thing from this article, take this.

Make dua to Allah and set a sincere intention in your heart to wake up on time for Fajr tomorrow and for the rest of your life insyaAllah.

This really works, I’m telling you. I use to wake up for Tahajjud on time without an alarm for like a good month when I was in university. Picture yourself waking up in the quiet darkness tomorrow, wiggling your toes and pushing yourself out of bed sincerely to pray to Allah. 

It’s important to renew your intentions to wake up for Fajr clearly every night before bed.

This is because we, human beings will almost always have our iman rise and fall. Sometimes we have the motivation to please our Creator, sometimes we don’t. And it’s okay, we are created this way. 

Therefore, we have to constantly renew our intentions and seek help from Allah by making dua for Him to help us in fulfilling our duties as Muslims.

2. Sleep on time

It is very hard to wake up early the next day when you sleep late after 10 or 11pm. Since the ideal sleep hours for an adult is 7-9 hours/night, if you sleep at 10pm you can wake up at 5am (and have time for Tahajjud too) with 7 hours of sleep every night.

Try to sleep on time and you will see how fresh and more productive you can be every morning insyaAllah. I’ve definitely been through this myself. 

There was one period in my life where I slept at 12 am every night trying to get a lot of my work done at the last minute. Then my body started feeling very groggy and no amount of sleep during the day made me feel any better. So I changed my routine by sleeping at 10pm on the dot no matter how much work I get done and waking up early around 5am the next day to get the rest of the work done.

To my surprise, not only was I able to get more stuff done, my work was even more enjoyable in the wee hours of the morning when everyone was asleep! I can focus better and have more clarity since my mind is fresh in the morning.

So, sleep on time instead of pulling all-nighters and make your morning your most productive time of the day!

3. Set your alarm to Quran

This is a tip I heard Yasmin Mogahed mentioned and I think it’s brilliant. 

You can try this OR… here’s a crazy tip, choose a noise that annoys you so much and put your phone in the middle of the room so that you won’t be able to snooze it and you’re forced to wake up since you have to walk to the middle of the room to shut your phone up.

Don’t put it too far until you can’t hear it though, make sure the distance is just enough to annoy you and get you out of bed to shut it up. You can even increase the volume to make it louder until it wakes the whole house for Fajr too.

Good luck!

4. Avoid fatty/junk/fried foods

You are what you eat. The things you put in your body will determine your level of health in general and every other part of your life including how you wake up in the morning. 

Unhealthy foods will cause your body to feel weak and heavy. So, if you want to feel fresh and alive in the morning, stop eating them and replace them with healthier options instead. You can incorporate dates, honey and fruits to follow the Sunnah too insyaAllah.

5. Clean your Heart with Tawbah

Cleaning your heart in Islam is very important. You need to clean your heart consistently by making Istighfar or Tawbah every single day just like taking a shower every day.

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “By Allah, I seek forgiveness from Allah and I repent to him more than seventy times in a day.” (Sahih Bukhari)

Our Prophet Muhammad SAW used to make 70x Istighfar every single day to clean his heart. 

Here’s how you make Istighfar:

Say “ Astaghfirullah” 70 times a day. It means “I seek forgiveness from Allah”. 

You can divide it up throughout the day or allocate a specific time to do this.

6. Forgive everyone

Forgiving everyone in your life for all their shortcomings before bed is something our Prophet Muhammad loved dearly. What does this have to do with waking up for fajr on time?

Let me tell you a story.

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was sitting in the masjid with a group of Sahabahs and he said “A man will now enter who is from the people of Paradise” and a man from the Ansaar walked in. This happened again a few times. So, naturally, Abdullah Ibn Amr ibn Al-aas (RAA) wanted to find out what was so special about this man, so he made an excuse and ask this man if he could stay over at his house for 3 days. 

The man welcomed him to stay. Within the 3 days, Abdullah Ibn Amr observed this man carefully but did not find anything special about him. He didn’t fast all the time, he slept some of the nights, prayed some of the nights and so on. So after 3 days, he told this man the truth about why he requested to stay at his house and asked him what it was that made him so special to be the people of Jannah.

At first, the man couldn’t think of anything but when he thought about it, he said “Every night, before I go to sleep, I forgive whoever has wronged me. I remove any bad feelings towards anyone from my heart.” (Something similar to that)

So you see, forgiving everyone that has wronged you during the day before sleep could just be the reason for you to get to Paradise insyaAllah.

We’d want to wake up for fajr every morning with a clean heart while anticipating new adventures for the day, let’s not have any bad feelings towards anyone when we fall asleep, forgive them and let it go. 

For the most part, if the sin is too big, Allah will give justice to you in the akhirah so you don’t have to worry about a thing. Pardon them and sleep in peace.

7. Sleep on Your right side, not on your stomach

Sleeping on your right side is a sunnah. 

Hudhaifah reported:

Whenever the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) intended to go to sleep, he would place his right hand under his (right) cheek and supplicate: “Allahumma qini ‘adhabaka yauma tab’athu ‘ibadaka (O Allah! Guard me against Your punishment on the Day when You will resurrect Your slaves).” (At-Tirmidhi)

Qais bin Tihfah Al-Ghifari also narrated from his father:

“The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) found me sleeping in the masjid on my stomach. He nudged me with his foot and said: ‘Why are you sleeping like this? This is a kind of sleep that Allah dislikes,’ or ‘that Allah hates.” (Sahih Ibn Majah)

It has health benefits and explanations of course. Prophet Muhammad SAW acknowledged this even during his time.

8. Sleep with Wudhu

Taking proper wudhu day and night and praying afterward was the reason Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) heard Bilal (RA)’s footsteps in Jannah. MasyaAllah. Let’s incorporate this when we’re preparing to wake up for fajr.

Narrated Abu Huraira:

At the time of the Fajr prayer the Prophet (ﷺ) asked Bilal, “Tell me of the best deed you did after embracing Islam, for I heard your footsteps in front of me in Paradise.” Bilal replied, “I did not do anything worth mentioning except that whenever I performed ablution during the day or night, I prayed after that ablution as much as was written for me.” (Sahih Bukhari)

The Prophet (ﷺ)also said, “Whenever you go to bed perform ablution like that for the prayer, lie on your right side and say,

اللَّهُمَّ أَسْلَمْتُ وَجْهِي إِلَيْكَ، وَفَوَّضْتُ أَمْرِي إِلَيْكَ، وَأَلْجَأْتُ ظَهْرِي إِلَيْكَ، رَغْبَةً وَرَهْبَةً إِلَيْكَ، لاَ مَلْجَأَ وَلاَ مَنْجَا مِنْكَ إِلاَّ إِلَيْكَ، اللَّهُمَّ آمَنْتُ بِكِتَابِكَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلْتَ، وَبِنَبِيِّكَ الَّذِي أَرْسَلْتَ

“Allahumma aslamtu wajhi ilaika, wa fauwadtu `Amri ilaika, wa alja’tu Zahri ilaika raghbatan wa rahbatan ilaika. La Malja’a wa la manja minka illa ilaika. Allahumma amantu bikitabika-l-ladhi anzalta wa bina-biyika-l ladhi arsalta”

O Allah! I surrender to You and entrust all my affairs to You and depend upon You for Your Blessings both with hope and fear of You. There is no fleeing from You, and there is no place of protection and safety except with You O Allah! I believe in Your Book (the Qur’an) which You have revealed and in Your Prophet (Muhammad) whom You have sent.

Then if you die on that very night, you will die with faith (i.e. or the religion of Islam) (Sahih Bukhari)

9. Recite The 3 Quls (Surah Al-Ikhlas, Al-Falaq & An-Nas)

Aisha narrated:

Whenever the Prophet (ﷺ) went to bed every night, he used to cup his hands together and blow over it after reciting Surat Al-Ikhlas, Surat Al-Falaq and Surat An-Nas, and then rub his hands over whatever parts of his body he was able to rub, starting with his head, face and front of his body. He used to do that three times. (Sahih Bukhari)

10. Recite Ayatul Kursi

Here’s a great story.

Abu Huraira (RA) met with Satan who was stealing his food without knowing it was him (Satan was in disguise). This incident happened 3 times consecutively. Each time Abu Huraira caught him, he let him go out of pity. When Abu Huraira (RA) asked the Prophet (ﷺ), He said the man will be coming back. On the 3rd encounter, Satan gave something priceless to Abu Huraira (RA) in exchange for his pardon.

Here’s the hadith…

Allah’s Apostle asked, “What did your prisoner do yesterday?” I replied, “He claimed that he would teach me some words by which Allah will benefit me, so I let him go.” Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) asked, “What are they?” I replied, “He said to me, ‘Whenever you go to bed, recite Ayat-al-Kursi from the beginning to the end —- Allahu la ilaha illa huwa-lHaiy-ul-Qaiyum—-.’ He further said to me, ‘(If you do so), Allah will appoint a guard for you who will stay with you, and no satan will come near you till morning.’ […] The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “He really spoke the truth, although he is an absolute liar. Do you know whom you were talking to, these three nights, O Abu Huraira?” Abu Huraira said, “No.” He said, “It was Satan.” (Sahih Bukhari)

You can read the whole story here.

So, the moral of the story is, recite Ayatul Kursi before going to bed so that Allah will appoint a guard to protect you from the Syaitan until you wake up for Fajr the next morning. 

It will be easier for you to wake up for Fajr prayer when Syaitan is not lingering around to call you back to sleep insyaAllah.

11. No phones/electronics after 9pm

Phones and your other gadgets will distract you from sleeping on time. Try to put all your gadgets away at least 1 hour before sleep. It will also help you gain better quality sleep because the blue light from your phone will not negatively affect your sleep.

Get something relaxing to do before sleep instead, like writing in your journal and reflecting on your day, filling in your gratitude journal or reading a good book.

12. Take Wudhu immediately when you Wake Up

Taking wudhu immediately when you wake up for Fajr will freshen you up like nothing else insyaAllah.

There are 3 things you have to do when you wake up to untie Syaitan’s 3 knots:

1. Praise Allah by saying ‘Alhamdulillah’
2. Take wudhu
3. Pray the Fajr Prayer

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said,

“During your sleep, Satan knots three knots at the back of the head of each of you, and he breathes the following words at each knot, ‘The night is, long, so keep on sleeping,’ If that person wakes up and celebrates the praises of Allah, then one knot is undone, and when he performs ablution the second knot is undone, and when he prays, all the knots are undone, and he gets up in the morning lively and in good spirits, otherwise he gets up in low spirits and lethargic.” (Sahih Bukhari)

Bonus Point

When you wake up, wake the others around you.

What you give, you get back more.

The old adage is true in this case too. When you wake others up, it will be easier for you to wake up consistently every morning insyaAllah. Allah will see that you are the perfect person to wake up for Fajr because you’re helping others do the same.

Conclusion

Waking up for Fajr is just another habit we need to cultivate every day as Muslims. Don’t feel bad if you slip sometimes, as long as you’re trying your best, that’s good enough in Allah’s books. 

Allah says in the Quran,

Tell My servants that I am the Most-Forgiving, the Very-Merciful. (Surah Al-Hijr 15,49)

Try to incorporate these tips in your evening routine. You’ll see a difference in your day insyaAllah.

All the best!