Disclaimer: This post is from religion book ( purification of heart ) with some of my thoughts.
The Prophet said spread peace, feed needy people and pray at night when others sleep, and you will enter paradise with ease.
There is hadis in which the prophet said about Abdallah ibn Umar that he was an excellent man ' but if only he were spend time in Night prayer'. Scholars (Ulama) take from this hadith that a person can be excellent even he does not practise Night prayer, but the excellent person would be exceptional if she or he perform Night prayer. There is famous hadith of A'isha who said Prophet used to stand in prayer for so long that his feet would swell. She said ask him why pray so long when Allah has forgiven everything he have done in the past or future. But the prophet said '' Should I not be the grateful servant ''
Scholars says that any time after Isha is considered time for Night Prayer vigil (berjaga). Some say,that one should sleep then get up, while others day that sleep is not a requirement. People differ in what they are capable of doing. For some physiological reasons, some have an especially difficult time waking up for Night Prayer. For them, it is better to pray Qiyam before they sleep. Some people it is easier to wake up earlier before dawn. Right before dawn, sleep is the heaviest. Imam Ibn Ata'illah said there is great wisdom that god the exalted(mulia)obliges us to rouse ourselves from sleep when it is most difficult. The self discipline gained from this practise.
Satan ties three heavy knots on one's head. The prophet said that when one wakes up and says ''Praise be to god who has restored life to me after taken my soul and to him is the resurrection'', one knot is undone. When one makes ablution, the second knot is undone. And when one perform the prayer, the third knot is undone. p/s; i think all of you know about this. hehe just share it ok?
The night prayer vigil, like others acts of worship, is a gift that can be taken away when, for the example, the worshipper starts to backbite, gossip, slander, consume unlawful food, earn illicit (haram) wealth and so on. It is recommended that the last prayer be the Witr prayer. This requires that a person get up for Night Prayer. But if a person dose not have a night prayer regimen, then it is acceptable to pray Witr before sleeping.
Shaykh Habib said '' Take the path of ease with yourself in order for you to progress in your yearnings''. Do not push yourself to the point that you find your supererogatory(sunah)vigils a chore instead of delight. He said a prayer perfomed with love is better than a thousand devoid of it.
Imam Mawlud mentions the important of silence. The prophet said '' If a person is given silence, he is given wisdom'' The tongue is a great temptation. It is easy to say something that brings ruin upon its speaker. Learning how to control the tongue is big discipline. He also mention spititual isolation for the purpose of reflection. Some remember death through visual and some reflect on the attributes of God.
I just want to show you that.
We're different. How we act, how we perform prayer, how we make a good deed, how good our attitudes, how good you cover your aurah and so on. We walk in the same road. Ada yang lambat, ada yang cepat. Tapi kita semua tuju ke arah yang sama. Kita semua harapkan hasil yang sama.
book: Purification Of Heart
The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well ― Ralph Waldo
