How to wake up for Fajr
For most people, the hardest Salah (prayer) to pray on time is the Fajr prayer, since it’s just before sunrise when most people are asleep. It also comes with huge benefits, so we should try our best to wake up on time to pray it. Insha’Allah it will become part of our routine like our other prayers.
Benefits of Fajr
Fard prayer
It is a Fard (compulsory) prayer, and really, that should be enough for us to pray it! However, like in everything Allah asks us to do, there is alot of benefit in it as well.
The Angels go up to the heavens
Abu Hurairah stated that Muhammad had said, “There are angels who take turns in visiting you by night and by day, and they all assemble at the dawn (Fajr) and the afternoon (`Asr) prayers. Those who have spent the night with you, ascend to the heaven and their Rubb, Who Knows better about them, Asks: ‘In what condition did you leave My slaves?’ They reply: ‘We left them while they were performing Salat and we went to them while they were performing Salat.’ ”
From Al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Allah is closest to us in the late part of the night
{Those who seek forgiveness before dawn (at late night).} (Quran, 3:17)
Separates the hypocrites
Abu Hurairah (Raa) Narrated : The Prophet peace be upon him said :
“No Salat (prayer) is heavier (harder) for the hypocrites than the Fajr and the Isha prayers,
but if they knew the reward of these Salat (prayers) at their respective times, they would
certainly present themselves (in the mosques) even if they have to crawl.”
Sahih Bukhari Vol 1 Hadith no 626
Health benefits
Ideally, we would wake up for Fajr and stay awake after praying it as well. There are alot of benefits to this as mentioned in this Zen Habits article, mainly having a calm morning and not rushing to work/errands, having time to reflect when the whole world is at peace, finding the time to exercise and watching the sunrise.
A good feeling
Overall, you will feel like your whole day has gone better because you woke up for Fajr – just try it! I always find that I feel so much calmer in the morning.
Importance of Fajr
Prophet Muhammad stressed the importance
Abu Huraira reports that Muhammad said: “Do not leave the two rak’ahs of Fajr, even if you are being attacked by cavalry.” This is confirmed by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Al-Bahaiqi and at Tahawi.
The 2 Sunnah rakah’s with Fajr are very important
The Sunnah rakah’s are the prayers the Prophet would pray after every Fard (compulsory) prayer, and they are seen as being highly recommended for each prayer. To read about the number for each prayer, click here.
These hadith stress the importance of the Fajr ones:
Aishah relates that Muhammad said about the two rakahs before Fajr, “They are dearer to me than the whole world.” This is related by Muslim, Ahmad and Tirmidhi.
Ahmad and Muslim record that Aishah said, “I have never seen him (Muhammad) more in haste to do a good deed than he was to perform the two rakahs before the morning (prayer).”
Aishah reports that Muhammad said, “The two (sunnah) rakahs of Fajr are better than this world and all it contains.” This is reported by Ahmad, Muslim, Tirmidhi and Nasa’i.
How to wake up for Fajr
Traditionally people would hear the Adhan (call to prayer) from their nearby mosque and get up. Now, due to the fact that alot of people live in apartments in buildings, or they have no mosques nearby their house, we don’t hear the Adhan to wake us up.
Sleep early
If you sleep late, like 1am, by the time it’s Fajr (e.g. 5am) you will be in deep stage of sleep (REM) and it will be much harder for you to wake up. If you sleep 5 or 6 hours before Fajr it is much easier to get up.
Make Niyyah (intention)
Go to bed thinking ‘I will wake up for Fajr’, and not ‘I hope I wake up, let’s hope for the best’. Even make a du’a to Allah to wake you up. You’ll be surprised how much this helps.
Set your alarm
The most obvious thing to do is to find out the Islamic prayer times in your city, see the Fajr time and set your alarm accordingly. The drawback of this method is that you can hit the snooze button and fall back asleep.
Computer Adhan software
This method works the best for me. You can download softwares that will be on your computer, you set your city in them, and at every prayer time the Adhan plays. This is useful for all Salah’s but especially for Fajr, because when you hear the Muazzin say ‘الصلاة خير من النوم’ As-salatu khayru min an-nawm “Prayer is better than sleep”, and declaring Allah is one, it’s hard to go back to sleep!
Of course you need to check that you keep your desktop/laptop in your room, set the volume on loud before sleeping, and check the software is running. Also make sure your computer is far away from you so you can’t mute it easily 
Here are some softwares you can install:
Guided Ways – PC
Guidance - Mac OS X (I use this one – you can choose from 5 Adhans, I like the Yusuf Islam one You can also see how much time is left till the next Adhan in your control bar at the top next to the clock)
Ask someone to wake you up
If you are a very deep sleeper, then you can ask a loved one to wake you up.
Jump out of bed
Once you’ve heard your alarm/adhan/loved one, instead of lying in bed and being lazy, thinking that ‘I’ll get up in 1 minute’ just get up immediately – even jump out! This is because this is the ideal time for Shaytaan (the Devil) to come and whisper in your ear that you are sleepy, you are tired, Allah will understand – and his whisperings will mislead you. Don’t let him win!
Insha’Allah if you can pray Fajr, Allah will make your day go well for you, and reward you in the Dunia and the Akhira. Jazak Allah Khair.
