On Friday Oct 03 the world renowned Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani gave a speech on the importance of observing the daily prayers with sincerity and love. Here is just a gist of what was spoken in Fenton US.
Prayers are the zones where you are most near to Allah swt to ask Him what you need. “In it , feeha yatasa” “feeha ma yaleeq min al – asrar- in it all kinds of secrets lies within in the prayer itself. Allah swt will open whatever secrets or blessings to His servant when he is praying and no one will know what lies within a specific prayer. Actually many people approach prayer through problems and when they face difficulties. Salathul al Haajjah is a prayer of fulfilling a need and the person who gets what he wanted forgot that the solution is from Allah swt. It is also important to ask a need from your heart not just merely ask by raising your hands as Allah swt says that He will respond to our calls in the Al Quran.
In order to see whether our prayer is working for us is the effect it produces. If we are continuing our sins then our prayer is not a prayer in the sight of Allah swt. “Inna as-salata tanha anil fahsha i wal munkar” which means Prayers prevent sins, fahsha i and munkar. Prayer will prevent sin. If it does not prevent sin then the person who continues with the usual sins in fact has not prayed. That is why the Sahaba of rasullulah focused on prayer much.
In one of the hadeeth Sayidina Ali (RA) had a toothache. He said ,”Pull my tooth when I am in prayer” So when in prayer in at tahiyaat his friends put a rope around the decayed tooth and pulled it. And when Sayidina Ali after saying “as salam alaykum wa rahmatullah” he asked his friends “ when will you pull it out?” In other words, Saydina Ali RA prayer is not in dunya or world. He was not there. He was with the Prophet (saws) who was with Allah swt. So this is a lesson which we know we cannot achieve that even if we live for one million years!
And what did Abi Dharr al Ghifari Radiallahu anhu said? He said, “That every breath that comes out of my mouth should come out from remembering Allah swt and I am sad and I am sorrowful on that breath that comes out without the dhikrullah” How many times our breath comes out without the remembrance of Allah swt.?
our prayers will not be accepted because prayers will prevent us from committing sins; If not then there is lack of piety and lack of sincerity
People go to the movies. They are engrossed with the movie. All those breath are without the remembrance of Allah swt. How sorrowful you have to be? See how far we are behind in the remembrance of Allah swt. As parents we cannot raise our children out of the paradigm of faith.
Ibn Abbas learned from the Holy Prophet saws. He said “If you prayed and you didn’t feel any fear of Allah and didn’t feel any love and didn’t feel any softness then you are doing like a habit, praying 2 or 4 raka’ats when adhan comes. If you don’t feel that fear and if you read the Quran and don’t feel any feeling from reading it, (and many people come and say we are bored reading Quran) and if you remember Allah and tears don’t come out of your eyes, then go outside and bring dirt and throw it on your head, and aks Allah to give you a dieeferent heart because your heart is dead. Look how advance in every work they do.
When we are praying and saying “iyyaka na’budu wa iyya ka nasta ‘een”. Who are you talking to? It means you are speaking directly to Allah asking for support and that “ to You we worship” – it means speaking directly with NO VEIL. It is not indirect. We are not saying “iyyahu” but “iyyaka” -directly
When Allah revealed Surat al Fatiha He revealed it “iyyaka na budu wa iyyaka nasta een”. When some Sahaba were reading it, and one was Ibn Mas’ud he was reading it differently. And he said, “no it is not correct, As if you are facing Him direct” He could not accept, “how can I speak to Allah directly” He was reciting it iyyahu na’budu” –“I have to say in the tense where i am not seeing Him”.
But He is seeing you. So you have to speak to Him directly. He likes His servant to come to Him directly. We are worshiping Him , we cannot see Him but He can see us.
When we recite the at tahiyyat at the end of the prayer we are sending greetings to Prophet Muhammad saws. “ as salaamu alayka ayyuhan nabi” The letter “kaf” at that end in tahiyyaat- “greetings to you O Muhammad(saws) “- directly speaking to (him) Muhammad.
Many scholars saying our prayers will not be accepted because prayers will prevent us from committing sins; If not then there is lack of piety and lack of sincerity.
Prayer is for enriching life!
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