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Fajr marks the beginning of your day. The way Allah wants us to start
our day is not stagger out of bed and stumble into the kitchen and
make a cup of coffee. Allah wants us to wake up, splash water on our
faces and start the day not just with the physical exercise but a
spiritual nourishment.
Scholar once asked, why is it that people who pray in the night are so
beautiful. He said it is because they spend their night with Allah.
When you start your day having read Fajr on time, there is an inward
glow within, an inward calmness that whatever happens, its alright.
Allah swt will give me the strength to cope with it.
Then after than you have a long interval before zuhr. This long interval
– about 8 hours is so that we can fulfil all our worldly chores, household
tasks, if working can go out etc.
Then there’s a very natural break for zuhr. We have people who
complain they cannot pray because they’re so busy or so immersed in
their career – ‘we can’t even take out 5 minutes’ - that’s the biggest
mistake that any human being can possibly make. Because dunya will
never give us anything. And to sacrifice one’s akhirah for the sake of
dunya is a very short-sighted bargain. And this is what people do about
zuhr and asr. ‘Oh we didn’t have time and we will just go home and
read kaza’. If you miss your prayer accidentally or out of sheer…you
didn’t plan it that way, then do read kaza, . But to plan to read kaza is
an act of kufr.
If you read zuhr in a relaxed way you will find that it gives you strength
and the rest and all the refreshment you needed during the day. If you
read your zuhr badly you will find that you are exhausted by the end of
the day
Asr – a salat many people miss as its so short. Sign of the hypocrite –
reads asr at the last possible moment.
Maghrib – sunset. When day ending, when the day is ending, feeling of
sadness, feeling of depression, feeling of mournfulness. Soul feels
upset as you know this is another day that’s ending, another chance
gone by, another day of my life has just been chopped off. What did I
do today? A period where you’re upset, where you’re feeling disturbed.
So this is Allah’s love for us that at this point he says ‘come to me’.
When shaytaan is going to attack you with misgivings and doubts,
fears, anxiety and stress, come to me, come to me and unburden
yourself.
Isha – right before you go to sleep. That is the time you are meant to
read Isha – that is
the best time for reading isha. So symbolic that maybe this is the end
of my life, maybe
this is my last night, maybe this is my last isha ever so I need to pray it
well and I need to
pray it properly.
This is another prayer that many people either skip or they keep
delaying because they
are too sleepy. This is again a sign of hypocrisy.
Salat not just a physical exercise – meeting with Allah swt. Before you
meet someone
special, before you meet some influential – prepare for that meeting. If
in one’s lounge
and hear some important visitors have arrived – first thing you do is
look in mirror, see
what needs to be done, and then go and do it.
Story of Hadrat Umar RA and his conversion – his sister tells ‘you can’t
touch this
paper (the Qur’an) you’re not pure’ so he goes and bathes and the
water cools him
(down) and this is one of the reasons for wudu.
After you have done wudu comes intention. Something many people
are confused
about. Many people have this little paragraph that Allah I am facing
towards the
kaaba my face is towards the Kaaba and my hands are towards you etc
etc – this is not
in the sunnah and this is something that people have invented. You
don’t need to
come up with this little paragraph every time you are praying. All you
need to do is
have an intention in your heart. Just as when you do wudu you have an
intention in
your heart (you don’t say Oh allah I am turning on the tap, O Allah the
water is
finished now), that intention is within your heart that is exactly what it
is in salat. You
are going to read your salat so just have the intention in your heart.
You might think I don’t pray to show off but think of a situation or a
gathering where
you realise that your religious friend is standing beside you and
instinctively your
sajda’s become longer and your talawat becomes more fervent – be
careful because
Allah swt doesn’t need adulterated ibadah.
Then we come to the first words of salat. The most beautiful words in
the language.
Allahu Akbar – Allah is the greatest. And your hands are open when we
say it. And this
signifies that Allah we come before you empty handed as your slaves.
We have
nothing. Only you have everything.
Now we see this so many times in salat. But what happens when we
get off the prayer
mat? When we are confronted with choices that declare either Allah is
the greatest or
my nafs is the greatest, either Allah is the greatest or my wealth is the
greatest. What
do we do then? Do we remember Allahu Akbar or does it go right out of
our
minds?
Should know the translation – tragedy of our ummah that many don’t
know the
translation of salat, and then they complain salat is boring. We have to
know what we
are saying before Allah otherwise it is like we’ve mugged up some
foreign words and
we are reciting them before Him. We must know the translation of
salat.
So the words mean - you are perfect Allah with your praise, blessed is
your name and
exalted is your status, and there is no God but You.
With your praise – when we serve Allah, whose praise is it that we want
– Allah’s or out
own.
Ali RA once said that the sign of a show-off is this, that when he is
praised, he
increases his good actions, but when he is criticised, he decreases his
good actions. This
is a sign that you are only doing it for people. That if someone praises
you, you will keep
on doing it but if someone criticises you then you will stop doing it.
The mu’min is actuated every moment of his life by love of Allah and
nothing else.
Then the words ta’aala jadduka – Allah you are exalted – again a
negation of the ego, a
negation of arrogance because if you think about it, all discord in
relationships is caused
by ‘I’ – ‘I didn’t deserve this’, ‘I was upset’, ‘I’m angry’, ‘I’m not going
to take this’, ‘I’m
not going to stand for this’. So Allah swt teaches us ta aala jadduka –
say it, and mean it,
and live your life by it. Only Allah swt is exalted.
There is a second dua, which some people know and many are
unaware of but this is an
even more beautiful dua and this was also read by Rasoolullah
sallallahu alayhi wa Aalihi wa sallam.
Allah – place the distance of the east and the west between me and my
sins
The frightening thing about sins is that they are right here with us. We
can’t get rid of
them. When we lie it has been recorded. Its part of me now. And I will
pay for it in
dunya and I will pay for it in akhirah. I might not be able to see it in
dunya but I will
certainly see it in akhirah. So Allah swt reminds us to ask for
forgiveness whist those sins
can still be deleted.
And purify me from errors, from my sins by water and snow and hail.
Wa naqqini min khataayaaya kama yunaqqa al-thawb al-abyad min al-
danas.
And cleanse me from my sins the way white cloth is cleansed from filth
–
advertisements on detergent always have the white cloth – sight of the
spotless white
cloth is very beautiful. So this is what Allah swt is telling us to aim for –
a heart that is
sparkling, a heart that is clear from all these impurities.
We can read either one of these or both. And if you read both that’s
great.
Alhamdu lillahi rabbil Aaalameen – is the most basic truth there is. And
also we ask Allah
swt for guidance
Alhumdulillah – all praises are for Allah.
Think of the situation when the mu’min prays. The mu’min prays in
sickness and health.
In poverty and wealth. On the battlefield and in the comfort of his own
home. In rain,
snow or sunshine. The mu’min is not supposed to give up prayer at any
stage and this is
the way he addresses Allah swt no matter what is happening to him.
Alhumdulillah –
thank you Allah. All praises belong to you. All merit belongs to you.
Now you think of tremendous power and you feel scared. So instantly
Allah swt
reassures you
Now you read Alrrahman alrraheem and you think I can do whatever I
want so Allah swt
Says:
Hypocrites will appear with two faces. People who used to backbite will
appear with the
faces of dogs. People who used to criticise others will appear with the
faces of dogs.
Everyone’s inward will become his outward on that day. If there was
inward darkness
then on that day there will be no more secrets. Everything will be
exposed. And
everything will be placed before us. Which is why Hadrat Aisha RA was
warned by
Prophet Muhammad pbuh
‘Aisha, avoid the small sins’ because this is the way shaytaan gets us.
Avoid the small
sins because they accumulate upon a man until they destroy him.
When you see that
vast mountain of small sins you will know they are no longer small.
Three verses we praise Allah swt and then we come to the crux of
Fatiha.
Ask yourself – what have we given Allah swt up til now. We gave him a
few words of
praise and then we started up on our demands. I want guidance. And
as you will see
throughout salat we are asking asking asking asking Allah swt
throughout salat and then
we act like we have done Him a great favour.
If you don’t know more surahs, learn then. Add some variety to your
salat so that it
becomes exciting and stimulating for you. If you look at the surahs
Rasoolullah sallallahu
alayhi wa Aalihi wa sallam used to read they were very simple surahs
and they are
surahs we should also be reading in our salat.
That Allah, with your praise, and you are perfect. Allah forgive me.
So you find that when you straighten up again, Allah swt has taught us
a line which gives us reassurance even whilst you are still on the
prayer mat.
Sami 'allahu liman hamidah - Allah has heard the one who has praised
him.
Why didn’t this line come right at the end? We are still halfway through
salat. This is
Allah swt’s way of holding out a helping hand, of carrying us the rest of
the way. Don’t
give up, don’t despair, Allah swt has heard the one who has praised
him. Not ‘will’, Allah
‘has’ heard the one who has praised him.
Story of the man when salat was read and this man heard these words
of love, his heart
just brimmed over with gratitude to Allah and spontaneously he just
called out
Think of how honoured this man was. This one moment of love, that
outpouring of love, pure love from his heart and Allah swt rewarded
him by preserving his words until the end of time. Because Allah is
shakirun aleem – Allah is appreciate and he doesn’t waste a single tear
we shed in His path