What is the importance of the morning prayer (fajr)?

Dear Brother / Sister,

1. A person who performs the morning prayer is under Allah's guarantee.

The morning prayer is the first test and first worship of the day. Therefore, you need to pass the first test by making a good start so that you will be strong and ready for the other tests and dangers.

As a matter of fact, the Prophet (pbuh) expresses this fact in the following hadith: "A person who performs the morning prayer is under Allah's guarantee." (Kütüb-i Sitte, Vol. 17, p. 541)

A person who starts the day under "Allah's guarantee" by performing the morning prayer will obtain enough confidence and strength to cope with the dangers he will encounter until the next morning.    

A person generally spends the day until the night in the same way as he starts the day. A believer who starts the day well and obtains a victory in his fight against the soul and Satan will be successful until he goes to bed.

2. Even the sunnah of the morning prayer is better than the world.

The sunnah of the morning prayer is so important that it is the strongest sunnah after tahajjud prayer. The following is stated in hadiths:

"Do not give up performing the two rak’ah sunnah of the morning prayer even if you are chased by cavalrymen."

"It is better than the whole world." (Kütüb-i Sitte, 8/424)

What excuse that can be presented as a drawback to the morning prayer can be more dangerous than being chased by the enemy and more valuable than the whole world?

What trouble and danger that you present as an excuse can be as frightening as being chased by the enemy?

We are ordered to perform the morning prayer even in that case because Allah is the owner of everything. After His order is fulfilled, no danger can harm us. Even if we are harmed, we will lose in the world but win in the hereafter.

- Is a person who abandons what is ephemeral and earns what is eternal at loss?

3. Hz. Umar performed the morning prayer even when he was wounded.

The distinguished Companions of the Prophet (pbuh) gave so much importance to prayers that they would not regard anything as a drawback to prayers; they would not care even war, wounds and death.  

Hz. Umar, who had been given the glad tiding of Paradise when he was in the world, was assassinated. He performed the morning prayer though blood was coming out of his wound; he did not think of abandoning it.

A tent was put up in the mosque for Sa'd bin Rabi, who had been wounded in the Battle of Khandaq; he performed prayers there and died there.   

Let us have a look at the following awesome incident:

The Prophet (pbuh) and his Companions set off for Dhatur-Riqa Expedition. They stopped somewhere to rest and the Prophet assigned Abbad bin Bishr and Ammar bin Yasir the duty of keeping guard at the entrance of a pass.

When they arrived at the pass, Ammar started to sleep and Abbad started to perform a prayer.

A polytheist who was following them, shot an arrow when he saw Abbad praying. The arrow hit Abbad. However, Abbad removed the arrow and continued praying. When the polytheist saw that he continued praying, he thought the arrow did not hit him and shot another arrow. Then, he shot the third arrow because Abbad continued praying. After a while, his friend woke up. When the polytheist saw that there were two people, he ran away.  

When Ammar saw his friend in blood, he said,

"Subhanallah! Why did you not awaken me when he shot the first arrow?"

Abbad gave a remarkable answer:

"I had started to read such a chapter that I did not want to cut it short." (Kütüb-i Sitte, 10/199)

It was such a great belief and a magnificent devotion that he regarded the arrows that hit his body as needles.

There was no worship more important than prayer and no deed more valuable than prayer for the Companions. They did not hesitate to sacrifice their lives and wealth, in short, everything, for prayer.

4. The time period for the morning prayer ends when the sun rises

Each time period for a prayer is the beginning of an important revolution, a mirror of a great deed of Allah and the manifestation of the divine grant in that deed.  

The time for the morning prayer reminds us of some very important messages. This issue is explained as follows in the book called Sözler:

"The time of Fajr, the early morning: This time until sunrise resembles and calls to mind the early spring, the moment of conception in the mother’s womb, and the first of the six days of the creation of the heavens and earth; it recalls the Divine acts present in them." (Dokuzuncu Söz, Dördüncü Nikte)

Thus, the time period from the beginning of the morning prayer until sunrise resembles and reminds us of the season of spring, the moment of conception in the mother’s womb, and the first day of the six days of the creation of the heavens and earth; it recalls the divine acts in them.

As it is seen, the time period for the morning prayer reminds us of very important moments related to "man, the world and the universe"; they are the beginning of an important revolution and manifestations of an important deed and divine grant.

The time for the morning prayer is very important like the other prayers. However, some Muslims do not know the time period for the morning prayer and do not pay attention to it. They think the morning prayer can be performed until the noon time. However, it is wrong. The time period for the morning prayer starts at the time of imsak (dawn) and ends when the sun rises.

The imsak time included in calendars is the beginning of the time period for the morning prayer. However, it is more virtuous to perform the morning prayer thirty to forty minutes before sunrise. The “sun” time included in calendars is the time when the sun rises and the period for the morning prayer ends.   

Therefore, it is definitely necessary to perform the morning prayer before the sun rises. The morning prayer is performed as a qada (missed) prayer after the sun rises. Some people think as follows: "If we perform it after the sun rises, we will have paid our debt but we will not get any thawabs." This way of thinking is not right. When adhan for the night (isha) prayer is called, the time period for the evening (maghrib) prayer ends; similarly, when the sun rises, the time period for the morning prayer ends. Therefore, it is definitely necessary to before the sun rises in order to perform the morning prayer.

Why did the Prophet (pbuh) and billions of Muslims that came after him go to mosque for the morning prayer when it was still dark early in the morning if it were not like that?

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