Meaning and Application of the Prayer: Allahu Akbar, Subhan Allah, Al-hamdu Lillah, La ilaha illa-llah

The Holy Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu 'alayhi wa-sallam) gave guidance
to Muslims and the humanity for material, spiritual and intellectual
upliftment. The rewards of glorifying, praising, declaring Allah's
unity and His greatness are among the fundamental concepts of Islam.
In the following hadith, practical guidance is given to Muslims to
incorporate these concepts in their lifestyles:
Samura b. Jundub reported God's messenger as saying, "The most
excellent words are four: Glory be to God (Subhan Allah) ; Praise be
to God (Al-Hamdu Lillah) ; there isno god but God (La ilaha illa-llah)
; and God is most great (Allahu Akbar) ." A version has, "The words
dearest to God are four: Glory be to God; Praise be to God; there is
no god but God; and God is most great. It does not matter which you
say first." 1
The significance of the phrase 'Subhan Allah' has been explained in
the following hadith:
Sa'd b. Abu Waqqas said: " Once when we were with God's messenger he
asked whether any of us was incapable of acquiring athousand blessings
daily, and when one of those who were sitting with him asked how any
ofthem could acquire a thousand blessings he replied, "If he says
'Glory be to God' (Subhan Allah) a hundred times, a thousand blessings
will be recorded for himor a thousand sins will be removed from him.".
2
The significance of the phrase 'Al-Hamdu Lillah' has been explained in
the following hadith:
'Abdallah b. Amr reported God's messenger saying that "Praise be to
God" (Al-Hamdu Lillah) is the beginning of thanksgiving, for theman
who does not praise God hasnot thanked Him." 3
The significance of the phrase 'La ilaha illa-llah' has been explained
in the following hadith:
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported God'smessenger saying that Moses asked
his Lord to teach him something with which to make mention of Him or
to supplicate Him, and was told to say, "There isno god but God " (La
ilaha illa-llah) . He replied to his Lord that all His servants said
this, but he wanted something particularly for himself, and He said,
"Moses, were the seven heavens and their inhabitants apart from me and
the seven earths put in one side of balance and 'There is no god but
God' in the other, 'There is no god but God' would outweigh them." 4
It is transmitted in Sharh as-sunna .
The significance of the phrase 'Allahu Akbar' has been explainedin the
following hadith:
Abu Musa al-Ash'ari said: Once when we accompanied God's messenger on
a journey and the people began to say aloud, "God ismost great"
(Allahu Akbar) , he said, "Restrain yourselves, people; you are not
supplicating one who is deaf or absent, but are supplicating One who
hears, sees and is with you. He whom you aresupplicating is nearer to
each of you than the neck of his riding-beast."

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Story :- A Brother Like That

Shuaib received an automobile from his brother as an Eid present. On
Eid day when Shuaib came out of his house, a street urchin was walking
around the shiny new car, admiring it. "Is this your car, Uncle?" he
asked. Shuaib nodded. "My brother gave it to me for Eid." The boy was
astounded.
"You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn'tcost you nothing?
Boy, I wish..." He hesitated. Of course Shuaib knew what he was going
to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what
the lad said jarred Shuaib all the way down to his heels. "I wish,"
the boy went on,"that I could be a brother like that." Shuaib looked
at the boy in astonishment, then impulsively he added,"Would you like
to take a ride in my automobile?""Oh yes, I'd love that."
After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes aglow, said,
"Uncle, would you mind driving in front of my house?" Shuaib smiled a
little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show his
neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Shuaib was
wrong again."Will you stop where those two steps are?" the boy asked.
He ran up the steps. Then in a little whileShuaib heard him coming
back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled
brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up
against him and pointed to the car.
"There it is, little brother, just like I told you upstairs. His
brother gave it to him for Eid and it didn't cost him a penny. And
some day I'm gonna give you one just like it...then you can see for
yourself all the pretty things in the Shop windows that I've been
trying to tell you about."
Shuaib got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The
shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them
began a memorable ride. That Eid, Shuaib learned what the RasulAllah
(salAllahu alayhi wasalam) meant when he had said: "love for your
brother what you love for yourself".

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A old News - The Guard Who Found Islam

NEWSWEEK
From the magazine issue dated Mar 30, 2009
Army specialist Terry Holdbrooks had been a guard at Guantanamo for
about six months the night he had his life-altering conversation with
detainee 590, a Moroccan also known as"the General." This was early
2004, about halfway through Holdbrooks's stintat Guantanamo with the
463rd Military Police Company. Until then, he'd spent most of his day
shifts just doing his duty. He'd escort prisoners to interrogations or
walk up and down the cellblock making sure they weren't passing notes.
But the midnight shifts were slow."The only thing you really had to do
was mop the center floor," he says. So Holdbrooks began spending part
of the night sitting cross-legged on theground, talking to detainees
through the metal mesh of their cell doors.
He developed a strong relationship with the General, whose real name
is Ahmed Errachidi. Their late-night conversations led Holdbrooks to
be moreskeptical about the prison,he says, and made him think harder
about his own life. Soon, Holdbrookswas ordering books on Arabic and
Islam. During an evening talk with Errachidi in early 2004,
theconversation turned to theshahada, the one-line statement of faith
that marks the single requirement for converting to Islam ("There is
no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet"). Holdbrooks pushed a pen
and an index card through the mesh, and asked Errachidi to write out
the shahada in English and transliterated Arabic. He then uttered the
words aloud and, there on the floor of Guantanamo's Camp Delta, became
a Muslim.

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Story :- Junaid Baghdadi andLove for Allah

Once at the time of Hajj, there was a gathering in Mecca of some
friends of Allah; the youngest among whom was Junaid Baghdadi (ra). In
that gathering, there was a discussion on the subject of 'Love for
Allah' and as to who is the lover of Allah. Many of them expressed
their views on the subject, but Junaid (ra)kept quiet. He was
pressedto say something.
With his head bowed down and tears in his eyes, he said, "The lover
ofAllah is he who forgets his own self, remains engagedin Allah's
remembrance with due regard to all its requirements; sees Allah with
the eyes of his heart, which is burnt by the heat of Allah's fear;
Allah's remembrance affects him like a cup of wine, he speaks the word
of Allah as if All-Mighty Allah speaks through his mouth;if he moves,
he does so under the command of Allah; he gets peace of mind only
through the obedience of Allah; and when such a stage is reached, his
eating, drinking, sleeping, awakening and, in short, all his actions
are for the pleasure of Allah; he neither pays heed to the worldly
customs, nor does he attach any importance to unfriendly criticism by
people."

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