Dr Rizwan Rumi
There was a time when human life moved naturally with the rhythm of the sun. Long before smartphones kept us awake deep into the night, dawn was not merely the beginning of another day; it was a moment of renewal. In Kashmir’s villages and towns, the early hours once carried a particular kind of quietness. Farmers left for their fields, elders walked along familiar paths, households stirred after morning prayers, and the first light slowly transformed the landscape. The day seemed to begin gently rather than with the frantic ringing of alarms and a flood of phone notifications. Today, much of that rhythm has disappeared. Late-night scrolling, television, social media, irregular work schedules and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle have pushed millions into a cycle of sleeping late and waking exhausted. We have gained the ability to remain connected to the world around the clock, but somewhere along the way, we have become disconnected from one of the simplest gifts available to us: the morning. And perhaps Islam offers us an important reminder of what we have lost.
Dawn As A Sacred Beginning: Few traditions place as much emphasis on dawn as Islam does. The Qur’an itself draws our attention to the dawn. Allah swears by al-Fajr—the dawn—in the opening verses of Surah Al-Fajr. In Surah Al-Isra, the Qur’an describes the recitation of dawn as something witnessed. The symbolism is powerful: dawn is not an ordinary transition between darkness and daylight; it is a moment worthy of reflection. Then comes Fajr, the first obligatory prayer of the day. For a Muslim, waking before sunrise is therefore not simply a lifestyle choice. It is an invitation to begin the day in remembrance of Allah before entering the noise of worldly life.
The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) also prayed for blessing in the early hours of the day. In a well-known supplication, he asked Allah to bless his Ummah in its early mornings. This idea of barakah in the morning carries a meaning far deeper than productivity. It suggests that time itself can possess a quality and richness that cannot be measured merely by the number of hours available.
The early morning is also a time when the world is unusually quiet. There are fewer distractions, fewer demands and less noise. For the believer, that quietness creates an opportunity for dhikr, Qur’an, reflection and sincere supplication. The Islamic morning, therefore, begins not with a screen but with the Creator.
We Have Replaced Dawn With Screens: Our modern problem is not simply that people wake late. It is that we increasingly surrender the night to screens and then surrender the morning to exhaustion. Many people fall asleep with a phone in their hand and wake up reaching for it again. Before speaking to a family member, offering a prayer or looking at the sky outside the window, they have already consumed dozens of messages, headlines, videos and social-media updates. The result is a peculiar form of modern fatigue: we are constantly informed but rarely refreshed. Islam’s emphasis on Fajr offers an alternative rhythm. Rise, pray, remember Allah, breathe, reflect and then enter the world. This does not mean that every person must follow an identical schedule. Modern professions, health needs and family responsibilities differ. But the principle remains valuable: our lives should not be dictated entirely by screens, notifications and artificial extensions of the night.
“Modern life often treats dawn as an inconvenience, relying on screens, complex routines, and productivity apps for fulfillment. Instead, true blessing and peace are found through simple early-morning discipline—putting technology away, engaging in spiritual reflection, connecting with nature, and starting each day with gratitude and purpose.”
Science Is Rediscovering The Morning: Modern research has increasingly highlighted the importance of regular sleep and exposure to natural light for maintaining the body’s circadian rhythm. Morning light helps regulate the biological clock, while consistent sleep patterns support mood, alertness and overall wellbeing. Our ancestors did not use the language of circadian biology. They did not speak about digital overstimulation or blue-light exposure. Yet they understood something fundamental: the body and mind function better when life maintains some connection with the natural rhythm of day and night. There is another lesson here. Islam does not ask us to abandon the world. It asks us to discipline our relationship with it. A morning walk after Fajr, a few minutes of Qur’an, quiet reflection, exercise, reading or simply watching daylight arrive can transform the character of a day. It creates a small space between the self and the chaos of modern life.
The Morning Is Also A Social Responsibility: Reclaiming the dawn should not be reduced to individual productivity. Our communities need healthier mornings too. Imagine neighbourhoods where people walk safely after Fajr, parks that are accessible in the early hours, young people encouraged to develop healthy sleep routines, and schools teaching children that rest, exercise, prayer and discipline are interconnected. Imagine parents putting their phones aside at night and waking their children not only for school but also to teach them the value of beginning the day with purpose. The objective is not to romanticise the past. Nor is every tradition of our ancestors automatically worth restoring. The challenge is to recover what was valuable while living intelligently in the present.
A Different Way To Begin The Day: Perhaps we should stop asking, “How much can I accomplish today?” before asking a more fundamental question: “How do I want to begin my day?” The answer could be remarkably simple. Sleep at a reasonable hour. Put the phone away. Wake for Fajr. Spend a few moments in prayer and remembrance. Open the Qur’an. Step outside. Walk. Watch the darkness give way to light. Speak to someone without a screen between you. None of this requires wealth or technology. It requires discipline. The Prophet’s supplication for blessing in the early morning should make us pause in an age that increasingly treats dawn as an inconvenience. Perhaps the blessing we are searching for in complicated routines, productivity applications and endless self-help advice has been quietly waiting for us at the same place it always has: the beginning of the day. Dawn does not demand much from us. It simply asks us to wake up. And perhaps, in learning to wake up early again, we may discover that we were not merely losing hours of the day—we were losing a precious opportunity to begin life each morning with gratitude, purpose and peace.
(The author is a research scholar. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”)
