Salat : Mehraj-Al-Muhmineen
Salat is every pious creature’s ascendance towards Creator
[This article is an excerpt from a future book Insha'Allah. The copyright is reserved by the author and this Newsletter. We pray that he will finish this book soon. May the Almighty Lord protect him and reward him for his goodness. He gives success through His mercy to whomsoever of them that works righteousness, Ameen]
The Nabiy [Sallallahu Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam] was resting one evening and he saw a man enter the mosque and then come out soon thereafter. He asked the man what he did in the mosque and the man replied that he had prayed the Asr Salat. The Nabiy [Sallallahu Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam] told him that he had not prayed Asr and asked him to return to the mosque and to pray Asr. The man again came out after a short while, and the same conversation occurred. After the third time, the man mildly protested that he had indeed prayed Asr all these times, and yet the Nabiy [Sallallahu Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam] sitting outside was telling him that he had not. The Nabiy [Sallallahu Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam] then explained to him that the ritual actions during salat each take some time to perform, and in the time it was taking him to pray Asr, he could not possibly have been performing his prayers with the devotion that it requires. You often see Muslims performing sujood, for example, by merely touching their forehead to the ground and lifting it as if the musalla was a hot plate, and they barely straighten their backs before they repeat that quick sazdah in a time that one can not even say a part of Subhana Rabbiyal A’ala. The Nabiy [Sallallahu Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam] sometimes used to sit between sujood for so long that the congregation behind him would think that he had forgotten to perform the second sajdah! If you would just think about the beauty of the declaration, “Subhana Rabbiyal A’ala” (Glory be to the Sustaining Lord the Most High), and imagine the feeling of love and submission that must come from the heart when you recite this, you would automatically find it lingering on your tongue and affecting your entire being.
To improve the quality of salat and to inject Khushu in it, it could be useful to remember the occasion of Mehraj when Salat was ordained on Muslims. In the presence of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’Ala), separated by only a veil, Nabiy Muhammad [Sallallahu Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam] stood respectfully with a bowed head and folded arms, and among other praises recited, “Glory be to Thee O Allah, and Thine is the praise, and blessed is Thy name, and exalted is Thy Majesty, and there is no diety besides Thee”. Then after reciting Surah Fateha and some other verses, he bowed, and repeated several times, “Subhana Rabbiyal Adheem: Glory be to the Sustaining Lord, the Great”. When he stood up, Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’Ala) said,“Sami Allahu Liman Hamidah: Allah listens to the one who praises Him”. Moved by this, the Nabiy [Sallallahu Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam] responded, “Oh Lord, Thine is the praise”, and with Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest), he prostrated himself and repeated an even more glorified praise several times, “Subhana Rabbiyal A’ala”. When he finally assumed a sitting position and recited Attahiyat: “All services rendered by me by words, and bodily actions, and sacrifice of wealth are in honor of you, Oh Allah”, Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’Ala) replied, “Assalaamu Alaika ya ayyuhan-nabiyyu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu: My peace on thee Oh Nabiy, along with My Mercy and My Blessings”. The Nabiy [Sallallahu Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam] was ever desirous that his disciples should share in any gift that Allah had bestowed on him, and he said, “Assalaamu Alaina wa alaa ibaadil-laahis saaleheen: Let the peace of Allah be on the worshippers and on the righteous ones”. Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’Ala) asked the Nabiy [Sallallahu Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam] what he would give in exchange of this magnanimous gift that he had asked for, and his reply was, “Asshadu An-la Ilaaha illal-Laahu: I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah”. This was very pleasing to Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’Ala) and He declared,“Wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa Rasooluhu: And I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger”. Then Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’Ala) asked the angels in the gathering to send prayers of exaltation and blessings on Nabiy Muhammad [Sallallahu Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam]. After some du’ah, when the Nabiy [Sallallahu Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam] completed his prayers by greeting salam to the assembly of angels to his right and to his left, he yearned that his followers be given the privilege of performing this Mehraj as well, so that their heart would be moved by this experience as much as his own was. And Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’Ala) gifted mankind with salat as a Mehraj-Al-Mohmeneen, a conversation that they could have with Him not once in a lifetime, but fifty times a day (as we know, this was later reduced in number to five times a day, but with the same reward as fifty times a day).
Hence, when we perform salat, let us imagine that we are in the Divine presence of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’Ala), and that when we praise Him, He replies, “Sami Allahu Liman Hamidah”, and that we Glorify Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’Ala) in our rukuh and sujood, and we join with the angels in giving salutations and blessings to the Nabiy [Sallallahu Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam]. For then, Insha’Allah, each salat of ours will be truly a Mehraj-Al-Mohmeneen.
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Wa Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh