prayer, remember Allaah standing, sitting, or [lying] on your sides.
But when you become secure, re-establish [regular] prayer. Indeed,
prayer has been decreed upon the believers a decree of specified
times." [Quran 4:103]
For forty consecutive years, Sa`eed Ibn Al-Musayyib was to be found in
the mosque beforethe Athaan (call to prayer) was made. `Umar became
unconscious after he was stabbed, and according to Al-Miswar Ibn
Makhramah it was said: "Nothing would wake him up except the call to
prayer, if he is still alive." So people said to him: "The prayer has
finished, O Chief of the Believers!" He therefore awoke and said: "The
prayer! I swear by Allaah that there is no share of Islaam for whoever
abandons the prayer." He then performed the prayer while his wound was
bleeding.
After Ar-Rabee` Ibn Khaytham became partially paralysed, he would go
to the mosque helped by two men. He was told:"O Abu Yaazeed! You have
been given permission to pray at home." He replied: "You have saidthe
truth, but I heard the caller say: 'Hayya `ala al-falah' (rush to
success), and so I thought that whoever hears this call should answer
it, even by crawling."
'Uday Ibn Haatim said: "Every time the time for prayer arrives, it
finds me eager and ready to perform it (i.e. in the state of
ablution)."
Abu Bakr Ibn 'Abdullaah Al-Muzani said: "Who is like you, O son of
Aadam? Whenever you desire, you use water and make ablution, go to the
place of worship and thus enter the presence of your Lord (i.e. start
praying) without a translator or barrier between you and Him!"
Abu Rajaa' Al-`Ataaridi said on his deathbed: "I am not grieved by
leaving anything behind, except that I used to bow down on my face
five times a day before my Lord, the Exalted and most Honoured."
Abul-'Aaliyah said: "I would travel for days to meet a man andthe
first thing I would note abouthim would be his prayer. If he was one
who established the prayer perfectly and on time, I would stay with
him and hear the knowledge he had to impart. If I found him to be
careless concerning the prayer, I would leave him and say to myself
that for things other than the prayer, he would be even more
careless."
When 'Ali Ibn Al-Husayn would perform ablution, the colour of his face
would change. His family asked him why this would always happen and he
would reply: "Do you know before Whom I am about to stand (in
prayer)?"
Yazeed Ibn 'Abdullaah was asked: "Should we make a roof for our
mosque?" He replied:"Purify your hearts and your mosque (in its
current state) will suffice you."
'Uday Ibn Haatim said: "Ever since I became a Muslim, I alwaysmade
sure to have ablution whenthe Athaan is called."
'Ubayd Ibn Ja`far said: "I never saw my uncle Bishr Ibn Mansoor miss
the first Takbeer (that commences the congregational prayer in the
mosque), and whenever any person stood up in our mosque to ask people
for help, he would always give him something."
Ibn Sam`ah said: "For forty years, I only missed the first Takbeer
once, and that was whenmy mother died. If you know of aman's
disinterest in being present in the mosque for the first Takbeer, then
wash your hands of him (i.e. know that there is no good in him)."
Sufyaan Ibn `Uyaynah said: "Honouring the prayer includes arriving
before the Iqaamah (the call that establishes the prayer) iscalled."
Maymoon Ibn Mahraan was once delayed from coming to the mosque on
time. When he did eventually arrive, he was told that the people had
already concluded the prayer: "We all belong to Allaah and to Him
shall be our return! I value the congregational prayer more than being
made governor of Iraq," helamented.
Yoonus Ibn 'Abdullaah said:"What is the matter with me? If I lose a
mere chicken I feel concerned, but when I miss a prayer in
congregation it does not grieve me!"
`Umar once said while standing on the pulpit: "A man may have white
hair in Islam (i.e. reach old age while being Muslim), but has not yet
completed even a single prayer for Allaah the Exalted!" He was asked:
"Why is that?" He replied: "Because he does not perfect the prayer's
required Khushoo` (solemness) and fails to be attentive to Allaah with
his heart."
Hammaad Ibn Salamah said: "I have never stood up for prayerwithout
imagining that the Hellfire is before my eyes."
Mu`aath Ibn Jabal advised his son saying: "My son! Pray the prayer of
he who is just about to leave this world, and imagine that you may
never be able to pray again. Know that the believer dies between two
good deeds: one that he has just performed, and the other that
heintended to perform next."
Bakr Al-Muzani said: "If you want your prayer to be of benefit to you
then say to yourself prior to it that you may not have the chance to
perform another prayer.'"
Shubrumah said: "We once accompanied Qarz Al-Haarithi on a journey;
whenever we would camp down in an area, he would scan it with his eyes
and when hefound a good piece of land that he liked, he would go to it
and pray there until it was time for usto leave."
Al-Qaasim Ibn Muhammad said: "Whenever I went out in themorning, I
would visit (my aunt) `Aa'ishah and greet her. One day, I found her
performing the Dhuhaa prayer and reciting the following verse from the
Quran repeatedly, while crying and invoking Allaah (which means): "So
Allaah conferred favour upon us and protected us from the punishment
of the Scorching Fire." [Quran 52:27] I stood there until I felt
weary, then I left and went to the marketplace, telling myself that I
would return to her when I finish. Later, when I did return to her, I
found her still standing in prayer, reciting the same verse, and
crying and invoking Allaah.'"
Maymoon Ibn Hayyaan said:"I never saw Muslim Ibn Yasaar turn his head
while praying, whether the prayer was short or long. Once, a part of
the mosque collapsed while he was praying inthe mosque and the noise
causedpeople who were as far away as the market to be terrified, but
he felt no fear whatsoever and continued praying without even moving
his head." He also said: "I accompanied `Ataa' Ibn Rabaah for eighteen
years. When he became old and weak, he would stand in prayer and read
close to two hundred verses fromChapter Al-Baqarah while standing so
firmly that no part ofhim would move."
Abu Bakr Ibn 'Ayyaash said:"If you saw Habeeb Ibn Abu Thaabit while in
prostration, you would think that he was dead due to its extended
length."
'Ali Ibn Al-Fudhayl said: "I saw Ath-Thawri go into prostration while
praying, and I performed Tawaaf (circumambulation) around the House
(i.e., the Ka'bah) seven times before he raised his head from
prostration."
'Uthmaan Ibn Abi Dahrash said: "I never performed a prayer without
invoking Allaah afterwards to forgive me for falling into shortcomings
in the way I performed it."
Mu`aawiyah Ibn Murrah said:"I lived among seventy of the companions of
the Prophet and had they lived among you today, they would not
recognise any of your acts except the Athaan!" He also said: "If a man
from our predecessors was resurrected among you today, the only thing
he would recognise would be your Qiblah (prayer direction)."
When Haatim Al-Asamm wasasked about his prayer, he replied: "When the
time for prayer draws near, I perform a perfect ablution, go to where
I will pray and sit there until I am fully cognisant of what I am
about to do. Then, I stand up andpray, imagining that the Ka`bah is in
front of my eyes, Paradise to my right, Hell to my left and the Angel
of Death behind me. I imagine that it is the last prayer Iwill ever
perform; I stand up in hope of Allaah, His Paradise and His rewards,
and in fear of Allaah's torment in the Hellfire. I then say the
Takbeer while having full attention. I recite the Quran calmly, bow
humbly, prostrate with humility and attentiveness and then sit on my
left leg, with my left foot laid on the floor and the right foot
raisedup - all the while praying with sincerity. Afterwards, I have no
certainty about whether that prayer was accepted from me or not."
One of our pious predecessors said: "O son of Aadam! You need your
share of this life, but your need of the Hereafter is far greater. If
you take care of your share of this life then you will lose your share
of the Hereafter, and you will very soon lose your share of this life,
too. But if you take care of your share of the Hereafter then you will
also win your full share of this life with ease."
Talq Ibn Habeeb said: "Allaah's rights are greater than the slave's
capacity and ability to fulfil them. Therefore, reach everymorning in
a state of repentance and every night also in a state of
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