The wisdom behind different factors of Salaah (Prayer)- Final Part

The wisdom behind the prescribed order in Salaah

•    The act of standing represents a high position of pride, and this was corrected by Ruku (bowing).
•   Following the act of bowing, the order was given to stand again. This can be explained as follows:

o   When a person becomes proud or arrogant, Allah debases him, and for the one who humbles or debases himself, Allah raises his ranks.

• When the  servant of Allah came to know this secret (mentioned in the above point), he assumed an even greater humility by going in to prostration (sajdah).
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•  On this act his respect was increased further in that he was allowed to sit in Allah’s presence. This is the sitting position between two prostrations.
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•  In recompense for the second prostration, he was blessed with a longer and relaxed duration of sitting in the Glorious court.
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• After this he is once again given a lofty rank by Allah when he stands up again.

The wisdom behind saying salaam (peace) at the end of the Salaah

• The word “salam” indicates that the worshipper was not present here but had gone somewhere else.
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• Hence, as for a traveller, it became necessary for him to greet those present with Salaam.
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• It is written in the books of Fiqh (jurisprudence) that the Imam (one who leads the prayer) should make the intention to include in his greeting (salam) the followers, the angels and Allah’s pious servants,
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• The followers should make the intention of greeting their fellow worshippers sitting by them, the Imam, the angels, and the pious servants of Allah.

Source: My Salaat  by  Moulana Muhammad Idris Ansari, translated by Dr. Imtiaz Kamal Madani. 

I pray that Allah Almighty guides each of us to understand the beauty and wisdom of Salaah and to realize what a wonderful gift it is so that we come to appreciate and love it. 

Since it's the wonderful month of Ramadhaan, now would be the best time to start focusing on making our prayers better and more sincere. May Allah help me and everyone else to attain concentration in Salaah, to gain peace from it and to love it and may Allah, most Glorious accept all of our Salaah and all of our efforts. Inshaa-Allah Ameen!

The wisdom behind different factors of Salaah (Prayer)- Part 1

This is going to be a series of posts Inshaa-Allah taking you through the entire salaah and explaining some of the reasons for the postures and words in the salaah.

All the information in this series will be taken from the following source:

My Salaat  by  Moulana Muhammad Idris Ansari, translated by Dr. Imtiaz Kamal Madani, 

Please note that this is just a basic introduction, the Salaah has so many dimensions to it and there are so many secrets in this beautiful prayer that we will never fully comprehend. This is why salaah is regarded as a gift to Muslims. It should be remembered that Salaah is about connection to Allah Almighty, it is about breaking oneself away from this worldly life, to connect with the Creator and remember what our true purpose on this earth is.

Inshaa-Allah if time permits then this can become a regular weekly thing where posts specifically about Salaah is put up. I am still learning, just like all of you and the more I learn the more it helps me to appreciate the beautiful gifts I have being given, may Allah Most Glorious guide myself and all of you to love and understand what He has given us.

I hope that you enjoy this series and please leave your comments below, if anyone requires any further information or explanation please email me (zhassem1@yahoo.com) and Inshaa-Allah I will try my best to find the information that you need. 

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 The wisdom behind starting salaah with Takbir (that is reciting Allabu Akbar)

• -          Allahu Akbar means that Allah (Most Glorious) is the greatest in all His powers and characteristics, and the meaning of the entire salaah is that by his every action, man is displaying his own and the whole world’s helplessness in comparison to Allah’s greatness.
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• -          For this reason, before one begins his salaah, Allah showed his servant that he will have to perform his entire salaah under the title of Allahu Akbar and perform it with that perspective in mind.

The wisdom behind raising hands to the ears at the start of salaah

• -          When Allah Almighty’s servant says Allahu Akbar, and at the same time raises his hands, he expresses his freedom from associating any partner with Allah, so that the words and actions of the worshipper may be the same.
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• -          When a man is drowning in a river (or other body of water), he raises his hands up in the hope that maybe he can grab something to save his life. In the same way, Allah’s servant says with his tongue, Allahu Akbar, and at the same time, thinking about the river of his sins, he raises his hands as though to say, “O my Saviour, I am drowning, but if you hold me, then I will be saved from drowning in my sins.”
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• -          In short, by raising his hands, the person is expressing his helplessness in front of Allah.

The wisdom behind standing with hands folded in salaah

• -          Man is both accused and guilty in front of Allah on account of his sins, and salaah is like that appeal which the accused has placed in Allah’s court of justice for forgiveness.
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• -          It is as though, at this time, Allah’s court is in session, the King of Kings is present in His court and the case of the accused is being tried.
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• -          In this condition, it is the duty of the accused, that he stand with his eyes downcast and his hands folded in front of him, so that by looking at his helpless and humble condition, Allah the most merciful of those capable of showing mercy, would relent towards him.

The wisdom behind reciting surah Faatiha (the Opening Chapter of the Glorious Quraan) in salaah

• -          Surah Faatiha is actually the substance of the appeal, and as mentioned already, salaah is a means of presenting oneself in the Supreme Court of Allah.
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• -          Now what do you think will happen if one enters the court and his petition is not acceptable, or his plea does not properly express his purpose, or what if he has no petition or plea in itself?
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• -          Thus, Allah Almighty has given us the appeal or the plea to make, when we stand in front of Allah, and this is none other than Surah Faatiha.
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• -          So this petition or plea would then be appropriate to Allah’s Grandeur, and also encompass the most important needs of the servant.

The wisdom behind the requirement of bowing (ruku) in salah

• -          The Lord of the Worlds accepts the plea that the servant has presented, even before the servant performs ruku (bowing)- SubhanAllah (Glory be to Allah!)
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• -          It is narrated in a hadeeth something to the effect that when the servant of Allah reaches the part in Surah Faatiha which says (guide us to the straight path- Ihdenassirtatul Mustaqeem), and completes the Surah, then Allah Almighty says, “O my servant! Your appeal has been accepted, and I have fulfilled your request.”
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• -          In thankfulness for his acceptance, the servant makes ruku, and thereby bows his head and waist, in an action that says, “My Lord your servants head and waist are at your service. How can I thank you? This slave is helpless in front of You. This head is also present in front of You. You can create whatever thought (in this head) that You want, and this waist is also present, You can give it strength in whatever action You want.
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• -          In another hadeeth it is narrated something to the effect that, the Prophet (pbuh) said, that when the worshipper stands up for salaah, all his sins are gathered together in the form of a bundle and placed on his head. When he goes into Ruku (bowing), all his sins fall off his head. Because the worshipper becomes pure from his sins after performing ruku, he is happy at his purpose being fulfilled, and says with his tongue (Sami-Allah-u-liman Hamidah- which translates as, “Allah heard the one who praised him), and then he stands up again.

Taken from: My Salaat  by  Moulana Muhammad Idris Ansari, translated by Dr. Imtiaz Kamal Madani, 

Life Without Salaah

There’s a time in the  month when I don’t quite feel like myself, if I had to describe it I would say I feel rather lost, yet this description doesn’t really describe it well enough. You see, when a Muslim woman is in the state of menstruation, she is not allowed to perform salaah (prayers). She can make verbal prayers, she can still connect with Allah, she can recite praises of Allah and the Beloved Prophet (PBUH), but she cannot perform salaah (physical prayers).

I was shocked to find that some women believe this to be a form of injustice. I’ve always been taught that it’s a mercy from Allah, and I agree. If you are a woman you will know that during that time of the month you don’t really feel all that well. Besides physical pain and discomfort, emotionally you may feel irritable and uncomfortable, and I’ve found that intellectually you are affected as well. Your concentration seems to be impaired and your mind doesn’t seem to work all that well (maybe it’s different for other women, but the women I know tend to agree with this). So in any case, it is a blessing when you feel that way and you don’t have to perform salaah. This is of course just my opinion, and people are welcome to differ with me if they feel the need, but I just think that Salaah performed when you are feeling well, and when you are calm and able to concentrate is much better than Salaah performed when your mind is all over the place and you are experiencing physical pain and discomfort.

 In any case, let’s not digress any further than we need to. People wonder how Muslims find time to pray five times a day, but once this becomes your routine then somehow everything just seems to work around it. You start planning your day, your work and your entire life around the times of Salaah. For instance you’ll be thinking; “Okay, after Fajr (early morning) prayer I am going to begin writing my research report”, or “after Esha (evening prayers) I am going to read a book”, or “after Maghrib (early evening, just after sunset) prayer we will have supper”. Everyone has their own examples and their own way of working things out, but for people who have established the prayer 5 times daily, you will find that every task which needs to be done revolves around the Salaah times. All Praise is due to Allah!

So what happens when you’re not performing salaah is basically chaos. You believe that you have more time, but find out that you get far less done, because you have no set timetable (so to speak) to follow. Everything gets done at any time and at the end of the day you end up feeling that your day wasn’t very productive at all, even though you are utterly exhausted. Or, you find yourself doing many things without any break in between and after a while you realize that you haven’t sat down the entire day. There are many more examples I could give you, but basically life without Salaah tends to be chaotic and disordered.

Salaah centres your life, it brings peace and tranquillity, it allows you the time to phase out and stop doing everything else. It gives you a perfect form of stress management, and besides this it helps you to remember what is truly important, which is Allah Almighty and the hereafter. So even if you are having a terrible day where the world seems to be coming to an end, when you make your wudhu (ablution before salaah), the water calms you down and when you remove your shoes and step onto your prayer mat reciting the words of Allah Almighty, then all the problems in the world immediately seem insignificant. When you raise your hands testifying that Allah is the Greatest, you gain perspective about life, and when you bow down, you realize how needy you are and that Allah is the only One who can actually help you, and when you prostrate, with your head on the ground, facing your Creator, you remember that in the end of the day, you are the slave of Allah, and you should not be slaving and working for any other purpose. Salaah helps you to remember your position in this world in relation to the One Creator, and it helps you to remember your purpose in the world. And once you remember who you truly are (i.e. a weak servant of Allah) and why you are truly on this Earth (i.e. to worship Allah alone to the best of your ability) then everything else becomes trivial, and life just somehow makes sense.

So perhaps now you can understand why I feel lost when I do not have Salaah in my life. You may be doing fine, but once you’ve tasted the pleasure and beauty of truth, then it becomes very difficult to live without it.

 Life without salaah feels empty, and although I am still me, I feel like a huge part of me is missing. But please remember that I am not protesting here, because I understand fully the mercy of Allah on a menstruating woman, so this is not a complaint (May Allah save us all from complaining against His perfect system). Another thing that strikes me here is that during this time, even staying away from prayer will be rewarded Inshaa-Allah (If Allah wills) because this is also obeying Allah’s laws. So like many things there is a time and place for everything, and Allah Almighty gives rewards for different things at different times, and this complete and eternal knowledge of Allah is beyond our feeble comprehension.

So yeah, we will never fully understand the complete benefits of Salaah, but from what I can see in my very limited capacity, I can say absolutely that Salaah is indeed a gift, a blessing that benefits me (as Allah does not need anything from his servants). Without Salaah my life is just not the same and I pray that Allah always keeps me on this path and does not take away this beautiful gift that He has given me, Inshaa-Allah.

Images from here: http://forums.islamicawakening.com/f41/~*-amazing-salaah-pictures-*~-15442/
SubhanAllah this site has some amazing pictures of Salaah so please follow the link and have a look!