ALI 265: Enhancing the Daily Prayers SESSION 2:

May 21, 2014/ Rajab 21, 1435 IMPORTANT: The session today will commence at 9:15 p.m. inshāAllāh to give the participants in Toronto to complete their Maghribayn prayers which begins at 8:58 p.m.

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ALI 265: Course objective Most Muslims say their salāt but many find it challenging

to achieve the spirituality and presence of heart which

makes the salāt an act of soaring to the Lord. This

course will look briefly at fiqhī (jurisprudential) and

comprehensively at ‘irfāni (spiritual) aspects of salāt with

the aim of offering prayers to get us closer to the

Creator. The course will also provide guidance on the

basic rules of preparing and saying prayers correctly.

Dates: 4 Wednesdays, May 14 - June 4, 2014

Timings: 9.15 p.m. to 10.15 p.m. EDT (Toronto/NY time)

Your Instructor: Hasanayn Kassamali

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Salāt in Holy Qur’an & Hadith The word salāt ( الصالة) appears 58 x in 55 verses of the Holy

Quran. The word salāt appear 3 times in verse 4:103

The Satan wishes to hinder us from prayers (5:91)

In many verses the verb aqama in present and past tenses

precede the word ‘salāt’. It means to maintain (Qarai), keep

up (Shakir), establish (Mir Ahmed Ali, Pickthal), be steadfast

(Yusufali) in prayers.

The Messenger of Allah (s) has said ين the prayer - الصالة عمود الد

is the pillar of the religion. He has also said: The first thing for

which the account will be taken (in the Hereafter) is the prayers, and

Between the faith and disbelief lies (the performing of) the prayers.

There are numerous Hadiths on the significance of the

prayers, each of which requires our contemplation to

appreciate its role in our life, religion and the Hereafter.

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Why this topic? 1) Our personal experience is that performing salāt on

time, with required conditions and with attention is

challenging and requires efforts. We would like to share

our experience on we are overcoming these challenges.

2) We have observed with many youths as well as some

adults that salāt is becoming not only challenge but a

burden. So they perform prayers so as to free themselves

of burden and miss our prayers for minor reasons.

3) With absence of jama‘at prayers in many of our

communities, we no longer learn performing correct

prayers by attending in masajid and learning from each

other.

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Benefits and Role of Du‘ās 1.It was the practice of the Ma‘sumeen (a), so we are following it.

Reports indicate that once Imam ‘Ali (a) asked his son Muhammad

Hanafiyyah to bring him water for istinjaa and wudhū. The Imam

then recited these supplications when performing his wudhū.

2.They prepare us for daily salāt, keeping us focused to Allah – the

main goal of prayers. In HQ 6:162, Allah asks the Prophet to say:

Indeed my prayers, my devotion, my life and my living are (all) for Allah, the

Master of the Universe.

3.They remind us of the Hereafter and the Day of Resurrection,

thus trivializing the world and its possessions which often distract us

from the prayers.

4.Rewards of reciting these Du‘ās. Amīrul mu’minīn said to his son:

Any believer who recites the Du‘ās that I just recited, Allah will create an angel

for every drop of water (used in wudhū) which will praise Allah till the Day of

Resurrection. And if he recites al-Qadr after his wudhu, Allah will forgiven

him such that he would be like the day his mother gave him the birth.

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Benefits of doing wudhū ئت أما أنت يا أخا ثق يف (:ص)رسول اهلل قال فإ نك ج

ما فاعلم أنك وصالت ك وما تسألن عن وضوئ ك لك ف يه يم وق لت إ ذا ضربت يدك ف الماء * ب سم الله الرحن الرح

ها نوب الت اكتسبت فإ ذا غسلت وجهك ،يداك ت ناث رت الذناك ها عي نوب الت اكتسبت ا وفوك ب لفظ ه ت ناث رت الذ ،ب نظر ه

نوب عن ي ين ك ال ك فإ ذا غسلت ذ راعيك ت ناث رت الذ ،وش نوب الت مشيت وقدميك فإ ذا مسحت رأسك ت ناث رت الذ

ها على قدميك ف هذا لك ف وضوئ ك . إ لي ( 202: ، ص2 من ال حيضره الفقيه، ج)

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Translation of the Hadith The Messenger of Allah (s) said: As for you, o brother (from)

Thaqeef, you have come to ask me about your wudhū and

salāt and what (benefits) you have in them. So know that

when you put your hands in the water [container in order to

perform wudhū] saying bismillahi-rraHmaanir-raHeeem, all sins

committed by your hand fall off. And when you wash your

face all sins committed by your eyes through watching [evil

things] and by your mouth through speaking [wrong

words]fall off. When you wash your arms, the sins fall off

from your right side and your left side. And when you

perform masāh of your head and feet, all your sins to which

your feet walked to, fall off. This is the (benefit) you get for

performing your wudhū (Man lā yaHadhuruh al-faqīh, 2:202)

DO REFLECT WHY SUCH A GREAT REWARD OF WUDHU

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From the Academy for Learning Islam

Thank you for attending this course: ALI 265.

Talk to friends and families to also register for

online courses; we have room for 200 participants

Send your emails to academyofislam@gmail.com

to receive weekly Qur’anic Reflections on Fridays

o Visit our sites to learn about other ALI programs

Donate to ALI for educational and Islamic

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Please get involved as volunteers for ALI projects

• We would like to hear from you; send your

feedback about ALI courses & programs.

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Timings & conditions of salāt 6/املاعون)هم ي راءون الذ ين 5هم عن صالت م ساهون الذ ين 4ف ويل ل لمصلي

107:4 Woe to them who pray, 107:5 —those who are heedless of

their prayers, 107:6 those who show off

They neither consider any value for their prescribed daily

canonical prayers, nor lay stress on its proper time, nor

observe its conditions and rites. It does not mean ‘they

make mistakes unintentionally in their prayer’ which

happens, in any case, for everyone, but it says that they are

careless of their essential prayers, totally. One who always

forgets his prayers and lets it be forgotten, it is obvious

that he does not take it seriously or he has no fear of

people, or the like (www.al-islam.org/enlightening-commentary-light-holy-

quran-vol-20/surah-maun-chapter-107)

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Allah boasts saying of Adhān The Messenger of Allah (s):

Allah always takes pride and boasts about three individuals to his angels: (Among them is the) One who gets up in the desert without food and water but says his Adhān and Iqāmah and only then performs his Salāt. Your Lord says to the angels, “Look at My slave how he is worshipping Me when he cannot see anybody other than Me.” Thereafter, seventy thousand angels come forward and perform Salāt behind him and seek forgiveness for him till the morrow.

O Abu Dharr! When a person is hungry and thirsty on the earth, and does Wudhū or tayammum and performs Salāt after reading the Adhān and Iqāmah, Allah orders the angels to pray behind him in rows in such a way that he cannot be spotted. They bow when he bows and prostrate when he prostrates and say ‘Amin’ when he invokes.

O Abu Dharr! If somebody says only the Iqāmah but forsakes the Adhān, only two angels perform the Salāt with him (Wasa’il, 5:383)

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When you hear Adhān . . . 1. Leave a side everything and rise as if you do not know

anyone around him & they do not know you. This was

the practice of the Holy Prophet (s) – who was known to

be social and kind to his family members.

2. Be anxious to meet Allah in Salāt. The Prophet: Rise O

Bilal and relieve us with the [call for] prayer ( قم يا ب الل فأر حنا (بالصالة

3. Be ready to fight all distractions and internal

whisperings. For Satan runs away the moment Adhān is

said. The Messenger of Allah (s) has said:

ع النداء بالصالة هرب . إن الشيطان إذا س

4. Reflect on what is being said. It should make us ascend to

the Almighty and close closer to Him. Prophet preferred Adhān over ringing of bells or blowing of trumpets.

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Adhān during event of Harrah The event of Harrah. People of Madinah revolted against Yazid on 26th or 27th of Dhil Hijjah in 63 AH. Yazid sent his army to respond to this most brutally. Ibn Qutayba reports that the death toll included one thousand and seven hundred Ansār, Muhādjir and their offspring plus ten thousand ordinary people. 80 companions of the Prophet were killed.

- For 3 days the lives, dignity and wealth of Medinites was made Mubah on the soldiers of Yazid

- So many people killed that there is a special section in al-Baqee where they were buried

- Many other atrocities took place

- No Adhān was said in Masjid al-Nabi (s) for three days

- Saeed Ibn Musayyab narrates that he heard Adhān voice of Adhān from the grave of the Messenger of Allah at the time of prayers. Saeed said his Iqāmah and prayers bases on this Adhān.

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Effects of saying Adhān & Iqāmah ، يا ( : وآل ه صلي اهلل عليه ) رسول اهلل إذا ول د لك غالم أو جارية علي

. فإنه ال يضره الشيطان أبدا اليسرى؛ فأذن ف اذن ه اليمىن وأق م ف The Prophet (s): O Ali! When a son or daughter is born to

you, recite the Adhān in his [or her] right ear and the Iqāmah

in the left ear; then Satan will never harm him [or her].’

[Tuhaf al-‘Uqul, no. 13]

. من ساء خلقه فأذنوا ف اذن ه ( : عليه السالم )اإلمام الصادق •• Imam al-Sadiq (a): He whose manners deviate, recite the

Adhān in his ear.[Bihar v. 104, p. 122, no. 61]

• Imagine if these are the effects on children what would be

on an adult who is preparing to communicate His Lord

through prayers!

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References • Adab as-salāt, Ayatullah Ruhullah al-Musawi al-Khomeini

www.al-islam.org/adab-as-salāt-disciplines-of-prayer-

second-revised-edition-imam-khomeini

• Forty Hadith: An Exposition, al-Khomeni, Hadith No. 27

www.al-islam.org/forty-hadith-an-exposition-second-edition-imam-

khomeini/twenty-seventh-hadith-prayer-and

• Concentration in Prayer, Jameel Kermalli www.al-

islam.org/concentration-in-prayer-jameel-kermalli

• YouTube lectures by Syed Abid Hussain Zaidi titled

‘Behtareen Namaz Kayse Parhein.’ The 1st lecture is at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMXW0V4s9Bg

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Thank you for attending Please encourage your family and friends to participate in this course.

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