Islmic Education- Ways of Access and Signs of Acceptance- Lesson (58-70): Reverence in Prayer

Transcription

1 Islmic Education- Ways of Access and Signs of Acceptance- Lesson (58-70): Reverence in Prayer Praise be to Allah, the Lord of Creations, and Peace and blessings be upon our prophet Muhammad, the faithful and the honest. Oh, Allah, w e know nothing but w hat You teach us. You are the All- Know er, the Wise. Oh Allah, teach us w hat is good for us, and benefit us from w hat You taught us, and increase our know ledge. Show us the righteous things as righteous and help us to do them, and show us the bad things as bad and help us to keep aw ay from them. O Allah our Lord, lead us out from the depths of darkness and illusion, unto the lights of erudition and know ledge, and from the muddy shallow s of lusts unto the heavens of Your Vicinity. The acts of worship are related to people s interests: Dear brothers, w e still discuss the subject that strongly associates w ith w ays of access and signs of acceptance, w hich is the reverence. Last meeting, I have clarified that there are acts of w orship, as Imam Shafi i said about them: Related to the interests of people, and there are rituals from the traits of earthly positive religions. The rituals are movements, quietness, gestures, and meaningless mumbles; w hile the acts of w orships are related to the interests of people. "Take Sadaqah (alms) from their w ealth in order to purify them and sanctify them w ith it," [Al-Taubah 9: 103] "O you w ho believe! Observing As-Saum (the fasting) is prescribed for you as it w as prescribed for those before you, that you may become Al-Muttaqun " As regard Hajj: " That you may know that Allah has know ledge" So, the acts of w orship are related to the interests of people. [Al-Baqarah 2: 183] [Al-Ma idah 5: 97] Comprehending the wisdoms of worship and devotion in Salat: Hence, w hen Allah the Almighty, says: "Hold firmly to w hat We have given you [i.e. the Taurat (Torah)], and remember that w hich is therein (act on its commandments)," [Al-A raf 7: 171] Remember the w isdoms w hich are therein, the w isdom of w orship is that it helps you to be devout during the prayer, for example, Allah, The Greatest, says:

2 " Recite, O Muhammad, w hat has been revealed to you of the Book (the Qur'an), and perform As-Salat (Iqam at-as-salat). Verily, As-Salat (the prayer) prevents from Al-Fahsha' (i.e. great sins of every kind, unlaw ful sexual intercourse, etc.) and Al-Munkar (i.e. disbelief, polytheism, and every kind of evil w icked deed, etc.) and the remembering (praising, etc.) of (you by) Allah (in front of the angels) is greater indeed [than your rem em bering (praising, etc.) Allah in prayers, etc.]. And Allah know s w hat you do." [Al-Ankabut 29: 45] The remembering of Allah is the greatest thing in salat, yet, the remembering of you by Allah is greater than your remembering Him in it, because if He has remembered you, He w ould grant you w isdom, satisfaction, tranquility, safety, happiness, success, support, and victory; so, no one know s the rew ards of the salat but Allah. "Nay! O Muhammad (Peace be upon him )! Do not obey him (Abu Jahl). Fall prostrate and draw near to Allah!" Draw near to Allah, so, the salat is approaching ( it brings you close to Allah). salat is remembering. "And perform As-Salat (Iqam at-as-salat) for My Rem em brance." ((The man is only rew arded for w hat he has recognized from his prayer.)) So, salat is a recognition. [Al-Alaq 96: 19] [Ta-ha 20: 14] [Mentioned in Al- Athar] " Approach not As-Salat (the prayer) w hen you are in a drunken state until you know (the meaning) of w hat you utter," Salat is approaching, remembering, recognition, and purification; as the Prophet, PBUH, said: [Al-Nisa 4: 43] ((salat is not accepted w ithout performing Wudu( ablution), and alms is not accepted if it has been taken from an unlaw ful money.)) [Narrated by Al-Bazzar from Abu Huraira] Salat purifies man from his filth, and from his deviated desires; it casts light in your heart by w hich you distinguish betw een right and w rong, and salat is delight and happiness. ((O Bilal, let s feel comfort by it it means the prayer-.)) [Narrated by Al-Tabarani from a man of the companions] You have to be familiar w ith the infinite w isdoms of the acts of w orships, because these w isdoms may help you to be devout in the prayer. The awareness of wisdoms helps to be devout to Allah:

3 Dear brothers, the prophet, PBUH, said: (( If there w as a river at the door of anyone of you and he took a bath in it five times a day w ould you notice any dirt on him? They said, Not a trace of dirt w ould be left. The prophet added, That is the example of the five prayers w ith w hich Allah blots out (annuls)evil deeds. )) [Narrated by Al-Boukhari, Muslim, Al-Tirmithi, and Al-Nissai from Abu Huraira] So, the acts of w orship are related to the interests of people. Hence, the aw areness of w isdoms of w orship helps you to be devout, yet, Imam Al-Ghazali, mercy of Allah be upon him, clarified in his book The reviving of religion sciences the w isdoms and secrets of each w orship. The believer does not believe that in Hajj, Allah commands the believer to leave his home, his family, his w ealth, and his w ork, and to come from distant lands in order to be in one place for moments in Arafat and it s over, no. The jurists are interested in the apparent meaning of w orships, but the scholars w ho are interested in the essence of w orship clarify its secrets and w isdoms; they say that the day of Arafah is the day of the greatest meeting w ith Allah, the day of Arafah is the day of the know ledge of Allah, and the day of Arafah is the day of approaching (of getting closer to Allah). ((If man has attended Arafat and he thought that Allah has not forgiven him, his Hajj w ould never be accepted.)) [Mentioned in Al-Athar] It means that w hen the acts of w orship are emptied of their content, of their secrets, and of their w isdoms, and w hen they are emptied of the high goals that Allah has w anted from them, these acts of w orships become just movements, quietness, mumbles, and w ords; at that time, because of the disgraceful ignorance, the w orships approach from rituals. The acts of w orship are very great deeds, because Islam is divided into tw o main parts; the first part includes aqida creeds, and the other part includes the acts of w orship, deals, and politesses, but the jurists are right, as they have discussed the matter outw ardly, for example, they consider salat as w ords and deeds initiated w ith takbeer (saying, Allah is The Greatest), and concluded w ith tasleem (saying, al-salam a alaikoum); but Allahthe Almighty, says: " And perform As-Salat (Iqam at-as-salat) for My Rem em brance." "Fall prostrate and draw near to Allah! " [Ta-Ha 20: 14] [Alaq 96: 19] Signs of reverence: Brothers, one of the signs of reverence is: "The believers are only those w ho, w hen Allah is mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts " [Al-Anfal 8: 2] There is disorder, shudder, a state of being influenced, crying, and feeling close to Allah the Almighty. "The believers are only those w ho, w hen Allah is mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts and w hen

4 His Verses (this Qur'an) are recited unto them, they (i.e. the Verses) increase their Faith; and they put their trust in their Lord (Alone)" [Al-Anfal 8: 2] It s another one of reverence signs, the eye is tearing, the face is shining, there is heart reverence, skin shudder, nerves disturbance, and man w eeps the cry of approaching Allah, the cry of love, and the cry of reverence. I think that the bitter truth is a thousand times better than the tranquilizing illusion, as if man has performed the prayer, has recited the Quran, and he has remembered Allah, but he did not feel any of reverence signs, at that time, he w ould have a big problem; and some people said, He has no heart at all. It means that man has a precise measure, as w hen you neglect the Sunnah practices, w hen you neglect a deed, w hen you exceed the limits, and w hen you do something you know that Allah has forbidden it, immediately, you feel a veil betw een you and Him. The real triumph is to be w ise; and to know that the righteousness w hich Allah w anted is to destroy this veil betw een you and Him. Reverence is going down with humbling before Allah: Now, w e have a concrete meaning for reverence. The meaning of reverence is to go dow n, and the evidence is the ayah in w hich Allah, The Greatest says: " Has there come to you the narration of the overw helming (i.e. the Day of Resurrection) * Some faces, that Day, w ill be humiliated (in the Hell-fire, i.e. the faces of all disbelievers, Jew s and Christians, etc.)* " [Al-Ghaashiyah 88: 1-2] The reverence is to go dow n, it has been said, To make the head low er w ith the humbling before Allah the Almighty. Some scholars said: The more you humble before Allah, the more your honor increases, and the low er you make your head, the more Allah raises your value. So, it s an inverse relation, the more you roll your face in the doorsteps of Allah, the more He raises your station. The noble prophet, PBUH, saw a man making unnecessary excessive movements during his prayer, as you see now adays in some countries, someone w ho fits his clothes, or he may count his money during his salat, so, the prophet said to that man: ((If his heart has show n reverence, his organs w ould show reverence.)) [Workers treasure from Ali] If he has show n reverence from the depth of his heart, his organs w ould remain motionless, yet, the increasing movement w eakens the reverence during the prayer; as w e said in a previous meeting: The reverence is imposed in prayer, not just a virtue. Consider the noble ayah below : It means low. " And among His Signs (in this), that you see the earth barren," [Fussilat 41: 39] " but w hen We send dow n w ater (rain) to it, it is stirred to life and grow th (of vegetations). Verily, He Who gives it life, surely, (He) is Able to give life to the dead (on the Day of Resurrection). " [Fussilat 41: 39]

5 So, some of the meanings of reverence in the previous ayah are the dropping, the servility, and the submitting to Allah thealmighty. The subsidence of the fire of desire in the heart: Dear brothers, some scholars said: The reverence is to be submissive and subservient in the presence of our Lord, Almighty. And some scholars said: The reverence is the submitting to the Truth as long as you have been subjected to the Rule of Allah. "It is not for a believer, man or w oman, w hen Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option in their decision. " [Al-Ahzab 33: 36] The injunctions mentioned in the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet are not subjected to discussing and studying, not a matter of debate, not a matter of consideration, and not a matter of acceptance or rejection, "It is not for a believer", (It is not) is one of the most intense negation forms, the negation of affair: " It is not for a believer, man or w oman, w hen Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option in their decision." Therefore, some scholars said: Among the signs of reverence, the subsidence of the fire of desire, and the shining of the light of Allah in the heart. There is a fire, and there is a light, if you have approached to Allah, He w ould cast a light in your heart, and if you have submitted to your desire, the desire w ould be a raging fire; desires are symbolized by the fire, w hile the approaching from Allah is symbolized by the lights, and you are betw een fire and light, and the closer you w ere to the reverence, the more the light w ould shine, and the desire w ould go out. Therefore, Imam Al-Shafi i said: I have complained to Wakee about the illness of my memorization So, he guided me to leave the sins He told me that know ledge is a light And the light of Allah does not be given to a sinner *** When you get closer to Allah, He casts a light in your heart: Unless you feel that you are close to Allah, unless you feel a state of happiness that is difficult to describe, and unless you feel tranquility w hich Allah has mentioned in the noble Quran, hence, there is a problem in the acts of w orship, as reverence is the mystery of w orship, reverence means that you w orship Allah as He has w anted, not as you have imagined, so. " O you w ho believe " [Al-Hadid 57: 28] Look at the strong evidence that w hen w e connect w ith Allah the Almighty, He w ill cast a light in your heart:

6 "O you w ho believe! Fear Allah, and believe too in His Messenger Muhammad,PBUH), He w ill give you a double portion of His Mercy, " It means that Allah w ill give you mercy in the w orldly life, and mercy in the afterlife " Portion" [Al-Hadid 57: 28] " But for him w ho fears the standing before his Lord, there w ill be tw o Gardens (i.e. in Paradise)." [Al-Rahman 55: 46] " He w ill give you a double portion of His Mercy, and He w ill give you a light by w hich you shall w alk (straight), and He w ill forgive you. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." That light makes you see the right as it is, and the w rong as it is. [Al-Hadid 57: 28] Good deeds result in safety and happiness: Dear brothers, there is no deed, w ithout exception, that man makes, but a vision is behind it, if this vision w as right, the deed w ould be right, and if it w as corrupted, the deed w ould be spoiled. What did the thief see before he has stolen? He saw that theft is the shortest w ay to earn money w ithout effort; but he missed that he w ould be arrested, and he w ould go to jail; he missed that theft is follow ed by killing, and the killer is executed, he missed the results of this sin, and had a w rong vision, he had a demonic vision, that theft is the shortest w ay to earn money; therefore, all those w ho paid the price for their mistakes w ere in a situation of blindness (to the truth). " Verily, it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts w hich are in the breasts that grow blind." [Al-Hajj 22: 46] If the act of a person w as right, he w ould be safe and happy in the w orldly life, and so in the afterlife. The Prophet Yusuf w as a young man, he w as a stranger, far from his family, and he w as not married, his lady, w ho w as a beautiful w oman w ith a senior post, called him for adultery, and it w as not of her interest to spread the new s. What did the Prophet Yusuf see in adultery so that he said: " I seek refuge in Allah " [Yusuf 12: 23] Any other young man w ho is unaw are of Allah thinks that this meeting is a huge benefit. So it s just a vision affair, either your vision is right, so your deed w ould be right, and you w ill be safe and happy, or it is corrupted because you are far from Allah, then the deed w ill be spoiled, and you w ill be miserable and perishable. This is the brief summary, as there is a vision, and this right vision is because of a light that Allah has cast in your heart. Therefore, it s hard to imagine the results of the connection w ith Allah (of getting closer to Allah), as w hen you have connected w ith Him, He cast a light in your heart. Sometimes, a huge campaign for corruption struggling is made, those w hose vision has w orsened and thus their w ork has w orsened, are caught and placed in prison, if their vision had been right, they w ould not have done that.

7 Humbling yourself before Allah raises your value: Who is the real believer? He is the one w ho has a right vision. If a person has imagined that the change in goods qualities w ill make them sold, he w ould be blind, if a man has thought that the false oath makes the trade w idespread, he w ould be blind, and if a man has thought that cheating Muslims achieves large profits, he w ould be blind; it s not possible that Allah leaves you w ithout disciplining; so, it is certainly impossible to obey Allah and then you lose, and it is certainly impossible to disobey Him and then you w in. Therefore, either the vision of man w orsens, so he disobeys Allah, or the vision of him becomes right, so he fears Allah. Imam Al-Junaid said: Reverence is heart humbling before Who know s the unseen. Allah has granted man a sense of honor, but w hen person deals w ith Allah, he should be humble and he should rub his face in the doorsteps of Him, he should converse Him confidently saying: O my Lord, I am in a lack for Your w ealthy, I am ignorant, and I am neglecting. You should accustom yourself to converse your Lord in humility. What did the prophet Yunus say w hen he w as inside the w hale? He said: " La ilaha illa Anta [none has the right to be w orshipped but You (O Allah)], Glorified (and Exalted) are You [above all that (evil) they associate w ith You]. Truly, I have been of the w rong-doers. * So We answ ered his call, and delivered him from the distress. And thus We do deliver the believers (w ho believe in the Oneness of Allah, abstain from evil and w ork righteousness). " [Al-Anbiya 21: 87-88] Even if you enjoy a high affair, a high position, and if you ow n very large capabilities, you should habituate yourself to be humble before Allah w hen you are alone w ith Him. Nour Al-Deen Al-Shaheed, the hero w ho expelled the Tatars, had prostrated himself to Allah just before the battle began and said: O My Lord, w ho is Nour Al-Deen, the dog, so that You grant victory to him? But, My Lord, grant victory to Your religion. As much as you could be humble before Allah betw een you and Him, He w ould raise your affair, raise your value, throw the light in your heart, and you w ould be successful. Submissiveness is placed in the heart, not in the organs: If Allah the Almighty has said: "Tell the believing men to low er their gaze (from looking at forbidden things) " [An-Nur 24:30] What is reverence? In the previous ayah, reverence means the submissiveness to Allah, w hile reverence during the prayer is another thing; so, the reverence for Allah s orders means to submit to them, " Tell the believing men to low er their gaze" A person must not say: I cannot, because if Allah had know n that you cannot obey this command, He w ould never have ordered you to do it. All scholars have agreed that submissiveness is placed in the heart, not in the organs, so, raise your head, brother, don t low er yourself, and don t pretend that you re poor, these are not believer s characteristics, your reverence is placed in your heart, so raise your head, and be honorable.

8 ((You are coming on your brothers, so prepare your riding camels, and prepare your clothes in order to be as a mole (the most distinguished fellow s) among people.)) The Prophet, PBUH, saw a man playing w ith his beard during the salat, so, he said: [Narrated by Abu-Dawud from Ibn Al-Hanzaliah: Sahl Ibn Al-Rabee ] (( If the heart of this (man) has show n reverence, his organs w ould do.)) It means that heart reverence corresponds to organs reverence. [Worker s Treasure from Ali] Apparent politeness indicates interior politeness: Brothers, some scholars said: Apparent politeness is the symbol for interior politeness; w hen you are outw ardly polite, the w ay you sit, talk, move or dress is polished,; it refers that your heart is polite. Someone saw a man low ering his body and shoulders, so he said to him: O man, the real reverence is here, and he pointed to his chest, not here! And he pointed to his shoulders. The prophet, ay Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw one of his companions w alking proudly shortly before the battle; so, the prophet said: Verily, Allah hates this gait, except on occasion like this, because it s a charity to be arrogant upon the arrogant. There is no servile believer, that the believer must never humiliate himself, so ask for your needs by self-esteem because things are going according to the fate of Allah. The honor of believer is to w orship his Lord after midnight, to be proud, and to do w ithout people. It w as said to Imam Al-Hassan Al-Basri : By w hich did you reach this position? He said: By doing w ithout people s w orldly life, and their need to my know ledge. The Da'w ah (call to Allah) w ould fail if people have done w ithout the know ledge of scholar, w hile the scholar needs people w orldly life; therefore, I advise scholars to have their ow n w ork, and not earn money from their know ledge in order that they never submit to a rich or pow erful, based on the w ords of the noble prophet (PBUH): ((If a person has sat w ith rich man, and claimed poverty in order to gain money, tw o thirds of his religion w ould be lost.)) [Al-Baihaqi in Belief Defile from Ibn Mas oud] The companions of the noble prophet (PBUH) had an amazing self- steam, Allah bless them. If you ask the person w ho w atches the execution of criminals about them, they are cringing, crying, and begging pardon. While our master Khubaib w as crucified on a trunk of palm tree, and before he has been killed, he w as asked: do you prefer that Muhammad be in your place? He said: By Allah, I do not like that the messenger of Allah gets damage by a thistle, w hile I am sitting among my family and children, enjoying all the luxury and health of the w orldly life. He w as proud during he has been killed. Reverence is in the heart, but outwardly you have to be proud. ((The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the w eak believer.)) [Narrated by Muslim from Abu Huraira]

9 Complaining to believers and complaining to infidels: So, bew are not to complain your w orry to the unbeliever. They said: When man complains to the believer, as if he has complained to Allah; and w hen he complains to the infidel, as if he has complained from Allah. There is a big difference betw een complaining to Allah, and complaining from Allah, so, all your problems are solved in the last third of night. ((Our Lord, the Blessed, the Superior, comes every night dow n on the nearest Heaven to us w hen the last third of the night remains, saying: Is there anyone to invoke Me, so that I may respond to invocation? Is there anyone to ask Me, so that I may grant him his request? Is there anyone seeking My forgiveness, so that I may forgiving him? Till the raising of the daw n )) Therefore, do not complain to anyone, but to Allah. [Narrated by Al-Boukhari, Muslim, Abu-Dawud, Al-Tirmithi, and Malek from Abu Huraira] " I only complain of my grief and sorrow to Allah " [Yusuf 12:86] The one w ho complains about Allah (about his fate), The Merciful, to the person w ho has no mercy, is criticized. Sayyidina Huthayfa said: Bew are of the reverence of hypocrisy, it w as said to him: What is the reverence of hypocrisy? He said: It s to see a devouting body, but its heart is not devouting. Sayyidina Omar saw a man bow ed his neck during salat, so he said: O His neck, lift your neck, because reverence is not in necks, but in hearts. Also, Sayyidina Omar heard a man w ho w as shouting during circumambulating the Kaaba because he found an almond, he asked about the ow ner of the almond: Who is the ow ner of this almond? Then he said to the man: Eat the almond, O his false piety, eat it, and enough. The mother of the believers Aisha (prophet s w ife) saw young men show ing w eakness from the impact of w orship and asceticism, so she asked her companions: Who are those? They said: Those are the hermits, she said: May Allah bless Omar, I didn t see anyone more asceticism than him, he used to be quick w hile w alking, generous w hile feeding people, brave w hile talking, and severe w hile punishing, May Allah bless Omar, nevertheless, I didn t see anyone more asceticism than him. Al-Fudail said: It is hated that the outw ardly reverence of the man is more than the reverence in his heart. Reverence is the need for Allah: Sayyidina Huthayfa said: The first thing you lose from your religion is the reverence, that your prayer w ill become w ithout reverence, and the last thing you lose from your religion is the prayer. It means the negative developments in the Islamic w orld, a prayer w ithout reverence, and people leave the prayer, because prayer w ithout reverence is boring. It means the prayer is hard. "And truly it is extrem ely heavy and hard" "Except for Al-Khashi'un [i.e. the true believers in Allah]" [Al-Baqarah 2:45]

10 [Al-Baqarah 2:45] Some scholars said: If reverence has been found in man s heart, devil w ould never approach him. Reverence is the lack for Allah the Almighty, and you are either under the protection of Allah or He w ould forsake you; if you have been in the lack for Allah, He w ould take care of you, protect you, support you, help you, grant victory over you, and He w ould preserve you; but if you say: I'm so and so, I have high certificate, I have experience, and I have a lot of money, He w ould forsake you. Once, a righteous brother, as I think, had a mistake w ith his Lord, he said: Money is medicine (he meant that money is the treatment for all problems,) it s a big fault, it s a polytheism. Later, he w as accused, w hile he w as innocent, and he w as held incommunicado for sixty-four days; he said to me: In every minute, I w as remembering my w ords: Money is medicine, and I have recognized that money could not save me from jail. The real triumph is to be lack for Allah, not to pride w ith w hat you have. The generous companions w ere in desperate need of Allah in Badr battle, so they achieved victory. But in Hunain battle, the prophet (may Allah bless him anf grant him peace) and his companions admired their pow er and the large number of them, so they said: ((Tw elve thousand fighters w ill not be defeated by few number of enemy fighters.)) [Narrated by Abu Dawud and Al-Tirmithi from Abdullah Ibn A bbass] In summary, they w ere proud of their large number, so Allah has forsaken them; so if you have been in the lack for Allah, He w ould take care of you; so, before performing an act, before having an operation, before delivering a lesson, and before meeting w ith a person in a high position; you ahould say: O My Lord, I have resorted to You, I have forsaken my know ledge, my strength, and I have turned to Your know ledge and Your strength, O Lord of the Creations. Translation : Iman Nashar Auditing : Rana Saraqbi