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-Musayyibwas to be found in
the mosque beforethe Athaan )call to prayer( was made. `Umarbecame
unconscious after he was stabbed, and according to Al-Miswar Ibn
Makhramahit 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 Khaythambecame 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 Haatimsaid: "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-Muzanisaid: "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-`Ataaridisaid 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-'Aaliyahsaid: "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-Husaynwould 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 'Abdullaahwas 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 Haatimsaid: "Ever since I became a Muslim, I alwaysmade sure
to have ablution whenthe Athaan is called."
'Ubayd Ibn Ja`farsaid:"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`ahsaid:"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 `Uyaynahsaid:"Honouring the prayer includes arriving
before the Iqaamah )the call that establishes the prayer( iscalled."
Maymoon Ibn Mahraanwas 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 'Abdullaahsaid:"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!"
`Umaronce 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 Salamahsaid:"I have never stood up for prayerwithout
imagining that the Hellfire is before my eyes."
Mu`aath Ibn Jabaladvised 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-Muzanisaid:"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.'"
Shubrumahsaid:"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 Muhammadsaid:"Whenever I went out in themorning, I would
visit )my aunt( `Aa'ishahand 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 Hayyaansaid:"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." Healso 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 'Ayyaashsaid:"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-Fudhaylsaid:"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 Dahrashsaid:"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 Murrahsaid:"I lived among seventy of the companions of
the Prophetand had they lived among you today, they would not
recognise any of your acts except the Athaan!" Healso 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-Asammwasasked 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 predecessorssaid:"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 Habeebsaid:"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 repentance."
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