Category — Prayer

Ilm Seeker summarizes the benefits of the night prayer and offers/solicits creative tips for waking up for tahajjud.

Do you have goals you’re trying to achieve? Is there something you really, really want? Are you willing to pray Qiyam and cry in front of Allah for it? Because nothing will turbo-charge your success like Qiyam. 

On the day of Judgment, Allah will ask about YOUR salah. If it’s not 100% perfect, He will not even LOOK at your other deeds. BUT! If your Fard salaah is not perfect, Allah will patch it up with your nafl and sunnah prayers–including Qiyaam-ul-Layl. [There's a hadith related to this recorded in the collection of At-Tabari] 

Inner Reflections Transcribed writes about a consequence of segregation and audio/video feeds to the women’s area of masajid:

But over at the women’s side – whoa, it was a proper melee! The women were sitting in their own wee huddles, nattering away about everything and anything. The children were making music of their own in their wee corners. And it made me wonder why this was the case?

If the Imam was in sight, would these women sit and talk as they were? Most probably not. They’d even tell their children off for making a racket
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I would MUCH prefer to be able to SEE the speaker when he is speaking rather than have audio projected into a room. The voice which fills the room acts like background noise and when there isn’t any chance you can offend the speaker (since he can’t see you anyway) by actively tuning out, then talking over him isn’t given a second thought. Ruining the speech/talk for other members of the congregation?

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On the topic of speaker, if you do happen to be in the same room, then to be able to SEE the speaker helps a lot. Having designated seating for women at the back of the hall, where everybody infront resembles ants, or the only view is the back of peoples heads does nothing for me.  On top of which, from such an angle the speaker looks like a fat blur distracts and causes my concentration and attention span to dwindle and deteriorate fast. Yes I used to sit near the front of the lecture hall at Uni for exactly the same reasons.

Are mosques, and MSA’s going to change things around so women have a clear and equal view of the speaker? Or are we to be relegated to spots where a pair of binocular’s and/or a good pair of ears are required?

This is a situation that’s unique to Western Muslim societies, and it will be a mark of maturity of the community to actively address it and solve it to the satisfaction of all parties.

Another event that has got the bloggers blogging is Dr. Amina Wadud’s attempt to lead Friday prayers again, this time in England.

UmmahPulse has an investigative piece on the people organizing it and the actual event.

Despite attempts by the organisers to whip up controversy with the help of the local (Oxford Mail) and national media (The Times), the event was a total flop – hardly anyone attended. An evening news report broadcast on the ITV Thames Valley programme (17.10.08) commented on “the media far outnumbering the congregation” and “the historic moment being underwhelmed by the turnout from both sides of the debate, with the majority of Muslims in Oxford having simply decided to ignore the event”.

Indigo Jo of Blogistan criticizes it and provides textual basis for mainstream scholars’ opposition.

As for the proof of the invalidity of the prayer of anyone who “prayed” behind Wadud, here is a collection of opinions by some modern scholars of Islam who are not ranting extremists (PDF, I’m afraid); I also wrote a few articles tackling not only the “prayer” itself but the media response to it and some of Wadud’s other antics ([1], [2], [3]). I wonder if she is aware (or if she cares) about Hargey’s well-documented deviations, such as believing that the hadeeth contain so many forgeries and fabrications that they should not be used to derive legal rulings, but rather that Muslims should use the Qur’an alone?

Shahrzaad asks a question on her blog and set off a response by Achelois.

So if muslim women can be the jurisprudent, i’d like to know why not the prayer leading then?

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We need to hear from another woman and not a man what lies for us in religion. Blogosphere is not our khutbah place. We need to connect with women in the real world. At least I need that. I want to hear what a Muslim woman like me thinks about politics, religion, feminism, marriage, child-bearing and child-raising. I want to know what God says about women. I want to know what lies in Heaven for women. I want to know how God feels about lesbians. I want to know what should be done to men who rape their wives. Sorry but the khutbahs don’t tell me all that. I want to do more than swap recipes and talk about fashion with women.

But I wish I could look forward to it as a day when the entire family can go out and meet like minded people; where we can spend a good hour or so praying and talking about what is important to both men and women in Islam.

 

Therefore, I feel that it is important for women to be included in Friday sermons.

In a similar vein, Progressive Muslima wonders why something supposedly as relatively inane as this excites traditional conservative Muslims while more serious social issues don’t rally them.

Also, I find interesting that some Muslims who had intended to attend the prayers in Oxford were told they would no longer be welcome in their own mosques if they did so. I wonder if adulterers, wife beaters, child abusers, “honor” killers and folks who force their children to marry receive the same intimidating visits from these “concerned” Muslims.

Pearl of An-Noor compiles the following 12 tips to help the believer be consistent with Fajr prayers.

1. To supplicate to Allah with the following رب اجعلني مقيم الصلوة و من ذريتي ربنا و تقبل دعاء

ربنا اغفرلي ولوالدي وللمؤمنين يوم يقوم الحساب

By the blessings of this du’a, Insha Allah you and your children will be granted the ability to be punctual with your prayers.

2. If it’s convenient then to take a nap in the afternoon which is also a sunnah and aids in causing a person to wake up for Fajr.

3. To have dinner early and to not overeat. Mawlana Thanwi (RA) has written that when a person eats, there comes a moment where a question arises in his mind should I continue eating or quit? The moment this question arises, a person should stop eating.

4. To not drink water before going to sleep unless there is a dire need to do so and if so, then to drink a small amount.

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May Allah give us all the strength and dedication to pray Fajr on time every day.

Abdul Mutakabbir of True and Good Words points us to a very thoughtful site for beginning khateebs:

For a first time khateeb or even a seasoned khateeb, the task of giving a khutbah is very daunting. This is especially true for the first time khateeb. I remember the first time I gave a khutbah, I wished that there was some one-stop resource that I can go to that will tell me all the things I need to prepare a proper, Islamically compliant khutbah. No such thing existed at that time, so I had to go to the local Imam and ask him.

It’s a well-designed website with short guides on drafting a khutbah, complete with duas, and a guide for khateebs. A very handy resource! May Allah reward the brothers behind this effort.

IlmFruits in its usual short, succinct, yet deep and scholarly style is running a series of posts aimed at helping us achieve ihsan or perfection in our salah.
So far they have posts on assessing ourselves, salah as a cleanser of sins, and angels asking for forgiveness on our behalf. Keep up with them for the rest of the series, inshaAllah!

I am surprised that we have yet to plug DuaPower.com on Ijtema… but alhamdulillah, here we go!

Here at DuaPower.com, we strive to bring to you without any compromise the best, well known and authentic duas you can ever find. Using the latest technology, to show you the beauty of reading, memorising and using these divine supplications.

At the moment, they have two dua packs available for free download & dissemination:

Gate of ar-Rayyan – a pamphlet with all of the duas from the authentic Sunnah for Ramadan.

Muslim Prayers of Happiness – a pamphlet of all the duas from the authentic Sunnah for times of distress, sorrow and anxiety.

Saad Omar of the Ghazali Project offers ten illustrative suggestions to increase concentration in salaah:

2. The Five Minute Rule: This is the Golden Rule in concentrating in prayer, whatever you think about 5 minutes before you pray, you will inevitably think about during the prayer, so we should spend this time thinking of Allah (SWT) and not watching television, chatting with friends, joking, etc.

8. The Taheeyat: As you make the Taheeyat, while sitting down, imagine the story of the Prophet (S) when he ascended to the Heaven (Me�raj) where he (S) and Allah (SWT) exchanged back and forth these lines that we now repeat as we embark on our own Ascension to Allah (SWT) during this part of the prayer. (At-Taheeyat��-The Prophet (S) greeting to Allah (SWT), �As-Salamu Alayka��-Allah (SWT�t Response, �As-Salamu Alayna��-The Prophet�s reponse to Allah (SWT). �Ashadu��-The Angel exclamation after this beautiful conversation.

10. After the Prayer: Don�t run off after the prayer, give yourself time to be by yourself, even if it for 30 seconds, and reflect on the momentous event that you have just experienced.

In another post related to salaah Abdul Mutakabbir at True and Good Words shares a favorite dua of his:

Transliteration

Allahumm-maghfirlee ma qaddamtu
wa ma akh-khartu
wa ma asrartu
wa ma aa�lantu
wa ma asraftu
wa ma anta aa�lamu bihi min-nee
antal muqaddimu
wa antal mu-akh-khiru
la ilaha illa anta

Al Muqaddim – The One who hastens or speeds whatever He wills/The First
Al Muakh-khir – The One who delays or slows whatever He wills/The Last

We�re asking for forgiveness for everything: for things we did, things we�ll do, things we conceal, things we reveal, things we do over-excessively, and for things we don�t even know exist within us (e.g. the disease of arrogance that lurks amongst most of us, but most of us are sadly unaware of)�Ya Salaam! What an amazing dua!