Ahsan Hanif – Quran Tafseer – Page 95 – Rulings Regarding Prayers
AI: Summary ©
The importance of prayer in religion is discussed, as it is essential for avoiding liability and avoiding liability in battlefield settings. The sharia is also discussed, as it provides practical guidance and concessions. Prayer in the church is encouraged, but it is not allowed to be fainted. The importance of practicing Islam and not letting fear or hardship hold people back is emphasized.AI: Transcript ©
We begin or we are on page number
95 which is in Suratul Nisad, the 5th
jaws. In the previous
episode, we spoke spoke about a number of
verses in which allahu alaihi wa jal speaks
about the virtue and reward
and the status of those people who are
willing to sacrifice
for the sake of Allah azza wa jal
and strive in his path, they are willing
to give up their lives and their wealth
and everything that they hold precious for the
sake of Allah azza wa jal and
how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will reward them
with a great reward and how Allah azza
wa jal also rewards
those people who make any type of sacrifice
because from the sacrifices that Allah azza wa
jal honors are those people who migrate for
Allah's sake. So when we say someone that
makes Jihad, yes there is a Jihad which
is physical and it is regarding the battlefield,
but there are many levels of jihad and
from them are those people who migrate for
the sake of Allah. They go to a
land because they are unable to practice the
religion freely where they happen to be. And
so Allah places those people because that's also
a great sacrifice
and so Allah honors those people and Allah
speaks
about the potential sin of those people who
don't do so, they don't strive, they don't
migrate, they don't do it for the sake
of Allah azza wa Jal, they may be
in sin and as a result they may
be punished unless
they have valid excuses. Those men, women, children
who are unable to do so for a
valid legitimate excuse in the eyes of the
Sharia, Allah is merciful towards them.
So today we begin from verse 101
and these verses are also to do with
the issue of fighting in the path of
Allah
but one specific aspect concerning
this issue and that is the salah,
the prayer for those people who fight and
strive in the path of Allah azza wa
jal.
And this shows to us the importance of
Sa'ad. These verses will show to us the
status and importance of prayer in our religion.
Because if there was ever a situation,
ever a place, ever a time when you
would say that someone didn't have to pray
or they could delay the prayer or according
some of the scholars as we will see,
don't have to pray if they're meant in
congregation,
this would have been the the time and
the place when a person's on the battlefield
and it's a battle and they're fighting and
they're a soldier and it's in the middle
of a battlefield or just before the battle
begins. Surely, that's the time when you can
delay the prayer. Surely that would be the
time that if you could miss the prayer
that would be it. Surely that would be
the time where if you had certain things
that you know certain ways that you could
just delay the prayer to later or pray
the next day or pray when the whole
thing's over and finished, that would have been
the time and place. But you will see
from these verses how how great the status
of Salah is in our religion, that even
on the battlefield,
even the person in the midst of a
battle, if they are in the middle of
a battle, meaning that there are some times
on the battlefield where the battle is yet
to begin and people are in preparation mode.
And then there's times on the battlefield where
you're in the middle of the fighting. In
both of those cases as we will see,
the person has to pray. The Muslim has
to pray when it is the time for
salah.
Allah Azzawaj says in verse 101.
When you are travelling in the land, you
will not be blamed
for shorting your prayers if you fear the
disbelievers may harm you, they are your sworn
enemies.
Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la is saying that if
someone is travelling in the land,
so therefore that's one of the reasons
that a person can't shorten the prayers. We
know and we have established from the sunnah
of the Prophet
that travelling
is a valid excuse for shortening the prayer
and for combining the prayers as well and
those details again can be found in the
books of fiqh. But to shorten the prayers,
which is what is mentioned in this particular
verse, let us focus on that aspect. Allah
says that you can shorten the prayers if
you are travelling in the land. So if
you are on a travel, meaning you are
taking a journey that you consider to be
a journey,
that is something which allows you to shorten
the prayer and the journey and its limits
and so on. There's an issue again that
needs to go back to the books of
fiqh, but it's something which is dictated by
custom. So in your custom, depending upon the
country that you come from, if that's considered
to be a journey where you're taking, then
that is something where it is permissible for
you then to shorten the prayer. The second
reason is that as Allah mentions, in hifdom,
state of fear
and true and actual fear. If a person
is in a state of fear like for
example the soldier on the battlefield, it is
therefore permissible for them to also shorten the
prayer and this is from the rahmah of
Allah ajawjal in his mercy
that the shari'ah realises
that there are certain times and places
where it may be difficult for you to
complete the prayer. So for example, when you're
travelling, right, all of us know that if
you're on a in an airport, sometimes you
have limited time or maybe you're transiting between
one flight and another and so you may
have only an hour or so or half
an hour between the two flights. That time
is short or sometimes you have to pray
on the plane itself or on some mode
of transport as you journey.
And so for the salah to be shortened
makes things easier for the traveler and that
is from the mercy of Allah azza wa
Jal. And if that's the case for the
traveler
and the relatively limited amount of difficulty that
they face, they know that the person who
is in actual life state of fear because
they fear for their lives and their well-being,
that is something which is greater.
Allah says that these people there is no
harm upon them if they do so because
Allah
from his mercy knows the situation.
In the next verse, verse 102 Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala then goes on to speak about
what we call in the books of Fiqh
Suratul Khawf,
the prayer of fear meaning the prayer in
the state of fear.
Allah says, when you are with the believers
leading them in prayer,
let a group of them stand up in
prayer with you, taking their weapons with them,
and when they have finished their prostration, let
them take up their positions at the back.
Then let the other group who have not
yet prayed, pray with you. Also, when they
are guard and armed with their weapons,
the disbelievers would deely like you to be
heedless of your weapons and baggage in order
for them to take you in a single
assault.
You will not be blamed if you lay
aside your arms when you are overtaken by
heavy rain or illness, but be on your
guard. Indeed, Allah has prepared a humiliating punishment
for the disbelievers.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in this particular verse
now is speaking about what we call
and Salatul Khuf is the prayer that is
done in the state of fear for example
on the battlefield.
There are a number of ways in which
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
prayed during battle
and some of the scholars said that there
are 6 to 7 different ways and manners
in which the the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
prayed during various battles and they differ slightly
in one way or another
and that is something which is found throughout
the many relations in the books of Hadith
and also as we said before, the detail
of this can be found in the books
of fiqh. What Allah mentions in this verse
1012
is one of those descriptions, one of those
6 or 7 methods
of playing or those ways that a person
can play
in the state of fear.
And so Allah
speaks about one particular way. This particular way
that is being referred to here is something
which the prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam himself practicedly
applied during one of the battles as is
mentioned in the books of the sunnah.
And that is
the when when a person is praying on
a battlefield he is going to be in
1 of 2 cases
and they are praying obviously in congregation because
Allah is really saying
If you mean the Messenger of Allah salallahu
alaihi wa sallam are with the Muslims and
you are leading them in prayer, so they
are praying in congregation.
And that's why as I kind of alluded
to at the beginning of today's episode, some
of the scholars were of the position and
especially those scholars who hold the position that
the congregational prayers and obligations upon Muslim men,
that this is one of the evidences for
that. That even at this particular stage,
in more or less all cases,
except for 1 or 2, you still pray
in congregation.
You still pray in congregation.
The only time that you wouldn't be able
to pray in congregation is if you're in
the middle of the battle and you're fighting.
And obviously, as you're fighting, it's not possible
for the Muslims to just stop and take
a break and pause and to pray together
in congregation, in which case each person prays
individually as and when they can. However, otherwise,
they pray in congregation. So if they're praying
in congregation, there's one of 2 scenarios. Number
1 is that either the enemy is between
them and the Qibla. So if they face
the enemy, they also face the qibla because
the qibla is in that direction or the
other option is that the enemy is on
one direction and the qibla is in the
other direction. In which case, in order for
them to pray, they have to turn around
and face the qibla, therefore giving their backs
to their enemy.
Those are 2 different scenarios. The one that
Allah azza wa jal is referring to here
is the second of the 2, meaning that
the Qibla is in the opposite direction,
that to face the Qibla you must turn
away from the enemy. So Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala gives this description and the other ones
are mentioned in the sunnah, the other ways
of how to pray when the enemy is
in front of you and so on. Those
descriptions and those those those details are mentioned
in the books of the sunnah and in
the books of fiqh. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
says that if you are standing amongst them
leading them in surah,
so now the enemy is in front but
the qibla is behind. Allah 'Azza wa Jalal
said to the prophet peace
the qibla and pray with the group of
the believers so you split the army into
2 a group of them will face towards
the Qibla with you. They will pray with
you and the other group is doing what?
They're guarding you. Essentially, they're looking towards the
enemy.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam is saying
and take with you your weapons even though
weapons are cumbersome. Right? In the time of
the prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam would have been
spears, would have been bows and arrows, would
have been swords. They're cumbersome to pray with
and know that as you're praying with those
weapons, you're going to have to move and
and and take things away and and that
shows to us a very important point and
that is that if there is a need
in the salah for movement, it is permissible.
Generally speaking as we know, for khushr, when
you pray, you don't fidget, you don't move
unnecessarily,
you don't do anything that distracts you from
the salah to the best of your ability.
But Allah is saying that in this case,
there are different factors in play and one
of those factors is your safety, the fact
that you need to be alert and on
guard that someone may come and try to
attack you once they see you in salah.
And it was mentioned in some of the
narrations that the Quraysh said that we should
attack the muslims when they pray because as
soon as they start praying that's it. Like
as soon as you go into sajdah it's
done, right? You're not looking and that's when
we attack them. And that is why Allah
Azza wa Jal revealed these verses to show
the Muslims, no, there's a way that they
can pray in which they can offer the
salah
and fulfill their obligation to Allah Azzawajal but
also in a practical way that allows for
them to be on guard and to defend
themselves as well and to be wary of
any attack.
And so therefore Allah says,
Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala says, let them take
with them their weapons. So if someone is
praying and they need to move for a
valid reason in the salah, even outside of
this context, it is permissible.
It is allowed for you to do so.
Like for example, the mother who is praying
and a child comes and he falls down
and he's crying and she needs to pick
him up. If that's a necessity and a
need and she needs to do that in
order to protect him or to stop him
from being injured, it is permissible for her
to do so. For example, that's an example.
Allah says,
So when you prostrate for the first rakah,
those companions who are praying with the Imam,
in this case the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam, they go into sajda.
The 2nd group of Muslims are on guard.
They are watching and waiting.
So one rakah has now been done of
this group.
Allah says
then let the other group now come and
switch places. How do they switch places? The
prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam or the imam
stands for the 2nd rakah and he makes
it really long.
Really long to the extent now that those
people who are praying with him, the first
group, they pray the 2nd rakah individually.
They are no longer following the imam. They
prayed 1 rakah with the imam, the second
one everyone, as you would do if you
came to the masjid late and the imams
finished the prayer and you have 1 rakah
left. You get up, everyone does their own
thing and finishes their own salah according to
their own speed. That's essentially what they're doing
here. They played one rakar with the imam,
the second one they need to finish. Not
only do they need to finish, they now
need to go and switch places with the
second group. So the second group will now
come and they will also pray one rakah
with the prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam. So
this is the salah and this is like,
you know, a a a a, one of
those things that I mentioned in the books
of fiqh as a riddle if you like.
But which is the salah because we know
that the general sunnah is that the Prophet
salallahu alaihi wasallam would lengthen the first rakah
and the second rakah would be shorter. That's
the general sunnah in salah. Which is the
salah where it's not the case, where the
opposite takes place, where actually the second rakah
is actually longer than the first rakah and
the correct answer to that would be salatul
khaw. So here the prophet
is being told wait. So you can imagine
the time that it takes for those people
to finish their own salah as they got
to read an extra rakah and make the
shaykh would make the scream, then they got
to switch with the other group, then the
second group has to come and start the
salah and read their own fatiha and everything.
So the prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam is
waiting or the imam is waiting for that
length.
He now prays his second rakah but this
group's first rakah with them
and then he will go after his second
rakah, sit for the shehud because it's only
2 rakah prayer, the shortening of prayer, remember,
he's sitting in the shehud
and the companions
who are all the the the second group
of the army, the second group that has
now come to pray, they are going to
stand up and finish their own salah, meaning
they are going to read an extra rakat
just as they did, just as the first
group did. However,
they will meet the imam again in tisim
so he will prolong
the shehud.
So the imam prolongs the shehud so that
they can play the second rakka by themselves,
come back down, sit in the shayhood and
make the shayhood and then they make salams
together. Essentially is what Allah is saying and
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says to the second
group, take also you,
your, be on guard and take your baggage
with you and your weapons and so on.
And that is obviously because if something did
happen, you don't have the time then to
go around looking for where you left your
weapons, where you left your armor and so
on. Keep it with you. For indeed Allah
says because those disbelievers would love that they
should be able to assault you whilst you
are heedless of this. And as we said,
it is mentioned in some of the narrations
that the Quraysh said this, that way for
the Muslims to pray that's when we attack
because they're going to go into ruku, they're
going to go into sajda and when they
go into sajda that's when we go and
attack them and so Allah is already saying
they would love to do that, so you
be on guard. And if there is rain
or some of you are sick or you're
not able to necessarily hold your weapons close
to you and so on, there's a valid
reason,
then it is okay for you to leave
the weapons somewhere but just be on guard.
Meaning, keep them close by that if something
happened, you would be quickly able to go
and deal with this issue.
So this verse speaks about this important ruling
that the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam as
we said enacted in his life sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam a number of times on a
number of battles as is mentioned in the
various books of the Sunnah and is mentioned
in detail in the various books of fiqh
and so this shows to us the beauty
of our religion number 1 that Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala has given to us such a
comprehensive religion that in every single situation,
scenario, circumstance, every time and place, we know
what it is that Allah is original wants
from us because otherwise it would have been
level of chaos people go to the battlefield
some people want to pray together some people
separately some people don't want to pray at
all How do we pray? How do we
make sure that we're on guard? What if
what if the Qibla is different? And so
there's so many different possibilities that could have
arisen
from the rahmah of Allah azza wa jal
that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala revealed verses that
show the exact manner of prayer and then
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam showed us
other methods of prayer. For example, if the
enemy happens to be in the direction of
the Qibla. So you're facing the Qibla and
the enemy is there as well. So now
you don't, you know, no one's got their
back towards the enemy but there is a
different way of praying there because again, not
everyone can go into such that because again,
it causes the same level of danger and
and and possibility for attack and so there
is a certain method that is applied in
that particular scenario as well. And that is
beautiful and that is why it is so
beautiful to study the books of hadith, the
books of tafsir, the books of fiqh because
you see from it the beauty of the
religion. You see from it the beauty of
Allah subhanahu ta'ala sharia.
From the benefits of this verse, as we
said, is the importance of salah,
The importance of Salah and how people sometimes
are lazy,
lazy
or sometimes completely heedless of Salah that they
will miss their Salah or delay their Salah
or sometimes not pray except maybe on Fridays
or in Ramadan or just on the odd
Eid or something. And that shows to you
how
dangerous that their position is and how important
the salah is that it is such an
important act of worship because as Allah azza
wa Jal will say elsewhere,
as as we mentioned before actually in Surat
Al Baqarah
that if you are in a state of
fear, meaning you can't play in congregation, you're
in the middle of the battlefield, then pray
as you ride or as you walk. So
even if it means that you're walking and
all you can do is move your head
as you would do, for example, if you
were lying down or praying in that manner
where you have to pray just to the
best of your ability, that's what you do.
But you don't miss the salah and you
don't delay the salah
And so that's something which we benefit from
this particular verse and also from the benefits
of this verse is how Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala
gives people
concessions and makes things easy for people and
how Islam from the benefits of this verse
is how Islam is a practical religion that
the soldier who is praying with his weapons,
with his baggage, with his armor, whatever it
may be, those people are going to have
to pray to the best of their ability.
They won't be as
as loose and as easy in terms of
their prayer as me and you would be
if we're just praying at home or praying
in the masjid. And so the sharia takes
that into account and Allah is saying, no,
do it. Take your weapons with
you. So someone could say but surely the
salah is more important than no but Islam
is a practical religion and so in this
particular case you need to be practical. You
need to understand
there are practical
rulings in play. And that's why sometimes, for
example, if you're on a plane and someone
insists on praying and praying outside in the
emergency exits and the people, the the flight
attendants are saying you can't pray here. It's
dangerous. It's a hazard and they're insisting no,
I have to pray. No. Islam is a
practical religion and so there are certain times
when you have to make certain concessions and
the sharia knows this. And that is the
rahmah of Allah a zawajal in his mercy
because you have to be practical and sensible
and you have to understand the situation and
the circumstances that you are also in and
Allah azza wa Jal knows best.
In verse 103 Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then
goes on to say
Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala says that after performing
the Salah,
continue to remember Allah standing, sitting and lying
on your side. And once you are safe,
then keep up the regular prayer,
indeed the prayers obligatory for the believers
at prescribed times.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying that these
people who are in the battlefield or in
the state of fear
and they are in the state of fear
and they're praying, Allah azza wa jal is
saying that after you have finished your salah,
so again it shows the importance of salah,
then remember Allah In whatever situation
and circumstance you're in, whether you happen to
be standing or running or sitting or hiding
or lying down, whatever situation you are in
remember Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that is
because in times of fear and times of
difficulty
one of the means of salvation and the
means of success and one of the ways
that you will ensure Allah's aid and help
and assistance subhanahu wa ta'ala is by busying
yourself in the remembrance of Allah Azza wa
Jal by busying yourself
in making tasbih,
tahmid, takbeer, tahleel by saying subhanAllah, alhamdulillah,
upon the prophet
all of these different,
ma'am,
different ways of making a car. All of
them are something which help you to overcome
difficulty. And that shows to us that when
you're in situations, even if it's not a
situation of fear, but if you're in a
situation of difficulty, of hardship, some calamities befallen
you, some hardship has come to you, one
of the things that will give
you contentment
and peace and ease
and how and also a great means of
reward is by busying yourself with the dhikr
of Allah Azza wa Jal. And Allah tells
us here that you can remember Allah in
any situation.
For his
servants.
'But
if you have safety once again, so now
this person has finished the battle, they are
out of the situation of fear. For aqeemu
salaad then fulfill the prayer as you are
meant to. So these are,
these are exceptions to the rule. They are
concessions
and this verse shows as a general ruling
therefore that concessions are only applied
to those circumstances.
So a person can't say, yes, I was
in fear yesterday, but I'm going to continue
for the rest of the week because I'm
still, you know, in that kind of situation.
No. They are limited to those particular circumstances.
So if a person is sick, they have
concessions. But as soon as they're well enough,
they have to go back to the normal
ruling. A person is travelling, they have concessions.
But as soon as they come back home
and they are resident, those rulings change, go
back to their default rulings and so Allah
is saying,
so when you are safe once again for
aqeem salah
then perform the prayer and establish it as
you would normally.
For indeed
the Salah is obligatory for the believers at
prescribed times.
And that's because one of the things that
you can do in those situations of travelling
and so on is that you can combine
between the prayers. So you can combine between
Duhr and Asr and you can combine between
maghrib and isha, either at the earlier time
of those two prayers or at the later
time of either of those two prayers. And
so therefore Allah azza wa Jal is saying
that when you come back home and you're
safe again, you're resident again, things are back
to normal again, then every prayer has its
prescribed time.
And this also shows therefore that is why
Allah says
and gives us this manner of praying in
states of fear, salatul khawf, because those people
on the battlefield can't delay the prayer. If
it's time now for Duhu al Asr, they
can't say you know what, we're actually going
to pray later on in the evening after
Isha or midnight or tomorrow where things are
better and then we'll pray. No.
Time of prayer is when the time of
prayer is. Fajr has to be prayed at
Fajr time
time, time,
or if you're going to combine, then the
concession that is available of combining between and
combining between and Isha. But otherwise, every prayer
has its time. And so this thing where
people delay the prayer
after its time, that's not correct and it's
not allowed. If it happens on the odd
occasion
because of some
circumstances beyond your control, that's different.
But as for it being the norm, which
often people do, make it the norm and
make it the case that it's just always
the case that they're going to play after
the time finishes, that's something which isn't allowed
in the Sharia.
Or another thing which is nearly as dangerous
and nearly as harmful is delaying it towards
the very end. So people wait, wait, wait
and then there's like 10 minutes left now
for the for Dhuhr to finish or Asr
to finish and now we're just going to
get up and pray. And the prophet said,
salallahu alaihi wasallam, that is the prayer of
the hypocrites
That they wait until there's hardly any time
left and then they're up and up and
down because they need to get their prayer
in within the few couple of minutes that
they've got left before the time of the
prayer elapses.
And so therefore the Muslim is someone who
is conscious when it comes to these issues
of their prayer and their worship of Allah
azza wa Jal.
In the final verse that we are going
to take today verse 104
Allah says
Do not be faint hearted in pursuing the
enemy. If you are suffering hardship, so are
they. But you hope to receive something from
Allah for which they cannot hope. Indeed Allah
is all knowing and wise. Allah is already
saying to those people who are fighting with
the prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and fighting in
the way of Allah
that they shouldn't be faint hearted because no
doubt fighting battlefield is
extremely taxing and difficult
emotionally, physically,
mentally. And so the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam
and his companions are being told don't be
faint hearted because just as you are going
through hardships they also are going through hardships
everyone's experiencing the same but the difference is
that the believers know about the reward of
Allah azza wa jal that he has promised
for them and that's not something that anyone
has except for the believers only the believers
have that hope that certainty that trust in
Allah azza wa Jal and so Allah azza
wa Jal is saying that you have something
over everyone else and that is the promises
that Allah azza wa Jal has given to
you over and above others and indeed Allah
is all knowing all wise and with that
we come to the end of today's
tafsir.
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