Nightly Preparation
for a Mighty Task
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
The
chapter of the Qur'an entitled "Al-Muzammil" (The Mantled
One) commences with these verses:
"You who are wrapped up in your mantle, keep vigil all night,
save for a few hours: half the night, or a little less or a little
more: and with measured tone recite the Qur'an. We are about
to address to you words of surpassing gravity. It is in the
watches of the night that impressions are strongest and words
most certain; in the day-time you are hard-pressed with work.
Remember the name of your Lord and dedicate yourself to Him
utterly." (71:1-8)
From
these verses it is clear that God requires His servants to
be so devoted to divine service that they rise at night in order to
perform their duties to the Lord. To forgo one's sleep and spend
the night hours in pursuit of a cause indicates the highest level
of dedication; it shows that one has associated oneself utterly
with the object of one's dedication, and will soon be in a position
to represent it in the world.
This
applies to worldly pursuits also. Almost all the individuals
who have reached great heights in any field have been those
who were willing to stay awake at night in order to gain
proficiency in it.
The
case of Severiano Ballesteros, the Spanish golfer, provides
apt
illustration of this point. Ballesteros is now indisputably one
of the
greatest golfers in the world and has won millions of
dollars in numerous victories in tournaments on both sides of
the Atlantic. There was a time, however, when he was just a
poor caddy at Pedereda in Spain. He once told Frank Keating
of the Guardian newspaper how he used to get up at night to
hit a 100 or so balls "at the moon." He could not see them-
"but I can tell how good and straight I hit them by the feel in
hands and the sand."
To
become a true Muslim is to become a personification of
Islam in the eyes of the world; it is to become so associated
with Islam that one is fit to carry its message to far corners of
the globe. This requires intense preparation, which must be
conducted in a spirit keen enough to fuel one for work through
the night hours. Success does not come in mundane fields
without such dedication. How, then, can it come in the field of
divine
service, for there is no task more difficult, and more
beset by obstacles-both within and without-than that of carrying
the
flame of true faith in God before the world.