Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Sleeping after Subuh prayer and Nail-clipping

Pelita Ayan image from google

I remembered some 40+ years ago, waking up at the melodious voice of my late father “mengaji” between 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. He has to recite the Al Quran from memory as the light from “pelita ayan” powered by kerosene is not strong enough for him to read The Book. He will be reciting the Quranic verses while performing his morning stretching, which at times took him 1 to 2 hours. Sometime I would wake up as early to accompany him, using the pelita ayan to do my home-works. He would only allow me to accompany him if I promised not to attempt to sleep after the Subuh prayer. He did not explain much as to why I should not sleep after the Subuh prayer.. It was my mother who has made some attempt to explain it to me saying in her thick Trengganuspeak “orang dok tidor lepah Subuh.. ka’at rizki” (people do not sleep after Subuh prayer.. it discourages sustenance or provision).
Last Saturday, I sent a few SMS to a fellow Muslim an hour after Subuh. Just when duration of Subuh was about to finish he called me to provide answers to my queries and worries. Satisfied that I understand the situation perfectly, he finished the call telling me that he and members of his family would be doing his routine.. sleeping after Subuh … My not so sharp brain was out of focus then..Oh why not .. after all it is Saturday!.

After a while.. I recalled, this friend here has been doing business for some 15 years.. however good were his proposals / working papers.. Other opportunistic bystanders seem to be benefiting from them (proposals / working papers).. while he slogs on.. having to struggle day-in and day-out to make ends meet. 15 years is quite a long time to struggle and this last 12 months seems to cap it all.

Another SMS seems to be the order of the day.. my SMS to him reads :
“I had been prohibiting my children from napping after solat Subuh.. For there is a saying that sleeping after Subuh is not encouraging rizk (sustenance or provision ).. Unless you are not well.. I am not about to change my stance” .

Late that evening, I received another call from him still talking about business at hand.. to end up saying that he has told his grandson that from now on there will be no more sleeping after solat Subuh .

I have four Chinese families as immediate neighbours(one on each sides, in front and at the back) with my house sandwiched in the middle.. Two families are familiar with my habit of sleeping late and woke up very early. May be I talked too much about the virtue of waking up and starting the day early, or perhaps I made too much noise in the early hours of the morning or maybe they were trying to beat the traffic, my Chinese neighbour staying to the west of our house went to their “kedai pakaian” di Pasar Chow Kit before 6 a.m. After the first week , they came back and reported that people who sell clothes in places as far as Seremban has frequented their shop in the early morning hours as they can go back to Seremban early to open their shops. Few months later, coincident with the fasting month, they told me that they has rented the shop besides theirs and they were then running a 2 door shop operation.. 2 years later they came back and reported to me that they were running a 3 door shop operation.. For quite some times my better half and yours truly did wonder why was it that particular neighbour always gave me clothes for Baju Melayu and her for Baju Kurung for Hari Raya for some years.... until my better half told them that I bought a 7 year old Mercedes E230 cash (pssst.. by virtue of reaching 50 yers old.. yours truly did have some withdrawal from EPF for that E230).

Another Chinese neighbour (husband and wife) , which are staying to the north have been seen to leave their at 6 a.m for quite sometime now, thank to the good word of that successful neighbour. They operate a motor car workshop somewhere in Puchong. Their workshop is in a rather obscured place not easily accessible and they have been surviving by words of mouth. Words get around that they are doing very much better now as many motorist dropped by at early hours to have their cars repaired. The customers like to come to the workshop as their working hours will be least affected.

I could not figure out why is it that it is easier for some non-Muslim to practice the tradition, hadith of the Prophet, as compared to our Muslim brothers. You can see it in our daily life.. Malay foodstalls selling food for breakfast open up their business very much later than the Mamak and the Indian.

It was the other day that my better half told me a story about her brother’s best friend. This guy was frequently being reminded by his mother not to clip/cut fingernails at night.. cos she said the one who clip/cut fingernails may meet “bloody demise"(mati berdarah). However that guy always brushed off his mother telling her how come you (his mother) are so superstitious, still believe the ancient stories.. I am not sure whether there is any Prophet tradition that forbade us from clipping/cutting fingernails at night.. but the guy coincidently met his demise in a very bad motorcycle accident. Googles only produce documentation that relate this to superstition.. May be it is..




Motocycle accident image from Google


Should any reader of this entry found any hadith on prohibition to clip/cut fingernails at night and prohibition of sleeping after Subuh prayer; you are very welcome to quote it in your comment to this post.. Please!
Many thanks to Yohteh's for his comments which include ...Malay readers are urged share the readings .. on clipping fingernails .. here and on sleeping after subuh ..here

Have a wonderful day..

42 comments:

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Ayoh Wang,
As a matter of principle, I don't allow anyone, even beloved Mama or Dad, to clip my nails. At anytime, be it night or day. That saves me from "melanggar pantang" non? purrr....meow!

Zendra-Maria said...

Wan, this proverb came to mind - "The early bird catches the worm". I'm not sure I've caught any today though, have been up since 5am :)

Wan Sharif said...

CiS,
I forgot that you do not need to have your nails clip.. You one lucky...

Wan Sharif said...

Zen,
You are right on the proverb..
but us human wake up early and sleep again.. not trying to catch anything ..ha..ha.. Well.. I have been up since 2.30 a.m watched Arsenal football game.. read blogs make some comment.. Subuh came.. and I stayed up till time to go for work.. and like you..I have caught no worms either.

yohteh said...

Ayoh Wang...
...akin to certain of your childhood's time, me and siblings too have had to carry "pelita jerobong" in the wee hours with father leads the path before subuh to the river where we're having our morning bath... ahh... it's your intro that brought me back to those fresh memories...

...nail-clipping and sleeping after subuh..? to clarify a bit, let's share the readings here and here... wallahuaklam...

Siti Roffini said...

I don't know about the nail clipping theory but like you, I never sleep after Subuh. To be honest, I think it's a nikmat to be able to go back to sleep. I don't seem to be able to do it no matter how hard I try. But the good thing is I get to do a lot of things while the neighbourhood is sound asleep. In fact, I'm up long before Subuh around 4.30. But I go to bed early, too.

Wan Sharif said...

Yohteh,
Alhamdulillah, Yohteh has led me to get a clearer pictures related to nail clipping as well as sleeping after subuh.
What attracts me most in the link included by yohteh is the clarity of prohibition to sleep after subuh.. which Rasul said is equivalent to invite "kemiskinan" and the encouragement ..from his doa.. so that Allah bless his Ummah in the morning
Thank you again yohteh.. glad to know that my introduction bring you your sweet childhood memory..

Wan Sharif said...

Salam Siti,
Links provided by yohteh above gave a very clear pictures of both issues.. Wow!.. to wake up at 4:30 a.m. hmm... macam macam boleh buat.. yang di suruh ..sembahyang tahajud, baca AlQuran.. One thing that I could say about you not being able to sleep after subuh.. you have been very BLESSED!

Sir Pök Déng said...

Baru nok tido lepas subuh, Ayoh Wang. hehe.

Speaking of the mentioned superstition, I believe, what happened to that poor guy was just a coincidence.

b.r.u.t.a.l.s.o.l.o said...

lepas subu biasanya aku terpaksa anto anak buak g sekolah dan bergoging tak sempat tido dah

Aishah said...

Subuh is not too early. In fact, it is the perfect time to get up, pray, have breakfast, get ready, before the sun comes up.

As for cutting nails, the best time is after shower when the nails are soft. Morning or evening, does not matter in my humble opinion.

Naz in Norway said...

Ayoh Wang,
I normally do not go back to sleep after subuh simply because I love getting some time for myself before the kids get up and the circus starts. However, on weekends I allow myself the pleasure to catch up on sleep as on weekdays, my office hours are long - (Current projects entail being available for clients in two different time zones).

As for cutting nails, not in the evening/night...simply because I don't see very well!
:)

Wan Sharif said...

Sir Pok Deng..
During the sohabah time.. Muslims were careful not to contravene Prophet's traditions. There was a story of prolonged war and the Sohabah hold a meeting and asked what were traditions of Prophet that they were not following.. later they found out that they did not use miswak for brushing their teeth.. Thus the war quickly came to a conclusion when all sohabah used miswak.. so the story goes..
Feedback from Yohteh(the only feedback so far) above indicates what happen to the poor guy is pure coincident like you surmised.

Wan Sharif said...

b.r.u.t.a.l.s.o.l.o,
Thank you for the visit..
Then you are blessed as you have one tradition that you do not contravene.

Wan Sharif said...

Salam Aishah ..
Glad to know that you are( as I expected you would) not sleeping after subuh.. or at least not before the sun is up..
Yeah , the feedback (from yohteh's links above) say your opinion is on the dot.

Wan Sharif said...

Salam Naz,
From your N3 so far I believe you are religiously good.. so if you read my last post on iktikaf and my comments to Aisyah on same entry.. weekend is probably the best time to strive for that pahala satu Umrah.. my 2 cent opinion..
Interesting projects..(envy..envy.
Cutting nail is not much an issue for you then..
Take care... anak Malaysia..

DrSam said...

Salam Ayoh Wang. To cut ones finger nails under the dim and dancing light of api pelita jerobong can be one dangerous affair. Especially those days knife was used instead of the nail clipper.

Wan Sharif said...

Waa'laikumussalam DrSam,
Dim and dancing light of Pelita jerobong.. Yes a dangerous exercise to cut ones fingernail with a sharp knife under that condition..
Now.. you and yohteh mentioned pelita jerobong.. the word dancing.. can mean the light was not enclosed as in pelita ayan shown by courtesy of Google.. Somehow in Duyong I did not get to hear the word Jerobong.. asking my mother inlaw does not result in affirmative.. she also have no clue about jerobong.. but since two Gganu guys mentioned it, maybe I missed hearing the name.. jerobong may relate to jerubu.. hence the black soot in the nostrils after a night sleep using pelita jerobong as the only source of light..

ninotaziz said...

I too have memories ...of my grandfather reading the Al-Quran in the wee hours of the night. A peaceful calm settled over the household.

I remember the pelita too (incidently my latest magpie post topic) especially when the lights went out. A very real requirement if we had to go to the bathroom - takut ada lipan lima enam inci! As fiery red as can be!

Lee said...

Hi Wan Sharif, very interesting. I wakeup between 5and 6am everyday. Habit I guess, and first thing mesti have my Maxwell House rich blend coffee, iced of course.

And I sleep late too, around midnight and 1am.
There's that saying you know, the early burong dapat the worm, ha ha.
Have fun, and keep well, best regards, Lee.

Al-Manar said...

Ayah Wan

That 'seven year old Mercedes' and 'withdrawal from EPF' tell me something about you. And I have a 1984 BMW and all what I had in EPF had long gone! Never mind Wan; we have our lives - invaluable.

Ida BorneoLove said...

yeah.. I too cannot go back to sleep after subuh. I'd love to but, just can't. But by 10 am, I'd be done with the household chores (on weekends), if I slept after waking up at 5, i would feel sleepy and ever lazier.

Pill Pusher said...

Imagine what would happen if we cut nails at night while sitting underneath a ladder, and a black cat jumps out of nowhere and sit on our lap.

Wan Sharif said...

Mm,
Apology for not replying sooner,
Ninot.. Sometime I wonder why is it only the old folk that seem to read The Book in the wee hours of the night .. When can we get to see the young do the same.. luckily this now seem to be encouraging sign as a lot of tahfiz schools or premise sprouting up even in Ampang Cinatown.
Yes pelita is the real requirement in the kampungs especially where bathroom and toilet are outside the house perimeter and fiery red centipedes are there searching for food..

Wan Sharif said...

Wow,
You have iced Maxwell coffee in the Canada at 5- 6 am..
Yeah.. some time people reverse the saying "Early worms get eaten by the burong" ha..ha
Keep young and be happy..for Mrs Lee..

Wan Sharif said...

Pakcik,
Your comments always have me wondering, do have some kind thought of yours truly.. but then again we have our lives -- as your said it --invaluable..

Wan Sharif said...

Ida..
From your entries.. you seem to have achieve more than average on daily basis.. to do that, I have no doubt.. that you do follow one if not some the Traditions (of Prophet).

Wan Sharif said...

Dear Pill Pusher,
Mmm.. interesting and not a too wild imagination.. I supposed it means deep trouble and we surely need the one who share the same profession as you.. either to mend our head if not our finger..ha..ha.

Al-Manar said...

Somehow I do not have any hard and fast rule over this. I suppose come a time when time itself is immaterial. But time must not be wasted. Sometimes I prefer the quiet after midnight to after subuh.

rohaizahabas said...

Pak wan...

Di sini kami suami isteri menjemput Pak Wan sekeluarga ke majlis Perkahwinan anak perempuan kami pada Sabtu 6 Nov 2010...

Pak wan boleh bagi email tak...hantar kan alamat ke az_iz82@yahoo.com

Wan Sharif said...

Dear Pakcik..
"Sometimes I prefer the quiet after midnight to after subuh" I guess that the benefit of staying not too near to town center ..
Here in the outskirt of Ampang (some 14 km from KLCC) it is only from 3 am to 4 a.m. I can experience the quiet referred to by Pakcik..
As the Prophet normally spent 2/3 of the night serving Allah.. tahajjud , tawajjuh, etc. I guess the time mentioned by Pakcik includes the time recommended to be spent in search of Redha Allah..
May Allah guide us Allah sokmo sokmo.

Wan Sharif said...

Salam Kak Ezza,
Terima kasih atas undangan KE tu..
Ada umur , ada kelapangan dan izin Allah.. Opps ada alamat (dah e mail saperti yang di anjur) mungkin Pakcik blogger ini akan tak semena mena muncul...
Gambar utama yang menunjukkan pengkalan boat.. begitu menarik bagi ayah wan yang pernah bercinta dengan ikan sungai dan laut.. menggamit para pemancing untuk meninggalkan daratan..he,he

ninotaziz said...

For the record, I never sleep after subuh. There is just too much to do.

I was just thinking, perhaps you can do a post on the recommended time for prayers...though we generally say as soon as azan, I do my Isyak prayers at about 2am to 3am...when it is so peaceful. What do the Hadith and Quran say specifically?

And the times we should not pray, if any? Like after Subuh?

Best prayer time for Istikharah, Sembahyang Hajat etc?

I think it would generate some enlightenment.

Wan Sharif said...

Ninot dearest,
Thank you for your vote of confidence... what you ask need my full consideration.. and it need some commitment.. (to scrutinize all those book on solat.. so as not to make mistakes that can land me and my blog reader into....)
Commitment is not what I can freely give now as I am currently involved in:-
Importing rumput hydroponic greenhouse from China for MAHA and Jengka farm,
Finalising the preparation for MAHA in Nov/Dec 2010,
urusan nak mengadakan /menjayakan livestock exchange..
mencari some foreign investors for the exchange,
to decide location for the livestock exchange,
berurusan dengan Labuan Halal Hub to bring in cattle from Australia (going to Labuan.. this Sunday),
Mencari 60 investors untuk membeli USD 6 million ship (capable of carrying 2400 cattle),
To seal some applications to Veterinary Dept and bank..
Buying ~40 goats from my brother-in-law in Gua Musang,
Building goat house/pen in Jengka farm.
In P'nas.. tengah gali telaga .. dok bertungkus lumus menjayakan pencarian..
Excuses..excuses..he,he..

ninotaziz said...

I saw the ad for MAHA. Have fun.

emilio said...

Dear Tuan Wan,

Thank you for the post. I will use this as a parable to waken up my siblings and anak2 saudara when we gather in the kampung. It also strengthen my resolve to never again sleep after subuh eventhough it is not my habit to do so. However, sometimes we can get a bit tired after spending some time to consult with God in the night, thus as I get older my energy level has gone down as well. Used to be when I was a bit more warak, I can stay up and still not feel tired the next day..now I struggle with laziness and kekhusyukan, which has gone down the drain..Anyway recently, I had a bit of a windfall, one after the other, and people asked me "Apa amalan you dapat rezeki melimpah ruah?" Well...I don't know, is it doa makbul? Is it amalan? Is it keikhlasan hati? Is it our filial piety towards our parents? In the end it is only Rahmat Allah to whomsoever He wishes to bestow...

ninotaziz said...

Si tu as le temp, visite mon blog francais ici, merci!

http://lapoesieparninotaziz.blogspot.com/

Ida BorneoLove said...

senyap aehh... ?

Wan Sharif said...

Dear Ninot,
MAHA will be fun for the visitors.. for my friend who actively participate in MAHA, at times with no or little support, MAHA is a very tiring event.. a lot of time and preparations needed to make it a success.. then we have people in charge(many of them) some supportive, some disruptive and some have an agenda totally counter to event's objectives..
Whatever happens we sincerely hope that the farmers will reap some benefit from the event and they will take pride in the event..

Wan Sharif said...

Dear Emilio,
Thank you for dropping by.. In Reality (haqikat)everything is from Rahmat Allah.. our efforts are futile (tak memberi bekas.. from imam Shafie school of thought) and should be followed with what is called as tawakkal.. I will be very flattered to think (syiok sendiri lah tu) that my entry is of any benefit to you.. JazakallaLLAH (thank you).. God bless you

Wan Sharif said...

Ninot,
pour mon amie que j'ai le temps .. J'ai même lu tes chansons.. même si cela échappe à tes attention... mais je ne commente pas car elle prend beaucoup de temps pour moi de venir avec un commentaire utile .. de peur que tu crois je ne fais rien, mais tu loue ..

Wan Sharif said...

Dear Ida..
I was busy helping my friend who is involve in farming.. last weekend till Tuesday saw me accompanying him all the way to Labuan to see the Halal Hub there.. I also have to handle lot of tasks at my work place to the best of my ability.. which at times are not enough to guarantee success in finding the elusive hydrocarbon.. sound like you also eh.. forever busy..