Ilm Fruits

Bismillah wa’lhamdolilah wassalatu wassalam ‘ala Rasool Allah

For the most part, or at least from my personal experience, from childhood salat was always made to seem very rigid; one way of doing it, no variation, very systematic. And since we were never taught these variations, salat just ended up becoming a thoughtless set of actions, repeating the same things over and over again. However, as I grew older I realized that there is a lot of variation in salat, a lot that we can do to really build that relationship Allah throughout our salat.

The Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam would commence his recitation with many kinds of supplications in which he would praise Allaah the Exalted, and glorify and extol Him. He in fact ordered “the man who prayed badly” to do so, saying to him: No person’s prayer is complete unless he says takbeer, praises Allaah the Mighty and Sublime and extols Him, recites of the Qur’aan what is easy for him …

From this we gather that the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam would start his salat with a variety of different supplications…not just one!

The most common supplication that is recited is the following:

You are Glorified, O Allaah, and Praised; Your Name is Blessed;
Your Majesty is Exalted, and none has the right to worshipped but You

Try some of these other supplications from the traditions of our beloved Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam:

Allaah is the Greatest, very great. Praise be to Allaah, again and again. Glorified is Allaah morning and evening

One of the Companions commenced with this, to which the Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said: Wonderful for it is that the doors of the heavens were opened for it (Muslim)

Praise be to Allaah, many, pure, blessed praises. Alhamdolilahi hamdann katheeran tayyiban mubarakann fee

Another man commenced with this, to which he (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said: I saw twelve angels competing as to which of them would take it up (Muslim)

And there are many more supplications which can be found in traditions of our beloved Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam. I recommend memorizing a few and inshallah switch up the use of them so you can take your prayers out of the same monotonous routine.

All of these supplications are taken from Shaykh Albani’s book entitled, “The Prophets Prayer Described” which can be viewed by clicking here.

May Allah give us the tawfeeq to understand, implement, and teach others.

By dear brother and sisters in Islam, Asalamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullah

In this blessed month of Ramadan, it is only beneficial to us to increase our worship of Allah azza wa jal. Surely, this month is full of blessings like no other. O Muslims! Take advantage of this month, because the reality is we don’t know if we will see another one.

Our beloved Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam has said:

“The prayer offered in congregation is twenty five times more superior to the prayer offered alone in one’s house or in a business center; because if one performs ablution and does it perfectly, and then proceeds to the mosque with the sole intention of prayer, then for each step which he takes towards the mosque, Allah upgrades him a degree in reward and crosses out one sin till he enters the mosque. When he enters the mosque he is considered in prayer as long as he is waiting for the prayer and the angels keep on asking for Allah’s forgiveness for him and they keep on saying: ‘O Allah! Be Merciful to him, O Allah! Forgive him’, as long as he keeps on sitting at his praying place and does not pass wind.” [Bukhari]

GEMS

• There is no place more peaceful than the houses of Allah….so visit them frequently!
• If you can…walk to the masjid. Use it to get yourself in the zone before you stand in front Allah…plus its a means of expiation for your sins! Subhanallah!
• Twenty five times MORE reward + expiation of sins = GO TO THE MASJID AS MUCH AS YOU CAN FOR PRAYERS!!!
• Thinking about the reward…thinking about the Mercy of Allah towards His slaves should humble us.
• Lets think about the greatness of Allah, the mercy of Allah, and the love of Allah towards us before we stand to pray.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam our beloved Prophet alayhi salatu wasalam has told us:

“The angels keep on asking Allah’s forgiveness for anyone of you, as long as he is at his mu’sallah (praying place) and does he does not pass wind. They say, ‘O Allah! Forgive him, O Allah! be Merciful to him.” [Bukhari]

Gems

• Angels are a great sign of Mercy from Allah and how beautiful it is that Allah has given every single Muslim the ability to feel the mercy just by staying in his place of prayer
• How great is it that the angels ask Allah for forgiveness for you? Subhanallah…amazing!
• Take a moment to relax and feel that blessing and mercy from Allah. Between sunnah and fard…just sit for a minute or two.
• How could it be that you will not be more focused in prayer knowing that angels have been asking forgiveness for you?

The Prophet of Allah sallalahu alayhi wasalam has coined an amazing analogy in regards to salat. The analogy is depicted in a conversation between the Prophet and the Companions radhiAllah anhum, in which the Prophet alayhi salatu wasalam said:

“Do you think that if there was a river by the door of one of you and he bathed in it five times a day that there would remain any dirt on him?” They answered: “There would not remain any dirt on him.” The Prophet of Allah alayhi salatu wasalam said: “That is how it is with the five prayers, through them Allah washes away the (minor) sins.” [Bukhari and Muslim]

GEMS

• The prayer is spiritual cleanliness so don’t abandon it for anything
• The mercy of Allah is that He has allowed people to pray to Him and receive forgiveness for their minor sins
• Abandoning prayers is abandoning easy forgiveness from your Lord
• With the mountains of sins we have engulfed ourselves in…can we afford to throw away forgiveness from ar-Rahman?
• Knowing that Allah will wash away the minor sins is something to think about during salat…Knowing the Mercy of Allah will enhance the concentration

When you stand in front of Allah for salat know that He will forgive you of your minor sins. Ponder about it before, during, and after the salat and inshallah you will see the improvement!

In regards to monitoring the quality of your salat, there are a few things which you need to think about in respect to the different factors that you are working on:

• Vision – What is your final destination? For example: Praying all fard salat in the masjid
• Purpose – Why do you want it? Be specific about your purpose
• Resources – list resources that could help you get to that destination; books, lectures, alarm clock, etc.
• Steps – In accordance to your vision…what do you need to do to get there? List all the steps you need to take to get you closer to your destination
• RPM – Are the results you expect specific and realistic? Is it time-bound? Is your purpose deep enough to push you towards your destination? Keep questioning your purpose. Do you have a plan to get the desired results? Make sure you map out a list of 10 things that will get you closer to your goal; pick the top 2 and implement them right away.