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MADRASA AL-HIDAYA |
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MUSLIM SCHOOL OF RIGHT GUIDANCE |
Bismillāh ar-Rahmān ar-Rahīm
MANBA‘ AL-IMDĀD: A FOUNTAIN OF HELP
A Compendium of the talks of:
AL-HABĪB AHMAD MASH-HŪR BIN TĀHĀ AL-HADDĀD
Rady Allāhu ‘Anhu
Compiled by his grandson:
As-Sayyid Muhammad bin Mustafā Bū Numay
Rahmatullāhi ‘alayh
DARS 38: PRAY SALAH WITH PRESENCE OF MIND AND UNDERSTANDING
My master, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
Salah (Prayer) has recitations and acts. The acts are the standing position (al-qiyam), and bowing down (ar-ruku‘), and standing up straight again (al-i‘tidal), and the prostrations (as-sujud). And the recitations consist of al-Fatiha and the Testimony of Faith (at-Tashahhud), and the supplication prescribed as Sunnah between ruku‘ and sujud. As far as the acts of Salah are concerned, recitation is not a requirement when you stand, do ruku‘, do sajdah, sit between the two sajdahs, and sit (after the sajdas) for the (first) Testimony of Faith. But the recitation of al-Fatiha is a pillar among the pillars of Salah (Prayer). It must be done. And (the recitation of) the final Testimony of Faith is a pillar from the pillars of Salah.
However, the recitation of the Qur’an, and the recitation of the Surah (chapter of the Qur’an), and the Glorification of Allah (Tasbih) in ruku‘ and sujud, and the supplication in standing position (in-between) are Sunnah (a Prophetic tradition). So it behoves you, O you who pray, that you safeguard these and do pronounce the recitations in them. So, for example, in the ruku‘, you recite: Subhana Rabbiyal ‘Azim wa bi Hamdihi (Glorified is my Lord, the Great, and with His Praise). And listen (to it) yourself, do not just do it mentally. But if you declare the Glorification of Allah and do not hear it yourself, then you missed the Sunnah (Prophetic tradition) as it is Sunnah among us Shafi‘iyyah (the followers of the Shafi‘i madh-hab), but according to other scholars, it is wajib (necessary). If you do not pronounce it, the Salah (Prayer) is not correct (according to those scholars).
Allah (the Glorified and the Exalted) says:
And establish Prayer for My remembrance. (20:14)
So how will a person do the Zikr (Remembrance) of Allah and not recite the Tasbih (Glorification) loud enough for himself to hear? But he should not raise his voice so loud as to disturb people, just enough so that he can hear it himself. Many of us do sajdah and recite mentally but this is not sufficient. It is necessary that you realize that you are glorifying Allah, and declaring His Holiness and His Transcendence. I am pointing out this matter to you because a person does not taste the Prayer (Salah) and does not nourish on the nourishment of the Salah except with the taste of the conversation with Allah. And you know the taste of the conversation with Allah the day you address your Lord and you glorify Him and you recite to Him. But if your heart is not present and your tongue does not know what it is reciting, and you recite mentally in Salah, then Allah Knows whether the angels will record it for you or not.
As this matter is of much concern to me, take it from me. And the devil gets in man’s way in Salah and prohibits him from the adhkar (recitations) because the recitations are the cream. So how will you recite them while you are heedless and you do not know what you are reciting? Come to all the recitations equally (with the same care) and understand the meanings, until it is written for you (in the record of good deeds) as a perfect Salah and it rises as it is released (to the heavens). Pay heed to presence (of mind) at the time of supplications in Salah. Some have absence (of mind) in Salah at the time of supplications, and the recitation (of the Qur’an) and its meaning.
So you enter the sea of esteem and wisdom and reverential awe of Allah, the Exalted. This is the Salah that comes out white yellowish and says to you: “May Allah safeguard you as you have safeguarded me”. But if you pray without presence (of mind) and without meditating about its meaning, the Salah comes out dark black, and it is hit on the face and it says to you: “May Allah neglect you as you neglected me”.
But if you stand for Allah, and are sincere for Allah, He sees you. He sees you when you stand (for Prayer). How will you be heedless about Him and about His Remembrance and not contemplate about what you recite? If you are mindfully present, you come out from the Salah with the returns (rewards), especially from the recitations. You come out with increasing (spiritual) light, you come out with increasing Help (from Allah), because in Salah is the Presence of Allah.
So upon man is to exert. And when Allah Perceives that his exertion is sincere, He gives him from His spiritual openings, and His Strength, and His Understanding, and His Knowledge; so when he begins pronouncing the recitations, he understands them.
May Allah make us among the people of mindful presence and may the Prayer become for us (spiritual) light that shines before us, and behind us, and to our right and to our left. Amin.