HITTING BALLS AT THE MOON

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | Discover Islam | Al Risala, September 1988

Once a poor caddy at Pedereda in Spain, the world-­famous golf champion, Severiano Ballesteros won millions of dollars by winning tournaments on both sides of the Atlantic. To achieve such proficiency, he had to practice very hard and as he once told Frank Keating of the Guardian, he used to get up at night to hit a hundred or so balls ”at the moon.” He could not see them but “one can tell how good and straight one hit them by the feel in hands and the sand.”

The intensive preparation which leads us to success in worldly pursuits is in the single-minded concentration which it requires, on a parallel with dedication to religious goals. The highest level of such dedication is indi­cated by the individual’s willingness to miss his sleep so that his perform­ance can improve. Indeed, the Quran lays emphasis on the virtues of keeping an all-night vigil:

“O you who are wrapped up in your mantle, stand up to pray for much of the night.  It may be half the night or a little less than that or a little more, but recite the Quran slowly and distinctly. For We are about to send down to you a message of considerable gravity. Surely, getting up at night [for worship] is the most potent means of subduing the self and most suitable for the word [of prayer].  You have by day prolonged occupations [with Dawah work].
 Remember the name of your Lord, and devote yourself to Him wholeheartedly.” (73:1-8)

From these verses it is clear that God requires His servant to be so devoted to divine service that they should stay awake at night in order to perform their duties to the Lord. One reason for adopting this nocturnal habit is that people are too preoccupied with mundane matters during the day to find the time or the solitude in which to perform their religious duties effectively, and another is that the impact of religious words and thoughts is greater at night, because the mind is free then of daytime concerns. And just as Ballesteros considered the winning of a golf tournament an objective worth missing his sleep for, so should the good Muslim feel that his religion is worth keeping a night vigil for. The true Muslim should so identify himself with Islam, that religious devotions at night should seem to him to be the most obvious and the most natural way to prepare himself for the great task of spreading its message to the four corners of the earth.