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Thursday, 8 December 2011

Opening Supplications (Du'aa's)

Next, he (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) would commence his recitation with many kinds of supplications in which he would praise Allaah the Exalted, and glorify and extol Him. He in fact ordered "the man who prayed badly" to do so, saying to him: No person's prayer is complete unless he says takbeer, praises Allaah the Mighty and Sublime and extols Him, recites of the Qur'aan what is easy for him ...⁹⁸
He would say any one of the following supplications: -

O Allaah! Separate me (far) from my sins as you have separated (far) the East and West. O Allaah! Cleanse me of my sins as white cloth is cleansed from dirt. O Allaah! Wash me of my sins with water, ice and snow.
He used to say this in obligatory prayers.⁹⁹
I have set my face towards the Originator of the heavens and the earth sincerely [in Islam] and I am not among the Mushrikeen. Indeed my prayer, my sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allaah, the Lord of the Worlds: no partner has He. With this I have been commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims (those who submit to Him).¹⁰⁰ O Allaah! You are the King, none has the right to br worshipped but You, [You are the Most Perfect & all Praise is for You] You are my Lord and I am Your slave¹⁰¹. I have wronged myself, and have acknowledged my sins, so forgive all my sins, for no-one forgives sins except You. Guide me to the best of characters, to which no- one can guide except You, and save me from the worst of characters, from which no-one can save except You. I am here and happy to serve you¹⁰². All good is in your Hands, and evil is not from You.¹⁰³ [The guided one is he who is guided by you.] I exist by your will and belong to You. [There is no escape or shelter from You except to You.] You are blessed and exalted. I seek Your forgiveness and repent to You.
He used to say this in obligatory and voluntary prayers¹⁰⁴.
Similar to the above, without

You are my Lord and I am Your slave to the end, with the following addition:

O Allaah! You are the King, there is no (true) deity except You, glorified be You and praised.¹⁰⁵
Similar to no. 2 until

and I am the first of the Muslims, adding:

O Allaah, guide me to the best of characters and the best of actions, no one to which can guide except You, and save me from the evil characters and actions, from which no one except You can save (others) except You¹⁰⁶.
You are Glorified¹⁰⁷, O Allaah, and Praised¹⁰⁸; Your Name is Blessed¹⁰⁹; Your Majesty¹¹⁰ is Exalted, and none has the right to worshipped but You.¹¹¹ He (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) also said, Indeed, the words most loved by Allaah are when His slave says: You are glorified, O Allaah¹¹²
Similar to the above, adding in prayer at night:

There is no true god except Allaah, three times, and

Allaah is the Greatest, Very Great, three times.
Allaah is the Greatest, very great. Praise be to Allaah, again and again. Glorified is Allaah morning and evening - one of the Companions commenced with this, to which the Messenger (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said: Wonderful for it (the supplication) is that the doors of the heavens were opened for it.¹¹³
Praise be to Allaah, many, pure, blessed praises. Another man commenced with this, to which he (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said: I saw twelve angels competing as to which of them would take it up.¹¹⁴
O Allaah, to You belongs all Praise. You are the Light¹¹⁵ of the heavens and the earth and all those in them; to You belongs all Praise. You are the Maintainer¹¹⁶ of the heavens and the earth and all those in them; [to You belongs all Praise. You are the King of the heavens and the earth and all those in them] to You belongs all Praise. You are the Haqq¹¹⁷; Your promise is haqq; Your saying is haqq; meeting You is haqq; Paradise is haqq; the Fire is haqq; the Hour is haqq; the Prophets are haqq; Muhammad is haqq. O Allaah! to You I have submitted; in You I have placed my trust; in You I have believed; to You I have turned; for Your sake I have fought; to You I have referred for judgement; [You are our Lord and to You is the end of all journeys: so forgive me my earlier and later sins, what I have concealed and what I have showed] [and whatever else You know about more than I.] You are the Bringer- Forward and You are the Delayer; [You are my deity;] and none has the right to worshipped but You.¹¹⁸ [and there is no might nor power except with You].

He (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) used to say this in prayer at night, as he did the following supplications:¹¹⁹
O Allaah, Lord of Jibraa'eel, Meekaa'eel and Israafeel, Creator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of all that is hidden and open! It is You that will judge between Your servants in those matters about which they used to differ. Guide me by Your Grace to the Truth concerning that about which they differed, for indeed You guide whomsoever You wish to a path that is straight.¹²⁰
He would say takbeer, tahmeed, tasbeeh, tahleel and istighfaar ten times each, and then say,

O Allaah! forgive me and guide me and give me sustenance and [overlook my sins] ten times, and then say:

O Allaah! I seek refuge with You from the distress of the Day of Account ten times.¹²¹
"Allaah is the Greatest [three times], Possessor of Kingdom, Power, Magnificence and Might."¹²²
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Takbeer

Then he (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) would commence the prayer by saying:

Allaah is the Greatest⁶⁰

He ordered "the man who prayed badly" to do likewise as has been mentioned, and he said to him: Verily, the prayer of a person is not complete until he has made an ablution which has included the necessary parts of the body and has then said: 'Allaahu Akbar'.⁶¹

He would also used to say: The key to the prayer is purification, it is entered by takbeer and exited by tasleem.⁶²

Also, "he used to raise his voice for the takbeer such that those behind him could hear."⁶³ But, "when he fell ill Abu Bakr used to raise his voice to convey the takbeer of the Messenger (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) to the people."⁶⁴

He would also say: When the Imaam says: Allaahu Akbar, then say: Allaahu Akbar.⁶⁵

Raising the Hands

He would raise his hands sometimes with the takbeer,⁶⁶ sometimes after the takbeer,⁶⁷ and sometimes before it.⁶⁸

"He would raise them with fingers apart [not spaced out, nor together]",⁶⁹ and "he would put them level with his shoulders"⁷⁰, although occasionally, "he would raise them until they were level with [the tops of] his ears."⁷¹

To Place the Right Arm on the Left Arm, and the command for it

"He (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) used to place his right arm on his left arm"⁷², and he used to say: We, the company of prophets, have been commanded to hasten the breaking of the fast, to delay the meal before the fast, and to place our right arms on our left arms during prayer.⁷³

Also "he passed by a man who was praying and had placed his left arm on his right, so he pulled them apart and placed the right on the left."⁷⁴

To Place the Hands on the Chest

"He used to place the right arm on the back of his left palm, wrist and forearm"⁷⁵, "and he commanded his companions to do likewise"⁷⁶, and (sometimes) "he would grasp his left arm with his right."⁷⁷

"He used to place them on his chest."⁷⁸

Also "he used to forbid putting one's hand on the waist during prayer [and he put his hand on his waist (to demonstrate)]"⁷⁹. And this is the "silb" which he used to forbid.⁸⁰

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Sitting and Standing in the Night Prayer (Tahajjud)

He (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam), used to pray long through the night standing, and long through the night sitting, and if he recited standing, he would bow standing, and if he recited sitting, he would bow sitting."²³
Sometimes, "He would pray sitting, so he would recite sitting until about thirty or forty verses of his recitation wre left; he would then stand up to recite these standing and then bow and prostrate, and he would do likewise in the second raka'ah."²⁴
In fact, "he prayed as-subhah²⁵ sitting down towards the end of his life when he had grown old, and that was a year before his death."²⁶
Also "he would sit cross-legged."²⁷

Prayer Wearing Shoes and the command to do so

"He used to stand (in prayer) bare-footed sometimes and wearing shoes sometimes."²⁸ He allowed this for his ummah, saying: When one of you prays, he should wear his shoes or take them off and put them between his feet, and not harm others with them.²⁹
He encouraged prayer wearing them sometimes, saying: Be different from the Jews, for they do not pray in their shoes nor in their khuffs (leather socks).³⁰
Occasionally he would remove them from his feet while in prayer and then continue his prayer, as Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri has said:
"The Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) prayed with us one day. Whilst he was engaged in the prayer he took off his shoes and placed them on his left. When the people saw this, they took off their shoes. When he finished his prayer he said, Why did you take your shoes off? They said, 'We saw you taking your shoes off, so we took our shoes off.' He said, Verily Jibreel came to me and informed me that there was dirt - or he said: something harmful - (in another narration: filth)on my shoes, so I took them off. Therefore, when one of you goes to the mosque, he should look at his shoes: if he sees in them dirt - or he said: something harmful - (in another narration: filth) he should wipe them and pray in them.³¹
"When he removed them, he would place them on his left"³² and he would also say: When one of you prays, he should not place his shoes on his right nor on his left, where they will be on someone else's right, except if there is no one on his left, but he should place them between his feet.³³

Prayer on the Pulpit (Minbar)

"Once he (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) prayed on the pulpit (in another narration: '... which had three steps')³⁴. Hence [he stood on it and said takbeer and the people behind him said takbeer while he was on the pulpit,] [then he made rukoo' on the pulpit,] then he rose and descended backwards to make sajdah at the foot of the pulpit. Then he returned, [and did on it as he had done in the first rak'ah], until he completed his prayer. He then turned to the people and said: O people! I have done this so that you may follow me and learn my prayer.³⁵

The Sutrah ³⁶, and the Obligation to have one

"He (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) used to stand near to the sutrah, so that there was (a distance of) three cubits between him and the wall"³⁷ and "between the place of his prostration and the wall, (there was) enough space for a sheep to pass."³⁸ He used to say: "Do not pray except towards a sutrah, and do not let anyone pass in front of you, but if someone continues (to try to pass) then fight him, for he has a companion (i.e. a shaytaan) with him."³⁹
He would also say: "When one of you prays towards a sutrah, he should get close to it so that Shaytaan cannot break his prayer."⁴⁰
Sometimes "he would seek to pray at the pillar which was in his mosque."⁴¹
"When he prayed [in an open space where there was nothing to use as sutrah] he would plant a spear in the ground in front of him and pray towards it with the people behind him"⁴²; Sometimes "he would to set his mount sideways and pray towards it"⁴³ but this is not the same as prayer in the resting-place of camels⁴⁴, which "he forbade"⁴⁵, and sometimes "he would take his saddle; set it lengthways and pray towards its end."⁴⁶
He would say: When one of you places in front of him something such as the stick on the end of a saddle, he should pray and not mind anyone who passes beyond it.⁴⁷
Once "he prayed towards a tree"⁴⁸ and sometimes "he would pray towards the bed on which 'Aa'ishah (radi Allaahu anhaa) was lying [under her sheet]."⁴⁹
He (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam), would not let anything pass between him and his sutrah, hence once "he was praying, when a sheep came running in front of him, so he raced it until he pressed his belly against the wall [and it passed behind him]."⁵⁰
Also, once "while praying an obligatory prayer, he clenched his fist (during it), so when he had finished, the people said: 'O Messenger of Allaah, did something happen during the prayer?' He said: No, except that the devil wanted to pass in front of me, so I strangled him until I could feel the coldness of his tongue on my hand By Allaah! Had my brother Sulaimaan not beaten me to it⁵¹, I would have tied him (the devil) to one of the pillars of the mosque so that the children of Madinah could walk round him. [So whoever can prevent something intervening between him and the qiblah, he must do so]."⁵²
He also used to say:
When one of you prays towards something which is a sutrah between him and the people and someone intends to cross in front of him, then he should push him in the throat [and repel, as much as he can], (in one narration: he should stop him, twice) but if he refuses (to not pass) then he should fight him, for verily he is a devil.⁵³
He also used to say: If the person who passed in front of someone praying knew (the sin) on him, it would be better for him to wait forty than to pass in front. (Abu an-Nadr said, "I do not remember exactly whether he said forty days, months or years.").⁵⁴

What Breaks the Prayer

He used to say: A man's prayer is cut off when there is nothing such as the end of a saddle in front of him, by: a [menstruating]⁵⁵ woman, a donkey or a black dog. Abu Dharr said, 'I said: "O Messenger of Allaah, why the black dog rather than the red one?" He said, The black dog is a shaytaan.⁵⁶
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Why is the Supplication of the Oppressed and the Distressed is Answered?

Allah's Messenger (SAW) said:

'The prayer of the oppressed is answered, even if he is a sinner as his sinning is only against his own soul,'[49]

If we reflect upon the matter we will find that the one supplicating is sincere (and truthful) in his worship and he unites his heart in his supplication. There is nothing which preoccupies him from being earnest in his supplication and this is because he knows that his supplication being answered will definitely be accomplished. The Messenger (SAW) has explained the cause of the supplication not being answered when he said:

'Call upon Allah while you are certain of being answered and know that Allah does not respond to the supplication of the unmindful and heedless heart.'[50]

The supplicaton of the heart which is unmindful and heedless is not responded to. The heart of the one who is oppressed however, is not unmindful due to his constraint and dire need. Likewise, the one who is in distress, his supplication is answered even if he is not a Muslim.[51 ] Allah the Exalted said:

'And who responds to the distressed one when he supplicates Him?['52]

There is nothing which can occupy the heart of the one who is distressed or make him unmindful besides the thing which distresses him. Therefore he is sincere for the period that he is distressed regardless of his transgression or disbelief.

The hadeeth of Muslim explains to us this preoccupation and unmindfulness. Jabir (RA) said: 'Allah's Messenger (SAW) said: "Whoever climbed this hill, the hill of Murar, his sins would be obliterated as the sins of the Children of Israel were obliterated."So we were the first to take our horses up, the horses of Banul-Khazraj. Then everybody else followed and Allah's Messenger (SAW) said: "All of you are forgiven except the owner of the red camel." So we came to him (the camel's owner) and said: "Come! Allah's Messenger (SAW) will seek forgiveness for you." But he said: "That I find my lost thing is more beloved to me than that which your companion seeks forgiveness for me" and he remained occupied in trying to find his lost thing.'

This man has occupied himself with his camel, taking himself away from receiving forgiveness and ikhlas to Allah the Exalted. It would be well for us at this point to relate the hadeeth of the Messenger (SAW) which will increase the clarity of this matter

: 'There is none amongst you who goes to perform ablution (wudhu), rinses his mouth and spits out the water and sniffs water up his nose and then expels it, except that the sins of his face, mouth and nose flow from him. Then, when he washes his face as he has been commanded by Allah, the sins flow away with the water from the'sides of his beard. Then, when he washes his arms up to (and including) his elbows, the sins of his hands flow away with the water from the extremes of his fingertips. Then he wipes his head as Allah has commanded him and the sins of his head flow away with the water from the ends of his hair. Then he washes his two feet up to (and including) the ankles and the sins of his feet flow away with the water from the ends of his toes. If he then stands, prays, praising Allah, extolling Him, glorifying Him with what He is deserving of and empties his heart for Allah, he will walk away from his sins in the same state as the day when his mother gave birth to him.[53]

The saying of Allah's Messenger (SAW), '...empties his heart for Allah', is a proof here. Vacating the heart for Allah is turning away from being occupied with whatever is besides Him and it is also from the perfection of ikhlas? to Allah the Exalted. How many distressed and oppressed persons are there who empty their hearts for Allah the Exalted at the time of suplication and to whom Allah responds as a reward for their ikhlas? There occurs in the supplication of Ibraheem.

”If my Lord does not guide me, I will be amongst the losers”.[54 ] and in the supplication of Nuh (AS): “If You do not forgive me and show mercy to me I will be amongst the losers.”[55]

Even he emptied his heart for Allah and it was a supplication of one who was distressed. Nothing was left for him (to resort to) except this supplication. What else would be left for him after he had just lost everything? And what was the outcome?

These supplications will, no doubt, be responded to as they are supplications of the distressed. If they were not answered, misguidance and ruin would follow. These types of supplication give evidence to the emptying of the heart for Allah the Exalted and the absence of being occupied with anything else besides them. A person who directs all of his concerns to the answering of the supplication, puts this ahead of everything else. Even Shaytan, when he made his supplication, was the head of misguidance: 'He said: "O my Lord grant me respite till the day they are raised.'"[56]

'He (Allah) said: "You are of those who have been granted respite till the period of the time made known."['57]

And how was the gratefulness of Shaytan to his Lord when his supplication was answered?

'He said: "My Lord, because you have led me astray I shall beautify for them what is in the earth and I shall mislead them all. Except for Your servants amongst them who are sincere."[58]

Shaytan - and we seek refuge in Allah from him - exempted the sincere ones because they empty and vacate their hearts for Allah so that evil things are not beautified in their souls.

From this we find that the distressed and oppressed person empties his heart for Allah. Nothing is beautified in his heart which would otherwise distract him and make him unmindful of his supplication. Thus, his desire is realised and accomplished. We can also see here that those three who remained behind (from an expedition),59 the earth had become constrained for them (they felt anguish) and their souls felt uneasy and depressed. This is the description which Allah gave of them when He the Sublime said:

“And to the three who remained behind, the earth became straight to them not withstanding its spaciousness and their souls were also straightend to them and they knew for certain that there was no refuge from Allah except with Him. Then He turned to them that they may turn to Him. Indeed Allah is the Oft-Forgiving, the Merciful. “ [60]

So they were hard pressed in their supplication and had emptied their hearts of everything except the pleasure of Allah. The earth had become constrained for them despite its expanse and their souls became straightened. Shaytan, therefore, was not able to beautify anything for them because they had seen and known that there is no escaping from winning the pleasure of Allah and as such Allah turned to them.

We can also understand here the hadeeth of the Messenger of Allah (SAW) when he said:

“Indeed, a man departs (from his prayer) and nothing is written for him except a tenth of his prayer, or a ninth, or an eighth, or a seventh, or a sixth, or a fifth, or a fourth, or a third, or half of it.” [61]

To the extent to which one empties his heart for Allah the Exalted, to that same extent is the reward for his prayer written for him.[62 ] And to the extent to which he empties his heart for Allah to that same extent does Allah accept from him (from his prayer). Likewise the (levels of) response to the supplications differ with respect to the extent that the heart is emptied for Allah the Mighty and Majestic. For the oppressed and the distressed person the response to his supplication becomes more forceful and likely due to the complete and perfect emptying of the heart for Allah the Exalted.

And what was the situation of the young boy who was a believer when he was taken to be thrown off the top of a mountain? He had emptied his heart for Allah in his supplication and said: “0 Allah'. Suffice me against them in whatever way you will.” With what should he be diverted away from his supplication when he could see himself being thrown off the top of the mountain?

From this, the faith of the one who understands the following hadeeth of Allah's Messenger (SAW) will be strengthened: 'Paradise is closer to one of you than his shoelace. And likewise the Hellfire.'63 Whoever perceives the nearness of Paradise with his heart will empty his soul from whatever is besides it in order to attain it and whoever sees Hellfire with its nearness to him to this extent will not be occupied with anything but making himself distant and remote from it. Let us then reflect upon the hadeeth of Allah's Messenger (SAW) which Muslim has reported:

“If the believer knew what punishments lie with Allah, none would have hoped for His Paradise and if the disbeliever knew what was with Allah of mercy, none would have despaired of His Paradise.”[64]

The one who knows what punishment lies with Allah will empty his heart for deliverance from being punished and would not hope for Paradise, which is the desire of every believing servant, so the knowledge of the punishments of Allah preoccupies him from hoping in Paradise - and Allah knows best.

Thursday, 8 December 2011

The Sutrah36, and the Obligation to have one

Why is the Supplication of the Oppressed and the Distressed is Answered?

The Sutrah ³⁶, and the Obligation to have one