Allah the Sublime said:
Indeed prayer restrains from the obscene and evil deeds. (Surah Ankaboot 29:45)
Allah has explained in this verse that a
correct prayer, performed with khushoo’ undoubtedly prevents its
performer from obscene and evil deeds and leads him to goodness.
Therefore, you will see that the people of the mosque are the most
superior of mankind and the best amongst them. The sins and
shortcomings of others are many times more than the sins and
shortcomings of these people.
If the prayer does not prevent us from
obscene and evil deeds then it is necessary to carefully scrutinize the
deficiency within it and to correct it. There
is no escaping from correcting one’s prayer and there is no fleeing
from bringing about khushoo’ within it. So let us look at the causes
and let us strive to treat them with the cure. Just like we treat our
bodies for their diseases, the treatment of the souls is more
appropriate and comes first. And this is what will help us to understand
the saying of the Messenger (pbuh): “The
first thing for which a servant will be held to account for is his
prayer. If it is correct and sound, all the rest of his actions will be
correct and sound and if it is corrupt then all the rest of his
actions will be corrupt.”(at-Tabaranee in [al-Awsat] and [ad-Diyaa] from Anas (ra). It is also in [Saheeh ul-Jaami'], no. 2570)
So in the correction of the prayer lies
the correction of all the other actions. The position of the prayer
(relative to all the other actions) is like that of the head to the
body. This is because the servant
is nearest to his Lord during his prayer, he calls upon his Lord and
seeks forgiveness from Him. He returns to Allah and cries to Him, the
Sublime.
The
prayer cannot be corrected except
with the correction of the aqeedah (belief), being observant of Allah,
having fear of Him, bringing oneself to account in front of Him, and
trembling out of fear of His Fire. When he finishes his prayer and is
put to trial with sins and disobedience, he finds strength in his heart
to repel them. This
is because he looks at the the temporary and vanishing pleasures and
then at the bliss and joy which never ends and the happiness which is
never cut off. So he puts the good which will remain (and last forever)
ahead of that which is only transitory and vanishes.
The
prayer of the servant is corrupted
due to lack of the careful observance of Allah and weakness in
taqwaa (The taabi’ee, Talq ibn Habeeb was asked to define taqwaa. He
said:
“Taqwaa is to act in obedience to Allah, hoping for His Mercy upon a
light from Him and taqwaa is to abandon acts of disobedience to Allah,
out of fear of Him upon a light from Him.” Reported by Ibn Abi Shaibah
in his [Kitaab ul-Eemaan], no. 99. Ibn al-Qayyim (rh) explained the
phrase “…upon a light from Him…” to mean pure and correct Eemaan, that
nothing but pure Eemaan initiated the servant to perform the action). He
is, therefore, not able to produce such awe which will
come in between him and his acts of disobedience.
There also occurs in the hadeeth: “Indeed
there is in the body a morsel of flesh which if it be sound and
wholesome, the whole body will be sound and wholesome and which if it
be corrupt, the whole body will be corrupt. Indeed it is the heart.” (Bukhari, Muslim and others from an-Nu’maan ibn Basheer (ra))
In the correction and purification of
the heart lies the correction of the whole body and in the corruption
of the heart lies the corruption of the whole body. If the heart is
corrected, the hand will be corrected so that it does not steal or
strike anyone or commit zina by touching what is unlawful. The feet
will also be corrected so that they do not walk towards what is
unlawful. The ears will be put straight so that they do not listen to
musical instruments, slander or backbiting. The situation of the tongue
will improve so that it does not speak except what is good. If the
heart is corrupted, the whole body becomes corrupt and the limbs will
not depart except towards evil conduct and mischief.
The matter of the heart is either set aright or corrupted by the prayer. If
the prayer is good it is an indication that the heart has benefited and
that it is sound and wholesome. If it is not good, it is an indication
of the heart receiving little benefit and of its corruption. Evil
deeds then become manifest and overtake the limbs.
Know that every prayer which is
performed with awe and humility enlivens the heart and stimulates it to
do good deeds and also makes it adapt to good deeds, just as every
good action which is performed outside of the prayer increases ones
khushoo within the prayer. In a hadeeth there occurs: “Upon you is the
Night Prayer (Tahajjud) as it was the habit of the righteous people
before you, is a means of nearness to Allah the Exalted, a prevention
from evil deeds and an expiation for sins.” (Ahmad in his Musnad, at-Tirmidhee and others. It is also in [Saheeh ul-Jaami'], no. 3957)
The Messenger (pbuh) has made it clear that the Night Prayer is a prevention from
sins in that it stops the one who performs it from evil deeds and
incites him to do good deeds. Therefore, it is necessary for us to
establish the prayer and to increase in it and likewise we must perform
the Night Prayer, standing awe-struck, humble and submissive to Allah
the Sublime. Our hearts weeping over what we have neglected and fallen
short of while hoping for the mercy of our Lord. We
seek nearness to him by calling Him by His Names and Attributes,
asking Him by them that he establishes us (upon His path) and that He
gives us benefit from our prayer and standing at night.
It was said to the Prophet (pbuh): So and so prays the whole of the night, yet when he
reaches the morning he steals! He (pbuh) said:
“What you say (i.e. about his prayer) should prevent him from that” or
he said: “His prayer will prevent him (from that).” (Ahmad, Bazzaar and others. Shaikh al-Albaanee declared
it Saheeh in his Silsilat ul-Aahaadeeth id-Da’eefah, Vol. 1, p. 16, in
relation to the false hadeeth: “Whoever is not prevented by his prayer
from committing obscene and evil deeds does not increase except in
distance from Allah.”)
When the prayer of the servant reaches
it’s goal in preventing him from sin and disobedience it is written for
him in Iliyyeen as is mentioned in the hadeeth: “If a prayer is
performed after another prayer and there is no foolishness (vain talk)
between them, it is written in Illiyyeen.”(Abu Daawood and others. It is also in [Saheeh ul-Jaami'], no. 3731)
Do not, therefore, let it escape you
that the prayer will prevent you from entering your house towards sin
or going out towards it because it has been reported from Abu Hurairah
(ra) that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “When
you leave your house, pray two rakahs, they will prevent you from
going out towards evil and when you enter your home pray two rakahs,
they will prevent you from entering into evil.” (al-Bazzaar and al-Bayhaqee in [Shu'ab ul-Eemaan. It is also in [Saheeh ul-Jaami'], no. 518)
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