The eye is Satan's arrow. Whoever suffers from the disease of the evil gaze harms his whole life. An eye that falls on forbidden things will lose the worthiness to see Allah — and the greatest blessing of Paradise is the sight of Allah.

Many people are known to others as good people. They pray regularly and are known as devout, religious, scholars or people of Allah. They are never seen sinning in public, but in secret they commit all kinds of sins. Many who appear good in public even commit major sins in private. This is hypocrisy on the one hand, and on the other it slowly destroys a person's deeds and worship.

Day and night together make up a person's whole lifetime. Busy with work and ashamed in the light of day, people may keep away from sin. Imam Ghazali said: "Many people refrain from sin, but not for Allah's sake. They refrain out of fear of family, society and the state."

Allah created the night for people's rest. Allah says He created the children of Adam very weak. So people need rest for part of the day, and the night is covered in darkness. This is human nature, and it is well known that darkness suits sleep. Sleep at night is itself worship for the believer.

A hadith says that whoever prays Isha and goes to sleep, then offers the Fajr prayer, is as though he spent the whole night in worship, even while sleeping.

Ali (RA) said: "People sin most when they are alone." The night is dark and solitary. In the light and bustle of day everyone wears the garb of goodness; in the deep darkness and silence of night the mask falls, natural urges awaken and people become active in sin.

Such secret sins can be committed by words, by thoughts or intentions, or by deeds. Worshipping to be seen by others (riya) is a secret sin of intention or thought, while hidden adultery (zina) is a secret sin of deed.

The night has become the vehicle of sin, and obscenity through the internet, mobiles, Google, YouTube and Facebook is its fuel. Carried along by it, many believers are losing their consciousness of faith and ruining their success in the hereafter. Character is becoming aggressive, moral values are being damaged, and social ethics and discipline are being lost.

Sins committed in secret are more dangerous than open ones. If someone who has done mountains of good deeds indulges in forbidden acts in private, those deeds are destroyed. When a person grows used to sinning in secret, the fear of Allah leaves the heart. He keeps sliding towards ruin and decline, and sometimes the state becomes so grave that even his faith is destroyed and he dies without faith.

So let us not waste the night but use it as the body's due, and beyond that as the ideal time for worship. None of those who became friends of Allah or beloved to Him did so without worship at night.

On night worship Allah says: "Stand in prayer at night, except for a little — half of it, or a little less, or a little more — and recite the Quran slowly and distinctly." (Surah Al-Muzzammil)

Night worship is achieved through effort. When purity enters life and the day's deeds become good, the night's deeds become easy. Hasan Basri said: "Can't you pray tahajjud? Then make your daytime deeds good; the deeds of the day make the deeds of the night easy."

Source: Amader Shomoy. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.