Our
righteous ancestors have set the perfect example in the way they
preserved the prayer,even when they were ill and weak.When Amir bin
Abdullah heard the Adhan while he was dying,he said:
"Lead me by my han.'They said to him,'You are ill.'He said ,'How can I hear Mu'adhdhin, yet,do not respond to it?'They took him by his hand,and his home was near the mosque,and he started the MAghrib prayer behind the Imam and died upon finishing only one Rak'ah." [Sifatu As-Safwah,vol.2,p.131 ans As-Siyar, vol.5,p.220]
Moreover
,the Farooq (i.e,who distinguished between goodness and evil)of the
Muslim Ummah,'Umar(ra) became unconscious after he was stabbed,and
according to Al Miswar bin Makhramah ,it was said:
"Nothing would wake him up except the call to prayer,if he is still alive."They said to him,"The prayer has finished,O Chief of the faithful!"He woke up and said,"The prayer,by Allah !Verily,there is no share in islam for whoever abndons the prayer."He performed the prayer while his wound was bleeding.[Tarikh Umar,p.243]
Umar(ra)
,for he was so eager and protective of the prayer that companions,who
knew this fact of him,thought that if they mentioned the prayer to him
,he would wake up from his unconsciousness.This is exactly what
happened,for when he was reminded that he did not pray yet,he woke up.In
contrast ,some people in the present time like to sleep when it is so
close to prayer time,while some others are being woke up for prayer,but
do not respond.
Moreover,after Ar-Rabi' bin Khaytham became partially paralysed,he used to go to the mosque helped by two men.He was told:
"O Abu Yazid!You have been given permission to pray at home."He said,"You have said the truth, but I heard the caller herald,'Hayya 'ala al-Falah(Come to success),' and I thought that whoever hears this call should answer it even by crawling." [Hilyatu Al-Auliya Wa Tabaqhatu Al Asfiyaa,by Al Hafith Abu Na'im,vol.2,p.113]
Truly,they
were eager to join the prayer with obedience to Allah and His
commandments and in anticipation for what He has prepared with Him of
reward and bounties. Adi bin Hatim(ra) said:
"Every time the prayer time falls,it falls when I am eager for it and ready to perform it(i.e having Wudhu) [Az-Zuhd,by Imam Ahmad,p.249]
Mu'adhdhin
and the Dwelling of Peace, and Paradise has moved the honorable hearts
and motivated the inner-selves ,and thus, fell on responsive believing
ears.Allah made the call to prayer reach those who are alive,by their
Faith,and directed them to the grades of the pious ,leading them through
the journey until they arrived at the Dwelling of Eternity.
The
importance our Salaf placed on the prayer brought them joy and delight
when its time started;they were delighted and elated by this great favor
that Allah had bestowed on them.Indeed ,as Abu Bakar ibn Abdullah
Al-Muzany stated:
"Who is like you,O son of Adam?Whenever you wish, you use water to make Ablution,go to the place of worship and thus enter the presence of Your Lord (i.e., start praying) without a translator or a barrier between you and Him"[Al-Bidayah Wan -Nihayah,by Ibn Kathir,v.9,p.256]
There
is no doubt that those who miss these bounties should feel
grief,especially since time is the essence of man's existence and his
only capital.Abu Rajaa Al-'Ataridi said:
"Nothing that i leave behind grieves me, except i used to bow down on my face five times a day before my Lord,the Exalted and Most Honored" [Hilyatu Al-Auliya ,v.2,p.306]
They gave the prayer is due consideration and honored it at its true value .Umar (ra) once said:
"If you see a man being careless concerning the prayer,then by Allah!He will be more careless,in everything else."[Tarikhu Umar,p.204]
Furthermore
,Abu Al-Aliyah said: "I would travel for days to meet a man and the
first thing i notice about him is his prayer. If he establish the prayer
perfectly and on time I would stay with him and hear knowledge he
had. If I found him to be careles concerning the prayer,I would leave
him and say to myself that for things other than the prayer,he would
be even more careless."
Giving the prayer its due importance and consideration ,was also taught to children ,in obedience to the Prophet's command:
"Order your children to pray at the age of seven and discipline them for it at the age of ten and seprate between their beds." [Abu Dawud,Ahmad abd Al Al-Hakim;Al-Albani rendered it Hassan]
in
this context ,we could understand why Zaid Al-Ayami used to tell
children ,"Come and pray and i will give you some hazelnuts."The
children would come and pray and then gather around him to get nuts .He
was asked why he did that and he said,"I buy some nuts for them for
five dirhams and they get used to praying."
In
the present time, many people are concerned about teaching materialism
to their children and satisfying their desires for food,drink and
recreation. However,they dedicate little attention to their primary role
and job as parents,that is ,teaching their children true Islamic ideals
and making them get used to praying ,including questioning them if they
come late for it.Allah,The Exalted and Most Honored said:
"O you who believe!Ward off yourselves and your families against a Fire (Hell) whose fuel is men and stones."(66:6)
Loving the prayer and rushing to perform it with Khushu' and perfection inwardly and outwardly ,demonstrates the heart's love for Allah and eagerness to meet Him. On the other hand, disinterest in the prayer, laziness towards rushing to answer the Adhan, and performing it alone away from the congregational pf Muslims in the mosque,without a valid excuse, are all indications that the heart is empty of Allah's love and disinterested in what He has with Him.
"O you who believe!Ward off yourselves and your families against a Fire (Hell) whose fuel is men and stones."(66:6)
Loving the prayer and rushing to perform it with Khushu' and perfection inwardly and outwardly ,demonstrates the heart's love for Allah and eagerness to meet Him. On the other hand, disinterest in the prayer, laziness towards rushing to answer the Adhan, and performing it alone away from the congregational pf Muslims in the mosque,without a valid excuse, are all indications that the heart is empty of Allah's love and disinterested in what He has with Him.
"I
never saw Muslim bin Yasar turning his head while praying,whether the
prayer was short or long.Once,a part of the mosque came down and the
noise caused fear to the people who were in the market,while he was in
the mosque did not fear or even turn his head and keep praying." [Az-Zuhd,by Imam Ahmad,p.359]
When Khalaf bin Ayub was asked: "Why
do you not swat at flies while praying, do they not bother you?"He
said,"I will not do something that might become a habit and thus spoil
my prayer for me."He was asked how he observed patience in that
situation.He replied, "I was told that sinners observe patience when
they are flogged by the Muslim authority and even boast about being
patient in that situation.I am standing before My LOrd,would I move
because of a fly?" [Al-Ihya ,vol.1,p.179]
"He said,"I
did not think that there were people who pray,and hear other things
outside the prayer,instead of what they are invoking Allah with."[Sifat As-Safwah,vol.4,p.279]
They
were just as Ibn Rajab described them in his book'Lata'if al-Ma'arif'
,"When they heard Allah's statements: So compete in good deeds."(5:48)
And "Race
with one another in hastening towards forgiveness from your
Lord(Allah), and Paradise the width whereof is as the width of the
heaven and the earth."(57:21)
They
understood from these statements that each one among them should strive
hard to compete in the race to acquire these honors and to reach the
high grades and ranks. When one of them saw that another person was
performing a righteous deed that he was unable to perform,he feared that
whoever performed that good deed would beat him in the race , and he
felt sad for this fact.
They competed in earning the high grades of the Hereafter as if in a race ,but after them,there came people who did the opposite and competed to earn the insignificant delights and perishable goods of this life.
"O Messenger of Allah(pbuh)! I give my garden as charity,so spend it however you wish." [Al-Ihya,vol.1,p.194]
As
for 'Ata bin Abu Rabah, as Ibn Jurayj described about him:"I
accompanied 'Ata bin Rabah for eighteen years. When he became old and
weak,he used to stand in prayer and read close to two hundred Ayat from
Surat Al-Baqarah while standing in such firmness that no part of him
could move." [As-Siyar,vol.5,p.87]
Old
age and weakness that it brings to the body did not stop Ata from
having Khushu' in the prayer and reciting the Qur'an for extended
periods of time while standing firm with full
submissiveness. Furthermore, Muslim bin Bannaq Al-MAkki narrated that
Abdullah bin Az-Zubair, who was known for standing in prayer for a long
time ,once bent down in Ruku for so long ,that it allowed Muslim to
recite Surat AL-BAqarah ,Al-Imran, An-Nisa and Al-Ma'idah, before Ibn
Az-Zubair raised his head from Ruku.[Al-Bidayah Wan Nihaya,vol.8,p.359]
Talaq bin HAbib used to say: "I love standing in prayer for Allah until my back hurts."
Abu Bakr bin Aiyash said: "If you saw 'Habib bin Abu Thabit while in sujud,you would think that he had died because of his long prostration." [As-Siyar,vol.5,p.291]
Is
it they for whom the flag of Paradise was raised and they raced to earn
it,and the straight path was laid for them and they took it firmly.They
believed that it was a great error to sell what no eye has seen ,no ear
has heared and no heart has imagined of delight in the eternal
dwelling,in return for a perishable life that passes as fast as a dream
and is full of grief and depression.If this life makes one laugh a
little, it also brings many instances of crying,and if it delighted for a
day,it would cause grief for months.The pain in this life overcomes its
delights and its sadness over-weighs its happiness this life goes on
with various fears and ends in certain demise.
Abu
Qatan said: "Whenever I saw Shu'bah bin Al-Hajjaj go into Ruku or
Sujud,I would say to myself that he has forgotten(because of the
length of Shu'bah's Ruku and Sujud.)" [Tathkiratu Al-Huffath,vol.1,p.193]
Also Ali bin Al-Fudhayl said: "I saw Ath-Thauri went into Sujud while praying, and I performed Tawaf around the House seven times before he raised his head from sujud."[As-Siyar,vol.7,p.277]
"I
never performed a prayer without invoking Allah afterwards to forgive
me for falling into shortcomings in the way i performed it." [Tarikhu Baghdad,vol.13,p.207]
"I
lived during the time of seventy of the companions of Muhammmad pbuh,
and they lived among you today,they would not recognize any of your acts
except the Adhan." [Hilayatu Al-Auliyaa ,vol.2,p.299]
Moreover ,Maymun bin Mahran said: "If
a man from the Salaf was resurrected among you today, he would only
recognize your Qiblah (direction of the prayer,the Ka'bah at Makkah)."
This s how different the way of conducting the religion varied from the time of the companions to the time of teh early generations of Islam. What would they say about us,then,if one of them was to be resurrected in our time?
When Hatim Al-Asamm was asked about his prayer,he said: "When it is near the time of prayer, I perform a perfect Wudhu (ablution) ,and go to where I am going to pray and sit down there until I become fully attentive to what I am about to do.I then stand up and pray,imagining that the Ka'bah is in front of my eyes,Paradise to my right, Hell-fire to my left and Angel of death behind me.
I imagine that it is the last prayer I am about to perform,stand up in hope (in Allah,His paradise and rewards) and fear (from Allah's torment in Hell-fire) and recite the Takbir while having full attention.I recite the Qur'an calmly,make Ruku humbly ,go into Sujud with Khushu and then sit on my left leg,with the left foot laid on the floor and the right foot raised up,all the while praying with sincerity. Afterwards, I do not know(or feel certain) if that prayer was accepted from me."[Al-Ihya,vol.1,p.179]
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