Adnan Rajeh – Etiquettes of Salah 7
AI: Summary ©
The importance of maintaining lines and not standing in a gap is emphasized in the etiquette of Salah's hadiths. Representatives of their church stress the need for students to show weaknesses and finding the right balance between people and lines. The physical and mental aspects of standing are also discussed, including Taras and balancing personal health. The importance of acceptance and embracing the physical aspect of Islam is emphasized, along with the need for students to show their weaknesses in the face of others.
AI: Summary ©
Sit down, sit down.
Everyone's walking out, sit down.
So this is what I want to happen
from now on.
So when the after Salah, whether it's on
Monday or Thursday, you stay seated until the
khatrah is done.
Then you pray sunnah, and then if your
parents are here, they pick you up.
Otherwise, we find someone, I don't want people
walking out here, wandering around for half an
hour, and then outside and around the tent
and stuff.
It's not safe.
So stay here inshallah until we're done.
So wait, someone, if your parents is here,
they'll pick you up.
If not, sit and wait until the khatrah
is over and the sunnah is over as
well.
Now, what was I saying?
The theme is still the etiquettes of Salah.
And this is an important etiquette.
I'm going to narrate two hadiths for you.
And I think it's important to comprehend appropriately.
So when he said in this hadith, And
then the narration of Ahmad and Abu Dawood,
he said, So he said, indeed, you will,
and he emphasized it with every emphasis that
exists in the Arabic language almost, you are
going to straighten your lines.
We use straighten, but it's really not the
perfect translation.
I'm going to explain what it means in
a moment.
You're going to maintain your lines appropriately, or
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will put furqah,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will turn your
hearts against one another.
When he used that wording, meaning Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala will send you in separate
directions.
He will make sure that you get divided
amongst yourselves.
In another hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad, The
Prophet said, Why don't you stand in your
prayer, as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, as
the Malaika do, when they praise their Lord.
He asked, how does the Malaika do this
in the presence of their Lord?
He said, They maintain their saf, and they
do taras, they come close.
So if you go to study this concept
amongst the four schools of jurisprudence, All four
of them, Hanafiya, Malaikiya, Shafi'iya, and Ahnabiya,
They all emphasize the importance of the taswiya
of the saf.
And the taswiya of the saf means that
the first line is filled first, And it
means that the line is straight.
That we don't have one person standing in
front of another person, Or a person standing
behind another person in the same line.
And there are not gaps, there are no
gaps between people as they stand.
These are the three things that need to
happen in order for the line to be
appropriate.
The jumhur, meaning the majority of all four
schools, see it to be a heavy sunnah,
a heavy recommendation.
Only a small group of the Hanafiya and
a few others make it wajib, But the
majority see it as a high sunnah, which
is why I'm sharing it to you as
an etiquette within salah.
That we have to make sure that the
lines are straight, that the first line is
always full, For the ladies, it's always the
last line that should be full, And that
there are no gaps in the line, and
that people aren't standing in front of each
other.
Al-taras wa-saf, when we talk about
al-taras, and it's a word that you
find in the, There are over 20 hadith
that are authentic, by the way, on this
topic.
Over 20.
Over 20 authentic narrations, separate narrations, on this
concept specifically.
And it's not, look, it's not just the
physical aspect of it.
It is the emotional and figurative and symbolic
aspect of as-saf.
When you stand equally, when you stand closely
to people in salah, It is a declaration
of your brotherhood.
It is a declaration of equality.
It's the fact that you feel that you
are part of a group, So you are
willing to stand equally and closely to people
around you.
It's very meaningful.
It's very meaningful.
Which is why the Prophet, peace be upon
him, emphasized it.
However, He also told us, The best of
you are the ones who are, Their malakib,
their shoulders are liyin.
Meaning that they show ease in salah.
They're not pushing and shoving.
Al-taras does not mean that you have
to shove the person beside you.
Or step on their foot.
Right?
Or elbow them in the face.
Or make them uncomfortable so they can't stand.
This is not what taras means.
Taras means that you don't have a physical
gap between you and the person beside you.
Meaning as far as shoulders go, There's no
gap.
There's no space.
You're standing there.
The feet can and cannot touch.
And this is an issue of difference of
opinion amongst the schools of jurisprudence.
Amongst the schools of jurisprudence, They don't agree
whether the feet have to be touching.
And when they talk about taras, What they're
talking about is that, When I say, for
example, Shoulder to shoulder, ankle to ankle, I'm
talking about the line.
I'm talking about the equilibrium of the line.
I'm not talking that your ankle has to
shove the ankle of the person beside you.
That's not what I'm talking about.
I'm talking about that there should be equilibrium.
That we shouldn't have different distances between people.
And so one person in front and one
person behind.
And that the shoulders are also on the
same level.
This is what tasweeh at the soft and
taras at the soft means.
So you look.
You make sure there's no space.
The legs and the feet don't matter.
Every method is different.
The hanabilah, they look for basic contact between
the edges of the feet.
The hanabilah don't.
They stand and they don't open their feet
as their shoulders.
They keep it closer.
So this is an aspect of fiqh where
there's difference of opinion.
What they don't differ upon, Is that when
you stand, Your shoulder is in contact with
the shoulder of the person beside you.
There's no gap.
And when you look down, We're all standing
in the same line.
So the line is straight.
And there's no gaps.
And the first one is full.
Those are the three things that we look
for when we're praying.
So when you're coming in for this message,
for example, The first line, you start behind
the imam and go in both ways.
The lines after start at the end.
Start at the end and finish the line
this way.
Because there's only one entrance and it's to
the right of the message.
So if you start in the middle, Then
after a while the people will come in.
There's no way for them to get over
there.
And you have a full, you have three
or four lines.
So start at the...
If the message opens from behind, Then yes,
you would start in the middle and go
to the right and then go to the
left.
And make the balance.
But because the message opens from one side,
You have to start from the end.
Especially in the second line or third line.
You start over there.
The sisters start at the behind, at the
back line.
And then they build the line in front
and build the line in front.
And keep a small pathway at the side
of the wall.
The same thing the brothers do.
Keep a small pathway at the side of
the wall.
So people can get in and get out.
Aside from that, You have to look at
yourself in the line.
Every time you get up and every time
you go down, When you come up from
your Salah, from your Sujood, You stand up
and look down for a second.
Make sure that there's equilibrium.
Make sure that the line is straight.
Make sure your feet are...
Now the reason I say put your toes
here, Is because we tried...
We tried this.
When I first opened this place two and
a half years ago, three years ago, I
said, Okay, everyone put their heels on the
line.
And it was a complete mess.
The lines looked like a five-year-old
tried to draw a crocodile.
It was not good.
No one could do it.
So I said, All right, put your toes
up front.
It doesn't matter.
The idea is that you're taking a second,
You're looking down to see where are you
in the line.
Are you standing in front of your brothers
or behind them?
No.
Stand in the exact same line as your
brothers.
And look down.
Is there a gap between you and the
person beside you?
Is there space?
If there is space, Then close the space.
Don't step on their feet.
Don't shove and push.
This is not the point.
Some people think this is not the point.
Islamically, There's no one that tells you to
act in that manner.
So just keep that.
Understand what is being taught.
What's being taught is the first line being
full.
There are no gaps, No physical gaps between
the shoulders.
And the lines are straight.
And there's a symbolic meaning of this.
That we are willing to stand in line
equally.
Where we are taking care of our equality.
Like, We're taking a moment to make sure
that no one is ahead of anyone.
And no one is behind anyone.
And no one is standing in a way
where they don't want to be beside someone
else.
No.
We're going to stand equally as brothers.
Regardless of our age, Of our race, Of
our social status, Of our financial status, Of
our political status.
It doesn't matter where you come from.
We all, in Salah, Are equal the moment
we stand in the line.
So we have to take interest in that.
It's like the Prophet, alaihi salam, saying, Take
extra interest in this.
Make sure you focus on it because it's
important.
The symbolic importance for it is meaningful.
And the moment you stop caring about it,
And you stop standing in any way that
you want, That means you don't care about
your brotherhood anymore.
That means you don't care about your equality
amongst you.
That means you're not working to make sure
that the ummah is one, And that we
are together, And that Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala yukhalif bayna wujuhikuh.
And then the division will begin, And Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala will send you in
different directions.
So you're playing together but it doesn't mean
anything.
Because you're not taking care of the physical
aspect of it.
Everything in Islam, everything in Islam, Has a
physical and a spiritual aspect.
The physical is done in a way to
mirror the spiritual.
Everything.
Everything.
Absolutely everything.
So you can walk out tonight and think
of everything in Islam, Everything has both.
So when physically the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam tells you, Stand in a straight line,
With physical contact, What is he telling you
spiritually?
If physically he's telling you, I want the
line to be straight, I want you guys
to stand close to one another, What is
he telling you spiritually?
You don't need me to tell you, you
already know.
Figuratively you can come to the conclusion on
your own.
Spiritually he's saying we should be brothers, We
should be one, We should care for equality,
We should make sure no one gets an
advantage over anyone amongst us, And everyone is
treated equally.
So everything in Islam works that way.
So he teaches us the physical, So that
you may learn the spiritual.
Why you do wudu?
Physically you're cleaning, You're cleansing yourself, It's called
pahara.
So that's a spiritual, So that you're taking
care of the spirit as well.
That you are cleansing your spirit, That you
are actually removing all of the hasad, And
the riya, And the kibar, Everything in Islam
is like that.
There is no action in Islam, Where it's
just a bahir, no batin.
Or just a batin, no bahir.
Everything has both.
We focus on the physical, And then we
reflect on the spiritual.
So I'm explaining to you this physical tonight,
So that we have our lines nice and
simple.
It's very depressing, I come in, I purposefully
have an imam pray, And I pray behind
the scene, And it's very upsetting.
The lines are a mess.
They're a complete mess.
No one is fixing, No one is teaching
the kids to maybe stand appropriately, No one
cares.
And there are gaps, And there are openings,
And it's just, And the sisters, Allah yazeehumul
khair, I'm not going to, I'm not going
to, Mashallah alaikum.
They think, This is not appropriate.
The prophet alayhi salatu wasalam, Used to stand
up, And go around, He would take time,
Imagine how much time.
We make iqama, Everyone is in a hurry,
For the imam to do takbeer, To finish,
He would spend a couple of minutes, Putting
his hand on the shoulders, Making sure that
the shoulders were, At the same angle.
People were standing in a straight line, That
no one was getting themselves, A little bit
ahead, Or a little bit behind.
Someone is disgusted from the slave, They're standing
beside the slave, Or someone is disgusted, From
this person, Who comes from a background, Or
they smell, I grew up, Amongst farmers, They
would come in, Smelling like, Cow manure, They
would enter, And smell like cow manure, And
we had to stand there, Taking it all
in, Take it all in, This is your
people, These are your people, Whether you like
it or not, For better or for worse,
This is who you've got, You stand there,
And you're equal to them, And you feel,
And you embrace that, You embrace it, You
embrace it, For better or for worse, We
have to learn to do this, It's what
he said, And this is why, I think
this is an important etiquette, For salah, And
I'm emphasizing it to you, Because yeah, I
know we've been here, For around two and
a half years, So people are comfortable, Let's
learn to make our, Sufuf a little bit
more straight, In a way of etiquette, Again,
I'm talking about the etiquette, Of salah, So
if someone's going to teach this, By yelling
and screaming, And pushing and pointing, They didn't
like, It's the etiquette, It's an etiquette of
salah, So it's an issue of adab, We're
trying to do it, So that we have
adab in salah, So we're going to teach
it to others, Also with adab, So that
everyone inshallah, Values this equality, That Islam has
given us, In this beautiful brotherhood, That we
are able to enjoy,