Waking up in the Morning

one of the basic differences between muslims who live their lives according to the teachings of the qur'an and those people who reject allah is this: the wisdom allah gives to those who use their conscience and stand in awe of the glory of allah. (for a detailed discussion see harun yahya's true wisdom described in the qur'an) because of their wisdom, believers are immediately aware of the reason behind events that godless people and those unable to grasp the truth regard as meaningless happenstance.

from the moment a believer wakes up in the morning, he knows that there is (as allah calls them in the qur'an), a "sign" in every experience he has in the course of a day. the word "sign" is given to those events in existence that are clear proofs of the existence, unity and the attributes of allah—and it is also the name for a verse of the qur'an. another idea similar in meaning is "the facts that lead to faith." this may be defined as those facts that bring a person to faith, and at the same time cause faith to grow, develop and become strong. but only those who sincerely turn to allah can recognise these "signs" and facts that lead to faith. the 190th verse of surah al 'imran is an example of this:

in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, there are signs for people with intelligence. (surah al 'imran: 190)

for those who have faith and live by the teachings of the qur'an, every new day is full of proofs of allah's existence and facts leading to faith. for example, to open one's eyes and start the day is one of allah's blessings to humanity and one of the facts leading to faith that needs to be pondered. this is because a person is unconscious throughout the night and all he can remember from those long hours of sleep are some indistinct dreams that last 3-5 seconds. during this time, a person is asleep with no connection to this world. his body and his spirit part company, and this time, during which he thinks he is sleeping, is actually a kind of death. allah reveals in the qur'an that human selves are taken while they are asleep.

allah takes back people's selves when their death arrives and those who have not yet died, while they are asleep. he keeps hold of those whose death has been decreed and sends the others back for a specified term… (surat az-zumar: 42)

it is he who takes you back to himself at night, while knowing the things you perpetrate by day, and then wakes you up again, so that a specified term may be fulfilled. (surat al-an'am: 60)

in these verses, allah says that human selves are taken during sleep, but are given back again until the determined hour of death comes. while asleep, a person partly loses consciousness of the outside world. to awake from the "death" of sleep to consciousness and the same condition as the day before, and to be able to see, hear and feel perfectly well is a miracle that we should consider. a person who goes to bed at night cannot be certain that these incomparable blessings will be given to him again in the morning. and we can never be sure if we will meet with some kind of disaster or wake up in a healthy state.

   a believer starting a new day thinks about these facts and thanks allah for covering him with his great mercy and protection. he looks at the new day as an opportunity given him by allah to win his pleasure and gain paradise. the moment he opens his eyes in the morning of the early dawn, he directs his thoughts to allah and begins the day with a sincere prayer, the dawn prayer of islam.

during the day, he acts with the knowledge that allah is always watching him, and is careful to win his approval by obeying his commands and counsel. he established a close bond with allah and began the day with the dawn prayer. in this way, the likelihood that he will forget allah's good pleasure during the day or ignore his limits is small; he will behave throughout the day with the knowledge that allah is testing him in this world.

someone who sincerely directs his thoughts to allah will be helped to see that he must think carefully about the blessings he has been given and that no one other than allah has the power to give them to him. in the qur'an, our lord says that people must ponder this matter:

say: "what do you think? if allah took away your hearing and your sight and sealed up your hearts, what god is there, other than allah, who could give them back to you?" (surat al-an'am: 46)

certainly it is the almighty and all-knowing allah who makes sleep a time of rest for human beings and restores his blessings to them in the morning. those who know this feel allah's proximity from the moment they begin their day and are pleased with the incomparable blessings they enjoy.

those who reject religion and refuse to consider this reality can never be fully aware of the blessings they have or know the joy that believers experience. generally, early in the morning, they find it difficult to get out of a warm bed and are stressed by the anxiety of having to get into step with the new day. some are anxious and depressed because of the things they have to do every morning. they don't want to get out of bed; there is a struggle in their minds between getting up and having one more minute of sleep. an often encountered moral failing in these kinds of people is that they are irritable, stressed and glum when they wake up.

godless people cannot enjoy the pleasure of allah's blessings; from the moment they wake up in the morning they return to the monotony of doing the same things every day. there is another kind of person who is unaware that the new day may be the last opportunity allah has given him: he prepares himself quickly to start his day avid to make more money, to show off to others with his possessions or appearance, to attract the attention of others and be liked.

those who ignore the facts that allah has revealed in the qur'an may start their day in their own ways, but there is a common lack of wisdom in the way they behave: they do not consider that allah created them, that they are responsible for serving him and winning his approval and that the new day before them may be the last opportunity they have to fulfil their duty towards him. allah reveals their condition in these words:

mankind's reckoning has drawn very close to them, yet they heedlessly turn away. (surat al-anbiya': 1)

it is clear that those who live immersed in this great error have made a huge mistake. one must not forget that every morning may be the beginning of the last day allotted to one's earthly life. death may come at any moment, because of a traffic accident, an unexpected disease or any one of countless other causes. in that case, as we said above, we must think about what we have to do to spend the day before us so as to win allah's approval.