IN THE EARLY HOURS: REFLECTIONS ON SPIRITUAL AND SELF DEVELOPMENT pdf

In the Early Hours: Reflections on Spiritual and Self Development by Khurram Murad

IN THE EARLY HOURS: REFLECTIONS ON SPIRITUAL AND SELF DEVELOPMENT

Title of this book, In the Early Hours, has been carefully and specifically chosen to highlight that precious but often neglected time during the night that Allah is closest and most receptive to His servants.

 The Messenger of God said: Our Lord descends each night to the nearest Heaven when only the last third of the night remains, and says: ‘ Is anyone praying that I may answer him? Is anyone seeking forgiveness, that I may forgive him?

 Is anyone asking, that I may give to him?’, and this continues until dawn. ( Tirmidhi .) The later part of each night is the most conducive period for reflection and self development.

It is the occasion with the most potential for the heart to be present, alert and free of worldly concerns as the Quran declares: Lo! The vigil of the night is [a time] when impression is more keen and speech more certain. [al-Muzzammil 73:6.]

This book is a collection of inspirational advice by a dear and beloved teacher, Ustadh Khurram Murad on the subject of spiritual and self development.

In it he sets out the goal of the Believer- the single-minded desire to seek the good pleasure of Allah and Paradise. He then outlines the methods and instruments which must be used in the attainment of that ultimate goal.

These spiritual exhortations that follow were originally delivered in those early hours of Summer 1993 just after Salat al-Fajr as part of a course entitled Self Development for Islamic Workers at The Islamic Foundation, Leicester. That course represented one