Fiqh-ul-'Ibaadat (The Fiqh of Worship)

Fiqh-ul-'Ibaadat (The Fiqh of Worship) Class by Sister Eman al Obaid - http://alhudasisters.wordpress.com/ Date: Tuesday, 27 th November 2012 Aadaab Al-Mashi ila-s-salaat (The Etiquettes of Walking to Prayer) http://alhudasisters.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/fiqh3.pdf - Page 63 It is important for men to know the etiquettes of walking to masjid for prayer as they are obliged to pray their fardh (obligatory) prayers with congregation in the masjid. Even though women are not obliged to pray in the masjid, it is better for them to know the etiquettes of walking to the masjid for prayer. Some people delays going to the masjid till the Adhaan is called and then when they come to know that the prayer is going to begin, they run to the masjid (to catch the prayer) leaving their cars in wrong parking areas. We should know that quality is very important. There are etiquettes that should be followed when walking to the masjid for prayer. 1

As-Salaat (prayer) is a great worship in which a Muslim directs his heart and his body to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta ala. So it (ie; prayer) should be preceded by getting prepared for it mentally and physically beforehand. A person should prepare for the prayers mentally and physically beforehand because it is a meeting with his Lord. Mental preparation is by Having intention to offer the prayer for the sake of Allah Hoping for the reward from Allah Thinking about Allah s Greatness Physical preparation is by Making wudhu Covering the awrah Wearing the best/clean clothes It is always better for a person to get mentally prepared for the prayer beforehand (for e.g. half an hour before) than getting prepared for it the same moment he is going to offer it. The earlier he gets mentally prepared for prayer, the more he can focus in his prayer. So going to the masjid for prayer is preceded by some manners/ etiquettes. These are actually the preparations that should be done when going to the masjid for prayer. There are nine etiquettes/manners mentioned here and they are as follows: 2

1. He should purify himself by making the best wudhu and purify/wash (all the prescribed limbs) with water. To make the best wudhu (ihsaan al-wudhu ) means to make wudhu /purification with water by following the sunnah and with the intention of purifying one s sin, hoping for the reward, thinking of its virtues etc. and also purifying all the (prescribed) limbs with water. This is ihsaan al-wudhu/the best wudhu. 2. He should have sincerity while going to the masjid. When a person is making wudhu and going to the masjid for prayer, he should have in his mind (intention) that he is doing every act (ie; wudhu, going to the masjid, offering the prayer etc.) sincerely for the sake of Allah alone. Istihdhaar (here means) to bring forward what is there in one s mind (ie; to renew one s intention). So every time a person wants to do any act of worship or a good deed he should remember to renew his intention that he is doing it sincerely for the sake of Allah alone. Don t take it for granted and think that we are already mukhlis (sincere) by default. We need to renew our intention every time that we are doing every act for the sake of Allah alone. For this we need to have Tawakkul ala-allah (to rely upon Allah, Al-Wakeel) - Allah will remind us to renew our intention every time. 3. He should go to the masjid early in order to have the virtues of waiting for the prayer and (to say) the 3

Takbeerat-al-Ihraam (ie; to say Allahu Akbar at the starting of the prayer) with the Jama ah/congregation. A person who offers a prayer and then waits to offer the next prayer is rewarded - The angels make du a for him and also Allah expiates his sins and elevates his rank in Jannah. Hadith: It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: Shall I not tell you something by which Allah effaces the sins and elevates ranks (in Jannah)?'' The Companions said: "Certainly, O Messenger of Allah.'' He (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, "Performing the Wudu' thoroughly in spite of difficult circumstances, walking with more paces to the mosque, and waiting for the next As Salat (the prayer) after observing Salat; and that is Ar Ribat, and that is Ar Ribat. [Muslim]. So even if a woman is waiting for the prayer at home, Allah will expiate her sins and elevate her rank (in Jannah). For example: After praying the Fajr prayer if a woman is eagerly waiting to pray Dhuhr prayer (ie; with intention in her heart) and her heart is attached to the prayer even while she is doing her work at home or anywhere until she hears the adhaan of Dhuhr prayer, Allah will expiate her sins and elevate her rank. A person should reach the masjid early for the prayer and join the congregation at the beginning and say the Takbeerat-al-ihraam /Allahu Akbar at the starting of the salah along with the congregation. He should avoid joining the congregation in the middle or at the end because the reward is more for joining the congregation at the beginning. If a person is eager to offer the prayers he would surely go to the masjid early. Now the fourth etiquette: 4. He should make du a when leaving the home. The du a includes: 4

Bismillaahi, tawakkaltu 'alallaah, wa laa hawla wa laa quwwata illaa billaah. In the Name of Allah, I have placed my trust in Allah, there is no might and no power except by Allah. [Abu Dawud, At-Tirmidhi] Look at this beautiful du a! Tawakkaltu alallah We place our trust in Allah when going out -it s not like we are going out with our own power. We affirm that Allah is the One Who is giving us the power to go. When we say this du a we feel so obedient and we are submitting ourselves to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta ala. Allaahumma 'innee 'a'oothu bika 'an 'adhilla, 'aw 'udhalla, 'aw 'azilla, 'aw 'uzalla, 'aw 'adhlima, 'aw 'udhlama, 'aw 'ajhala 'aw yujhala 'alayya. O Allah, I seek refuge in You lest I misguide others, or I am misguided by others, lest I cause others to err or I am caused to err, lest I abuse others or be abused, and lest I behave foolishly or meet with the foolishness of others. [Abu Dawud, Ibn majah, An-Nasa i, At-Tirmidhi] 5

SubhanAllah! Look at these beautiful words of wisdom- the du a of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). We need to memorize these two beautiful du a. Our du a is our guards and weapons. So we should seek refuge in Allah whenever we leave our home. Miguidance mentioned in the du a means creating doubts in the heart or something like that. Heart changes quickly and so it is easy for one to cause misguidance to others or to be misguided by others. We don t want to slip/to make mistakes means- we don t want our eyes, tongues, ears, hearts or any of our limbs to slip/make mistakes. We also don t want to cause anyone to slip/err. For ex: If someone says something to us we don t want our tongues to slip or make mistake or we don t want to say something to others that cause their tongues to slip or make mistake. We don t want to be unjust to anyone and we don t want someone to be unjust to us because we feel bad. When we go to the masjid for prayer, or visit any other places or gatherings, we want a blessed place/gatherings or people without any problems. Ajhala from jahl (which means ignorance). None of us want to deceive anyone or be deceived by anyone because of ignorance. For ex: when we buy something, we don t want to be deceived by the shop keepers because of our ignorance or when we go to a place/gathering, we don t want to deceive anyone, because of ignorance. So when we make this (ie; second) du a, Allah will guard/protect all our limbs as well as all the limbs of others (whom we meet), from all the things mentioned (above). Imagine!!! If everyone in the society reads this du a: No one would cause misguidance to anyone or be misguided by anyone. No one would cause anyone to slip/make mistake or be made to slip/err by anyone No one would be unjust to anyone or receive injustice from anyone. No one would deceive anyone or be deceived by anyone because of ignorance. 6

So we should remember to make these beautiful du a (ie; first and second du a mentioned above) everytime when we leave our home and go to the masjid for prayer or when we go to any places or gatherings so that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta ala will guard and protect us from all the things (mentioned above) till we come back to our home. Allaahumma aj al fi qalbi nooran, wa fi lisaani nooran, waj al fi sam i nooran, waj al fi basari nooran, waj al min khalfi nooran, wa min amaami nooran, waj al min fawqi nooran, wa min tahti nooran, Allaahumma a tini nooran- O Allah, place with my heart light, and upon my tongue light, and within my ears light, and within my eyes light, and place behind me light, and in front of me light, and above me light, and beneath me light, O Allah, bestow upon me light.[muslim] This is a general du a and it can be read anytime, for example: in the sujud or when going out (to the masjid) at night for the night prayer or anytime. If we say this du a, no one or not even a shaytan can come to us (to harm or whisper). We say in this du a: Allaahumma aj al fi qalbi nooran (O Allah, place with my heart light) so that our heart shall be filled with Noor (light of guidance) ie; Noor at-taqwa, Noor al-eaman, Noor at-tawakkul, Noor al-khawf etc. and our heart shall be filled with Eaman billah (faith in Allah). When our heart has this noor (light of guidance) we will feel happiness. We say: wa fi lisaani nooran waj al fi sam i nooran waj al fi basari nooran (and upon my tongue light and within my ears light and within my eyes light) so that we will speak, hear and see only the best/perfect (with wisdom) that will increase our faith and our heart will be filled with the love of Allah. 7

We say: waj al min khalfi nooran wa min amaami nooran waj al min fawqi nooran wa min tahti nooran (and place behind me light and in front of me light and above me light and beneath me light) because the shaytan can come behind us and infront of us to whisper as it is mentioned in the Qur an: Then I will come to them from before them and from behind them and on their right and on their left [Surat Al-A raaf, 7:17]. So if there is light around us from behind, front, above and below, the shaytan cannot come to us (to whisper/harm) from any sides because we are guarded and protected by Allah Subhanahu wa Ta ala. The enemies always plot against us from behind and we are always scared of something that could happen to us from behind because we cannot see or know anything that happens behind us. So we want light from behind us. We also want light in front of us, above us and beneath us because we don t want to be deceived or misguided by anyone. So when we make this du a we are actually protected from all sides by Allah Subhanahu wa Ta ala. We say: Allaahumma a tini nooran (O Allah, bestow upon me light) so that we can deal easily with our life and also with different types of people around us. We cannot deal with everyone in the same way and it is very difficult for us to learn the psychology of different types of people and to deal with them in different ways. Even if we struggle life long to deal with them easily, it would be difficult for us to make it. So we should just make this du a so that Allah shall guide us and make it easy for us to deal with different types of people in the right way by making us speak or act in the perfect way that would suit them and this could make our life easy as well. So when we make this beautiful du a, we will have noor (ie; light of guidance) on all our body parts and Allah will guide all our limbs to do the perfect things that would make our life and dealing with people around us easy like how a torch light makes it easy for us to see and walk in the darkness of night, SubhanAllah!!! All the above mentioned du a are so important that no matter where we visit or whom we meet, we need to make these du a whenever we leave our home. You can say the last/third du a not only when going out but also in sujud or any other time. 8

Now the fifth etiquette: 5. One should walk to (the prayer) with tranquility and dignity. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: "When you hear the iqaamah, proceed to the prayer with tranquility and dignity and do not rush. Pray what you catch (with the congregation) and make up for what you miss." [Agreed upon] And Sakeenah (here means): -To walk slowly/carefully with tranquility and (with) dignity (which means): -Not to gaze/look around unnecessarily (while walking) and not to lack attention (especially when crossing the road). One should not delay going to the masjid until the iqaamah is called and he should not rush/run to catch the prayer even if he hears the iqaamah because of the statement of the Messenger of Allah (which is mentioned above). He runs because he doesn t want to miss the prayer but then when he joins the prayer (with congregation) he might be panting for breath and tired in almost half of the prayer. So one should know that it is important for him to walk to the masjid for prayer with tranquility and dignity and not to rush (or run) to catch the prayer even if he hears the iqaamah, and whatever portion of the prayer he gets (with the 9

congregation), he should offer it, and complete afterwards (ie; after the imam says tasleem) whatever he has missed. The sixth etiquette: 6. One should enter the masjid with his right foot (first) and say: A'oothu billaahil-'adheem wa bi-wajhihil-kareem wa Sultaanihil-qadeem minash-shaytaanir-rajeem. I seek refuge in Almighty Allah, by His Noble Face by His primordial power from Satan the outcast. [Abu Dawud] Allaahum-maftah lee 'abwaaba rahmatika. O Allah, open before me the doors of Your mercy. [Abu Dawud] And he should exit/come out of the masjid with his left foot (first) and say: Allaahumma 'innee 'as'aluka min fadhlika. O Allah, I ask for Your favor. [Ibn Majah] Look at the first du a- how many Names and Attributes of Allah are mentioned when seeking refuge with Him- Allah, Al- Adheem (The Almighty) Wajhihil-Kareem (His Noble Face), Sultaanihil-Qadeem (His primordial power). 10

This means a person needs too much protection from the (evil of) shaytan even when he is going to the masjid for prayer. The shaytan will always try his best to spoil the prayer or any acts of worship. That is why when one begins to do any ibaadah (worship) for example: when reading Qur an or when praying, he/she should say A oothu billaahi min-ash-shaytaani-rrajeem (I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed shaytan). Look at the importance of the niyyah/intention in Islam. Every actions/acts of worship is based on intentions and so both heart and mind have to work when doing any action/act of worship. When our heart and mind are busy with intentions to do any acts of ibaadah, we won t have space in our mind to think about silly issues or matters that do not concern us and complaint to others about them. Actually the intentions keep our heart and brain cells active all the time because before we do any actions/acts of worship we need to be conscious of making intention or renewing it. 11

7. After he enters the masjid, he should not sit down until he has prayed two rak ahs (tahiyyat al-masjid) because: The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: When any one of you enters the mosque, let him pray two rak ahs before he sits down. [Bukhari and Muslim] So whenever a person enters the masjid, he should pray 2 rak ahs of tahiyyat al-masjid (greeting the masjid) before he sits down, even if he enters the masjid at times when it is disliked (to pray). But if the iqaamah for the prayer is called or the (obligatory) prayer has already started, then he should join the congregation and not pray the 2 rak ahs of tahiyyatul masjid because of the statement of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam): When the iqaamah for prayer is given, there is no prayer except the prescribed prayer. [Muslim] 8. One should avoid interlacing his fingers when heading towards the masjid (for prayer) and while waiting for the prayer. Hadith: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: When one of you does wudoo and does it well, then goes out heading to the mosque, let him not interlace his fingers, for he is in a state of prayer. [Narrated by Abu Dawood, 562; classed as saheeh by al Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood] Reference: Fiqh of Worship, Commentary on Umdat al-fiqh by Ibn Qudamah al-maqdisi. Also: http://islamqa.info/en/ref/36801/interlacing%20the%20fingers So it is better for one to avoid interlacing his fingers when going out to masjid for prayer and also while waiting for it (ie; the prayer). We should not make this (ie; interlacing the fingers when going to prayer) a big deal as it is not haram (forbidden) to do so. It is better if we avoid it. 12

9. One should be busy with doing dhikr, making du a and reading the Qur an when waiting for the prayer without interfering those who are praying (in the masjid). So these are the nine etiquettes/manners that one should follow when going to the masjid for prayer. 13