The Salah Series: Part I

In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most CompassionateAll praise and thanks be to God, and may peace and blessings be upon the most noble of Prophets and Messengers.

A while ago, a show aired in Arabic called ” بالصالة؟ تتلذذ which means “How can ”كيف you taste the sweetness of prayer?” by a young Kuwaiti da’iya named Mishary Al-Kharaz. For many of us, our khushoo’ in our prayer fluctuates. What is khushoo’? It is a state of mind that contains serenity, tranquility, dignity and humility during prayer, which springs from one’s heart standing in front of Allah in humility and submission. Sometimes in prayer we have so much devotion and can feel every word; yet at other times it’s all about the ritual movements and nothing more. Insha’Allah (God willing), I will try to summarize the main points of this show every week.

The Story of the Ansari and the Muhajir

In the sunan of Abu Dawud, it is narrated with a hasan (good) chain that in one of the battles, the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص appointed two guards, one from the Muhajiroon and one from the Ansar. At one point, the Ansari got up to pray while the man from the Muhajiroon reclined in order to have a nap. A man from the mushrikeen (disbelievers) who was close by saw this, and fired a small arrow at the Ansari who was praying. It hit him, but the Ansari, with some difficulty, removed the arrow and continued praying as the blood seeped from him. The mushrik, upon seeing this, fired another arrow. The Ansari was able to remove it also and continued praying. However, the Ansari could not stand the pain of the third arrow and fell into rukoo’ (bowing) and sujood (prostration), and this is when the man of the Muhajiroon woke up, seeing his friend seeping with blood. Upon seeing this, the mushrik fled. “SubhanAllah! (Glory be to Allah!) Why didn’t you alert me when he first hit you?!” the Muhajir exclaimed. The reply of the Ansari was, “I was reciting a surah (chapter of the Qur’an) that I love, and I did not like to cut it off.” Allahu Akbar (Allah is great!) Imagine this person’s state in the salah (prayer).

The Sweetness of Prayer

The prayer is one of the most beautiful acts of worship. When one does his tasleem* to end the prayer, there is a certain sense of serenity. Ibn Al-Jawzi said about the prayer:

إنا في روضة طعامنا فيها الخشوع و شرابنا فيها الدموع

“We are in a garden, where our food is khushoo’ (devotion), and our drink is the tears that flow.”

For a person who has true devotion in his salah, his soul is not even with him; as Ibn Taymiyya said, his soul is actually circling the Throne of Allah.

One could say that those were the people of old. No one feels this way anymore. But this isn’t true; one only has to realize the importance of prayer, and unlock the secrets of khushoo’ to taste this unique sweetness. Then the prayer becomes your refuge; the remover of your distress; something that you look forward to; and something that you wish would never end.

Let us begin to unlock these secrets and truly connect to our Lord when we pray.1

Step One

The first step is that we have to change our understanding of khushoo’. Having khushoo’ doesn’t just mean that you are concentrating and you are not distracted. Having a present heart is only the first level of khushoo’. It is as though you have just entered through the door, and now you have the whole house to explore. There are depths and depths to khushoo’.

Some may say that having a present heart is hard enough. Before coming to the prayer, we need to put it into perspective. Say we spend ten minutes in each prayer. That equals fifty minutes a day, so not even one hour. The rest of the twenty-three hours are for our dunya (this world). Can we give these fifty minutes solely for Allah, or do we have to turn them into dunya as well?

Think of this before you start your prayer, so that your nafs (self) doesn’t tell you that it is too hard to concentrate—because you can do it. Remember that the sweetness of being in front of Allah far supersedes the sweetness of whatever dunya distracts you.

Greater Depth

There is a greater depth, and that is understanding. Truly understanding what you are reciting, and contemplating it. On the show, Mishary Al-Kharaz stated: “Let me introduce you to one of your biggest competitors in the salah.” Do you know who he introduced?

One of the pillars in the masjid. Yes, the actual physical pillar. Any pillar, whether you are at home, work, or the masjid, is your competition. Why?

Because if you stand in prayer, it stands longer. When you are in your sujood, it is in sujood longer. You do your tasbeeh, it does its tasbeeh for longer. How? Allah says in the Qur’an:

ه)م& +يح( ب (س& ت (ف&ق(ه)ون( ت ال( (ك+ن& و(ل +ح(م&د+ه+ ب 7ح) ب )س( ي +ال9 إ ي&ء: ش( م+ن& +ن& و(إ

“…And there is not a thing except that it exalts [Allah] by His praise, but you do not understand their [way of ] exalting,” (Qur’an, 17:44).

And:

م&س) لش==9 ر&ض+ و() أل& م(Bو(Bت+ و(م(ن ف+ى لس==9 (ه) م(ن ف+ى ج)د) ل (س==& ه( ي لل==9 (ن9 ر( أ (م& ت==( (ل ٱأ ٱ ٱ ۥ ٱ

ق9 يرH ح==( (ث==+ اس+ و(ك لن==9 ي م7ن( (ث==+ لد9و(آبK و(ك ج(ر) و( لش9 (ال) و( ب &ج+ ل Kج)وم) و( لن &ق(م(ر) و( ل �و( ٱ �� ر ٱ ٱ ٱ ٱ ٱ &ع(ذ(اب) ل &ه+ (ي ٱع(ل

“Do you not see that to Allah prostrates whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth and the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the trees, the moving creatures and many of the people? But upon many the punishment has been justified.” (Qur’an, 22:18).

“But I read the Qur’an!” we say. You are not the only one that reads Qur’an.

Yet, if you ask the pillar, or the parrot, what they understood, they would not be able to respond. So we need to ask ourselves—are we any better? What does it mean when we say “sami’a Allahu liman hamida“? What about the tahiyyat*? Not the generic meaning, but the specific meaning. Insha’Allah throughout this series we will understand these meanings so that we can attain this level of khushoo’.

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One last thing…

Do not say, “But I can’t!” How can Allah ask you to have khushoo’ in salah and then make it impossible for you? Even if Arabic isn’t your first language—did Allah not know that Islam would spread far and wide? A’udhubillah (I seek refuge in Allah) from any such thought.

So remember that you can. Strive, and you will achieve it insha’Allah (Allah willing). Remember that Allah is Generous, more Generous than we can even imagine. If you take one step towards Him, He is the One that comes to you at speed. Allah says:

+ين( ن &م)ح&س+ ل (م(ع( 9ه( ل لل +ن9 (ا و(إ (ن )ل ب 9ه)م& س) (ن (ه&د+ي (ن (ا ل 9ذ+ين( ج(Bه(د)وا ف+ين ل ٱو( ٱ � ٱ “And those who strive for Us— We will surely guide them to Our ways.” (Qur’an, 29:69).

So bismillah (in the name of Allah), and insha’Allah let us pray that by the end of it, we all have much more khushoo’ than we used to.

*“Tasleem” is saying “assalamu alaykum wa rahtmatullah” (may peace and mercy be upon you) signifying the end of the prayer.

*“Tahiyyat” are the salutations which we say after the two prostrations in the second and last rak`ah.

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Part II - The Tawba of Abu Nuwas

Abu Nuwas was a person who loved to drink and say obscene things, such that he would even make up verses of poetry and sing about inappropriate things. However, he underwent a change and repented to God. People were surprised—Abu Nuwas, who was a known drunkard? Abu Nuwas the lewd man? In a sense, it was almost as though they believed Allah would not forgive him and that Allah would not have mercy on him. So he wrote verses of poetry, and they found these verses under the bed that he died upon. The lines in the poem said:

O my Lord, if the greatness of my sins increase, then I know that Your forgiveness is greaterIf only the righteous called on You, then who would the criminal go to?I call on You my Lord, as you commanded, with reverenceAnd if You turn my hands away, then who else will have mercy?

What do you feel?

Last week we talked about having a present heart and understanding what we are saying. This week, we will go deeper insha’Allah (God willing). A lot of people when they pray, they have no feelings, no emotions. Yet if this person were to meet their friend, they would probably feel emotions of joy, and when they depart they would feel a sense of sadness, and if they stay away then they start missing him. This array of emotions comes to a person when they meet a friend; yet when it comes to prayers, and we are meeting Allah, we don’t feel anything. This is why it does not have an effect on our actions when we have finished praying. So what should we be feeling?

The third depth: Rajaa

What is this third depth? Coming to Allah while you desire and hope for His Mercy. And your opinion is that He will insha’Allah accept you and bring you closer to Him. This is the feeling of rajaa. A person who feels this rajaa is higher with Allah, because this has to do with the heart. What is the use of concentrating and understanding when everything is mechanical? The sweetness of the prayer when you come to Him with rajaa is greater.

How can you feel this?

You feel it if you know Allah. The more you know Allah, the more rajaa you have of Allah. Allah has more mercy towards you than your own mother. All you have to do is think well of Allah, and He is as you think of Him. If you think of Him as Merciful and Forgiving, then He will be that to you. It is as simple as that—because Allah has said it of Himself. The Prophet (saw) said, “Allah has said, ‘I am as My servant’s opinion of Me, so let Him think of Me as he pleases.’”

If we contemplate over these meanings before our prayer, then something in us must move and affect the way we think of our prayers. Ibn Al-Qayyim has said, ”Allah does not have any grievance against you that it will heal if He punishes you.”

Meaning that Allah has no grievance towards you and He does not want to punish you. How, when He has said that His mercy supersedes His blame, that He has written mercy on Himself? Allah has said:

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ح&م(ة( الر9 ه+ (ف&س+ ن Bى) ع(ل )م& Kك ب ر( (ب( (ت ك

“Your Lord has decreed upon Himself mercy” (Qur’an, 6:54).

Subhan’Allah (Glory be to Allah)—for many of us years have passed and we’ve prayed every prayer, but never did we come to Allah with these emotions, even though He loves for us to ask for His Mercy. Allah says in the Qur’an:

ض(ع+يفUا ان) +نس( اإل& +ق( و(خ)ل )م& ع(نك )خ(ف7ف( ي (ن أ 9ه) الل )ر+يد) يUال& وا م(ي (م+يل==) (ن ت ه(و(ات+ أ +ع)ون( الش9 9ب (ت 9ذ+ين( ي )ر+يد) ال )م& و(ي &ك (ي )وب( ع(ل (ت (ن ي )ر+يد) أ 9ه) ي و(الل

ع(ظ+يمUا عدد

“Allah wants to accept your repentance, but those who follow [their] passions want you to digress [into] a great deviation. And Allah wants to lighten for you [your difficulties]; and mankind was created weak.” (Qur’an, 4:27-28).

Try this in your next prayer

Believe with certainty that Allah wants to forgive you, pardon you and have Mercy on you. Believe and have so much hope in Him that He will enter you into Paradise, and not just that, but that you will be the neighbor of the Prophet (sal Allahu `alayhi wa sallam – peace be upon him). These things aren’t made-up, pie-in-the-sky hopes. It is Allah who has said:

)م& (ك ل (ج+ب& ت (س& أ +ي اد&ع)ون )م) Kك ب ر( و(ق(ال(

“And your Lord says, ‘Call upon Me; I will respond to you” (Qur’an, 40:60).

The Prophet (saw) said, “Call on Allah with certainty that He will respond.” If you do that, He will give you MORE than you wanted. But remember that it has to be rajaa and not ‘amany.’ What is the difference?

Rajaa is all of the above feelings that we mentioned, but accompanied with work and striving. ‘Amany’ is those feelings, but without striving on your behalf—hoping for Allah’s Mercy, but deliberately doing things that you know He despises. Allah says in the Qur’an:

Bد(ى) اه&ت )م9 ث ا Uح+ ص(ال و(ع(م+ل( و(آم(ن( (اب( ت 7م(ن ل Hغ(ف9ار) ل 7ي +ن و(إ

“But indeed, I am the Perpetual Forgiver of whoever repents and believes and does righteousness and then continues in guidance” (Qur’an, 20:82).

And with this He will give you more than you need and deserve.

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Part III The Prayer of `Ali

When the time for prayer came, Ali (radi Allahu `anhu – may Allah be pleased with him) would begin to shake and the color of his face would change. When he was asked, “What’s wrong?” he would reply, “The time has entered for a trust that was offered to the heavens and the earth and the mountains and they declined to bear it (Qur’an, 33:72), and I undertook it.”

Their prayer differed from ours, because their feelings towards the prayer differed. We want to increase these feelings in our heart to truly taste the sweetness that is in prayer.

So we progressed from having a present heart, to understanding, to rajaa (which was defined in the previous post). And now we would like to balance that rajaa with something else.

Before starting, I’ll remind you that we still did not unlock the key of tasting the sweetness of prayer. We’ll uncover it soon… but not today.

Hayba

Hayba is a kind of fear that we should have towards Allah. Unfortunately when translated into English, words like ‘hayba,’ ‘khashya,’ ‘khawf,’ and so on are lost in translation and simply translated as ‘fear,’ when there are actually subtle but important differences between them.

Ibn Al-Qayyim shows us the discreet but important differences:

‘Khawf’ is to flee from the thing that you fear, and requires no knowledge of that which is feared. You can be afraid, or have ‘khawf’ from the dark.

‘Khashya’ on the other hand, is fear with knowledge. The more a servant has knowledge of his Lord, the more ‘khawf’ turns to ‘khashya’. As Allah says in the Qur’an:

“

Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge” (Qur’an, 35:28).

But ‘hayba’ is fear associated with respect, awe and glorification. You could, for example, fear fire. But the reason for your fear is that the fire may harm you, but fire has no ‘hayba’; you do not glorify it. However, one’s father could have a certain ‘hayba’; you could be afraid if you do something wrong, but that fear is out of your respect.

First rajaa’, now hayba?

Aren’t these two conflicting emotions? How can we combine them? It isn’t difficult because we do this everyday when we deal with the people around us. A student who submits a bad paper to his kind teacher, will fear failing because he knows that his paper is bad, but at the

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same time will have hope, rajaa’, that the teacher will pass him because his teacher is compassionate.

It is not so different when you deal with Allah. When you recognize your sin and are before Allah, you have fear but at the same time you hope for the generosity of the Al-Kareem, the Most Generous. This is most apparent in “sayyid al-istighfar” (the master supplication for forgiveness), the du`a’ (supplication) we are recommended to say every morning and every evening, which the Prophet (sal Allahu `alayhi wa sallam – peace be upon him) described as being the best way to ask for forgiveness:

“O Allah, You are my Lord, there is none worthy of worship but You. You created me and I am your servant. I keep Your covenant and my pledge to You so far as I am able. I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done. I recognize Your blessings upon me, and I admit to my misdeeds. Forgive me, for there is none who may forgive sins but You.”*

Notice that in this du`a’ you are combining rajaa and fear; you admit to your misdeeds, but you also ask Allah to forgive them.

Gems on this kind of fear

Everything that you fear, you flee from, except Allah. Your fear from Allah causes you to flee to him. Allah says in the Qur’an,

“So flee to Allah” (Qur’an, 51:50).

The Prophet (saw) in his du`a’ said:

ال ملجأ وال منجأ منك اال اليك

“There is no refuge and no asylum from You except with You.”

The Prophet (saw) also said:

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وأعوذ عقوبتك، من بمعافاتك وأعوذ سخطك، من برضاك أعوذ إني اللهمنفسك على أثنيت كما أنت عليك ثناء )حصي أ ال منك بك

“O Allah, I seek refuge in You for Your pleasure and against Your wrath and in Your forgiveness and against Your punishment and in You from You. I am not able to praise You as You can praise Yourself.” (Muslim)

You recognize Allah’s wrath but also you seek refuge in His forgiveness, and know that the only refuge from Him is by fleeing to Him. Ibn Al-Qayyim said about this du`a’ in particular that no one knows the degree of tawheed and knowledge and servitude in these words except those who have deep knowledge. He said that if one were to explore all the meanings of this du`a’, a huge book would be written, and to enter into this realm of knowledge you would see that which no eye has witnessed, no ear has heard, and that which has never been imagined by any human.

Knowledge of Allah and Knowledge of Yourself

This hayba is the highest level of fear, as it is coupled with awe and love and knowledge. This fear increases when the servant increases his knowledge of Allah and increases his knowledge of himself. When you increase your knowledge of Allah, and recognize His power and majesty, you increase in fear. On the night of the Prophet’s (saw) ascension, the Prophet (saw) described Jibreel, who has 600 wings and is the Angel chosen to give the Prophet (saw) revelation, as being afraid.

Then when we remember our own sins, in relation to Allah’s power and majesty, we increase in fear. We realize our shortcomings and our heedlessness, and the fact that we are being given a chance is because of Allah’s forbearance.

Most fears are unnerving, except the fear of Allah, this hayba, because Allah is the One who will guide you to the best of places: Paradise insha’Allah (God willing).

Let us try to couple this feeling of hayba of Allah, with the emotion of rajaa in our prayer.

*Reference: Whoever recites this with conviction in the evening and dies during that night shall enter Paradise, and whoever recites it with conviction in the morning and dies during that day shall enter Paradise, Al-Bukhari 7/150. Other reports are in An-Nasa’i and At-Tirmithi.

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Part IV - Beauty - The Highest Emotion

Today we will go deeper; now that we have a present heart, have understood our words, and having added two emotions, we are going to add one more. With this emotion, our prayer will feel shorter, yet when we look at how much time we actually spent, we will think, “Did I just spend 10 minutes?” or even 15 and 20 minutes (insha’Allah). One person who began applying this said that he wished the prayer would never end.

A feeling that Ibn Al-Qayyim describes as “what the competitors compete for… it is nourishment for the soul and the delight of the eyes,” and he also said, “If this feeling leaves the heart, it is as though it is a body with no soul.”

Do you know what this emotion is?

الحب

Love

Some people’s relationship with Allah is limited to following orders and leaving prohibitions, so that one does not enter hell. Of course, we must follow orders and leave prohibitions, but it needs to be done out of more than fear and hope—it should also be done out of love for Allah. Allah says in the Qur’an:

“… Allah will bring forth [in place of them] a people He will love and who will love Him” (Qur’an, 5:54).

We often find that when a lover meets the beloved, hearts are stirred and there is warmth in that meeting. Yet when we meet Allah, there is not even an ounce of this same feeling. Allah says in the Qur’an:

“And [yet] among the people are are those who take other than Allah as equals [to Him]. They love them as they [should] love Allah. But those who believe are stronger in love for Allah” (Qur’an, 2:165).

And those who believe are stronger in love for Allah. There should be a feeling of longing, and when we raise our hands to start the prayer, warmth and love should fill our hearts because we are now meeting with Allah. A du`a’ of the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص:

اللهم إني أسألك الشوق الى لقائك9

“O Allah, I ask You for the longing to meet You” (Nisa’i, Hakim).

Ibn Al-Qayyim says in his book Tareeq Al-Hijratain that Allah loves His Messengers and His believing servants, and they love Him and nothing is more beloved to them than Him. The love of one’s parents has a certain type of sweetness, as does the love of one’s children—but the love of Allah far supersedes any of that. The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

“Any person who combines these three qualities will experience the sweetness of faith…”

The first thing he ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص mentioned was:

“…that God and His messenger are more beloved to him than anything else…” (Bukhari)

Ibn Al-Qayyim says, “Since ‘there is nothing like unto Him’ (42:11), there is nothing like experiencing love for Him.”

If you feel this love for Him, it will be a feeling so intense, so sweet, that you would wish the prayer would never ever end.

I want to feel this love, but how?

Do you truly want to feel this love? Then ask yourself—why do you or should you love Allah? Because know that you love people for one (or all, in varying degrees) of three reasons:

1. For their beauty; 2. Because of their exalted character; 3. Because they have done good to you.

And know that Allah combines all of these three to the utmost degree.

1. Beauty

We’ve all been touched by beauty. It is almost fitra (natural disposition) to love what is beautiful. Ali ibn Abi Talib (radi Allahu `anhu – may Allah be pleased with him) said about the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص that it was “as if the sun is shining from his face.” Jaabir (ra) said: “The Messenger of Allah ”was more handsome, beautiful, and radiant than the full moon ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص (Tirmdhi). Allah made all his Prophets have a certain beauty so that people would have a natural inclination towards them.

And beauty is more than what is in the face, because beauty is in all of creation and somehow has the ability to take our breath away and give us peace simultaneously. The glimmer of the crescent moon on a calm night, the intensity of a waterfall as the water drops for thousands of feet, the sunset by the sea… Something about certain scenes of natural unspoiled beauty stirs something in us. If we’re living in the city and it’s been a while, take a look:

And Allah is the One who made it beautiful. So what of Allah’s beauty? Ibn Al-Qayyim said, “And it is enough to realize Allah’s Beauty when we know that every internal and external beauty in this life and the next are created by Him, so what of the beauty of their Creator?”

This fitra for loving what is beautiful is because Allah is beautiful. One of His Names is Al-Jameel (the Most Beautiful). Ibn Al-Qayyim states that the beauty of Allah is something that a person cannot imagine and only He knows it. There is nothing of it in creation save for

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glimpses. Ibn Al-Qayyim says if all of creation were the most beautiful they could be (so let’s imagine, ever single human being looked as beautiful as Yusuf (as), and the whole world was like Paradise), and all of them combined from the beginning of time until the Day of Judgment, they would not even be like a ray in comparison to the sun when compared to Allah. Allah’s beauty is so intense that we will not even be able to take it in this life. In the Qur’an, Allah describes Musa’s (as) request:

“And when Moses arrived at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said, “My Lord, show me [Yourself] that I may look at You.” [Allah] said, “You will not see Me but look at the mountain; if it should remain in place, then you will see Me.” But when his Lord appeared to the mountain He rendered it level, and Moses fell unconscious” (Qur’an, 7:143).

Even the mountain could not bear the beauty of Allah and crumbled, and when Musa (as) saw this (he did not even see Allah), he fell unconscious. This is why on the Day of Judgment it is Allah’s light that will shine on everything. We talk about breathtaking beauty, but we have yet to experience Allah’s beauty. While things in this world can be beautiful or majestic, or if they combine both they are finite, true majesty and beauty are for Allah. Allah says in the Qur’an:

“And there will remain the Face of your Lord, Owner of Majesty and Honor” (Qur’an, 55:27).

Keeping all of this in mind, the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

إن الله ينصب وجهه لوجه عبده في صالته ما لم يلتفت

“Allah directs His Face towards the face of His servant who is praying, as long as he does not turn away” (Tirmidhi).

Remember this in your prayer, and ask Allah to allow you the joy of seeing Him in Paradise.

Shall we take this love to another level? Next week insha’Allah!

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Part V - Love

Khushoo’ in prayer increases as our love for Allah increases. Think of meeting with someone; when you meet with someone you love, what you feel in your heart is different than when you meet with someone you don’t love.

We have mentioned in previous articles that love increases due to the beauty of the person, the character of the person, or what they have done for you; and Allah combines all of these to the maximum degree. We mentioned how Allah is the Most Beautiful, but what about the ‘character’ aspect? What He has done for us? You know a person’s character when you deal with them. So what can we say of the Most Forbearing (al-Haleem), the Most Merciful (ar-Raheem), the Generous (al-Kareem), the Loving (al-Wadud)?

Dealings with Allah

Ibn Al-Qayyim says we can recognize the Mercy of Allah in how He speaks to His servants gently. When talking to those of us who have transgressed, He does not say, “O you sinners!” Rather Allah says:

“…O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful,” (Qur’an, 39:53).

Look at Allah’s dealings with us. He has given us all of our faculties which we take for granted: eyes, nose, ears, tongue… Then we use it for what He has forbidden and He does not punish us. Rather, He is forbearing and gives us chances to return to Him. When we do return to Him and ask forgiveness, He erases that sin and it is as though we did not even commit it.

Think of the way Allah treats us—how many things have we thought were bad at the time, then later realized the good in them? We spend time complaining, and then say, “Oh wow, alhamdillah (all praise be to Allah) it was actually great for me.” Imagine someone gives you a gift which you don’t like and you show them you don’t like it. Then later when it benefits you, you say, “Oh thank you, your gift saved me!”

Ibn Al Qayyim says, “Allah is shy of His servants, yet His servants do not feel ashamed in front of Him.” Allah sends us Prophets so that we return to Him, He comes down to the lowest heaven during the last third of the night asking us to ask Him if we need anything, to repent and He will forgive us. All of this, yet He has no need for us. And we have all the need for Him and are not ashamed to ignore all that He has given.

Knowing

Ibn Al-Qayyim said that if you know Allah, you will love Him. How could you not love the One who answers du`a’ (supplications), who rewards more than you give, who forgives, who veils the faults, and who is more merciful towards you than your mother?

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This should make us think of our relationship with Allah. He takes care of us everyday, and gives us all of our sustenance, and when we make a mistake, if we repent, He forgives. Allah says in the Qur’an:

“Is the reward for good [anything] but good?” (Qur’an, 55:60)

An animal that is by its nature wild and ferocious knew to appreciate those to whom it attributed goodness. What about us? This is the way we should feel in our salah (prayer)!

If you were to visit a King, you would have to make an appointment, and if your appointment is accepted, if he decides to let you, only then can you appeal to him; and when you ask him he may or may not give you what you ask for. And if he gives it to you, you feel so grateful and small.

What of Allah, who only requires us to stand between His Hands by raising our hands “Allahu Akbar (Allah is great)” in prayer?

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Part VI - Favors

At this point we agree that we must come to the prayer with emotions, and our emotionless prayers are of the past. This is because our prayer is more than just movements; prayers mean we are standing in front of Allah, talking to Him. There is one last point that we need to talk about with regard to why we love Allah—and that is His favors and blessings. This needs no introduction. Allah says in the Qur’an:

)ح&ص)وه(ا ت ال( 9ه+ الل +ع&م(ت( ن (ع)دKوا ت +ن و(إ

“[...] and if you should count the favor of Allah, you could not enumerate them,” (14:34).

Whenever we hear this ayah (verse), it makes us stop and think of everything that we have: from our faith to our family, health, education; as well as the things we usually take for granted such as being able to talk, walk, see, hear, and so on. Perhaps another way of really feeling these blessings is to just think of one blessing that we are really appreciative of, recognize how it has benefitted us, and then imagine life without it. Living without that one blessing is hard enough—imagine all that Allah has blessed us with.

Here we are just going to talk about two of these blessings: eman (faith) and amn (safety).

Eman

We are lucky, because we know who our Lord is, and that our Lord is One. Many people search for God in other creations; be they animals, people, material pleasure, or narcissism. Yet when we pray, we know we are going to Allah. Allah says in the Qur’an:

&ر+ي +ذ+ك ل ة( الص9ال( + (ق+م و(أ +ي )د&ن ف(اع&ب (ا (ن أ +ال9 إ (Bه( +ل إ ال( 9ه) الل (ا (ن أ +ي 9ن +ن إ

“Indeed, I am Allah. There is no deity except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance” (20:14).

Amn

We are going to talk about two kinds of safety: internal and external. As for some of the forms of internal safety, one is our immune system. While we do our day-to-day tasks, little do we notice what is happening internally. Our white blood cells get trained to attack the harmful diseases that attempt to enter our body. Look here:

The big blob is the white blood cell and the round circles are red blood cells, and that ant-shaped thing is the bacteria. Without us putting any conscious effort into it, our white blood cells work daily to protect us.

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What about external safety? Has anyone woken up in the morning knowing that, for example, someone wants to kill them? Or waiting for someone to rob them in the night? Imagine the people living in Gaza or Iraq, where they do not know if they will live until the next day, or in Mexico where drug violence could easily claim the life of a child going to school. And then we should think of ourselves, and how we have so much that we take for granted.

Haya

We now want to move on to a different emotion—haya, or for the lack of a better translation, shyness. When we come to the prayer, we should embody this feeling. Some may ask why should I be shy of God? The answer is because Allah is forbearing with us. There is no one more patient with us, despite all that we do, than Allah. He has given us our faculties, yet we commit sins with them; He then veils us so that people do not know about our sins, and does not punish us on the spot. All of this, and then He accepts our repentance; and not just that, but He is shy of returning a human being’s supplication with nothing, when he raises his hands asking Allah for something, as the Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) said (Ahmad). So how can we not be shy when standing before Allah in prayer?

We ask Allah to help us perfect our prayers.

Part VII - Distractions!

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The previous articles have been heart softeners – emphasizing a little more about Allah and our relationship with Him so that we can come to the prayer (salah) knowing Whom it is we are facing. We must remind ourselves of everything we learned before we come to the prayer, so that our lethargy ceases to be as it was before and so the prayer takes on new meaning.

Yet, for most of us something plagues us. Yes, we love Allah and fear Him, we have hope in His mercy, but we just can’t seem to concentrate. Random thoughts pop into our mind: we remember where we put the key we lost, we start daydreaming about saving the world or what to have for dinner.  All of this happens as soon as we raise our hands saying “Allahu Akbar (God is Great)” to commence our prayer. And these thoughts come

to an end when we end our prayer. Why?

Perhaps one thing that could encourage us to drown out these distractions is knowing that we only get rewarded for when our hearts are present. Is our prayer invalid when we get distracted? No, it is not invalid. But in terms of rewards for your prayer, it does make a difference. The Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) said:

)ع)ه(ا ب )ه(ا س==) )م)ن ع)ه(ا ث )س& ه(ا ت ر) +ال9 ع)ش& &ه(ا إ (ه) م+ن (ب) ل &ت )ك ة( م(ا ي )ص(ل7ي الص9ال( (ي &د( ل &ع(ب +ن9 ال إ+ص&ف)ه(ا )ه(ا ن )ث )ل )ع)ه(ا ث ب ه(ا ر) ه(ا خ)م)س) د)س) س)

“A servant may pray and only be credited for one tenth of the prayer, or one ninth, or one eighth, or one seventh, or one sixth, or one fifth, or one fourth, or one third, or half” (Abu Dawud, Ahmad).

This is because:

ليس للمرء من صالته إال ماعقل منها

“A man is rewarded only for that part of his prayer of which he is conscious” (Abu Dawud).

We shouldn’t let this make us feel down and think “Well, I might as well not even pray” or “I’ll never be able to do it.”  Imagine a person walking through the blazing desert and one of his sandals tears, so he is only walking with one sandal. And then he says, “Well, one foot is already burning, I might as well burn the other!” and he removes the other sandal voluntarily, instead of trying to mend the torn sandal. We’d say this person is silly, even stupid; yet we would be like this person if we choose to give up on our prayer.

A secret key

Finally it is time to reveal a secret key. It is not a difficult one, but can drastically change the way we pray. Before we reveal it, let’s ask a question: what time of year do we generally have most khushoo’ (devotion)? The answer is easy: Ramadan. And when during Ramadan? It’s  probably during qiyaam prayer (night prayer). And when do we find people’s eyes

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overflowing with tears? It’s mostly during the du`a’ of salat al-witr (witr prayer) when everyone prays behind the imam. Guess what?  This is when everyone applies the secret key.

How? At that point, we feel as though we are talking to someone and we are waiting for a response.  This brings our heart and mind to the prayer, and this is when we taste the sweetness of prayer.

The secret key? Three simple statements:

1. Talk to your Lord 2. Address your Lord 3. Converse with your Lord

The Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) said:

إذا كان أحدكم في الصالة فإنه يناجي ربه

“When performing the prayer, one is conversing intimately with one’s Lord” (Bukhari, Muslim).

It is reported that the scholar Ibn Uthaymeen said that when one enters the prayer, he should feel as though he has entered into the realm of His Lord and is having a conversation with Him.

The problem is that we don’t feel that our prayer is a connection to God; it becomes as though it is a monologue, even though sila, the root word of salah, means connection. Rather, when we say “Alhamdulilahi Rabb Al-`Alameen” we should truly feel that we are telling Allah that all praise and thanks are unto Him. In the sujood (prostration), say things like “don’t leave me oh Allah, I have no one but You, I remain at Your door,” to really feel that you are telling Allah what is in your heart. We should not just repeat the words we are required to say, but rather say them with feeling to Allah – in this way, all of our prayers will be like that witr prayer with the imam in Ramadan.

When we are in prostration, many of us say what we have to and maybe even add a small du`a’ which we have memorized. But one of the righteous predecessors knew the value of this position, and he would make du`a’ and say “O Allah, this servant of yours [meaning himself], in heaven or in hell?” Look at the intimacy- he knew that he was at that point the closest to Allah and he felt that he was talking to Allah in his prostration.

Not just an article

It is very easy to read these articles and just nod, perhaps learning a thing or two and think, “I already know this.” Let’s get past the point of simply knowing – let’s start living what we learn. Let’s all help each other to succeed with the following steps:

1. Find a partner you are comfortable with. Before every prayer, remind each other that you are now going to talk to Allah. Remind each other of Allah’s attributes or things you are grateful for, or the fact that you need forgiveness.

2. As soon as you step on your prayer mat, raise your hands to say “Allahu Akbar,” do so with conviction. Imagine that you are leaving this world, and that your soul is being taken to Allah and that you will now begin your intimate conversation. Nothing else in this realm matters.

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May Allah make our prayers like that of the Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص), the companions (radi Allahu `anhum – may Allah be pleased with them) and the righteous. Ameen.

Part VIII - In a State of Prayer Before Prayer

When we say salah most of us believe it begins when we stand and say “Allahu Akbar” (God is great). But it begins before that. The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

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ال زال أحدكم في صالة ما انتظر الصالة

A person is considered in prayer as long as he is waiting for the prayer (Bukhari, Muslim).

For men, this refers to one who has prepared for and is waiting for the prayer to start in the mosque. For women who are not at the mosque, this refers to performing wudhu and dressing in the appropriate attire, if necessary, and waiting for the time for prayer to set in.

A Treasure of a Secret

An oft-neglected aspect of prayer is the athan (call to prayer). Have we ever tasted the sweetness of the athan? Whoever tasted the sweetness of the athan will increase in devotion in the prayer. One could ask what is the relation between the athan and khushoo’ (devotion)?

Satan hates the prayer. The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said, “When the athan is pronounced, Satan takes to his heels and passes wind with noise during his flight in order not to hear the athan. When the athan is completed he comes back and again takes to his heels when the `iqama is pronounced and after its completion he returns again, whispering into the heart of the person (to divert his attention from his prayer) and making him remember things which he does not recall to his mind before the prayer and that causes him to forget how much he has prayed” (Bukhari).

From the time the athan starts, Satan tries to distract you, so that you do not benefit even from the great blessings of it. So what is so special about the athan?

Athan:  An Opportunity

The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

المؤذن يغفر له بمد صوته ويص==دقه من س==معه من رطب وي==ابس ول==همثل أجر من صلى معه

The mu’athin (person calling to prayer or making the athan) is forgiven for as far as his voice reaches and whoever hears him will confirm what he says. He will get a reward similar to those who pray with him (An-Nisa’i, Ahmad).

So if fifty people pray, the mu’athin gets the reward of fifty prayers. If it is 100, he gets the reward of 100 prayers. Now we ask, what does that have to do with me? I’m not a mu’athin. Yet you too can get the same reward of a mu’athin. Abdullah bin Amr (radi Allahu `anhu – may Allah be pleased be with him) related that a man asked the Prophet Do the“ ,ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص mu’athins get more virtues than us?” and the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص responded:

قل كما يقولون فإذا انتهيت فسل تعطه

“Say what they say and when they finish, ask and it shall be given” (narrated by Abu Dawud).

When the athan starts with “Allahu Akbar,” it is reminding you that Allah is greater than what you are doing, be it the television series you are watching, the article you are reading or the conversation you are having. And why do you rise up when you hear the athan? Because of “La ilaha ila Allah” – your belief in One God. If you find what you are doing seems to be

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more important, then in reality it is almost as if that is what you deem to be more important than praying to God.

There is No Power or Strength Except Through God

We know that when we hear the athan, we repeat what the mu’athin says, except for when he says “haya `ala as-salah” (make haste to the prayer) and “haya `ala al-falah” (make haste to true success). Here we say, “la hawla wala quwatta ila billah” (there is no power or strength except through God).

Why do we say that? Because we know that we will not be able to have true devotion, nor perform the prayer perfectly, except with the help of Allah.

A Calling

Remember that the athan is a calling; it is a most beautiful calling because it alerts you to meeting your most Beloved. When we are about to meet someone we love, the feelings of excitement and longing come before the meeting. They begin when  someone tells us, “They begin when that special someone tells us “I’ll meet you in ten minutes” or “I’ll see you in a few.” This implies that the person that is telling you that he or she will meet you is a special someone, which brings upon feelings of happiness.

Aisha (ra) narrated that the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

من أحب لقاء الله أحب الله لقاءه

“Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet him” (Bukhari).

The athan is telling you that now is the time to meet Allah. So those who truly love Allah, will jump at the chance to meet Him, and not wait until the time for that prayer is almost over. Look at Musa (`alayhi assalam – may Allah be pleased him):

ب7 ر( &ك( (ي +ل إ و(ع(ج+ل&ت) (ر+ى ث) أ mBى) ع(ل ء+ )وآل( أ ه)م& ق(ال( Bوس(ى(مB) ي ق(و&م+ك( ع(ن ل(ك( (ع&ج( أ و(م(آ

Bض(ى (ر& +ت ل

“[Allah] said, “And what made you hasten from your people, O Moses?” He said, “They are close upon my tracks, and I hastened to You, my Lord, that You be pleased.” (Qur’an, 20:83-84).

Look at how Musa (as) said he rushed to Allah – that is the action of one who truly loves and has awe.

Enjoy the athan, and you will, insha’Allah, enjoy the prayer. We ask Allah to help us perfect our prayers.

Part IX - A Question

Imagine you were a criminal, and for the many crimes you committed, a great king told you he would imprison you for 50 years. And he told you that after those 50 years, he would ask you one question; if you answer correctly, you would be set free. If not, the punishment

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would be the death penalty. When you are put in jail, what would you be thinking about for those 50 years? Would you be thinking of anything other than what the question could be?

And now imagine further, that there had been someone else imprisoned with you who said, “I know exactly what the king will ask.” How would you feel? You would beg him for it. And once you know, you would sit and prepare for the answer as best as you possibly can.

In reality, we are all that imprisoned person. On the Day of Judgment, there is one question that we will be asked of us, and if we answer correctly, insha’Allah (God willing) all will be well. And if not, the consequences are dire. And this article contains that question that we are all dying to know. It isn’t from me, but from the beloved Prophet Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص:

أول ما يحاسب به العبد يوم القيام==ة هي الص==الة. ف==إن ص==لحت، ص==لح.سائر عمله. وإن فسدت، فسد سائر عمله

The first matter that the slave will be brought to account for on the Day of Judgment is the prayer. If it is sound, then the rest of his deeds will be sound. And if it is bad, then the rest of his deeds will be bad (narrated by Al-Tirmidhi, Bayhaqi, Nisa’i).

We can be in one of five categories of people who face this question. Who would we like to be?

Praying in the mosque and khushoo’

The first category is the man who prays in the mosque with khushoo’ (devotion), or the woman who prays as soon as the call to prayer ends, also with khushoo’. This is the highest level and if you are already here, then try to stay firm. Allah says:

م)ون( &ر( مKك B9ات: ن ج( ف+ى +ك( )والئ أ يحافظون صالتهم على هم الذين

“And those who [carefully] maintain their prayer: They will be in gardens, honored” (Qur’an, 70:34-35).

Allah also says about those with khushoo’:

أوالئك هم الوارثون الذين يرثون الفردوس هم فيها خالدون

“Those are the inheritors who will inherit al-Firdaus. They will abide therein eternally” (Qur’an, 23:10-11).

Firdaws is the highest level of paradise.

Praying in the mosque minus khushoo’

These people receive the reward of praying in the mosque. The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

صالة الجماعة أفضل من صالة الفرد بسبع وعشرين درجة

“Offering the prayer in congregation carries 27 times greater reward than offering it alone individually” (Sahih, agreed on).

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However, lacking khushoo’ is not a minor issue. Umar (radi Allahu `anhu – may Allah be pleased with him) once stood on the pulpit in the mosque and said:

“A person may grow old in Islam but Allah has not rewarded him for one prayer”

He was asked, “And how could that be?”

Umar (ra) responded, “Because he or she lacked khushoo’.”

Look at this example of one who prayed with full devotion. Al-Qasim bin Muhammad (ra) visited Aisha (ra) one morning. He saw her praying and reading the ayah (verse):

فمن الله علينا ووقانا عذاب السموم

“So Allah conferred favor upon us and protected us from the punishment of the Scorching Fire.” (Qur’an, 52:27)

When she read this ayah, she would weep, and then repeat the verse. She did this so many times that Al-Qasim (ra) got bored and went to the market to get something that he needed. When he returned, he saw her standing in the same place, still reading that same verse and weeping.

Muslim bin Yasar is another example of someone who was rarely distracted in his prayers. One day, a part of the mosque had collapsed, and everyone rushed to it in a frenzy, because they knew he was there. They found him standing in the same place, not distracted in the least.

Praying at home

What is the difference between praying at home and praying in the mosque? First, we need to know the virtue of praying in the mosque. The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

إذا أمن اإلمام فأمنوا، فإنه من وافق تأمينه تأمين المالئكة غف==ر ل==ه م==اتقدم من ذنبه

“When the imam says ‘ameen‘ [in the prayer], you should say ‘ameen.‘ If this corresponds to when the angels say it, that person will have all of his previous sins forgiven” (Bukhari).

Sa’eed Al-Musayib said: “In 40 years, the mu’athin did not make the call to prayer except I was in the mosque.”

Here, one can see the great dedication. Ubaydallah bin Umar Al-Qawariri said:

“I would never miss the ‘Isha prayer in the mosque. One day, a guest came to visit me, so I spent time with him until I realized that I had missed the ‘Isha prayer in the mosque. So I wandered in the streets of Basra searching for a mosque that had not prayed yet, but I found that everyone had prayed. I returned home, thinking of the Prophet’s ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص saying that the prayer in congregation supersedes an individual prayer by 27 degrees. So I prayed at home 27 times. That night I had a dream that I was on a horse, racing with a group of people, but I could not keep up with them. One of them said to me, ‘You will never beat us.’ When I asked why, he said “Because we prayed together, and you did not.’ And I woke up in sadness.”

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Those who pray outside the prescribed times

If we knew we had a flight to catch at 4pm, would we arrive at 5pm? No, because too much is at stake – we paid for the ticket, people are expecting us or we need a holiday. Yet the prayer is even more important, so how can we miss fajr (dawn prayer) and pray it at 10am? Or pray dhuhr (noon prayer) and `asr (afternoon prayer) together? Or wait until the call to ‘isha (night prayer) has sounded before praying maghrib (sunset prayer)?

يحافظ لم ومن القيامة يوم ونجاة Uا وبرهان ا Uنور له كانت عليها حافظ منقارون مع القيامة يوم وكان نجاة وال Uا برهان وال ا Uنور له تكن لم عليها

خلف بن )بي9 وأ وهامان وفرعون

“Whoever keeps on performing prayers (in its due time), it will be a light, a proof and redemption for him on the Day of Judgment. Otherwise, he will be assembled with Pharaoh, Qarun, Haman and ‘Ubai Ibn Khalaf” (narrated by Ahmad).

The one who does not pray

How long does prayer take? Five minutes? Maybe 10 minutes if you pray with khushoo’. And yet we make it as if fifty minutes in total in a day for Allah is too much. Listen to this hadith:

الصالة ترك الكفر وبين الرجل بين

“The only thing between a person and disbelief is leaving the prayer” (Bukhari).

Ask yourself, which category are you in? May Allah make us of the first one.

Part X - Wudu

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We all know that proper wuḍū’ (ablution) is a prerequisite to the prayer. Thus, many of us  see wuḍū’ just as a means. One thinks, “I cannot pray unless I have proper ablution,” so one performs it with that intention. But there is so much more to wuḍū’ than that – because of this, it is sad when we think that we have been praying for 10 or 20 or 30 years of our lives, without being invigorated with our wuḍū’. Wuḍū’ has its secrets, but in order to taste these secrets, we must change.

Intention

Abdullah bin Mubarak said, ”How many deeds that are considered small are elevated because of the intention [behind it]? And how many deeds that are considered great are made lowly because of the intention [behind it]?”

The first thing we can change in our wuḍū’ is how much we get rewarded for it. Some may say, “But I perform all of the sunnahs of wuḍū’. I do not waste water and I say the remembrances before and after.” This is good, but if we have noticed, this is all external. What remains is the internal – the heart.  Ibn Al Qayyim said that a person may do something small but he is more beloved to Allah (subhana wa ta`ala – Glory be unto Him) than a person who does a lot, simply because the former person’s  heart is present. To illustrate, Ibn Al Qayyim told the story of a man, who saw Satan at the door of the mosque unable to enter. When he looked inside, he saw a man sleeping and a man standing in prayer. So he said to Satan, “Is it the man who is praying who is preventing you from entering?” Satan replied “No, but it is that man on the floor.” Why? It was the state of his heart.

Ask yourself: when you perform wuḍū’, what is your intention? Most of us would say the intention is to prepare for prayer. But we need to arouse our hearts and add another intention – that we are doing so for the sake of Allah. It is akin to giving charity; if you drop some change in a homeless man’s hat on your way home from work, you might not think much of it. But if you are doing so with the specific intention of feeding the hungry for the sake of God, a different feeling arises in your heart and indeed you become inspired to do it.   You begin to feel a closeness to God, whether you give 50 cents or $50.

Add another intention, which is that of following of the sunnah of the best of creation, the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص. This will make us want to perfect our wuḍū’ and think of the way the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص did wuḍū’ as we are performing it. I remember during the days when I was really inspired by the Prophet’s example, and I would take a small jar and fill it with water for wuḍū’. It actually made me more inspired but also made me realize how little water I needed!

There is a final dimension that we can add in order to move our hearts and make our wudhu more beloved to Allah – the intention of removing some of our sins. The ablution is purifying as it removes the minor sins. The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

“A person who performs wuḍū’ properly will have his sins removed from his body, so much that the sins are removed even from underneath his nails.” (Muslim)

Problem of Wiswaas (Whisper)

Some people, in their quest to perfect their wuḍū’ and prayer, are faced with a difficult problem: wiswaas, which is translated as insinuations or whisperings to the self, and here it takes the meaning of paranoia. For example, a person will constantly perform the wuḍū’ more than once, and want to pray more than once because of the paranoia that he or she has.

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If you are of the people that suffer from this, then there is a cure insha’Allah. Many people have tried and they have said, that by the grace of Allah, they have been cured. Scholars have said that the people who are extreme in their paranoia should assume the best about their deeds. So if one thinks, have I performed wudhu or not? Assume you have. If you start thinking have I prayed four or three rak’as [for dhuhr]? Assume four. This may cause discomfort to some so let’s answer some questions one many have about this. Firstly, why do we repeat the wuḍū’ for the prayer? We fear that we have not done it properly and so Allah will not accept it from us. Since you are doing it for the sake of Allah, know this: Allah does not want you to repeat. How do we know that? The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

“If one of you finds a disturbance in his abdomen and is not certain if he has released any gas or not, he should not leave the mosque unless he hears its sound or smells its scent.” (Muslim)

Thus one must be 100% certain.

Some dua’s after wuḍū’

There are some du`a’ that we should say after wuḍū’:

“Ash-hadu an la la ilaha ila Allah (swt)  wa ana Muhammad ‘abduhu wa Rasulu.”

“I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His servant and messenger.”

“The eight doors of paradise are opened for him and he may enter from whichever door he wants.” (Muslim)

Also:

“Subhanak Allah (swt) uma wa bihamdik ash-hadu an la la ilaha ila ant astaghfiruka wa atoobu ilayk.”

Glorified are You O’ Allah and I am in your praise, I testify that there is no god except You, I ask Your forgiveness and repent unto You.”

“It would be written on vellum (the best paper) then sealed; thereafter, it would not be broken until the Day of Resurrection.” (Sahih Al-Jami)

May Allah make us perform the wuḍū’ with a present heart. Ameen.

Part XI - Internal Purification

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Wuḍū’ gives us the necessary external purification so that we can pray. Now that we have purified the external, we need to think about purifying the internal – and wuḍū’ also helps us to do just that. Ibn Al Qayyim said:

اذا لقي العبد ربه يوم القيامة قبل الطهر التام فإنه ال يؤذن له بالدخولعليه كما أنه ال يؤذن له ان يدخل على ريه للصالة اال بطهارة

“If the servant is to meet his Lord on the Day of Judgment without complete purification (i.e. from sins), then he will not be allowed to enter [jannah] – Similarly, one is not allowed to meet his Lord in prayer except in a state of purity.”

Let us ponder a little bit over one of the du’a that is said after the wuḍū’:

اللهم اجعلني من التوابين واجعلني من المتطهرين

“O Allah make me of those who repent often [to You] and of those who purify themselves.” (Tirmidhi)

So, before a person beautifies himself to meet Allah, one needs to cleanse oneself from his or her sins. Think of it this way:  if you were to put on a new shirt, would you wash it first then perfume it, or would you perfume it then wash it? You would wash it first.Uthman (radi allahu anhu – may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) said:

من توضأ فأحسن الوضوء خرجت خطاياه من جس==ده ح==تى تخ==رج منتحت أظفاره

“A person who performs wuḍū’ properly will have his sins removed from his body, so much that the sins are removed even from underneath his nails.” (Muslim)

And in the narration by Abu Hurayra, it is said the sins leave “with the last drop of water” (Muslim).

SubhanAllah (Glory be to God) how wudhu removes sins, preparing one for his or her meeting with Allah. It was related by Uthman bin Affan (ra):

إن العبد إذا دعا بوضوء فغسل وجهه حط الله عنه كل خطيئة أص==ابها بوجهه فإذا غسل ذراعيه كان كذلك وإن مسح برأسه ك==ان ك==ذلك وإذاطهر قدميه كان كذلك

“When a servant [of Allah] washes his face (in the course of wuḍū’), every sin which he committed with his face will be removed; when he washes his arms, the same thing happens; when he wipes his head, the same thing happens and when he cleanses his feet the same thing happens” (Ahmad).

So imagine the sins we committed with our eyes will be removed, and with our ears removed  and so on. The next time we perform wuḍū’, we should think of it as though we are actually seeing the sins as they fall off. And always think well of Allah that He will forgive (for a refresher, go back to the article on Rajah).

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Abu Hurayra also narrated that the Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) said: “Shall I not guide you to that by which Allah wipes away the sins and raises the ranks?” They responded, “Certainly O Messenger of Allah.” He replied:

إسباغ الوضوء على المكاره وكثرة الخطا إلى المساجد وانتظار الصالةبعد الصالة فذلكم الرباط فذلكم الرباط فذلكم الرباط

“Performing the ablution thoroughly despite odds, traversing of more paces toward the mosque, and waiting for the next prayer after observing a prayer, and that is mindfulness” (Muslim).

Do whatever you want?

A person can say, “Well, great I’ll do what I want and commit so many sins and then do wuḍū’. I have a free pass!” But this isn’t correct.  We should not make a mockery of Allah’s mercy with pre-meditated disobedience. Allah says:

+ر+ين( &م(اك ال &ر) ي خ( 9ه) و(الل 9ه) الل (ر( و(م(ك وا (ر) �و(م(ك“And they [i.e. the disbelievers] planned, but Allah planned. And Allah is the best of planners” (Qur’an, 3:54).

What will Allah (subhana wa ta’ala – Glory be to Him) do? He could deny us the benefits of wuḍū’ as a result of making a mockery of His mercy.

The Marking of Wudhu

We all know the hadith when the Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) passed by the graveyard and said:

“Peace be upon you, dwelling of Believing People, and we will (all), if Allah wills, join you soon. I would have liked to have seen our brothers!”The companions (ra) were surprised at this and said, “Are we not your brothers, O Messenger of Allah?”He said, “You are my Companions and our brothers are those who have not yet come.”They said: How will you know those who have not yet come from your ummah, O Messenger of Allah?” He said, “Have you not seen that if a man had a horse with a white blaze and hoof along with a totally jet-black horse, then would he not know his horse?”They said, “Certainly, O Messenger of Allah.”He said, “So they will come with white blazes and marks from the wuḍū’ and I will be present before them at the Hawḍ (the pool)” (Muslim).

That is one of the ways by which the Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) will know us on the Day of Judgment. Allahu akbar – God is great.

Raising Your Station with Wudhu

The Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) woke up one morning and went to Bilal (ra), saying to him, “O Bilal, how is it that I heard the sound of your footsteps in Jannah?”Bilal (ra) answered, “O Messenger of Allah, I never committed a sin except that I prayed two rak’as [in repentance]; and every time my wuḍū’ breaks, I go renew my wuḍū’.”The Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) answered, “Yes this is the reason why [I heard your footsteps].” (Ibn Khuzayma)

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Some Things That Nullify Wudhu

Of course the purpose of this series is not solely to feel the spirituality behind wuḍū’ and prayer without cautioning against invalid wuḍū’. These are some of the things that nullify wuḍū’:

1. Passing urine, feces or gas 2. Deep sleep where you become unaware of your surroundings 3. Losing consciousness 4. Sexual intercourse

(This is not an exhaustive list. For more see islamonline.net)

Siwak

The Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) said:

لوال أن أشق على أمتي ألمرتهم بالسواك مع كل وضوء

“Were it not for the fact that I did not want to make things too hard for my ummah, I would have commanded them to use the siwak for every wuḍū’ [in another narration, before every prayer]” (Bukhari).

The Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) also said:

السواك مطهرة للفم مرضاة للرب

“Siwak cleanses the mouth and earns the Lord’s pleasure” (An-Nisaa’ee).

Look at the Prophet’s (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) scrupulousness and care in his relationship with Allah – that he wanted to meet his Lord in prayer with a clean and pure mouth. The Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) loved the siwak so much that when he was sick in his final days, he was with Aisha (ra) when her brother Abdur-Rahman (ra) walked in and he had a siwak. She saw the Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) looking at it and she knew he wanted it. So she asked Abdur-Rahman for it, softened it for the Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) by chewing it, and gave it to him.

May we all perfect our wuḍū’ for the sake of Allah and in accordance to the example of his Messenger (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص). Ameen.

Part XII - Takbeerat Al-Ihram

Takbeerat al-ihram is one of the obligatory and first acts of the prayer; it is the declaration of Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest)  at the beginning of the salah.

Why Allahu Akbar? Why not Alhamdulilah (all praise and thanks is to God), or la ilaha ila Allah (there is no deity but Allah)? Because Allahu Akbar means that Allah is bigger and greater and more important than whatever you are thinking of in terms of dunya (worldy)

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matters. “Allahu akbar” is in all the important declarations; when we pray, for the adhan, when we throw the stones during Hajj (rami al-jamarat), during `Eid al-Adha and `Eid al-Fitr. Allah says in the Qur’an at the end of the verse about Ramadan:

“…to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful.” (Qur’an, 2:185)

When you say Allahu akbar, you are beginning your meeting with your Lord. You are saying, “God is greater” than your work worries, or the food you are planning on cooking or the outing you’re going on with your friends. God is greater than anything in your heart except Him. That is why, between every change of position, you say Allahu akbar – reminding you in case your mind starts to wander that that Allah is greater than any other matter on your mind . There is only one part where you do not say “Allahu akbar,” which is when you rise from rukoo’ (the bowing position in prayer). This will be discussed later insha’Allah.

Raising the hands

When we say the takbeerat al-ihram, we raise our hands. There are three reported ways that the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص did so:

1. Raising the hands before saying Allahu Akbar: you raise your hands up, bring them down in the position for prayer (right hand over the left on your chest), and then say Allahu Akbar.

2. Raising the hands while saying Allahu Akbar: you raise your hands in conjunction with saying Allahu Akbar.

3. Raising the hands after saying Allahu Akbar: you say Allahu Akbar, then raise your hands, then put them down in the position to start reciting.

All these are valid ways of raising the hands. And where should the hands be raised? Either level with the shoulders or with the ears – both are equally valid.

Mishary Al-Kharaz, the da’iya (caller to Islam), recommended alternating between these ways, so that our prayer doesn’t become mechanical, and so that we do everything with deliberation.  You are also ensuring that the different sunnahs (examples of the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) are not left. The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

من أحيا سنة من سنتي فعمل بها الناس كان له مثل أجر من عمل به=اال ينقص من أجورهم شيئا

“Whoever revives an aspect of my Sunnah [that is forgotten after my death], he will have a reward equivalent to that of the people who follow him, without it detracting in the least from their reward.” (Ibn Majah)

What does Allahu Akbar really mean?

Some people start their prayer by lying. Some say Allahu Akbar and they mean it; others lie because they say Allahu Akbar but in their hearts dunya is greater. They do not feel the essence of the words that are being uttered.

‘Allah’ is our Lord’s unique name; no one is or can be called Allah, and it means the One who is worshiped and prostrated to. Others of His majestic names were used to describe

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people, for example, in Surat Hud it was said by the people to the Prophet Shuaib (may Allah be pleased with him):

يد) ش+ لر9 +يم) ل &ح( ل (نت( 9ك( أل( ٱان ٱ

“Indeed you are al-Haleem al-Rasheed [forbearing, right-directing one].” (Qur’an, 11:87)

But the two names that cannot be used to describe people are “Allah” and “Ar-Rahman” (The Most Merciful) – they are unique to Him.

“Akbar” is from takbeer, which means to glorify. Allah says:

ا Uير+ &ب (ك ت ه) 7ر& (ب و(ك

“… proclaim His limitless greatness” (Qur’an, 17:111)

Allah is so great that we cannot fully comprehend all His attributes and greatness, yet   we can understand a little of it by seeing His creation. From the mountains to the sea to the trees to animals to humans, all of this is proclaiming Allahu Akbar! How can we then not?

Yes,  but why do we raise our hands?

You raise your hands in submission to Allah, throwing the dunya behind you. If you want to surrender to someone, you put your hands up saying, “I give up,” submitting to that person. Here, we are submitting willingly and with love, hope and awe, before our Creator.

Spiritual significance

When you raise your hands beginning with Allahu Akbar, your sins slowly start to rise to your head and shoulders. The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

)تي بذنوب=ه كله==ا فوض==عت على رأس==ه وعاتقي==ه إن العبد إذا قام يصلي أفكلما ركع أو سجد تساقطت عنه

“When a slave stands and prays, all his sins are brought and placed on his head and shoulders. Every time he bows or prostrates, some of them fall from him.” (Bayhaqi, Saheeh al-Jami’)

Amazing! What else happens when we begin the prayer? Allah faces you. The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

(ف+ت& &ت (ل ي (م& ل م(ا &د+ &ع(ب ال ع(ل(ى +ال م)ق&ب 9ه) الل ال) (ز( ي ال

“Allah faces the servant during prayer as long as he does not turn away.” (Abu Dawud)

So many things happen with the simple step of initiating the prayer with the takbeer. A specific shaytan whose sole job is to distract you from prayer comes. You cease to talk, you cease to fidget. Even your sight – you do not look up towards the sky. You are now in a sacred space, in intimate conversation with Allah. The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

مفتاح الصالة الطهور وتحريمها التكبير وتحليلها التسليم30

“The key to prayer is purification, its opening is to say Allahu akbar and its closing is to say assalamu `alaykum.” (Abu Dawud)

You

Another thing comes with saying Allahu akbar. You should start to think about yourself, and your place in this world, your size. Please take the time to watch this one minute video:

Did you see how tiny the earth is compared to the sun? And how tiny the sun is compared to other stars? Imagine the Red Supergiant were to come before you right now. What awe we would have for it. And now remember: Allahu Akbar, Allah is greater.

May we all take heed of these words when we pray, and truly start to feel the meaning of them. Ameen

Part XIII - Lower your head

We have now begun the prayer, and thus we should lower our heads in reverence of Allah subhana wa ta’ala (glory be unto Him). When the Prophet would pray, he would ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص lower his head and keep his gaze on the ground towards the place where his head would fall in sujood, in humility to Allah (swt). Ibn Al-Qayyim said that a sign of a lover when he meets the beloved is he looks down, out of shyness and reverence- and this is exactly how we should be. The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

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فإذا صليتم فال تلتفتوا فإن الله ينصب وجهه لوجه عب==ده في ص==الته م==الم يلتفت

“When you pray, do not turn here and there because Allah (swt) directs His face to the face of His servant, as long as he does not turn away.”  (Tirmidhi)

The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص also said:

ال يزال الله مقبال على عبده ما لم يلتفت

“Allah (swt) does not cease to turn to a servant in prayer as long as he does not turn away.” (Abu Dawud)

And what if we turn away? The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

فإذا صرف وجهه صرف عنه

“… If he turns away, Allah (swt) turns away from him.” (Abu Dawud)

And remember, to ‘turn away’ has two meanings:  1) turning away in your heart, which means getting distracted and thinking of other things,  and 2) turning away with your sight, so looking up or left and right.

If you think of meeting a king or someone  of high status, you wouldn’t dart your eyes left or right, nor would you look directly into his eyes. Allah (swt) said about the humility of the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص, when Allah (swt) raised him to the heavens during the Isra’ wal Mi’raj (the Night Journey and Ascension):

“The sight [of the Prophet] did not swerve, nor did it transgress [its limit].” (Qur’an, 53:17)

Ibn Al-Qayyim said that this action is the height of adab (good manners). Amr bin Al-Aas radi Allahu anhu (may Allah be pleased with him), before he became Muslim, said that he really disliked the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص. After he became Muslim, he said that his eyes never got enough of seeing the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص but if he was told to describe him, he would not be able to as he never looked at his face directly – this was his adab in front of the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص.

Humility

Do not think that when you humble yourself before God, you are bringing yourself down. The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

رفعه الله للهتواضع من

“Whoever humbles himself to God, Allah will raise him.” (Muslim)

As for raising your eyes in the prayer, that is forbidden according to the Prophet .ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص Some people ask, do I keep my eyes open or should I close them? Closing the eyes is not

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from the sunnah, but Ibn Al-Qayyim says that if you absolutely cannot have khushoo‘ with your eyes open, then it is okay to close them.

Position of the hands

Once we have said the takbeerat al-ihram (the starting of prayer with Allahu Akbar) and lowered our gaze in humility to Allah (swt), we place our right hand over our left hand, or grasp our left wrist with our right hand. There is some legitimate difference on where to place the hands; either below the navel, as taught by the Hanafi school of thought, or above the navel as taught by the Shafi`i  school of thought. It is also fine, as some hold, to place the hands on the chest, or even to drop them to the side, as is held by some scholars of the Maliki school of thought.

What is the reason for placing our right hands over the left? Imam Ahmad was asked the very same question, and replied “In humility to Allah. If you were to enter a palace, and saw people with their heads raised and hands on their waists, and then saw others, with their heads lowered and their hands clasped together on their chest, and you were asked ‘Who are the kings and who are the servants?’ you would immediately be able to point them out.”

Du`a’ al-Istiftah – the Opening Du`a’

This is the opening du`a’ that is said when greeting our Lord. Whenever you meet someone, especially one you revere, you ensure that you greet them appropriately. In Arabic, there are different ways of addressing different people. . For instance, when saying good morning to someone whom you love, you say, “Sabah al-khayr!” (good morning) or “Sabah al-ward!” (fragrant morning). In the prayer, the opening du`a’ is a sunnah (optional) act, but since we are here trying to make the most of our prayer, let us encompass all of its aspects and pray as the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص prayed.

If someone whom you loved asked you to do something and you didn’t do it, and then they called you, you most likely wouldn’t answer out of embarrassment for not fulfilling the request..  This should always be our state with Allah (swt); how many commandments have we forsaken? How many prohibitions have we failed to avoid? So when we commence prayer, we sometimes have this discomfort. This is why the Prophet taught us some ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص beautiful words, in one of the opening du`a’:

اللهم باعد بيني وبين خطاياي كما باعدت بين المشرق والمغرب اللهم نقني من خطاياي كم==ا ينقى الث==وب األبيض من ال==دنس اللهم اغس==لنيمن خطاياي بالثلج والماء والب

Allahumma baa’id bayni wa bayna khataayaaya kama baa’adta bayna al-mashriqi wa’l-maghrib. Allahumma naqqini min khataayaaya kama yunaqqa al-thawb al-abyad min al-danas. Allaahumma ighsilni min khataayaaya bi’l-thalji wa’l-maa’i wa’l-barad.

“O Allah, put a great distance between me and my sins, as great as the distance You have made between the East and the West. O Allah, cleanse me of sin as a white garment is cleansed from filth. O Allah, wash away my sins with snow and water and hail.” (Bukhari)

In the first part, we are asking Allah (swt) to keep us far from the sins we have not committed yet.  In the second part, we are asking Allah (swt) to cleanse us of those sins we did commit. And the third is greater, because we are asking Allah (swt) to purify us. The choice of the

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words “snow and water and hail” signifies being washed of our sins.  The snow and the hail have a cooling effect, like the forgiveness from Allah of our sins.

There is another du`a’ of istiftah that the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص used to say:

سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك وتبارك اسمك وتعالى جدك وال إله غيرك

Subhanaka Allahuma wabi hamdik, wata-baraka ismuk, wa ta’ala jad-duka wala ilaha ghyruk.

“Glory be to you, O Allah, and all praises are due unto You, and blessed is Your name and high is Your majesty and none is worthy of worship but you.” (Sahih Jami`)

When you say “subhanaka Allahuma wa bihamdik” you are saying that Allah is above everything and free from imperfections and all praise is to Him; “tabarak ismuk” signifies that whenever Allah’s name is mentioned with something, it blesses that thing and increases it; “wa ta’ala jadduk” is exalting Allah’s majesty; and “la ilaha ghayruk” is a natural result of everything that we mentioned before – how can there be another deity worthy of worship when we have just mentioned all of these attributes?

From how beautiful this du`a’ is, the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said that it is one of the most beloved words to Allah (Sahih al-Albani). Some scholars have said that the first du`a’ is said in the fardh (obligatory) prayers, and the second in the nafl (voluntary) prayers.

Starting with these du`a’ clears the mind, humbles us and thus removes the barrier before we start reciting the Qur’an, insha’Allah.

Part XIV - Seeking Refuge in Allah

Do you know that shaytan (satan) becomes extremely envious when a person is standing in prayer before his Lord? And thus he does everything he can to get the worshiper out of that elevated state- by distracting him or her to think about other things. And all too often, unfortunately, we accept the invitation. The likeness of shaytan is to that of a fly – every time one pushes him away, he comes back.

Shaytan

We have been taught to seek refuge with Allah from the accursed devil before we begin to recite the Qur’an in salat. The devil’s impact is substantial – when we come to pray we remember things that previously escaped our memory and we think of solutions to our

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biggest problems. By the time we say “salaam” at the end, we do not remember what we have said in the prayer or even how many rak`ahs we prayed. If this description fits us, Ibn Al-Qayyim says that this person leaves the prayer the same way he entered it – with all of his sins and burdens unexpiated. If this is how it is in this life, can we imagine how it will be in the next? In the Qur’an, Allah (subhana wa ta’ala – glory be unto Him) tells us of the scenario on the Day of Judgment:

“And Satan will say when the matter has been concluded, “Indeed, Allah had promised you the promise of truth. And I promised you, but I betrayed you. But I had no authority over you except that I invited you, and you responded to me. So do not blame me; but blame yourselves.” (14:22)

Imagine- being duped and distracted and then having that sealed with remorse on the Day of Judgment. The Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) said:

“A person may pray and have nothing recorded for it except a tenth of it, or a ninth, or an eighth, or a seventh, or a sixth, or a fifth, or a quarter, or a third, or half.” (Abu Dawud)

So the shaytan wants to decrease our reward by stealing what he can from our prayers. It is as though we have already been given up all of our rewards but we must guard them- every time we become heedless the shaytan steals some of it. And for some of us, he keeps on stealing until we are left with nothing.

The Solution

Sheikh Al-Shinqiti tells us that Allah  (swt) has shown us how to guard ourselves from the human demons and from the demons of the jinn. Allah (swt) says:

“And who is better in speech than one who invites to Allah and does righteousness and says, ‘Indeed, I am of the Muslims.’ And not equal are the good deed and the bad. Repel [evil] by that [deed] which is

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better; and thereupon the one whom between you and him is enmity [will become] as though he was a devoted friend.” (Qur’an, 41:33-34)

Thus to protect ourselves from the human demons, we should do the above – repel evil with good. This will not only protect us but it might make that enemy a warm friend. This is not easy, which is why Allah (swt) says straight afterward:

“But none is granted it except those who are patient, and none is granted it except one having a great portion [of good]” (Qur’an, 41:35).

But what about the demons from the jinn? We cannot use the same method above. So what do we do? Seek refuge in Allah (swt), as Allah (swt) tells in the verse directly following the one mentioned above:

“And if there comes to you from Satan an evil suggestion, then seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Knowing.” (Qur’an, 41:36)

It is related that an old man asked a young lad what he would do if he saw shaytan.

“I would hit him,” the young man said.

“And if he came back?”

“I would hit him again,” he replied.

And the old man asked the same question, and the young man gave the same response.

Shaking his head, the old man said, “If you were walking on a road and a ferocious dog came to you, how often would you hit him to make sure he doesn’t come back? Rather the smarter way is to ask the master of the dog to remove it from your path.”

And this is why we seek refuge in Allah when we begin the prayer. Ibn Al Qayyim said that it is narrated that when we commence the prayer, Allah orders for the barrier between us to be lifted and we are directly facing our Lord, yet if we turn away (i.e. get distracted) the barrier is brought back down. And it is in these moments of heedlessness that the shaytan tries to make one thought lead to another but when the barrier is removed, shaytan does not dare to distract us.

Thus, let us seek refuge in Allah from the shaytan, truly think over the meaning of that supplication, and guard ourselves from shaytan throughout the prayer.

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Part XV - In the Name of God

We have now arrived at a beautiful place, where we recite the most beautiful name – the basmala (beginning one’s prayer by saying bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem – in the name of Allah, the most Merciful the Most Compassionate). Reciting this majestic Name should invoke within us a sense of peace and safety in all places and at all times – does the heart find rest except with His remembrance? His Name is the most incredible thing to be in the heart of a Muslim, as His Name is not mentioned on anything small except that it increases it and not on anything great except that it blesses it. His Name is magnificent, as it removed the harms of all places and in all times. The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

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Whoever dismounts to rest in a place should say: “I seek refuge with the complete words of Allah from the evil of what He created,” and nothing will harm him until he remounts.” (Muwatta)

If you say this, Allah (subhana wa ta`ala – glory be unto Him) will protect you wherever you are, insha’Allah (God willing). As for removing the harm at all times, the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said that whoever says:

بسم الله الذي ال يضر مع اسمه شيء في األرض وال في الس==ماء وه==والسميع العلي

شيء يضره لم أمسى إذا U وثالثا أصبح إذا U ثالثا قالها من

“In the name of Allah with whose name there can be no harm in the earth or in the heavens and He is the Hearer the Knower” whoever says it three times in the morning and three times in the evening, nothing will harm him.” (Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Ahmad)

Ibn Al-Qayyim asks that if this is the greatness of the name, then what of the named? A person who truly loves someone, loves to mention the name of the beloved. In the famous story of Qays and Layla, the former was called “Majnoon Layla,” because he went mad out of his love for her. Qays’s father decided to take him to Hajj so that he could be cured of his love-sickness. As they performed the rituals, it seemed that Qays was becoming better. But during one of the last days, when they were in Mina, a man who had lost one of his female relatives started calling out “Layla! Layla!”. Every time that man called out for his lost one, Qays’s heart would bleed just from listening to that name, and his love-sickness returned with more intensity. Would that we would all have that kind of love for the Creator!

In this verse of the Qur’an, Allah (swt) says:

“O you who have believed, when you encounter a company [from the enemy forces], stand firm and remember Allah much that you may be successful.” (Qur’an, 8:45)

In his commentary, Ibn Taymiyyah stated that the believers love to remember Allah (swt), their beloved, even in this state. Antara, a pre-Islamic warrior and poet, wrote a poem on how he remembered Abla, the woman he loved, as the arrows hit him. Just like those people remember their loved ones in battle, Allah (swt) has told us to remember Him in battle.

In his commentary, Ibn Taymiyyah stated that the believers love to remember Allah (swt), their beloved, even in this state. Antara, a pre-Islamic warrior and poet, wrote a poem on how he remembered Abla, the woman he loved, as the arrows hit him. Just like those people remember their loved ones in battle, Allah (swt) has told us to remember Him in battle.

Ibn Al-Qayyim stated that the delight of the one who loves is being in isolation with his or her beloved. He stated that Ibn Taymiyya would leave the city to the desert and enjoy that

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isolation with Allah (swt). Just like those past poets would feel peace when remembering their beloved, we should feel an even greater sense of tranquility when remembering Allah (swt). Do we have anyone but Allah (swt)? Who else answers the du’a (supplication) but Him? Who else is more merciful towards us?

Thus, when you see “Bismillah Ar-Rahmah Ar-Raheem,” it is signifies the beginning of the conversation you are about to have with Allah (swt). When you start reciting the beginning chapter of the Quran, surat Al-Fatiha, Allah (swt) responds to you. Ibn Jareer said that he was amazed at people who recited the Qur’an without understanding; how could they taste its sweetness? Al-Fatiha is the only surah that we know of where Allah (swt) responds to us. What secrets does it hold?

Al-Fatiha

The first verse that we recite after the basmala is:

“[All] praise is [due] to Allah, Lord of the worlds.” (Qur’an, 1:1)

Al-Hamd is both praising and thanking Allah, and Hamd is based on both love (mahabbah) and honor (ta’dheem). It is a very deep phrase, and insha’Allah will be looked into with detail in the coming articles. This phrase is so great that the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

الحمدلله تمأل الميزان

“Alhamdulillah fills the scales.” (Muslim)

We have to say alhamdulillah for all the blessings we have, knowing that the fact that we are saying alhamdulillah is also a blessing – because there are many others who ignore the gifts of Allah (swt).

العالمين رب

This verse means the “Lord of the worlds.” The Lord is the One who has authority, the Sustainer and the Owner of everyone and everything. “The worlds” refers to all of creation, including humans, jinn, angels, animals and others, each of which may be referred to as a ‘world.’ One says ‘the world of angels,’ ‘the animal world,’ ‘the human world’ or the ‘world of the jinn.’ This extends to everything big and small; even the bacteria and the cells are their own worlds. Most of the time we do not even realize the greatness of Allah’s creation making us ignorant of Allah’s Power over all His creation.

To demonstrate the intricacy of one world, take the inside of a white blood cell for example. One drop of blood can contain anywhere from 7,000 to 25,000 white blood cells at a time.

The only thing remaining to be said is:

[All] praise is [due] to Allah, Lord of the worlds. (1:2)

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Insha’Allah next week, we will continue with exploring the meanings of Surat Al-Fatiha.

Part XVI - Reflecting on Creation

Surat al-Fatiha is the surah (chapter) we recite in every rak`ah (unit) of every prayer – over 17 times a day. Thus it is crucial to know the detailed meanings of every verse so that we can connect with what we recite.

Today we will embark on a unique venture to inculcate within us awe of God and, interestingly, the path of this particular endeavor is trodden by few.

Allah (Glory be unto Him) says:

“Say, ‘Observe what is in the heavens and earth’…” (Qur’an, 10:101).

Allah has ordered us to observe and to think. The following video takes us on a breathtaking journey:

It is unfathomable how tiny we are compared to creation at large. Did we ever stop to think about the distance between us and the heavens? Allah has said:

)م9 : ث ام (ي==9 9ة+ أ ت ر&ض( ف+ي س==+) م(او(ات+ و(األ ق( الس==9 ل==( 9ذ+ي خ( �ه) ال )م) الل 9ك ب +ن9 ر( إ

&ع(ر&ش+ (و(ى ع(ل(ى ال ت اس&

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“Indeed, your Lord is Allah , who created the heavens and earth in six days and then established Himself above the Throne” (Qur’an, 7:54).

Of course, we do not know the true meaning of how Allah (swt) established Himself above the Throne, as Allah (swt) also says “There is nothing like unto Him” (Qur’an, 42:11). Nevertheless, this is not the topic of our discussion today. If what we saw in that video is just the samaa ad-dunya (the lowest heaven), can we imagine that there are seven heavens, and finally above those seven heavens, is the Kursi (translated as “footstool”) and Throne of Allah (Al-`Arsh)?

Can we imagine the Kursi? The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص told us:

ما السماوات السبع في الكرسي ، إال كحلقة ملقاة بأرض فالة

“The seven heavens are no more in comparison to the Kursi than a ring thrown in a desert.” (Ibn Hajar)

If that is the Kursi, then what of the magnificent Throne?

He then said:

فضل العرش على الكرسي ، كفضل تلك الفالة على تلك الحلقة

“And the superiority of the Throne over the Kursi is like that desert compared to that ring.”

Can we even begin to imagine this? How can we then be arrogant? How can we stand before Allah (swt) and not feel the sheer magnanimity of the situation we face? Sometimes we marvel at human accomplishments like building the tallest tower, flying on airplanes or cloning, but then we discover Allah’s natural untouched creation (like the video shown above) and we can only be in awe. After pondering over this, read this hadith of the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص:

فإذا صليتم فال تلتفتوا فإن الله ينصب وجهه لوجه عب==ده في ص==الته م==الم يلتفت

“When you pray, do not turn here and there because Allah (swt) directs His face to the face of His servant, as long as he does not turn away” (Tirmidhi)

So how can we turn away? Compare what we saw here to what we saw in the last post about the cell. All of these things work without needing us, and as we go about our day Allah moves them and ensures they function. We can only say, “Al-hamdu lilahi Rabb al-`alameen” (all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds).

The Prayer is a conversation

Allah has said in a hadith qudsi (sacred tradition) about Surat al-Fatiha:

“I have divided the prayer between Myself and My servant, into two halves, and My servant shall have what he has asked for. When the servant says, “[All] praise is [due] to Allah , Lord of the worlds,” Allah says, “My servant has praised Me.”

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When the servant says “The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful,” Allah says, “My servant has extolled me.”

When the servant says “Sovereign of the Day of Recompense,” Allah says, “My servant has glorified me.”

When the servant says “It is You we worship and You we ask for help,” Allah says, “This is between Me and My servant, and My servant shall have what he asked for.”

When the servant says “Guide us to the straight path – the path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray,” Allah says, “All these are for My servant, and My servant shall have what he asked for.” (Muslim)

What a beautiful conversation to be having with our Lord. Ibn al-Qayyim said the most beautiful thing is that Allah refers to us as His servants. Remember that when Allah (swt) raised the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص during the Isra and Mi’raj, He said:

“Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al- Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing.” (Qur’an, 17:1)

Servitude to people brings humiliation, but servitude to Allah, coupled with love, is the highest of honor.

May we all come to the prayer with this feeling of awe of our Creator. Ameen

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Part XVII

The sweetness of Al-Fatiha

As we discussed before, Al-Fatiha is a conversation between us and Allah subhana wa ta’ala (Glory be unto Him). It is perhaps when reciting this surah (chapter) that we should have the most khushoo’ (concentration) because we have been told that Allah (swt) responds. What usually happens though is that Surat al-Fatiha is the surah that we have least khushoo’ in because we repeat it so frequently, and this should change.

If we look at the order of the words in this surah, we ask ourselves: why did Allah (swt) follow the first ayah (verse) “[All] praise is [due] to Allah, Lord of the worlds” with Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem “The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful”? Ibn Uthaymeen stated that this is because Allah’s Lordship is based on mercy. When we read that He is the Lord of the worlds, a natural question comes up- what kind of Lord is He? He answers us in the following ayah:

“The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful” (Qur’an 1:3).

The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful

Many people who read Surat al-Fatiha will not know the difference between Ar-Rahman and Ar-Raheem. It is usually translated as “The Beneficent, the Most Merciful,” but most people who read that do not know the difference. A better translation would be “The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.”

Amr Khaled, a famous lecturer from Egypt, explained the difference in the following way:

Ar-Rahman (The Entirely Merciful) is when Allah bestows His mercy upon all the creatures in this universe. Allah says:

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“Say, “Who can protect you at night or by day from the Most Merciful?” But they are, from the remembrance of their Lord, turning away” (Qur’an 21:42).

However, Ar-Raheem (The Especially Merciful) is when Allah bestows His special mercy upon the believers only. For example, eating and drinking is a general mercy, while worshiping Allah in Ramadan is a special one.

And why did Allah follow Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem with “Sovereign of the Day of Recompense”? If it had been the other way around, our hearts would fill with dread. We would read that Allah is the Lord, and then that He will judge us on the Day of Judgment, knowing very well our own spiritual state. Yet the All-Merciful tells us of His attributes of mercy first, so that we fill with hope and not dread. The All-Merciful is the Sovereign on that day.

Glimpses of Mercy

Are we still not feeling that mercy? Watch the following video:

Look at how the leopard cuddles the baby baboon- subhanAllah (Glory be unto Allah)! If this predator can be overcome with mercy towards what could be its prey, then how can we doubt the mercy of Allah (swt) towards His own creation? Look at what the Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) said about Allah’s mercy:

Narrated ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him):  “Some Sabi (i.e. war prisoners, children and women only) were brought before the Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) and behold, there was a woman amongst them whom whenever she found a child captive, she took it over her chest and nursed it (she had lost her child but later she found him) the Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) said to us, ‘Do you think that this lady can throw her son in the fire?’ We replied, ‘No, if she has the power not to throw the baby (in the fire).’ The Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) then said, ‘Allah (swt) is more merciful to His slaves than this lady to her son.’” (Bukhari)

So we have immense hope in Allah’s forgiveness, forbearance, and mercy on the Day of Judgment. Yet we too have to work and remember that Allah has said:

“But indeed, I am the Perpetual Forgiver of whoever repents and believes and does righteousness and then continues in guidance” (Qur’an 20:82).

Will we be of the people whom Allah (swt) bestows His mercy on? We hope so, insha’Allah (if Allah wills), and that is why we must work- to show that we indeed want it.

Do you remember the secret key? Speak to Allah (swt). When you recite Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem, remember that Allah (swt) responds with “My servant has extolled me.” Let your heart soften with the knowledge that you are having an intimate conversation with the One who is the Most-Merciful to you.

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Part XVIII - The Sovereign

Today we will continue with discussing the meanings of al-Fatiha, the surah (chapter) we must recite in every prayer. As we mentioned previously, our purpose is to be truly devoted to Allah subhana wa ta’ala (Glory be unto Him) in our prayer and to have His words move our hearts. This takes more than just understanding the basic gist of what we are reciting, but it also requires reflecting on their meanings.

We discussed how Allah (swt) placed the verse Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem (the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful) just before telling us that He is “Sovereign of the Day of Recompense”- this is so we know that the One who is the Sovereign of that day is the Most Merciful. Although the translation I have used interprets “Maalik” as “Sovereign,” in Arabic, the meaning slightly differs depending on the recitation. The most popular recitation reads:

الد7ين+ + (و&م ي +ك+ م(ال

(Maaliki yawm al-deen)

But according to another sound recitation, it is read as:

الدين يوم ملك

(Maliki yawm al-deen)

These are both valid ways of reciting it, and they are both from Allah’s Names; however, there are subtle differences between Maalik and Malik. Maalik means a possessor, while Malik means that you have sovereignty over something and can do with it as you wish. A

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person can be a maalik and not a malik, or the other way around; for example, a President is sovereign over a country and has power to act with the resources of that country, but after 4 or 8 years he does not have his post anymore. He was malik, but not a maalik because he did not have permanent possession over those things he had power over. Or conversely, you could have a king or a queen, whose reign over a country is inherited from generation to generation, but like in the United Kingdom for example, they have no power to act or to make decisions (the power to act is with the Prime Minister). So this king can be considered a maalik, but not a malik in the true sense of the meaning.

Allah (swt) is both Maalik and Malik. He fully controls and has ownership over the Day of Judgment and what occurs therein.

The Day of Recompense

When we recite,

“Sovereign of the Day of Recompense” (Qur’an 1:4).

We seldom reflect over the power of these words and what they signify. The Day of Recompense is the Day of Judgment, the day in which we will all return to our Lord to be judged for our time here on earth. Why does Allah (swt) emphasize this when He has already told us that He is the Lord of the Worlds, which includes the Day of Judgment? To remind us of our eventual return, and to show us that all possessions and power that people have in this world will fade away and nothing will remain except His Power over all things. On that day we will not even be able to utter a word unless He has given us permission, as Allah (swt) says:

“The Day that the Spirit and the angels will stand in rows, they will not speak except for one whom the Most Merciful permits, and he will say what is correct” (Qur’an 78:38).

No one will even be able to intercede unless He allows them:

#ذ&ن#ه# ن&د/ه- إ#ال* ب#إ ع- ع# ف/ م/ن& ذ/ا ال*ذ#ي ي/ش&

“Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission?” (Qur’an 2:255).

We must also know that the Day of Judgment is closer than we think. Al-Qurtubi stated that for every person who dies, his personal Day of Judgment has already begun. No one can avoid this. If anybody had been able to bypass the process it would have been the beloved Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص). But even as the Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) was dying, he wiped some water over his face and said:

ال اله اال الله ان للموت سكرات46

“There is nothing worth of worship but Allah; surely death has its agonies” (Bukhari).

The scenario on that day

We all know the destruction that will come on the Day of Judgment. Allah (swt) tells us:

ار) &ع+ش( +ذ(ا ال ت& و(إ 7ر( ي (ال) س) ب &ج+ +ذ(ا ال ت& و(إ (د(ر( Kج)وم) انك +ذ(ا الن ت& و(إ )و7ر( م&س) ك +ذ(ا الش9 إت& ج7ر( +ح(ار) س) &ب +ذ(ا ال ت& و(إ ر( &و)ح)وش) ح)ش+ +ذ(ا ال ع)ط7ل(ت& و(إ

“When the sun is wrapped up [in darkness], and when the stars fall, dispersing, and when the mountains are removed, and when full-term she-camels are neglected, and when the wild beasts are gathered, and when the seas are filled with flame…” (Qur’an, 81:1-6).

To bring the point home, we can look at the numerous videos that show the destruction caused by storms, earthquakes, and volcanoes. This is nothing compared to what will happen on that day.

We will come out of our graves, and those who did not believe will say,

“They will say, ‘O woe to us! Who has raised us up from our sleeping place?’ [The reply will be], ‘This is what the Most Merciful had promised, and the messengers told the truth’” (Qur’an, 36:52).

On that day the sun will be brought closer, and everybody will be sweating such that the sweat of some people will reach their chins. The only people safe will be the seven types of people for whom Allah promised His shade. Everyone else will be in absolute terror, until suddenly

“And your Lord has come and the angels, rank upon rank” (Qur’an, 89:22).

And Allah’s light will fill up the skies,

“That Day, everyone will follow [the call of] the Caller [with] no deviation therefrom, and [all] voices will be stilled before the Most Merciful, so you will not hear except a whisper [of footsteps]” (Qur’an 20:108).

Who is going to be saved on that day?

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The answer can be found in Surat al-Fatiha, in the following verse:

“It is You we worship and You we ask for help” (Qur’an 1:5).

The proof?

“We had certainly sent Noah to his people, and he said, “O my people, worship Allah ; you have no deity other than Him. Indeed, I fear for you the punishment of a tremendous Day” (Qur’an 7:59).

Thus worshiping Allah, the Sovereign of the Day of Recompense, will save us from the punishment of that day, insha’Allah. When we recite these words, we should remember how Allah (swt) is the Maalik and the Malik, that we will return to Him, and that no one can save us on the day except Him.

May Allah grant us khushoo’ (concentration) in our prayers. Ameen.

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Part XIX - Our Essence – Worshiping Allah

Ibn Taymiyyah stated that Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala (Glorified and Exalted is He) revealed 104 heavenly books. All of these books’ meanings are found in the Qur’an and all of the meanings of the Qur’an can be found in Surat al-Fatiha. Eminently, all of Surat al-Fatiha can be found in the following verses:

“It is You we worship and You we ask for help” (Qur’an 1:5).

After recounting Allah’s majesty and mercy, and after realizing that we will indeed return to Him, in this ayah our attention is brought to the essence of what it is we are supposed to do here on earth – worship Allah and seek His help in doing so.

It is You We Worship – Sincerity

One of the acts of worship of the heart is doing things purely for the sake of Allah. The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said,

عن }: الشركاء أغنى أنا وتعالى تبارك الله قالتركته غيري معي فيه أشرك Gعمال عمل من الشرك

{ .وشركه

“God Almighty has said ‘If anyone does anything in which he associates anyone else with Me, I shall abandon him with one whom he associates with Allah.’” (Muslim)

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When we say “You alone do we worship,” we essentially declare our ikhlas (sincerity) and remind ourselves of it. So we must ask ourselves – when we do something good, do we expect some kind of praise from others? Do we become bothered if we do not receive it? This means our act was not purely for the sake of God, rather for someone else too. Ibn Al-Qayyim mentioned that the cure for this is to realize and internalize the fact that no one’s praise can benefit us, nor can their blame harm us. For example, if people think we are truthful, but to Allah we are in contrast of that, can the people benefit us? Or if a wealthy person is mentioned and people say “he is in debt and is not that rich,” does that make us lose any of our wealth?

Moreover, we should know that if people knew that we were doing an outwardly good act to get praise, they would hold a bad opinion of us. So how can we hide our intentions from people because we fear what they think, yet we ignore the One who knows what is in our hearts? This is called riyaa (ostentation).

The worst kind of riyaa is one that is coupled with lies, like a person who wants to be praised for something he did not even do. Allah says,

“And never think that those who rejoice in what they have perpetrated and like to be praised for what they did not do – never think them [to be] in safety from the punishment, and for them is a painful punishment.” (Qur’an, 3:188)

The cure? To always revise our intentions and aim to rectify them; if we do many things in public, we should do as much -or more things – in private without telling anyone. This is the essence of this verse, and this is why we recite it everyday,

“It is You we worship and You we ask for help.” (Qur’an, 1:5)

Hidden Riyaa

Unfortunately, in many societies, we are brought up on riyaa. How so? We are told, “Don’t do this – what would people say?” Or we are told, “Don’t do that – do you want people to think you have no manners?” instead of being told that we should not do this or that because Allah is watching. So our biggest problem is that we have grown up on this. If people are not watching, we are fine with doing things while they cannot see us. Thus we have more shame in front of people than in front of Allah.

This hidden riyaa becomes so deeply entrenched within us that some of us have it even when we are worshiping and shedding tears (of devotion) in seclusion. How so? By becoming proud of ourselves later and wishing that people had seen us. Or we imagine dying a noble death, such as in sajda (prostration), but then we further imagine the good things people will say about us, rather than the joy of meeting Allah in that state.

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As such, we should try to wash our hearts with this verse and become aware of our intentions and of the importance of sincerity.

Those with Soft Hearts

This surah (chapter) and this verse had a profound effect on the people who truly understood the meanings. Muzahim bin Zafar related that Sufyan Ath-Thawri, the great tabi’i (person from the generation after the Prophet was leading the Maghrib prayer and when he (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص was reached this verse from Surat al-Fatiha he started weeping so much that he could not continue to the following verse. He then repeated the surah again from the beginning.

Muhammad Al-Himsy once saw Ibn Abi Al-Hawari, one of the righteous salaf (early Muslims), praying the Isha prayer by the Ka’ba. When he reached the verse “iyyaka na`budu wa iyyaka nasta`een” he could not get past it and wept profusely. So Al-Himsy continued his circling of the Ka’ba, and when he got to Al-Hawari again, he was still reciting that verse.

Do we think that those people who felt that way are just the people of the past? Then see this:

That year was the first year that Shaykh Sa`ud Al-Shuraim recited for taraweeh prayer during the whole of Ramadan. Usually, the most crowded days are the 27th night (because many people believe it to be Laylat al-Qadr (the Night of Power)) and the 29th night because that is when they complete the Qur’an. However, that year in particular they completed the Qur’an on the 27th night – so the view of the masses of people was so great that it reminds us of the Day of Judgment. Perhaps this is why the shaykh was so moved as he recited “Maliki yawmi addeen” (Sovereign of the Day of Recompense).

It is You We Ask for Help – Humility

The key to letting our prayers touch us deeply is sincerity; and we will not be able to be truly sincere unless we ask Allah for help. For this reason Allah has followed the verse, “it is You we worship” with “and You we seek for help.” Allah has said in a hadith qudsi (sacred tradition):

  كلكم ضال إال من هديته، فاستهدوني أهدكم

“All of you are astray except those whom I have guided, so ask me for guidance and I will guide you.” (Ahmad, Tirmidhi)

And this is why Allah follows this verse with,

“Guide us to the straight path.” (Qur’an, 1:6)

Subhan’Allah (Glorified is He) how Allah creates a perfect order for His words!

Ibn Al-Qayyim said that he heard Ibn Taymiyya say that iyyaka na’budu wards of ostentation, and iyyaka nasta’een wards off arrogance. When we say, “You we ask for help” we acknowledge that we do not have the power to do it ourselves and that we need to ask Allah’s help for all acts. We often hear of one who is “too proud to ask”; he feels that he is

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better or that he can do it on his own. Conversely we admit our inability and thus we ask Allah – the Self-Sufficient.

May Allah (swt) guide us to worshiping Him with true sincerity and humility.

Part XX - Reminders about al-Fatiha

When we started discussing Surat al-Fatiha, we mentioned how with this surah (chapter) in particular, we are having a conversation with Allah, and Allah responds with every verse we recite. This surah affirms Allah’s ruboobiyah (lordship), but it also tells us that this lordship is based on mercy, which is why we recite “Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem” (the entirely Merciful, the especially Merciful) right after we praise Allah, the Lord of the worlds. His mercy is mentioned before we are told that He is the Sovereign of the Day of Judgment, so that we know that His mercy supersedes His wrath. Finally we talked about the key to being given this mercy, which is that we sincerely worship Him. In order to worship Him, we need His help, thus we say:

“It is You we worship and You we ask for help.”

And thus if we want to be guided, we should ask for guidance.

Guidance

We have now entered into the realm of du`a’:

“Guide us to the straight path, the path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray.” (Qur’an, 1:6-7)

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Ibn Taymiya stated that the du`a’ of Surat Al-Fatiha is the greatest, wisest and most beneficial du`a’. If Allah guides us to the straight path, He helps us to obey Him.

One may ask – why should I ask for guidance if I am already guided? ‘I pray, I fast, I read Qur’an – surely I am guided!‘ Firstly, the peak of guidance is to be at the level of the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص, and none of us can claim to have reached that state, or even the level of the companions (ra). Thus we ask Allah to increase us in guidance. Secondly, being guided is dependent upon our reliance on Him and our humility before Him, and asking Allah to continue guiding us is expressing that. How can we claim to be guided by Allah when we do not ask Him? The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص has told us:

من لم يسأل الله يغضب عليه

“Whoever does not ask Allah, Allah is angry with him.” (Ibn Majah)

Ibn Al-Qayyim stated that the straight path we are asking to be guided upon consists of knowledge and actions, both internal and external. Yet a servant may not know all of the details, in terms of what to follow, what to avoid, and what earns Allah’s pleasure or displeasure. And what the servant doesn’t know may be more than what he does know. Thus, when we ask for guidance, we are also asking Allah to increase us in knowledge of these things. Moreover, even with the knowledge that we do have, we are capable of doing some things, and other things we are not. For example, we know that we must go for Hajj, but some of us just do not have the means. So when we ask for guidance, we are asking Allah to help us to be able to do the things we have knowledge of. Furthermore, even with those things that we have knowledge of and are able to do, our nafs may not incline us towards them. Perhaps we know the benefits of qiyaam al-layl (the night prayer), but are too lazy to attempt to wake up for it. When we ask Allah to guide us, we are asking Him to make our souls incline towards it.

A further point – perhaps we have the knowledge, ability, and desire to perform a good deed, yet we may not be sincere when we perform the act. Perhaps our intentions are mixed. Asking Allah for guidance is to ask Him to grant us sincerity too, because sincerity is what keeps us on the straight path. Asking Allah to guide us on this path means also asking Him to follow the footsteps of the Prophet ,ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص and finally having thabaat (firmness) in these actions so that we do not waver.

As-Sirat Al-Mustaqeem: The Straight Path

Anas bin Malik (ra) narrates that he asked Allah’s Messenger ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص if he would intercede on his behalf on the Day of Judgement. “I will,” the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص replied.

“So, where should I look for you on the Day of Judgement?” enquired Anas (ra).

“When you need me, first of all look for me at Sirat [the bridge],” said the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص.

“And if I do not find you there?” asked Anas (ra).

“Look for me, then, at the Mizan [the Scales],” replied the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص.

“Where may I seek you,” asked Anas (ra), “if you are not near the Mizan as well?”

“Then look for me at the Hawd [the Pond]. I will not go away from these three places at that time,” the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص replied. (Tirmidhi)

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Thus the first place to ask intercession from the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص will be at the sirat. The sirat itself is a bridge over hell that one must pass to get to Paradise. It is described as a thin bridge – as thin as a hair – and is slippery. So how will we pass over it?

People pass over it according to their deeds: the first of them as fast as lighting, then as fast as wind, then as fast as birds, and then as fast as a running man. The Prophet will be ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص standing on the path saying “Lord, Save! Save!” as some people’s deeds will fall short. Some of them will come crawling. At both sides of the path there are hooks designed to take whom Allah wills: some are saved but bruised; others are thrown into Hell. (Bukhari and Muslim)

Ibn Al Qayyim stated that in this life, Allah has given us a straight path and has invited us all to it. Thus, whomever is guided to the straight path in this life, will make it over the straight path in the next life, insha’Allah. Our situation on the sirat, whether we fly over it or crawl, depends on our sticking to it on this life.

Can we see the importance of the du`a’ that we make in every prayer?

Amen!

When we say “ameen” (’O Allah please respond’) at the end of the du`a’ of Surat Al-Fatiha, we should say it with all of our heart, because after knowing all of these meanings, we should have true devotion and really desire for Allah to respond to this magnificent du`a’. However, if we are distracted, this du`a’ will not be answered. Why not? The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

" ادعوا الله تعالى وأنتم موقنون باإلجابة واعلم==وا أن الل==ه ال يس==تجيب دع==اء منقلب غافل اله "

“Make du`a’ to Allah with certainty that your du`a’ will be responded to, and know that Allah does not answer a du`a’ that originates from a negligent, inattentive heart.” (Tirmidhi)

Ibn Al-Qayyim said that when a person recites Surat al-Fatiha, he or she should give a short pause after every verse to anticipate the response of Allah. It was reported on the authority of Umm Salamah (ra) that the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص would do that.

May Allah guide us to the straight path and enable us to have a present heart in our prayers. Ameen.

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Part XXI - Those on whom Allah has bestowed His favors

The last article we described the sirat, which is the straight path that we must follow in this life so that we can cross over the physical one in the next life. In Surat al-Fatiha, we then specify the path we want to take. We recite:

صراط الذين أنعمت عليهم

“The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor…” (Qur’an, 1:6)

When we recite this ayah (verse), our heart should soften because we remember those people whom Allah (subhana wa ta’ala – glory be unto Him) has bestowed His favor- the Prophets (alayhum salaatu wasalaam – may peace be upon them), the Companions, the righteous and so on. This verse gives us comfort that those who follow this path are those whom Allah is with – thus, do not be ashamed of your faith before those who belittle it; do not shrink back when you are the only person who does not drink or when your hijab is questioned. Many of the surahs in the Qur’an tell us the stories of the Prophets (as), almost as though to give comfort to our Prophet Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص when he was going through hardship in delivering the message. This ayah too should do just that for us – we should know that as long as we are on this path, Allah is with us.

The continuation of this verse tells us:

غير المغضوب عليهم وال الضالين

“…not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray.” (1:6-7)

Who are those who have evoked His anger? Ibn Kathir stated that it is a description of those who know the truth but do not follow it. And those who are astray are those who do things without knowledge. We need to be aware of these two paths so that we do not fall into them, and thus to be on the straight path, we need to combine both knowledge and actions.

Surat al-Fatiha  also teaches us the proper order of du`a’ – that we should always start by praising Allah, and then asking for our need.

Ameen

We talked briefly about “Ameen” in the last article, and how we should say it truly desiring for Allah to answer the du’a of Al-Fatiha. But something else happens when we say it. Abu Hurayra (radi Allahu` anhu – May Allah be pleased with him) related that the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

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ا ه) م==( ر( ل==( (ة+ غ)ف==+ +ك ئ &م(ال( &م+ين( ال (أ )ه) ت م+ين& (أ 9ه) م(ن& و(اف(ق( ت +ن )وا، ف(إ م7ن

) +م(ام) ف(أ م9ن( اإل&) +ذ(ا أ إ

+ه+ &ب (ق(د9م( م+ن& ذ(ن ت

“When the Imam says, ‘ Ameen’, then say, ‘Ameen’, because whoever says, ‘Ameen’ with the angels, his previous sins will be forgiven.” (Bukhari, Muslim)

We say “Ameen” meaning ‘O Allah please respond’, and the Angels in the heavens also say “Ameen.” If they coincide, then Allah forgives our sins. This is also why we should say it with all of our hearts – in order that Allah responds to our sincere du`a’ and so that our sins are forgiven.

Qur’an

After reciting Al-Fatiha, we recite a brief surah afterwards. Unfortunately, sometimes we cannot even remember which surah we read. For those of us who have this problem, we should heed Allah’s words:

“Then do they not reflect upon the Qur’an, or are there locks upon [their] hearts?” (Qur’an, 47:24)

Look at how the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص used to pray. Aisha (ra) related that sometimes the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص would pray in the night until Fajr reciting just one ayah. One of the righteous, Muhammad bin Ka’b Al-Qardhi would say: “To read Surat al-Zalzala from night until morning and Surat al-Qari`ah and contemplating over them and repeating them is more beloved to me than just reading the entire Qur’an [i.e. without contemplation].”

A neighbor of Ibn Abbas (ra) mentioned that when he would pray tahajjud (the night prayer), he would recite an ayah and then pause. Then he would recite another ayah and pause. The neighbor asked him why he would do that, and he replied that it was so he could contemplate over the words. Oftentimes we focus on quantity and not on quality. Some of us may read an entire chapter of the Qur’an, but if we were asked what lessons we took, we would not be able to talk about even one. Ibn Al-Qayyim stated that if one wishes to benefit from the Qur’an, he needs to ensure that his heart is present; he needs to recite or listen to the words giving them their due importance, knowing that Allah is addressing him.

These words are so powerful that Allah (swt) has said:

U من خشية الله U متصدعا لو أنزلنا هذا القرآن على جبل لرأيته خاشعا

“If We had sent down this Qur’an upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and coming apart from fear of Allah…” (Qur’an, 59:21)

SubhanAllah (Glory be to Allah), look at the parable that Allah (swt) has set for us. Look at the weight of this Qur’an that we recite every single day not realizing that the words are addressed to us and are there to guide us. Even if some of us say that we do not understand Arabic, many of us have certain ayaat and surahs that we have memorized and recite them in our prayers. We should try to read the tafseer (exegesis) and understand the meanings so that our hearts are moved when we recite. It should not even take very long if we make a commitment to read a few pages of tafseer every week of a surah that we know. We should

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even get together with others to do so and gain the baraka (blessing) of reflecting on the words of God in congregation.

Ibn Al-Qayyim said that we should be moving between the emotions of love, fear and hope. When we read the verses pertaining to Allah’s blessings, our hearts should fill with love, recognizing these blessings in our lives. When we read of those who were before us and of their punishment, we should feel fear because we could be of them. When we recite the verses telling us about how Allah (swt) forgives, we should fill with hope in His mercy. Let us not forget the prayer is not a monologue- it is an intimidate dialogue with Allah. The Qur’an is His Words to us.

May Allah aid us in reflecting and taking lessons from the Qur’an and having a present heart in our prayers. Ameen.

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Part XXII - Rukoo’ (the bow): External Actions

Preparing ourselves for the prayer means realizing whom we are meeting with—Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala (exalted is He), our Lord, the Most Merciful of those who show mercy. We beautify ourselves externally because we are meeting with Allah, and we humble ourselves internally as we stand before the Most High. We stand between fear and hope, but the overwhelming emotion is love. When we recite Surat al-Fatiha (the Opener), we pause after every verse to reflect on it, knowing that Allah responds. When we recite a short surah (chapter) afterward, we recognize that these words are a message to us.

The External Acts of Rukoo’

When finish reciting the short surah after al-Fatiha, we should implement a very short pause just as the Prophet ,did (as related by Abu Dawud), and then raise our hands to say ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص “Allahu Akbar (God is Greater).” Remember that between almost every change of position we say, “Allahu Akbar.” This is to remind ourselves and to alert us that Allah is greater than anything—whatever our mind is distracted with and whatever worries plague us. And then we bow down in rukoo’. When we bow down, we should emulate the actions of the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص who said:

“When you make rukoo’, place your palms on your knees, then space your fingers out, then remain (like that) until every limb takes its (proper) place,” (Ibn Khuzaymah). In another narration, he added that we should straighten our backs (Abu Dawud).

Many of us rush our rukoo’ and sujood (prostration), but it is very important to give each action its due measure. The Prophet once ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص saw a man not completing the rukoo’ properly, and rushing his sujood such that he looked like he was pecking, and he said:

لو مات هذا لمات على غير ملة محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم مثل الذي ال يتم ركوعه وينقر في سجوده مثل الج=ائع يأك=ل التم=رة والتم=رتين التغنيان عنه شيئا

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“Were this man to die in this state, he would die on a faith other than that of Muhammad—the likeness of one who does not make rukoo’ completely and pecks in his sujood is like the hungry person who eats one or two dates, which are of no use to him at all” (Tabarani).

Why did the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص use such an example? Because we come to our prayer as people who are spiritually hungry and thirsty, looking for a refuge from the worries of the world. It does not make sense for a starving person to eat one or two dates if he has access to more; neither does it make sense for us to rush our rukoo’ and sujood.

Du`a’s (supplications) of Rukoo’

Just as we discussed previously that there are different opening du`a’s, there are also a variety of du`a’s of rukoo’. We should try to memorize them and vary what we say so that we are conscious of them and so they do not become words we simply repeat.

1- We should say three times:

سبحان ربي العظيم

Subhaana Rabbiy al-‘Adheem

“How Perfect is my Lord, the Supreme” (Ahmad, Abu Dawud).

When we say “Subhaan Allah” or “Subhaana Rabbiy,” we are disassociating Allah from any imperfection or impurity or from anything derogatory. And we say “Rabbiy” meaning “my Lord” in order to feel closeness to Him and love Him.

2-

سبوح قدوس رب المالئكة والروح

Suboohun Qudoos, Rabb al-Mala’ikati wa al-Rooh

“Exalted, Pure, Lord of the Angels and the Spirit” (Muslim).

Subooh comes from the same root word of subhan, which is Sa-Ba-Ha, and is an aggrandizement of subhan, meaning the Exalted One who is praised and glorified extensively. It has been debated by scholars as to what the ‘Spirit’ refers; most have said that it refers to Jibreel `alahi al-salam (peace be upon him), others have said it is another great Angel, and others have said that it is a formidable being that not even the Angels can see. Allah knows best.

3-

سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك اللهم اغفرلي

Subhaanak Allahuma wa bihamdik, Allahuma ighfirli

“How Perfect You are, O Allah. Praises are for You. O Allah, forgive me” (Bukhari, Muslim).

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Next week, we will discuss the inner beauty of rukoo’ insha’ Allah (God willing).

Part XXIII -   Allah Listens

Alhamdu lil Lah (all praise is due to God), we have reached almost midway through a rak’ah (unit) of prayer. At this point, we should take a step back and ask ourselves, “Has my prayer improved? Do I feel a deeper connection with Allah?”

It is easy to skim through articles and pick up one or two points, but it is important to read these kinds of articles with a prior intention. I only realized how much my prayer was lacking when I watched the series and saw that each position in prayer has a deeper meaning and allows a new way to connect to Allah.

Rising from Ruku’

After the ruku’ (bowing), he ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص would straighten up his back, saying:

سمع الله لمن حمده

“Allah listens to the one who praises Him.” (Bukhari & Muslim)

He ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص also said that “no person’s prayer is complete until … he has said takbeer (Allahu akbar)… then made ruku’ … then has said ‘Allah listens to the one who praises Him’ until he is standing straight.” (Abu Dawud)

Most of us rush this part; as soon as we are standing after ruku’, we immediately jump down to sujood (prostration). However, when the Prophet went ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص back to the standing position, he would stand straight until every vertebra returned to its place. (Bukhari) As we said in the last article, he used to make his ruku’, his standing after ruku’, his sujood, and his sitting in between the two sajdahs (prostrations) nearly equal in length. (Bukhari)

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The hands are raised as they are in the takbeerat al-ihram (first takbeer in the prayer).The hands can then be placed on the chest, as it is when we are reciting, or to the side.

The Du`a’ (Supplication)

There are different du`a’; I have just listed a few here:

ربنا ولك الحمد

Rabbana wa laka al-hamd.

“Our Lord, and to You be all Praise.” (Bukhari/Muslim)

ربنا لك الحمد

Rabbana laka al-hamd.

“Our Lord, to You be all Praise.” (Bukhari/Muslim)

ربنا ولك الحمد، حمدا كثيرا طيبا مباركا فيه

Rabbana wa laka al-hamd, hamdan katheeran, tayyiban mubarakan feeh.

“Our Lord, and to You be all Praise, so much pure praise, inherently blessed.” (Malik)

Why not say “Allahu akbar?”

Between every change of position we say “Allahu Akbar” except this part. Why? Because we are preparing for sujood. We know that at the sujood, we are at the closest point to Allah, and it is where du`a’ is responded to. Thus, we are preparing for that by praising Allah (because Allah listens to those who praise Him, and this is from the etiquette of du`a’) and then making du`a’ in the sujood.

May Allah allow us to perfect our prayers so that our hearts are evermore attached to Him. Ameen.

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