The chapter of the Qur’an entitled” AI-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 corner 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.
Ref - The Moral Vision
- by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
