In other words it is to believe in Allah and in His Messenger Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh), and not associating anybody or anything else in the worship of Allah, to give Allah an exclusive and pure worship, and not worshipping even Muhammad (pbuh) who is only a Messenger of God and not a god or partner along with Allah. It is about believing firmly in the unicity of Allah and submitting oneself completely to His will.
It is only after one has established himself firmly in the Shahada that one establishes himself in prayer, as a sign of the very submission which he proclaimed, not only openly but inwardly, with all his intellectual faculties as well as his inner consciousness which we usually coined as the mind, as well as with his heart and soul. These three mind, heart and soul intertwined each other in nearly similar significance as these three concerns the spiritual side of the believer, which is beyond his body and carnal passions. If these three as well as his body are regulated in the correct way, then the submission to Allah comes naturally without any clash with external or even internal passions which may ruin his bond with Allah. To maintain his body and soul in harmony with Islam, Salat is thus very important. And the establishing of Salat in the correct way will assure the believer success in this world and the Hereafter.
The
Messenger of Allah Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) warned that the first thing man will
be questioned about on the Day of Resurrection is prayer. In a Hadith narrated
by Hazrat Abu Huraira (ra), he is quoted to have said: “The first thing about which the people will be called to account
out of their actions on the Day of Judgement is prayer. Our Lord, the Exalted,
will say to the angels - though He knows better: ‘Look into the prayer
of My servant and see whether he has offered it perfectly or imperfectly.’
If
it is perfect, that will be recorded perfect. If it is defective, He will say: ‘See there are some optional prayers offered by
My servant.’ If there are optional prayers to his credit, He will say: ‘Compensate
the obligatory prayer by the optional prayer for My servant’. Then all
the actions will be considered similarly.” (Abu
Dawud)
Hazrat
Buraidah (ra) reported the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) as saying, “The covenant between us and them (i.e.
those who embrace Islam) is prayer, so if anyone abandons it he has become an
infidel.”
On
the other hand, Allah has prepared great rewards for the believers who observe
prayer and take good care of it in every respect. The perfect establishment of prayer
effaces sins. Just like the Hadith which I quoted before you last Friday
wherein the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) used the parable of a river to show
his companions how important the Salat
were in their everyday lives. Salat
cleanse not only the Ruh (soul) of the believer but also drives him to
perfect submission in the physical direction as well. The believer learns to
control and submit his body to Allah, to show external submission as well as a
more refined internal one.
Therefore,
my dear disciples it is very important to be regular on prayer, and perform it
correctly. One may perform prayer according to the way he was taught by his
parents or teacher, according to their Mazhab. But you should always
remember that it is only the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) who must be followed.
The angels will not ask you, while in the grave, “Did you follow this Imam or that Imam?” Neither me [as
the Khalifatullah in whom you have believed] nor any other Imam who leads the
prayer will be with you then, nor will he defend you on the Day of
Resurrection. Anyone who rejects the authentic Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh)
exposes himself to destruction. This is within the scope of the first pillar of
Islam, i.e. the Shahada which also
drives us as Muslims to live our life by Obeying Allah and His Holy Messenger
Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). If the Quran is the Book, the Seal of all Prophets is
its best representation, and deviating from his Sunnah is for one who does
this, equalled to disobeying Allah when He has Himself said in several verses
of His Holy Book: Wati’ullah Wati’ur Rasul
(Obey Me and the Messenger).
The
Sunnah provides the understanding of the Holy Quran and applying the
Holy Quran without the Sunnah is also detestable as both function as one
body and soul.
So,
if we want to understand the Holy Quran and put in practice all its teachings
to the letter, we need not only become the Ahle Kitab or Ahle Quran
(People of the Book [of Islam] or People of the Quran) but we must also become
the Ahle Sunnah [i.e. the people who follows the Sunnah – practice – of
our beloved prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh)].
To
succeed in this task, we need to bear in mind some of the common errors
committed by Muslim believers and not committing those same mistakes. The same
applies in Salat as well. These
errors must be avoided hoping that Allah would accept this act of worship and
reward us for it.
1)
Wearing pants, or garments that hang below the ankles.
This
is one of the greatest sins. It was narrated that Abu Dharr said: “The
Messenger of Allah said: ‘There are three to whom of Allah will not speak on
the Day of Resurrection or look at them or purify them, and theirs will be a
painful torment: the one who reminds people of what he has given them, the one
who lets his garment hang beneath his ankles, and a vendor who tries to sell
his product by means of false oaths.’” (An-Nasai, Ibn Majah)
Some
people think that wearing clothes that hang below the ankles is not a sin if
they abstain from doing so while praying only. Others think that wearing such a
garment is a sin only if it is worn out of pride; otherwise, they believe there
is no harm in doing so. However, the above and many other traditions indicate
clearly that wearing clothes that hang below the ankles (for men) is a grave
sin regardless of whether such garments are worn out of habit or pride. There
are other authentic traditions that emphasize wearing clothing that hangs below
the ankles out of pride entails harsher punishment. Hazrat Abu Huraira (ra)
narrated that the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has said: “What is below the ankles of a lower
garment is condemned to the Fire (Hell).” (Bukhari)
There
is a Hadith-e-Qudsi in which the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) is quoted Allah (twt)
to have said: “Pride is my cloak
and Majesty is My lower garment, and I shall throw him who vie with Me
regarding one of them into Hell.” (Abu Dawud)
It
is commonplace to see brothers folding up the hems of their pants for prayer.
However, as soon as prayer is completed, they unfold their pants. The belief
that wearing garments that hang below the ankles is prohibited during prayers
only is a misconception commonly held by many Muslims. Such Muslims are unaware
that the Prophet (pbuh) forbade praying with folded clothes. So, it should
become a habit for all Male Muslim believers to always keep their trousers or
robe from hanging down below the ankle, and instead cultivate the habit to wear
it a little before or at the ankles’ level.
2) Consuming food of bad smell such has garlic or onion, or smoking before coming to prayer.
Angels
and the people who are praying are bothered by offensive smell. On the
contrary, one should wear perfume, if available before coming into mosques.
Hazrat
Jabir (ra) reported that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: He who eats from
the smelly plant [garlic or onion], let him come not near our mosque; the
angels are bothered by that which bothers men.
Now, concerning smoking, as believers we should bear in mind that Allah has commanded His servants in the Holy Quran (An-Nisa 4:30) not to kill themselves; and we know that a smoker who consumes nicotine or any narcotic and drug is inviting his own death. It is highly detestable that one who is conscious of the deathly traits of smoking of any intoxicant to resort to such means which destroy his health and thus invite the wrath of Allah upon him.
3)
Proceeding to the mosque for prayer with brisk walk, or even running for fear
of missing part of the prayer.
The
Sunnah [not to rush for prayer] is in concordance with the virtue of
prayers, as this forms part of the Salat
itself, i.e. one should walk calmly and with tranquillity to join the prayer as
the walking to the physical representation of the Salat is also counted as Salat
itself, and indeed every action is based on the intention made. Moreover, thus
walking in a calm and peaceful manner avoids one from disturbing those who are
already in prayer. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: “When prayer has
already started, do not walk quickly to join in. Proceed calmly with
tranquillity; then join in whichever part you catch up, and complete whichever
part you missed (i.e., soon after the Imam ends the prayer).” [Bukhari]
And
in the version as recorded by Imam Muslim, our beloved prophet (pbuh) has said:
“For when one of you is walking for Salat, he is, in fact, engaged in Salat.”
4) Not saying the opening Takbeer when joining prayer late or
wrongly say it in the wrong position.
Many
of those who come late to the mosque and join in prayer which is already in
progress, rush to take the same posture, be it while the people are in Ruku,
and they do not say the opening Takbeer of prayer (i.e. Allahu Akbar).
And some others may even say it while going in the current position taken by
the Imam and Mussalli (those who pray) while bowing or sitting for fear
of missing that current position of prayer. The opening Takbeer should
to be pronounced first while standing [like for any normal Salah], and
after reciting it the worshipper then joins in the current position of the Imam
and congregation. The importance of the opening Takbeer is clear from
this Hadith wherein our beloved prophet is narrated to have said: “The key
to prayer is purification, its opening is to say Allahu Akbar and its closing
is to say As-salaamu’ alaikum.”
(Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah)
5)
Mumbling the Niyyah or intention, and uttering it in a low audible voice.
The
heart is the place of intention. Mumbling words such as “I intend to pray such
prayer or such number of Rakat (cycles of prayer), or I intend to fast,
or do such act of worship or another,” just before starting prayer is a Bid’ah
[innovation] which was practiced neither by the Prophet (pbuh) nor his
companions, nor by their followers.
Uttering
the above words of intention allows Satan to put irrelevant words in the mouth
of the person who utters the intention. Do you remember at one time or another
that once you stood up for Zuhr prayer and discovered yourself saying, “I
intend to pray four Rakat of Isha,” or when you were standing for Asr
prayer you made your intention to pray Fajr instead? This confusion is from Satan.
Had you kept silent, Satan would have no chance of confusing you.
7) Neglecting the opening Duah of prayer, Ta’uz, and Bismillah.
Ta’uz
is saying “Aouzu billahi minash-shaytaan ir-rajim” and “Bismillah”
is saying “Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim.” A believer should pronounce
the Ta’uz and Bismillah at the start of his prayers.
8)
Neglecting praying facing a Sutrah.
The
Sutrah is an object, such as a wall, or a post, which a person faces
while praying. Or any other object which a person places to serve as a Sutrah, by putting it on the ground in
order that no one may cross in front of him while praying. The Messenger of
Allah (pbuh) said: “Pray facing a Sutrah, and let no one cross in front of
you while praying. If he insists, then prevent him by force because he is
accompanied by Satan.” (Ibn Majah)
And
he (pbuh) said: “When one of you prays facing a Sutrah, let him pray close
to it so that Satan may not be able to nullify his prayer.” (Ibn Majah, Abu
Dawud)
But
in another instance, in an open field where there is no people passing, it is
not a sin not to place a Sutrah [depending on the situation], because it
is narrated in Abu Dawud by Hazrat Al-Fadl ibn Abbas (ra): “The Messenger of
Allah (pbuh) came to us accompanied by Abbas when we were in open country
belonging to us. He prayed in a desert with no Sutrah in front of him, and a
she-ass and a bitch of ours were playing in front of him, but he paid no
attention to that.” (Abu Dawud)
These
traditions indicate that is advisable that a believer places a Sutrah at
a distance he has enough space to prostrate, and if someone passes before him
in the space between him and the Sutrah, he should fight him and prevent
him from passing for at that time, the Satan is with him. But it is not a sin
if no Sutrah is used in a large area when there is no human activity, and
we learn from this Hadith that the activities of animals have no power to annul
one’s prayer unless of course one leaves his concentration on the prayer to
focus on the animals. In that case, his prayer by his own fault becomes
nullified.
I stop here for today. Insha-Allah, I will continue on the same subject next Friday. May Allah help us to perfect our Salat, rid all errors therein and to accede to His pleasure in the condition when He is closest to us, and we are closest to Him. Insha-Allah, Ameen.
----Friday Sermon of 23 September 2022 ~25 Safar 1444 AH delivered by Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius.