Ramazan is a month of countless blessings and an abundance of opportunities — the opportunity to do good deeds, to strengthen our faith, to discipline ourselves and to practice qualities such as patience, etc. However, in this article I am going to highlight something that you probably overlooked before.

One of the greatest blessings of Ramazan is that it offers us the opportunity to build a habit of ‘early to bed and early to rise’. Throughout the year most of us, even though we are aware of its benefits, find it difficult to build this habit and make it our daily routine to go to bed early. Most kids sleep way past their actual timings and get up frantically for school the next day and keep feeling drowsing the whole time.

Ramazan is an excellent opportunity to build this good habit. During this month of religious significance, we have to rise early and get out of our beds no matter how dear our sleep is to us, have Sehri and offer the Fajir prayer. Most of us fall back into our beds as soon as we can after offering prayers. By doing this, we deprive ourselves of a number of benefits and opportunities that the wee hours of the morning have to offer us. Rising early yields many benefits that have been scientifically proven.

Take advantage of rising early in Ramazan to make it a habit the rest of the year too

Studies show that early risers earn better grades in school than late risers. They are also more productive throughout the day. They happen to be better planners since rising early offers them extra hours to plan their day effectively. Moreover, they are optimistic and more focused. They also get better sleep since those who get up early also go to bed early.

Early hours of the morning allow you to accomplish many tasks effectively that you may otherwise delay during the day due to many reasons. It is the time when your brain is full of energy and your body quite active. Moreover, there is a certain kind of serenity during this time that the busy and bustling hours of the day do not offer and once you get into the habit of rising early, you will practically feel this serenity inside you.

By night after you have offered the last prayers of the day, you will naturally start to feel drowsy and tired, which of course makes you want to go to bed as soon as you can. In this way, the habit of rising early simultaneously builds the habit of sleeping early, hence providing your body sufficient rest and sleep so that you wake up the next morning with renewed spirit.

So this Ramazan, avail the opportunity and vow to yourself to get into the habit of early to bed and early to rise. One month is a period sufficient enough to develop this habit, provided you practice this every day. It can be really hard, I know and this requires persistence and patience but once you get consistent with it, you would reap its benefits all through the year and witness a change in you.

Published in Dawn, Young World June 17th, 2017