Fajr Prayer

The fajr prayer is one of those amazingly beautiful things in Islam. Muslims have to pray 5 times a day, one of those prayer is at dawn or fajr. That's about 4 am as I write this. It has to be prayed between dawn and sunrise which is from 4 to around 5:30, not a very large time span to fit into the normal day like the rest of the assigned prayers, and also out of the usual waking hours of most people, which makes it quite the challenge.
I am not one who prays fajr regularly, although I should. I don't know why we are required to pray so early, but I have some ideas about it, and some I quote from other people. Firstly, it may have been set to pray at dawn because it is the start of the day, before sunrise, to prepare for something new before it starts, and how better to prepare than by praying! Another rationale I heard that seems very sound is that waking up early out of the normal waking hours of most people is something we do because we love God; if a lover asks us to do something difficult, we'd probably do it for them, we love God above all, then why not do it for Him; it's proof of our love and devotion. Moreover, it is a higher level of required discipline. I have mentioned before how discipline is part of Islam, especially in the required acts of worship like prayer. It is only fitting to have different levels of discipline that in turn become habits that are no longer such a challenge.
So there, I've analyzed the fajr prayer as I always seem to try to make sense of everything, but that's not all there is to it. Imagine waking up at 4 am, everything is quiet except maybe for some early birds chirping away. You're sleepy but it's too early to consider how the day is going to start yet. You do wodou'; wash up for prayer, and stand there in this very quiet and serene environment facing the Qibla; Mecca, the beautiful house of God, with His throne right above it, above all the heavens. Right then, you are standing in the hands of God, like you always do, only you've given up the precious hours of sleep, there is nothing on your Mind yet, no work, no school, no family, just you standing in the hands of God. You begin praying, "Allah Akbar" God is greatest. God is greater than sleep, than any other worldly issue that keeps us from really concentrating in our prayers, God is greatest so we sacrifice sound sleep for Him. You pray in the quiet, while the world has not waken up yet because Allah never sleeps. It is a brief prayer, barely takes 10 minutes, but it challenges us to get out of our way of the world that sometimes seems like it's all we consider in life, and we give 10 minutes of pure discipline, obedience, and total surrender to our Creator. What we get in return is an amazing moment of spirituality; to know that we have conquered our demons, and to have some peace.

P.S. I don't think I would have written this if it weren't for this video; amazing work, very inspiring, and may God bless all those who worked on it :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_XIbqKZxqg&feature=youtube_gdata_player