Why Winter is a Good Time to be a Believer
It might not feel like it when the icy wind is cutting through your coat, or ruining another umbrella, and the horizontal rain is pelting your face - but winter really is a blessing for those who believe. Here’s why.
Prayer
Winter nights offer the believer a wonderful opportunity for worship, particularly because the long nights allow more time to rest between prayer and, therefore, make it easier to perform voluntary prayers such as Tahajjud.
Abu Hurayra (Ra) reports that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said, "The best prayer after the obligatory prayers is the night prayer." [Muslim]
Praying at night is linked to other virtues which bring rewards, such as spreading peace, and feeding the hungry.
Abd Allah ibn Salam (Ra) reports that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said, "O people! Spread the salams, feed others, maintain family ties, and pray at night when others sleep and you will enter Heaven safely." [Tirmidhi, Hakim]
Winter provides a perfect opportunity to get into the habit of performing Tahajjud, a practice you could carry on into Ramadan and beyond.
Fasting
Since the days in the heart of winter are shorter, fasting from sunrise to sunset is much easier to endure. This gift from Allah (SWT) gives the believer ample opportunity to reap the rewards of fasting with minimal effort.
On top of that - the shorter days in winter make it the perfect time to catch up on any days of missed fasting, which for adults is compulsory. So if you’ve missed some fast days because you were ill or travelling, winter is the perfect time of year to make amends.
Helping others
With thousands of families across the world struggling through winter, we have an opportunity to meet the needs of those less fortunate than ourselves. Right now there are displaced people living in the hills near Kabul, Afghanistan, or huddled in refugee camps in Lebanon’s Bekka Valley, whose lives have been torn apart through conflict. Without adequate shelter or food, they face a daily struggle to make it through winter.
With your help, Muslim Hands is bringing life-saving aid to these people and many more across the world in places such as Gaza and Pakistan.
You can keep up this good work by donating to our Below Zero: Winter Appeal - feeding those who are hungry and clothing those who are cold.
