Am I Accountable to Wake Up My Daughter For Fajr?

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

I pray you are well. My daughter is 12 and sleeps very deep. Waking her up for fajr is very difficult; she doesn’t hear her alarm, and if she does, she turns it off, falls asleep, and can’t recall doing so. When I wake her myself, she responds but is in deep sleep or not really aware and falls asleep again and again and doesn’t remember anything afterward. Is she accountable if she falls asleep and doesn’t hear her alarm or turns it off and falls asleep yet has no recollection of doing it? Am I accountable for not getting her up? How excessive am I to keep trying to wake her up? I worry she will be accountable or that I will for not waking her up. As her mother, am I responsible for her getting up for fajr? Jazak Allah Khair.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.

She is not accountable as she has deep sleep and no recollection of turning her alarm off. You are not accountable if you have tried to wake her up. It is also not good to keep her awake all night to make her perform Fajr.

It is not obligatory to wake someone up for prayer at the beginning of the prayer. However, it will be necessary when nearing the end of prayer time.

[Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd-al-Muhtar]

However, the advice can vary from person to person.

Wisdom-based Approach

As a mother, you and your daughter need to find a solution. Read the links below for some tips. See what works. Our goal should be, be it our children or those under our care in schools, seminaries, maktabs, weekend schools, or adult folk at home, not to force grudging religious compliance. Our goal is to make them love to be religious, and we must use virtues, tactful nurturing, and wisdom of all kinds to bring it about. Our goal should be to use our authority or religious compliance to bring others to love the religion and not adopt ways to drive them away.

I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction in sha Allah.

Related 

• What Are the Rulings for Waking People Up for Prayer? (seekersguidance.org)
• Can You Give Me Tips to Wake Up for Fajr? – SeekersGuidance
• Prayer Reader: The Ultimate Guide To Prayer in Islam – SeekersGuidance

Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.