Abdullah Oduro – Invocations of God #29 The Productive Prayer
AI: Summary ©
The importance of the prayer in achieving spiritual health and rest is emphasized, along with the need to avoid becoming polytheistic or distracted from the prayer. The speaker advises not to become polytheistic and to maintain reminded of Allah's words in the prayer process. The importance of finding one's source of gladness in the prayer process is emphasized, along with the need to find one's source of ease andanship in the prayer process to achieve their potential.
AI: Summary ©
Now after speaking about the process of Satan
in the prayer, he continues on and
to,
in speaking about
how one alleviates themselves from those tests of
Satan, the successful ones in this process.
He says,
He says here,
For verily, the prayer is that which relinquishes
the evil deeds and expiations
to whoever does it correctly or fulfills the
rights of the prayer.
Was to be humble in this and have
his sincere humility and undivided attention and he
stands
in front of Allah
Allah with his heart and his direction in
that direction.
Fully devoted, full undivided attention focused.
He says,
again, this is a scenario.
He's saying
that the person that has these descriptions mentioned
earlier,
he says, so
if he was to finish his prayer, he
finds
that he
he is is is he doesn't feel this
heavy weight.
He feels light,
and he feels
that the the burdens
have been lifted from him.
He feels this lightness and ease,
and he finds and on top of that
check this out. On top of that, he
finds
energy
and comfort.
He finds his energy
and this
comfort and rest from the world.
And then he says,
to where he wishes
that he would not have left that state.
Let's just stop and think about that, to
be honest.
Stop and think about it. When you are
praying, when we are praying,
when we're done, we say peace be upon
you and peace be upon you to the
angels. Be upon you and peace be upon
you to the angels. When you say that,
do you find a sense of
ease,
tranquility,
peace?
And that is what the word Islam really
means.
Submission
and surrender
to Allah. When one submits and surrenders to
Allah, that
is where they find peace.
So when we say Islam is peace,
in my humble opinion, that is not an,
a correct definition,
not a comprehensive it's not a correct definition
because you are defining it by the result.
You are not finding defining it by the
Mahia,
like the construction, what it really is. Islam
is not peace.
Islam
is submission
and surrender.
When one submits and surrenders, they will find
peace. When one submits, they give themselves up.
When one submits, they lower themselves,
humble themselves,
and surrenders, meaning they totally give up everything
that they have and that they own their
ownership. They submit it.
That is where they find peace.
When one submits
their authority that they have on this earth
to the authority of Allah, when you have
a text message and
you
you you have to respond to it
and you want to make sure you respond
to that person, but the prayer has come
in or it's about to leave.
What do you do? What are you submitting
to?
What are you submitting to?
When you're in the prayer and that thought
comes to you and you think more and
more about it, you're just starting to go
through the motions. Your heart is gone.
What are you submitting to? Are you fighting?
You say,
You're fighting.
You spit to your left 3 times as
a prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. What do
you do at that time? What are we
ultimately submitting to? So Ibn al Qayim gives
us a scenario. So, basically, the person finds,
he finds a lightness in his soul and
feels that the weights have been lifted from
him and finds such vigor and rest,
and rest and calmness in the prayer that
he wished he had not it had not
ended. When you say,
how do you feel? When you're coming home
from work,
You're coming home from work. Do you stop
by the masjid?
Satan wasn't successful. When you leave and you
you say salaam alaykum or before you leave,
when you leave the prayer,
do you feel this light and ease? This
is important, especially
for those that are coming from work and
going back home. This is how the prayer
can serve as a means of tranquility,
Sekinah, which will allow you and assist
in you fulfilling your family's rights or those
who are at home waiting for you. Ibn
al Qayin brings this in, and it's so
important and beautiful. He doesn't stop there,
He says,
He says that the person wishes that he
would have not have left a prayer because
it is the source of his gladness,
and it is the soul's delight.
And it is the heaven of the heart.
And it is his resting place in the
dunya, in this world
of life.
He says here because the prayer is the
the source of gladness and the and the
and the the agenda of the heart and
that, you know, that which brings him delight
and vigor
and and and and love and and and,
a rest from this dunya.
Musra'a hafi dunya. And this is his source
of rest in this dunya
because
he will not cease he will not cease
to be in,
jail
and tightness
until he leaves, until he enters in it.
When he enters the prayer outside of the
prayer,
he's in like he's in a jail.
And that's the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
said in the dunya sijanul mumin.
It is the jail. That this worldly life
is a jail for the believer
because it's full of desires and things that
will take you away.
It'll it's things that will distract you, and
the ultimate distraction is polytheism.
And that's why it is it is similar
to saying,
at least the most when you're in this
dunya,
there will be things that distract you, but
do not let
your knowledge of Allah
and the worship of Allah
distract you, or rather
do not let the knowledge of Allah
and the creed, the belief
of Allah from that knowledge
be distracted.
Basically, Tawhid.
Do not become polytheistic.
Whatever you do,
maintain that monotheistic
knowledge,
maintain that monotheistic
creed and belief and feelings with the lost.
Because you're going to be in a place
where there'll be there will be many distractions,
different types, colors, sizes, shapes, but make sure
that that distraction,
polytheism,
does not overpower you, does not influence you.
So
he finds a sense of ease in his
dunya,
with the prayer. That is his source of
rest,
and he says he he he will always
be in in tightness and unease,
ease,
and and constricted.
And then he says here,
He says so he finds
rest
in his prayer,
not from his prayer.
I'm going to repeat that.
He finds
ease in his prayer,
not from his prayer.
Where do you find your source of ease,
tranquility,
rest
from distractions?
That is what the prayer is supposed to
do,
and if it doesn't,
Satan
has some nisbah.
He has
some fraction
of your attention,
And I'm not gonna say fraction of your
obedience.
I'll say fraction of your attention
because once he gets your attention,
that can ultimately creep up and lead to
obedience.
It can also creep up and lead to
obedience.
And then in Hirahim says,
He says, so the ones that love Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, those who love God, they
say we pray and find rest in our
prayer just as their imam, their exemplar, their
prophet said, oh Bilal, relieve us in the
prayer. The prophet used to say that, yeah
Bilal arayni fa salaam. So listen to what
he said, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And this
hadith is in Abu Dawood and sahaywala alaihi.
To our source of ease
from all the troubles and distractions,
on this earth. And then he says,
He said, oh, Bilal,
relieve us with the prayer and do not
relieve us from it.
Do not relieve us from it.
He says here, the prophet used to say
or said,
my source of gladness
is in the prayer.
So whoever this has made for whoever,
this has been made,
gladness in the prayer
However, this has been made gladness in the
prayer, how can he find this gladness elsewhere?
And how can one be patient from it,
meaning from leaving it? This is a question
that Ibun Qayem is asking.
If the prophet, Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam, said this,
firstly, let's take it back to the basics.
We should follow the prophet, Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam,
to the best of our ability. So what
is the position of prayer in our hearts?
What should we aspire and attain for it
to be internally?
It should be something that we find a
sense of peace and ease and tranquility to
the degree that we resort to it.
Fafirruu
il Allah. Allah says, and rush to Allah.
We'll rush towards the actions that Allah has
given you to remember Him and to please
Him. From them, rushing to the prayer. Has
there ever been a time in your life
where you face stress,
you face troubles,
trials,
anxiety?
Has there ever been in a time where
you have resorted to praying?
You have run,
rushed to prayer.
You have thoughts. Are you rushing to the
prayer
to alleviate yourself from those thoughts?
While you're in the prayer, you're aware that
satan is coming. You say, oh, that's satan.
And you get back on track. You think
of how
Allah has manifested in this particular thought that
Satan tried to take you away from
take you away with, but you use it
against him. Use his own weapon against him.
Ibn al Qaim here is saying this is
the perception that we should have in the
prayer. Yeah Bilal Arashna Biha,
not Minha.
Oh Allah, oh Bilal, the prophet said, oh
Bilal,
Relax us, cause us to relax, relieve us
with the prayer
by calling the Alan.
And then the Prophet said that my source
of gladness
is in the prayer.
We just need to stop and ask ourselves,
what is our source of gladness? Do we
use the is the do we find relaxation
with it
or from it?
When we hear we have to pray, do
we find it as burdensome?
Know that that is from Satan, and whatever
you are finding it burdensome from,
that whatever that thing is. I don't care
if it's work,
playing video games,
cooking,
cleaning,
giving a lecture
on anything,
know that that can be a satanic influence
because prayer
is priority.
That verily the prayers, talking about the 5
prayers in particularly,
They have been given upon the
upon the believers
at prescribed
times. That it is upon
the upon the believers sowing that it is
obligatory.
And actions in Islam are levels.
So we don't say, okay. I'm giving a
lecture for the sake of Allah
This is good, and the prayer is good.
What's the problem? The prayer is at a
higher level and higher priority because it had
a it is at a specific
time.
Goes on here and he says, for
So he says, Rahim Allah Ta'ala, thus, those
who love god say,
the prayer to someone, Afun, he said the
prayer to someone who is present with his
heart and finds his source of gladness there
and ascends
with its light and its proof
until by it, the servant meets the most
merciful.
Allah. He says, to where the prayer will
say,
you have preserved me to where the prayer
will say, you watched over may Allah watch
over you as you watched over me.
It says here, as far as the prayer
of the careless man who ignores his rules,
limits, and proper humility is folded up like
a piece of cloth and thrown back in
his face.
His prayer says to him, may God cast
you away just as you have cast me
away.
For Salatul Maqboolah, walamalal Maqbool, a yusali yalalabdu
So he says here, god's acceptance of the
deeds entails that the servant
be recompensed with something good that god has
created. Or here he says, so so the
prayer that is accepted
by God is when it is offered in
a manner that befits him. God's acceptance,
Excuse me. So the prayer that is accepted
is the act and the actions that are
accepted is to pray
is when the servant prays the prayer that
is befitting to Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la.
So if for either I can, it's salatintaslihullirabi.
If the prayer is something that is befitting
and in in accordance to what Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala has legislated,
the prayer will be accepted. May Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala accept our prayers and may Allah
forgive us for any of our shortcomings
that which are secret and that which are
open. May Allah subha'ala allow any time that
we are faced from the trial of making
it making the prayer whoever we are that
we make it and may he within the
prayer keep us focused and devoted and our
hearts enriched and nourished with the prayer to
make us of those that find ease,
tranquility
in the prayer and outside of the prayer
because
of the prayer. Assalamu Alaikum.