As a Muslim waking up at 6 AM every day changed my life for the better. But what are the benefits of waking up so early? As Muslims we follow the Sunnah of prophet Muhammad (saw) and the prophet (saw) would wake up early and stay awake after fajr prayer.
Ever since I started following this Sunnah, it has brought such a positive change to my days! Alhamdulillah. It has allowed me to start my day with a sense of peace, as I can spend more time in worship and be more productive. This allows the rest of my day to go smoothly as well. Are you ready to know how waking up early could change your life and how to implement this habit? Read more to know now.
Have you been contemplating waking up at 6 AM or trying to wake up earlier? It might not be easy..
Trust me, I know. But I am here to positively motivate you!
In this blog post, I will explain why waking up at 6 AM (or even before 6 AM) changed my life for the better as a Muslim. This morning routine has helped me strengthen my imaan and brought a closer relationship with Allah SWT and the Quran. The routine brings blessings in my life thanks to Allah SWT and I am more productive throughout the day. I have been able to accomplish so many goals of mine, let me tell you more about that and how you can achieve this as well! Bi idnillah
Before doing any deed our intention needs to be for the sake of pleasing Allah SWT. We need to be sincere in our actions, to gain the reward for the action, we are doing. Read more about this in my previous blog posts.
Waking up before 6 AM every day (even on the weekends!) might seem like a waste of time.
What should you be doing that early?
Of course, you should be waking up before sunrise to pray fajr but going back to bed after the prayer seems inviting.
I get it.
But hear me out. Waking up at 6 AM every day has plenty of benefits! It can change your life as well.
Salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu
Bismillahir rahmanir raheem – we start in the name of Allah the Merciful, the Compassionate.
I ask Allah SWT to put Barakah in this post, bless the readers, and guide us all closer to Allah, amiin.
**Disclaimer: I´m no scholar and I´m just a slave of Allah SWT studying our deen, & Allah knows best. These are reminders for myself as much as for my readers. Some links may be affiliated links, which means I might get a small commission from the sales, at no extra cost for you.
Follow the Sunnah of waking up early
The prophet (saw) said it himself, that there are blessings in the morning time. How you spend your mornings can have a great impact on the state you are in during the rest of the day. So take control of your morning and you will be given Barakah during the rest of your day.
The practice of the prophet (saw) was to stay awake after fajr prayer. He (saw) would not get up from the place he had prayed Subh until the sun rose, as it is reported in the following hadith.
Sahih Muslim (1/463) in the hadith of Sammak ibn Harb
Sahih Muslim (1/463) in the hadith of Sammak ibn Harb, who said: “I asked Jabir ibn Samurah, ‘Did you used to sit with the Messenger of Allah?’ He said, ‘Yes, frequently. He would not get up from the place where he had prayed Subh until the sun rose. When the sun rose, he would get up. They used to talk about things that had happened during the Jahiliyyah, and they would laugh and smile.’”
It is stated by scholars, that it is not haram to sleep after fajr. So if that is what you need sometimes, do what works for you on those days.
Ibn al Qayyim states that the salaf would not sleep during the time after fajr even if they are tired or have been travelling. In case they had to, they would sleep only after the sunrise. (Al-Madaarij 1, 459).
What better reason could there be? Than following the Sunnah and getting Barakah from Allah SWT in your day is all the reason you need to start waking up early.
Now that you know the why, let´s dive into the how!
How to wake up at 6 AM every day to change your life for the better as a Muslim
You might have heard this before:
A morning routine starts the night before with a night routine.
Having a good night routine is a great start to your morning routine. The night routine helps you to relax and get quality sleep. Like Robin Sharma mentioned in this video on how to wake up early, quality sleep over quantity sleep.
I truly agree with that.
There has been studies (but so far very few) about how people who get up to pray at night, needs less amount of hours of sleep.
What do you need to include in your night routine for success?
– Plan the night before, what your morning should look like and write your to-do-list in this app with the help from AI. Failing to plan is planning to fail.
– Make lots of Dua to Allah SWT. Ask for Allah SWT to grant you a good night´s sleep and for Allah SWT to make it easy for you to wake up early. Ask Allah SWT and He will answer!
– Set your intention. And your alarm clock! You need a why. Why are you waking up early? By setting your intention, that you will wake up early to worship Allah SWT, He will make it easy for you. But you need your intention to be specific. What exactly do you need to do to achieve your goals? Break it into smaller tasks.
– Take action. The rest is up to you to take action. Setting your alarm clock (or multiple alarms) and winning the battle of the bed in the morning. I´ll be cheering for you!
Win the battle of the bed
You have to make the choice, early in the morning, to get out of bed immediately when you wake up or hear your alarm!
Here is the scenario:
You lie in a warm, nice bed. You hear your alarm tone ringing.. and shaytan starts whispering in your ear.. “Just 5 more minutes of sleep”.. “Just hit snooze, it´s okay”.
This is the time when you have to be the strongest.
The strongest person is the one who can leave their comfortable bed to worship Allah SWT and pray in the dark night when everyone else is asleep. Everything else gets easier after getting out of your bed.
The hardest part is those minutes after your alarm goes off and you have to make the choice to get up! Trust me.
And your intention and reason for waking up early will help here.
Reasons like having selfcare time before everyone else wakes up. Getting peace and quiet to read the Quran. Being able to focus on making sincere dua to Allah SWT, just you and Allah SWT before the sun rises. Or simply to drink your favorite cafe latte and read your favorite book peacefully. Whatever your reason is, remind yourself of this, when waking up and it will get alot easier inshAllah.
This is what works for me, after actually getting out of the bed early:
- morning dua and dhikr (Thank God that I woke up)
- a lot of light to wake me up (when the sun has not risen yet)
- a cold shower/wudhu with cold water
- moving my body, go for a short walk or do jumping jacks
- having something, I personally enjoy, to look forward to. Such as my favourite book that I only read this early in the morning. A piece of dark chocolate or fruit and some special tea/coffee.
I haven´t heard many talk about breakfast in other early morning routines. But for me, it is important to have at least a snack next to my morning drink, while I read my book. And not wait too long to have my breakfast. It is crucial to have a nourishing meal to give you energy in the morning.
When tiredness sneaks in, get moving! You can stretch for 10-20 min. Do a workout, go for a walk, or run up and down the stairs. It usually wakes me up.
Don´t sit for too long a time. You can sit for 45-60 minutes max, then get moving again.
You have the power to choose to NOT go back to bed! No one else bu you are in control, don´t blame anyone else – take responsibility.
Do something that brings you joy
Waking up at 6 AM to clean the whole house, if that’s what you enjoy – go for it!
But please don’t wake up so early to do something you feel like you must do. Rather do things and activities which bring you joy. Make this time just for you. That will make you wanna get up early the next day again and continue the good habit.
Follow the 5 a.m. club rules
You can follow the 5 a.m. club morning routine:
- 20 minutes of moving your body
- 20 minutes of reflection/journaling
- 20 minutes of learning
Tweak it to your liking. But it’s great to plan a routine ahead of time, so you know what to do, when you get up in the morning.
Ideas on what to do when waking up early
Here are my five ideas to add to your 6 AM morning routine which will bring Barakah to your early mornings:
Learn Arabic! Join an Arabic class
This Arabic class which I am using has been great. After learning the Arabic alphabet, the teacher goes straight into teaching words and sentences in Arabic. It has been so much fun and easier than I expected. The videos are short and easy to follow, so you can make time for it in a busy schedule. Use my discount code: Deenoverdunyaa25 for 25% off.
Read the Quran!
Reading the Quran is of course a must and Allah SWT will bring blessings to the rest of your day when reading Quran daily insha Allah. To read and understand the Quran and Hadith you can join this course.
A big idea: what if we used the Quran as we use our phones?
Reading the Quran first thing in the morning. Reading the Quran before we go to bed. When eating (read Quran). Sharing with others what we read/saw in the Quran. When taking a break from work – check the Quran instead of your phone and so on..
It is important to strive to learn correct Tajweed when reading the Quran. Are you looking for a course to help you learn Tajweed? – join this class to learn Tajweed.
Quran journaling
There are many ways to Quran journal. Experiment and find your own way! I recommend using this tafsir to get the correct information of the Surah and getting to know new hadiths and explanations.
After that you can write your thoughts on how the Quranic verse made you feel and what came to your mind. I will make a more detailed post about this insha Allah!
Read a book!
Not just any book. A book for self-improvement or gaining new knowledge. Currently, I am reading this book. It works wonders for me that I have one book which I only read early in the morning. And then other books I read throughout the day.
But with this book, I look forward to reading a few pages every morning. If there is any quotes or sentences, I particularly wanna remember, I do a short book review and write it down on my Notion Reading list page.
Gratitude journal
Using a gratitude and reflection journal is great as well; such as the Lh Agenda journals. As a Muslim it is important to practice gratitude daily! Say Alhamdulillah for everything.
You will be more focused when you reflect on your intentions for the day in your morning routine. I like doing my gratitude journaling in the evening. In the morning I focus on reflection, the intention for the day, and how I will get to my goals today.
Example of a 6 AM morning routine
You can incorporate all of the above in your morning routine, depending on your time schedule in the morning or have a more focused session for each.
Starting with 10-20 minutes of reading the Quran, then 10-20 minutes of Quran journaling.
After that 10-20 minutes of the Tajweed or Arabic course. Following it with 10-20 minutes of reading a book and finally, 10-20 minutes of reflection or journaling.
Or each day you do something different. More focused deep work. Here is an example of how that weekly routine could look like:
Mon: Quran + Tafsir
Tue: Quran journaling
Wed: Hadith + tafsir
Thur: Tajweed course
Fri: Reading a book and taking notes on the pages you read
Sat: Arabic course
Sun: Gratitude journaling
How waking up early changed my life for the better as a Muslim
I had been thinking about waking up at 6 AM for weeks. Finally, after waking up at 6 AM consistently, I noticed how it changed my life for the better as a Muslim.
I have more time to focus on the important things for my akhira.
For so long I wanted to start an Arabic course but couldn´t quite find the right class for me until I found this class. And in the past I could not find the time for it.
Alhamdullilah now with my early mornings, I have a focused hour or two, before the rest of the world wakes up, just for my self to do all of the above.
I love Quran journaling and can do that in peace and more focused now in my mornings. SubhanAllah wallahi it has changed my life for the better to wake up earlier.
Before starting this new routine, I was planning to and waiting to start an early morning routine later in life. “One day, when I get married insha Allah” or “one day, when I have a family or graduate from school” – shaytan whispered in my ear..
Don´t wait – start now!
But seriously there is no time to wait. Start now! We do not know how long we will live. Only Allah knows. All we have is now!
Having an early morning routine to myself has brought tranquility and calmness to my daily life. I don´t feel stressed or overwhelmed about doing everything I have to get done in the day. Plus I avoid struggling to find time for the things I actually enjoy doing!
There is more hours during each day and I have some time for myself as well which makes me feel accomplished.
Doing daily chores does not feel dreading. I have the energy and motivation to clean and cook daily, because I know I already did some self-care in the morning just for me. Fill your own cup, before others.
Motivation for waking up at 6 AM every day
These are my last tips to motivate you to wake up 6 AM every day insha Allah. It takes 60+ days before a new routine becomes a habit. So do not be hard on yourself. You can do it! It will take some time.
For me the first 22 days or so, were just to get used to waking up earlier. Do not be hard on yourself if you don´t get up early that day. Just try again the next day! Then slowly but surely more and more days you will get up earlier and earlier. Days will become weeks and weeks will become months of waking up early to a new you!
What do you enjoy doing in your morning routine? Share your tips in the comments. Salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh!