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You are the creator, you’re the giver, you’re the sustainer, and I am a
beggar before you and Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wa Aalihi wa
sallam said ‘the closest that a servant is to his Lord is when he is
prostrating so make much supplication’. Its not a degrading position.
This is a position in which you are receiving love, mercy, and
tenderness from Allah swt.
And there is the story of the companion who when he was pouring
water for Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wa Aalihi wa sallam in an excess
of love he said to him ‘ask and you will receive what you want’. If it had
been us, we probably would have said ‘Oh I am going through some
financial problems and…’. He said ‘I want your companionship in
Jannah.’ Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wa Aalihi wa sallam said ‘Help
me, against yourself by many many sajdahs.’
Sajda is the key to gaining Allah swt’s love. Now Rasoolullah sallallahu
alayhi wa Aalihi wa sallam used to recite a dua in sajda aswell –
subhanakallah humma wa bihamdika rabbana alhummmaghfirlee
that Allah you are perfect, and you are pure and with your praise Allah
forgive me.
When you sit, before you go into the second sajda there is a dua – dua
we should learn and read.
Now at that moment, imagine the scene if you can, that Rasoolullah
sallallahu alayhi wa Aalihi wa sallam, the best of mankind, stands
before his creator, receiving this astonishing mercy and love, and at
that point he remembers other. This shows his nature, this is really the
essence of his nature; that he gave to people, he shared.
And of course one of the most beautiful is Rabbi jalni muqimas salati
wa min dhurriyyati rabbana wa taqabbal dua Rabbana aghfirli
waliwalidaiyya wa lil mu’minina yawma yaqumul hisab
Allah make me one who establishes salat - you’re reading salat but
even then you are asking for this quality to be sustained.
Right and left we repeat the same message and our salat is over. Now
what do we do the moment salat is over. We start bellowing out ‘Just
go and answer that phone right now, what were you doing. Why didn’t
you come when I was calling you and I was waiting for this…?’. And the
minute salat is over we are bellowing out these instructions and the
beautiful dream is over and we are back to reality with a vengeance.
This is one of the biggest traps of shaytaan. That the minute you finish
your salat he starts reminding you of things you needed to be doing so
you need to get up, you don’t have time to read the tasbeehaat, we
don’t have time to read Ayatul Kursi. He tells you, you can read it in
the car, but by the time you reach the car you have already forgotten.
So we find that the first thing you say is Allahu Akbar one more time.
You began salat with it, and you are ending salat with it. Allahu Akbar
once. And three times Astaghfirullah – Allah please forgive me for the
inevitable shortcomings, for the inevitable defects, Allah please forgive
me
And then you read Ayatul Kursi. The advantages of reading Ayatul Kusi
constantly are that you are granted a grateful heart and a
remembering tongue and a reward like that of the Prophets and the
martyrs but it has to be done constantly. And this is shaytaan’s
favourite game. Ok, you have read salat and he couldn’t stop you in
that but now he is going to make sure that you mess it up some way or
the other.
And after reading Ayatul Kursi you read your tasbeehaat. If you ever
timed yourself it takes exactly 1.5 minutes or not more than two
minutes to read subhanallah 33 times, alhumdulillah 33 times and
Allahu Akbar 34 times but shaytaan just convinces us it is too long, I
don’t have time I can read it later on.
There are prayers that you read and you really tried hard but still it just didn’t
work, it just didn’t click, you just didn’t feel that connection so then pray to
Allah, ask his help and you will see the difference.
There is no God but Allah. He has no partners. His is the Kingdom. His
is all praise. He has power over everything. There is no strength or
power except with Allah. And this is awesome. Before you return to
your worldly routine take these words of power back with you.
Glorified is your lord, the lord of dignity and honour, from what they
ascribe, and peace be upon the messengers and all praises are for
Allah lord of the universe.
The thing which makes salat so important and ironically the thing
which makes us relaxed about salat is that its happening five times a
day; its not like hajj which is once a lifetime compulsory, and not like
Ramadan which is once a year so when it happens once a year or once
a lifetime you are thinking, its only going to come once so I better do it
right this time.
Because salat is 5 times a day, every day of your life, shaytaan tricks
you into thinking ‘so what if you didn’t pray today, you can always pray
tomorrow.
told us, and this is a very important hadith ‘the first of man’s deeds for
which he will be called to account on the day of judgment will be salat.
If it is found to be perfect, he will be safe and successful but if it is
imperfect he will be unfortunate and a loser. If any shortcoming is
found in the fard salat Allah swt will command to see if his slave has
offered any nafl (voluntary salat) so that the obligatory salat may be
made up by it.
(so its not a good idea to keep on reading fard without Sunnah’s and
nafls. )
‘…then the rest of his actions will be treated in the same manner’
‘Whoever protects his salat it will be for him a light and a shield and
salvation on the day of judgment. Whoever does not protect it, it will
not be a light for him, nor a shield, nor salvation and on the day of
judgment, he will be with Pharoah and Harman (Pharoah’s Military
Advisor) and he will be with Uday bin Khalaf, one of the notorious
enemies of Islam. Firaun who is considered one of the arch villains of
the Qur’an, mentioned again and again because Pharoah also felt that
he did not need to bow down. Pharoah also felt that he did not need to
obey.
This is what people say – ‘Oh I can’t get up for fajr’ so be careful
The blocks/excuses/ justifications we have made in our mind for not
reading salat, or for not reading salat properly
o I’m not well today – well enough to watch television, well enough
to do what you want to do. When it comes to salat you’re
exhausted or not well.
o I’ll pray when I’m ready for it. When I pray I can’t concentrate so
there’s no point in my praying. I’d rather pray when I’m
absolutely focused and directed. That day is not going to come
when you wake up and you have a little halo around your head
and you float on the prayer mat. So lets wake up from this
pleasant little dream.
All of these blocks, and there are many more aswell, all of these are
like the foam on a swiftly flowing river. It seems like it’s a lot but
there’s no substance to them whatsoever. And they can all be solved
by one simple method taught to us in the Qur’an. Allah, whenever he
tells us about prayer he says ‘Aqimas salat’ – establish salat.
Aqimu – iqamat lets understand it. Lets think of a very simple everyday
image – that of building a house. When you build a house, whats the
first thing you do? Foundation, you lay the foundation, and in the same
way before you start saying ‘oh I can’t pray because I can’t
concentrate or I can’t pray because its too difficult, remember you
need the foundation within your heart. And how do you get that
foundation of imaan; through the Qur’an. The more Qur’an you listen
to, the sort of people you hang out with, all part of your foundation of
your salat.
Then whats the second thing you do after laying the foundation. Then
we raise the walls, we raise the pillars and this is your knowledge on
salat. This is the way you improve your salat and this is the way you
overcome these barriers.
The first thing you need to do is improve your imaan by reading the
Qur’an, especially verses to do with salat, and the second is improve
your knowledge on salat. Read up on the Sunnah. Find our how you are
supposed to pray Sunnah’s, which surah’s he used to recite in the
different rakah’s and every bit of knowledge you get will be like the
wall you are adding onto.
Finally, you’ve laid the foundations, you’ve raised the walls, now what
comes on top, the roof, that protects you and that shelters the house
and this roof would be dua. Pray to Allah swt. Ask for Allah swt’s mercy
so He covers you. He encompasses your building of salat with his
mercy and He protects it. He protects it from the storms of shaytaan
and He protects it from falling down or collapsing.
And once your house is ready, only then do you buy the furniture and
the ornaments and the little nik naks you put up in your house. People
who do not have any knowledge on salat, who’ve never bothered to
read up on the Qur’an can’t complain ‘I can’t read salat because I find
it boring’. That’s like going out and buying ornaments for your house
when you haven’t even laid the foundation. So its all part of a process,
and it’s a process that takes sometimes a lifetime but the reward at
the end is so immense that there cannot be any two ways about
considering whether we should do this or not.
‘On the day I converted to Islam, the Iman of the Masjid gave me a
manual on how to perform salat. How hard could it be to pray I
wondered. That night I decided to start performing the five prayers at
their appointed times. Much of what I was saying was in Arabic so I had
to memorise the Arabic transliterations and English interpretations. I
pored over the manual on salat for a couple of hours before I felt
confident enough to attempt my first prayer.
I walked into the bathroom and opened to the section describing how
to perform wudu. Like a cook trying a recipe for the first time, I
followed the step by step instructions, slowly and meticulously.
Standing in centre of the room then, I aimed myself in what I hoped
was the direction of Makkah. I glanced back over my shoulder to make
sure that I had locked the door to my apartment. Finding that it was I
then looked straight ahead, straightened my stance, took a deep
breath and in a hushed voice I pronounced ‘Allahu Akbar’.
I felt a little anxious. I couldn’t rid myself of the feeling that someone
might be spying on me. So I stopped what I was doing and went to the
window. I glanced around outside to make sure no-one was there. Then
I carefully pulled the curtains closed and returned to the middle of the
room. Once again I stood straight and whispered Allahu Akbar. In a
barely audible tone I slowly and clumsily recited the first surah of the
Qur’an and another short surah in Arabic. I then bowed with my back
perpendicular to my legs. I’d never bowed to anyone before and I felt
embarrassed. I was glad that I was alone. I stood up and recited Sami
'allahu liman hamidah and then I felt my heart pounding and anxiety
mounting as I called out another Allahu Akbar. I had arrived at the
moment when I had to perform a sajda. Petrified I stared at the area of
the floor. I couldn’t do it. I could not lower myself to the floor like a
slave grovelling before his master. It was as if my legs had braces on
them that would not let me bend. I felt too ashamed and humiliated. I
could imagine the sniggers of friends watching me make a fool of
myself. Poor Jeff I could hear them saying. Please, please help me do
this I prayed. I took a deep breath and forced myself to the floor. Now
on my hands and knees I hesitated for a brief moment and then I
pushed my face to the carpet. Ridding my mind of all other thoughts I
mechanically pronounced three times subhana rabbiyyal aa’laa
Allahu Akbar I called and sat back on my heels and put my face again
to the carpet. I was determined to finish this no matter what. Allahu
Akbar I called and lifted myself from the floor and stood up straight.
Three cycles to go I told myself.
I had to wrestle with my emotions and try the rest of the prayer but it
got easier with each cycle. Finally I recited the tashahud and then
ended the prayer.
Spent, I remained on the floor and reviewed the battle I had just been
through. I felt embarrassed that I had to struggle so hard to get
through the prayer. With my head lowered in shame I prayed ‘Please
forgive me my arrogance and stupidity. I have come from very far and
I have so very far to go’. At that moment I experienced something I
had never felt before. A wave of coldness swept through me which
seemed to radiate from within some point in my chest. It was intense
and it was much more than a physical sensation. It was as if mercy had
taken on an objective form and was now penetrating and enveloping
me. I cannot say why, but I began to cry. Tears began to run down my
face and I found myself weeping uncontrollably. The more I cried the
more I felt the embrace of a powerful kindness and compassion. I
remained on my knees crouched to the floor, with my head in my
hands, sobbing for some time. When I finally stopped crying I was
completely exhausted. But one thing I realised; I needed Allah and
prayer desperately. Before getting up from my knees I made one last
dua – ‘O God if I ever gravitate towards disbelief again then please kill
me first, rid me of this life. It is hard enough living with my
imperfections and weaknesses but I cannot live another day denying
you.
They sat him down beside Abu Bakr and Abu Bakr prayed standing.
And the people prayed following the prayer of Abu Bakr. And amongst
the last words of Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wa Aalihi wa sallam were
‘as salat, as salat (the prayer, the prayer)’ and ‘fear Allah with regard
to the slaves your right hands possess.
Hadith Qudsi – I accept the salat of one who humbles himself during it,
to my greatness and who does not perform the salat just for show, and
who does not spend the night in disobedience to me. And who spends
the day remembering me and who is merciful to the poor, the traveller
and the widows. And who is merciful to one who is suffering from a
disease. He has a life like the light of the sun; I protect him by my glory
and the angels guard over him. I give him light in darkness and dignity
in the presence of ignorance. And his example in my creation is like
firdaus in Jannah.
innaka antas Sameeaul Aleem – You are the all hearing all the knowing
Allah grant us all the tawfiq to read all five prayers with sincerity, with
fervour and with conviction only for you. Allah beautify our salat, make
it beautiful in your eyes, beautify our ruku’s, beautify our sujood’s,
beautify our qiyam and beautify our duas and accept it from us, and
make our hisaab easy.