Tazkiyah #11 - fifth Greatest Purifier - Tahajjud

5.   The fifth is greatest purifier and the hardest of all. Thus, very few of Allah’s slaves have this quality. It is Tahajjud. It is a gift of Allah to his special slaves.

a.   It is the quality of the Muttaqeen and Muhsineen. It is a gift of Allah and a special and private affair between Allah and His slave.

إِنَّ الْمُتَّقِينَ فِي جَنَّاتٍ وَعُيُونٍ * آخِذِينَ مَا آتَاهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا

قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ مُحْسِنِينَ * كَانُوا قَلِيلا مِنَ اللَّيْلِ مَا يَهْجَعُونَ

Indeed, the people of Taqwa will be among gardens and springs,

Accepting what their Lord has given them. Indeed, they were before that people of Ihsan.

They used to sleep but little of the night, And in the hours before dawn they would ask forgiveness.

b.   The prophet referred to this as the habit of the righteous. It was their go to matter for everything.

عَلَيْكُمْ بِقِيَامِ اللَّيْلِ ، فَإِنَّهُ دَأْبُ الصَّالِحِينَ قَبْلَكُمْ ،

وَهُوَ قُرْبَةٌ إِلَى رَبِّكُمْ ، وَمَكْفَرَةٌ لِلسَّيِّئَاتِ ، وَمَنْهَاةٌ لِلإِثْمِ

I prescribe for you the night prayer, for it was the habit of the righteous before you, it is a source of closeness to your Lord, it expiates your evil deeds, and prevents you from sinning.

يَنْزِلُ رَبُّنَا تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى كُلَّ لَيْلَةٍ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ الدُّنْيَا حِينَ يَبْقَى ثُلُثُ اللَّيْلِ الآخِرُ

 يَقُولُ مَنْ يَدْعُونِي فَأَسْتَجِيبَ لَهُ مَنْ يَسْأَلُنِي فَأُعْطِيَهُ مَنْ يَسْتَغْفِرُنِي فَأَغْفِرَ لَهُ

Our Lord Almighty descends to the lowest heaven in the last third of every night, saying: Who is calling upon Me that I may answer him? Who is asking from Me that I may give him? Who is seeking My forgiveness that I may forgive him?

c.    Allah sent Jibreel to the prophet to tell him that highest honor of the believer is night prayer.

واعلم أن شرف المؤمن قيامه بالليل

 وعزه استغناؤه عن الناس

Know that the honor of the believer in in him praying at night.

And his prestige is self-sufficiency.