Prayer, - Dought & clear, - * Is it permissible to give salaams tosomeone who is praying?

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Is it permissible for a Muslim to give salaams to a Muslim when he is praying or he is making dhikr or du’aa’?
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly, it is prescribed for a Muslim to initiate the greeting of salaam to his Muslim brother when he is praying, but the one who is praying should not return the salaams whilst praying, except by making a gesture in a manner that will maintain the validity of his prayer, because it was narrated that Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) said:
“I asked Bilaal, How did the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) return their salaam when they greeted him whilst he was praying? He said, With a gesture of his hand.”
(Narrated by Ahmad, 6/12; Abu Dawood, 1/569, no. 927; al-Tirmidhi, 2/204, no. 368; al-Bayhaqi, 2/262; also narrated by the five).
It was also narrated from him that Suhayb (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “I passed by the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) whilst he was praying. I greeted him with salaam and he responded with a gesture.” And he said: I am not sure whether he said “a gesture with his fingers”.(Narrated by the five, apart from Ibn Maajah. Al-Tirmidhi said: both hadeeths are saheeh in my view).
It was reported that Umm Salamah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbidding us to pray two rak’ahs after ‘Asr, then I saw him praying them when he prayed ‘Asr. She said, he entered and there were some women from Bani Haraam, from among the Ansaar, with me. He started to pray them [these two rak’ahs after ‘Asr], so I sent a young girl to him, and I told her, ‘Stand beside him and say to him, Umm Salamah is saying to you, O Messenger of Allaah, I heard you forbidding us to do these two rak’ahs and now I see you praying them. If he makes a gesture with his hand then leave him and go back.’ So the young girl did that and he made a gesture with his hand, so she left him and went back. When he finished praying, he said: ‘O daughter of Abu Umayyah, you asked about the two rak’ahs after ‘Asr. Some people from Banu ‘Abd al-Qays came to me and kept me from doing the two rak’ahs after Zuhr, and that is what these were.’”(Narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim).
These ahaadeeth indicate that it is prescribed to say salaams to a person whilst he is praying, and that he should respond to the greeting with a gesture, because this is what the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) approved of initiating the salaam, and he returned the greeting with a gesture only.
Secondly, it is prescribed for the Muslim to initiate the greeting to one who is engaged in making dhikr or du’aa’, because it was reported that Abu Waaqid al-Laythi (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “Whilst the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was sitting in the mosque and there were some people with him, three people came in. Two of them came to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and one went away. When they came up to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), they greeted him with salaam. One of them found a space in the circle and sat down, and the other sat down behind him. The third one turned and went away. When the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had finished (his talk), he said: ‘Shall I tell you about these three people? One of them turned to Allaah so Allaah accepted him; the second felt shy so Allaah will feel shy (to punish him); and the third turned away so Allaah turned away from him.”(Narrated by Maalik in al-Muwatta’, 2/960; Ahmad, 5/219; al-Bukhaari, 1/24, 122; Muslim, 4/1713, no. 2176; al-Tirmidhi, 5/73, no. 2724; Abu Ya’laa, 3/33, no. 1445).
And inal-Saheehaynit is narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that a Bedouin entered the mosque and prayed, but he did not do the rukoo’ and sujood properly. Then he came and greeted the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) with salaam. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) returned his greeting then said, “Go back and pray, for you have not prayed.”
And Allaah is the Source of strength. May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions, and grant them peace.

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Prayer, - Dought & clear, - * Wardingoff the insinuating whispers of the Shaytaan

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Sometimes the imaam recites a long soorah and my mind wanders unintentionally. What should I do? Is it permissible for me to repeat some aayahs of the Qur’aan or du’aa’s, or should I listen to the imaam’s reading?
Praise be to Allaah.
Push away the worldly thoughts that come to you whilst praying as much as you can, and listen to the imaam’s recitation and ponder the meanings of what he is reciting, so that you may benefit from it, avoid letting your thoughts wander and ward off the insinuating whispers of the Shaytaan. Recite al-Faatihah in both the silent and loud prayers (where the recitation is done silently or out loud), and recite another soorah or passage of the Qur’aan in the silent prayer, focusing on the meaning of the words. Perhaps by this means Allaah will help you to focus your mind and overcome this lack of concentration. It is also prescribed for you to seek refuge with Allaah from the accursed Shaytaan when you face too many insinuating whispers.
And Allaah is the source of strength. May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions, and grant them peace.

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For children, - Blaming others Stories

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Sometimes in life, we do come up with lame excuses, blinded by circumstances / challenges we face, but blaming others or making excuses for our behavior is a waste of time because no matter how much fault we find in others and regardless of how much we blame someone, it will not change us and most certainly not add to our growth or success. So read the following story to understand the blaming game.
Once there was a rich man who had a beautiful orchard with splendid figs. He appointed two watchmen for his orchard. One watchman was lame and the other one was blind.
One day the lame watchman said to the blind watchman: "I see splendid figs in the orchard. Come, I will ride on your shoulders, and we will take them and eat them."
So the lame watchman rode on the shoulders of the blind watchman, and they took the fig fruits and ate them.
Some time after, the owner of the orchard came and inquired, "Where are those splendid figs?" The lame watchman replied, "Have I feet to walk with?" The blind watchman replied, "Have I eyes to see with?"
What did the rich man do? He placed the lame watchman on the shoulders of the blind watchman and judged them together.
Now the thing that I call living is just being satisfied. With knowing I got no one left to blame.
Blame someone else for your fault story
One day when my son Scott was two years old, I heard him crying. I went into his room and my daughter Hannah, who was four, was there also. A plastic bat was lying on the floor.
"What happened to Scott?" I asked.
Hannah answered, "He hit his head."
"On what?"
She pointed toward the bat on the floor and said, "The bat."
"Where was the bat?"
Hannah said, "In my hand."
Blaming others also needs wisdom story
Once a ship got caught in a violent storm. It wreaked havoc and the waves cast its wrecks on the sands of the shore. Among them was a sailor who lay senseless on the beach. When he came to his senses, he cursed the sea saying, "The Sea is a cheat indeed. It attracts people with its cool and calm waters and once they are in its grip, it turns furious and destroys them."
Hearing his reproach, the sea felt pinched. But it didn't want to trouble the sailor anymore. So, it came to the sailor in form of a damsel.
"Who are you, O lovely lady?" asked the sailor.
"I am the sea and am as lovely as you see me now. You are blaming me for the wreck but it isn't just." Surprised, the sailor asked, "Who is just then?"
The sea urged, "The wreck was caused by the cruel winds that blew into gusts and gales over me and created stormy waves in my calm waters."
The sailor had nothing to say except feeling sorry for blaming the sea.
Almost all unhappiness in life comes from the tendency to blame someone else.

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Discover Islam, - * The beauty of Islam as seen by others

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American poet, critic and author Colonel Donald S. Rockwell writes: "The simplicity of Islam, the powerful appeal and the compelling atmosphere of its mosques, the earnestness of its faithful followers, the confidence inspiring realization of millions throughout the world who answer the five daily calls to prayer, these factors attracted me from the first.
But after I had determined to become a follower of Islam, I found many deeper reasons for confirming my decision. The mellow concept of life -- fruit of the combined course of action and contemplation, the wise counsel, the admonitions to charity and mercy of the Prophet,sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, )may Allaah exalt his mention(.
The broad humanitarianism, the pioneer declaration of women's rights, these and other factors of the teachings of the man of Makkah, were to me among the first obvious evidence of a practical religion so tersely and so aptly epitomized in the cryptic words of Prophet Muhammad,sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam:'Trust in God and tie your camel.'He gave us a religious system of normal action, not blind faith in the protection of an unseen force in spite of our own neglect, but confidence that if we do all things rightly and to the best of our ability, we may trust in what comes as the Will of God...
When I stood in the inspiring mosques of Istanbul, Damascus, Jerusalem, Cairo, Algiers, Tangier, Fez and other cities, I was conscious of a powerful reaction -- the potent uplift of Islam's simple appeal to the sense of higher things, unaided by elaborate trappings, ornamentation, figures, pictures, music and ceremonial ritual. The mosque is a place of quiet contemplation and self-effacement in the greater reality of the true God.
The democracy of Islam has always appealed to me. Potentate and pauper have the same rights on the floor of the mosque, on their knees in humble worship. There are no rented pews or special reserved seats.
The Muslim accepts no man as mediator between himself and his God. He goes direct to the invisible source of creation and life -- God -- without reliance on a saving formula of repentance of sins and belief in the power of a teacher to afford him salvation. The universal brotherhood of Islam, regardless of race, politics, color or country, has been brought home to me most keenly many times in my life, and this is another feature which drew me towards the Faith."
The baseless claim that Islam converted the peoples it had 'conquered by force' has also been refuted by prominent non-Muslims.
Mahatma Gandhi, for instance, writes inYoung Indian, 1924:
"I became more than ever convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet,sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, the scrupulous regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his absolute trust in God and his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every trouble."
James A. Michener writes in theReader's Digest, under the titleIslam: The Misunderstood Religion: "No other religion in history spread so rapidly as Islam. The West has widely believed that this surge of religion was made possible by the sword. But no modern scholar accepts that idea, and the Quran is explicit in support of the freedom of conscience."
Laurence E. Browne writes inThe Prospects of Islam: "Incidentally, these well-established facts dispose of the idea so widely fostered in Christian writings about the Muslims, that wherever they went, they forced people to accept Islam at the point of the sword."
De Lay O'Leany also writes inIslam at Crossroads, London, 1923, p. 8: "History makes it clear, however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims, sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon conquered races is one of the most fanatically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated."
It is worth mentioning here that it is absolutely wrong to judge Islam by the deteriorating condition of Muslims and the blatant corruption that pervades the Muslim world. What Islam preaches is one thing, and what so many Muslims nowadays practice is something else.
The only way whereby we do justice to Islam is to find out about its noble teachings, which are clearly set out at length in the Holy Quran and the Prophetic traditions. The famous popular singer, Cat Stevens, who later embraced Islam once observed: "It will be wrong to judge Islam in the light of the behavior of some bad Muslims who are always shown on the media.
It is like judging a car as a bad one if the driver is drunk and he bangs it into a wall. Islam guides all human beings in daily life -- in its spiritual, mental and physical dimensions. Nevertheless, we must find the sources of these instructions -- the Quran and the example of the Prophet,sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam.Then we can see the idea of Islam."
What is generally said about Islam in the media and in many academic circles can also give a wrong idea about it. As Maurice Bucaille put it: "The totally erroneous statements made about Islam in the West are sometimes the result of ignorance, and sometimes of systematic denigration.
The most serious of all the untruths told about it are, however, those dealing with facts, for while mistaken opinions are excusable, the presentation of facts running contrary to reality is not. It is disturbing to read blatant untruths in eminently respectable works written by authors whoa prioriare highly qualified."

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