Waking up for Fajr is a struggle that all Muslims face. There is no tool more powerful than dua (supplication).
As it says in the Holy Quran:
“If My servants ask you about Me, I am near. I respond to those who call Me, so let them respond to Me and believe in Me, so that they may be guided.” The Holy Quran (2:186)
The below in a short extract from Dua Abu Hamza Thumali, a dua that Imam Ali ibn Hussain (the great grandson of our beloved Prophet Muhammad) used to read in the nights of the holy month of Ramadan. The whole dua is pretty long but extremely powerful and potentially life-changing. Try reading it in several parts and reflecting deeply on your life and the direction you’re going in life as you read it.
If you’re struggling to wake up for Fajr or to make the extra effort of waking up before Fajr to perform other recommended prayers, try finding some quiet time in your day and sit down on your prayer mat, turn to Allah and say the following:
“O Allah, every time I decide to prepare myself for offering prayers before You and converse confidentially with You, You throw sleepiness on me whenever I stand for prayer and thus You deprive me from conversing with You confidentially whenever I try. What is wrong with me?Whenever I feel that my inner self has become decent and that my station has become similar to that of the repentant ones, a sin would occur and cause my feet to stumble and deprive me from Your service?
My Master, perhaps You have expelled me from Your door, and retired me from Your service
Or maybe You observed my disregard of Your right on me and thus distanced me
Or maybe You saw me headed away from (Your path) and thus You withdrew me
Or maybe You found me to be in the position of the liars so You rejected me
Or maybe You saw that I was not grateful of Your rewards so You deprived me
Or maybe You observed my absence from the assembly of the scholars and thus put me down
Or maybe You found me to be one of the heedless so You despaired me of Your mercy,
Or maybe You found me frequenting the assembly of the unfaithful so You left me to them
Or maybe You did not like to hear my prayers so You distanced me
Or maybe You recompensed me for my crime and sin,
Or maybe You punished me for my lack of shyness from You.”
You can download the text of the entire dua in English and Arabic as a PDF here
Here is a video of the dua recited in Arabic with English subtitles:
