Ali Hammuda – Enjoy Your Prayer #11 You’re Now About to Start The Prayer
AI: Summary ©
The importance of staying in a spiritual state is discussed, including drinking wine and taking light snack. The speaker emphasizes the need to be mindful of one's actions and beliefs while avoiding harms. The Prophet sallavi alayhi wa sallam uses his hands to raise his arms during the holy month, and the importance of surrendering to God is emphasized. The segment concludes with a recitation of the holy month's introductory act and a tour of the garden.
AI: Summary ©
We have now finished our discussion on that.
Now we're about
to begin the salah. All of what you heard was a preparation for this moment, when you raise your hands and you say Allahu Akbar, and you enter into this sacred space
that is only shared between yourself and your Lord, gender chillagoe. Here, I say to you, my brother, my sister,
change your perspective about Saina.
The last couple of messages I shared with you before you begin your Salah here and as you stand and the econo has been delivered, and you're about to raise your hands, create a shift in the mindset and see how this will help you with who you are.
Don't come to Salah for the purpose of ticking another one of the boxes of Islam obligations.
The same way you take your car to the garage to get an MOT test. This is something that I've got to do to be legal on the road. And similarly, I've got to go to the masjid and pray in order to be illegal Muslim in the eyes of the Sharia. Don't do that.
Come to Salah. And it's sad that we have to use these analogies. But as if you are approaching a restaurant, the language of food is a universal language which we all understand and enjoy. As if you come into a restaurant. Have you seen a person who comes to a restaurant with the intention of surviving?
You say yeah, I'm going to steakhouse or I'm going to supply or one of these shops on city road. How come brother to survive to live?
Well, if you're fearing for your life, you're gonna get a meal deal from Tesco, three pound.
Why are you going to a restaurant to survive not the reason why we go to restaurants is to enjoy the experience of food. Come to the Salah with the same mentality.
So that's why people in restaurants are very particular about the way they eat and what they eat and who they eat and what pellets they eat. Because it's an experience that they want to relish and enjoy. Right. So they're very careful about the stocks as they choose and the main course that they call for and then the desserts are very specific about it in the way they arrange their their forks and their spoon some eat with chopsticks, some eat with their hands. Everyone has a preference that suits their appetite.
And then your salt and your pepper and you mix the condiments in different ways. Why? Because it's an experience that you relish.
Likewise come to Sona
with the idea that this is my enjoyment. This is not just my obligation. It is. And this is not just my fella, my success. It is that of course. But this is also my Sakina This is my peace. This is my happiness is my joy. I'm coming to enjoy every moment of the Sudan, as I stand before Allah, my beloved.
And each community Each nation has its way how they defuse stress, how they manage their problems in life and how they relax. So if you go to Finland, for example, they they jump into soreness, that's their idea of decompressing relaxing.
If you go up north towards Sweden, they've got this therapy technique called
floatation
and the idea of flotation are just tubs of warm saltwater that they fill you sit inside of it and it's sealed completely from any outside light or sound. That's their idea of decompress, decompressing, finding peace.
If you go to Thailand, you've got your traditional trademark, Thai massage other people in Japan for example, they will, they will sit in Hot Springs. That's their idea of peace. If you go towards
France, their idea of a relaxation is to drink a cup of wine after work and have a light snack that gives them the peace.
We are a different breed of creations that are heightened To be honest, and our peace, our comfort, no problem with the hot bath and no problem with the sauna.
But our peace is found in something that transcends all of this, that rises above it. That's Institute your frustration to Allah to stand before him to complain to him and weep to him to find that joy and that happiness, a heart that is inflamed with hope and fear and love. That's where our joy is.
And that's why the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he would say yeah, be lined up in Saudi Arabia, ob la go and make the other end for the prayer.
Give us peace through the Sunnah. Give us comfort through the center, and he would say what do I need to I need to sign out the comfort of my eye has been placed in Salah. He said from dunya two things that I enjoy two things that Allah has made me love, perfume and women. He said however, the enjoyment of my art the coolness of my art the
greatest of them all that pleasure is found in Salah.
So come to Salah with that experience.
But of course all of this is predicated on what on Huzoor
because Asana with who sure is like efficient water, he doesn't want to leave and Salah without who she was like a bird in a cage it is desperate to leave and finish those.
So, the first thing I say to you here before you begin your Salah shift the perspective and everything we have said so far is a preparation for what we are about to discuss. Now, the grand opening of Salah is about to start and this is to Kabira to the Haram The moment you say Allah Who occurred on you enter that space with your Lord. So let us speak about that.
At that meal, the salah it begins with a clear
that we are meaning to say Allahu Akbar.
And you will find that this statement of Allahu Akbar features a lot in our Islamic worship. Whether it is entry into salah, or moving from position to position inside out, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. Whether it is when you are throwing the pebbles on hedge, you're saying Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar. Whether it is the tech Kabir after Adel feta or during April 5, after the aid of Ramadan, you are saying Allahu Akbar.
And after they are eaten up, however, during a doula you are saying Allahu Akbar. So technically it features a lot.
You begin your prayer, by singing Allahu Akbar.
So beware of beginning your Salah with a lie.
You have just told Allah subhanaw taala that you are the greatest in my heart.
And as one of our Egyptian brothers, may Allah subhanaw taala, bless him and increase him in couture. Once he began his salah, and the moment he said, Allahu Akbar, he started to cry broke down into heavy crying. And the brothers they said to him, how come What happened to you, okay? He said, I just, I'm just afraid of beginning my salah with a lie.
The brothers who said to him, what do you what do you mean? He said, I've just told Allah He is the greatest. And I fear that there is something in my heart that I deem greater than Elijah and there gelato, WA Akbar,
I say Allahu Akbar, meaning my heart has to stay where it is thinking about my note to the best of my ability. He's greater than my trade and greater than my business. He's greater than the tyrants and the sole pawns and the governments of the world, any injustice, any harm Allah is greater than it all. So beware of beginning your Salah with a lie, you say Allahu Akbar. And you begin your sunnah. Now,
the fact that you have started your Salah,
realize that there are several messages, and realizations that you need to note in your mind, I'm going to share with you four. In other words, the moment you say Allahu Akbar, several things have changed. The first of them take note of this.
You have now just entered into a sacred space with Allahu Allah Jalla Allahu, which means that all of a sudden, by using Allahu Akbar, there is a host of things that used to be permissible for you. Now they aren't completely haram.
The rules have just changed the moment you said Allahu Akbar, everything has changed.
Before you said Allahu Akbar, it was completely permissible for you to eat, to drink, to laugh, to talk, to use the bathroom, right? It was fine to do all of that. All of a sudden, there is a very strict prohibition on all of those things. You stand, you don't move, you drop your head, you stay still. And you try your best to position your heart on your Lord Subhanallah something has changed. The outcome now have altered the rulings have changed.
And that is why the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam who said about salah, he said miftah for Salah to hold the key to the prayer is the will do the washing. Listen, what a hurry, Mohammed Kabir and what makes things Haram is the tech to be or Allahu Akbar, that's what brings you into salah. He said what a Helene who had the stream and what makes things permissible again, what brings you out of Salah is taslim to say Salaam Alaikum salam.
So he said to Hareem who had technique,
what makes
the space sacred and what makes things that were permissible now Haram is your statement of Allahu Akbar, everything has changed. That's the first thing to realize. You said Allahu Akbar. The rules that govern your life have now altered.
Clearly something has happened.
The second thing to realize is that the more
moment you say Allahu Akbar.
All of the sins that you have committed, are brought together and they are placed on your head and on your shoulders a Jeep for what purpose?
A Pomeranian or it's an alibi hottie and others on the authority of
Abdullah Abdullah bass, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he said in their life there is karma you will suddenly when a person stands up to pray, or to be though no be equally, all of his sins are gathered together. For all the Isla ROTC he walked up and they are placed on his head, on his shoulders. How come kendama surgery raka Sakata and who and every time he bows and prostrates those sins they fall off?
Did you know this?
So Allah has been very kind to you and I
there was an opportunity at least five times a day for those sins to come rolling off your body as you have Allah prostrate.
So foolish is the one of us foolish is he who chooses to pick up those sins and reintroduce them into his life after Allah Almighty has removed them. Idea of Salah is transformation.
This is the second thing to realize we second we said the first thing was what? What was the first thing we mentioned?
That we Allahu Akbar. I'll tell you what happens when you enter salah.
The rulings have changed.
Second, secondly, we said all of your sins are falling off your shoulder on your on your head as you bow and prostrate. The third thing, realize that the moment you say Allahu Akbar, Allahu Allah, Julianne, who
positions His majestic face in the direction of yours, in a manner that befits his majesty and glory Subhanallah think about that.
I'll hire you to the shahada human rights that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said for either so later on fella tell you to when you pray he said don't look around.
Don't look around when he's when you pray. Why do you set for in the La Jolla and sleeper why'd you Who will you watch he had to he feels like it because Allah establishes His divine face towards the face of his slave when he is praying
alloggi Majan
those of us who are recording in studios for whatever purpose May Allah forgive us if we are making mistakes.
They know very well. That the moment the producer or the cameraman says you will live
there was a different sense of feet there's a different aura in the room. It's nervousness is trepidation want your life now.
Whenever you see that red button now flashing, right, your heart your palms begin to sweat and your your voice begins to quiver and your your your throat goes dry. How come what's changed, there's no one else in the room. It's just you and the cameraman not nothing's changed.
What's changed is that you now know there was an audience watching you.
That's what's changed.
So Allah is always watching. But the moment you say Allahu Akbar, he positions His majestic face in the direction of yours.
Imagine that. So how then could I allow myself to look left and right? And the moment we do that Allah Almighty changes that situation.
Never allow yourself to look at something believing that it can be greater than the face of Allah that has been positioned towards your Subhan Allah Subhana Allah. That's number three. Number four, the moment you say Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah, my brother, my sister, you will have made such an effort to find the Qibla you've positioned your body in the direction of the tabler direction for Salah ensure that your heart is facing the same way.
Doesn't make sense does it? That you make such an effort with your phone with your Apps, Google the big companies trying to find where MCE is and you're calibrating your phone and figure of eight motion. You've seen people do that right? That's what we do. And then you try this wait no, this way, this way. And then you agree which way the Salah is. And then you position your body for Salah. And then you say Allahu Akbar and then your your heart goes north.
Your heart turns east. How?
What's more important, the positioning of the body for the Imola condition of Salah undoubtedly, and the heart. And if Allah subhanho wa Taala will move his face in a different direction of a person when he moves his face away from the salah. What then about when this person moves his heart away from the center?
Look, I know it's difficult. Let's be real here. I'm not gonna sit here and pretend that I have somebody who's mastered this art. No, it's a work in progress. There are so many things out there that are competing for our attention.
And in the 21st century is very difficult to be folk
Just let's be honest, whether it's the
rise in the cost of living, or whether it is the Islamophobic industry or whether it is financial burden or issues with family or struggles at work or health issues or depression or anxiety or fear of an enemy, whether it's social media that has absolutely shredded our ability to focus to absolute beds, social media that has fragmented our minds, and destroyed our strength, to focus on one task, whatever it may be, keeping your mind and your heart and soul in check during Salah is difficult.
But nevertheless, we have to work around it
and work to the ideal of who you are. And one of the ways of doing this.
were captured or was captured in the words of Hatem will Assam one of our pious predecessors from Belk
who died in the year 194. After the Hegira. How do you want to ask him he said when I begin my salah,
they asked him, How do you focus tell us about your shoe. And he said to them, when I begin my sauna, I imagine that the character is in front of me.
And I imagine that death is waiting for me behind me.
And I imagine that the Sirat the bridge that will be established over * is beneath me.
And I picked your paradise to my right, and I imagine Jahannam Oblivion to my left. And I know that Allah Jalla Jalla Allah who is above me watching me,
he says, and I tried to perfect my mounting and frustration. And then after that I leave my salah, not knowing whether Allah has accepted or rejected.
So these are four points to bear in mind, the moment you say Allahu Akbar, things have changed, you've entered into a different space, the rules have changed. Number two, your sins begin to fall off your head on your shoulder every time you bow and prostrate, don't collect those sins after salah.
Number three, Allah subhanaw taala establishes His divine face towards yours. And number four, we said the same way you focus your body towards the table or ensure that your heart is in the same direction.
You now say Allah Akbar.
And what you do here is that you raise your hands
and hear what the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would do is that he would raise his hands, opening up his fingers away from one another, not in an exaggerated way. But he wouldn't keep his fingers together, there would be a slight gap between them. And he would raise them parallel to his ear lobes at times, or his shoulders at times. These are two examples of what he did when he raised his hands. And he would say Allahu Akbar, either he would say Allahu Akbar before the motion, so he would say or he would go, Allahu Akbar, and then he would engage in the motion.
Or he would do it simultaneously with the motion. This is another way of doing it. Allah hu Akbar
or the taxpayer will come after the motion so you will go like this, then you will say Allahu Akbar. Change it around. These are all sunnah authentic ways of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So move it around, change it about an apply a variety of Sunon in your asana, just to keep it interesting to ensure that your heart is still engaged and to revive different acts of sunnah in your asana.
He would raise his hands to his earlobes. And then after that, I mean, what is the wisdom behind this? What is the wisdom behind this particular movement?
It's a form of what surrendering is Islam, which is the core of our religion, Islam. They say Islam means peace, okay, Islam can bring you peace. But at the core of the word Islam is Islam it is to surrender towards Allah surrendered to Him. And this idea of raising your hands as a symbol of surrendering is a universal, universally understood action to denote surrendering. Rather, it's an armed robber who's threatening victims to surrender and he raises his hands whether it's the policeman saying to the armed robber, surrender and he raises his hands is understood cross culturally and across time.
So you raise your hands as if to say I have surrendered to Elijah Lagenaria there's no egos here. There's no arrogance here. There's no kings, there's no businessmen there's no social media influencer followers money, none of that matters now surrender to Allah De La Jolla.
And also,
the back of the hand is something that you use usually to dismiss something that is insignificant. You swat away a fly like this.
I give you an opportunity. What do you think of it? You say nah, doesn't sound good. However, when there was something valuable you use the palms of your hands, the bottom part of your hand. So if I say to you
Hamdulillah I have a newborn son, carry him, you go like this. You don't want to drop him. Because if you drop them, you know that dad's gonna drop you. Right?
Right. So you do this. But if there's something you're not interested you go now.
So when you say Allahu Akbar, it's as if you are saying that this dunya with everything within it, its temptations and its money and its careers and its ambitions. All of it is behind my back. Now Annie shake doesn't mean anything. Allahu Akbar, he's above it. Allahu Akbar. It's behind my back.
Then,
then after that,
what would the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam do? He would place his right hand over his left hand,
Allahu Akbar.
And either he would place his hand Yamaha upon, hit the back of his left hand or he will grab the wrist of the left arm, and there are other ways as well and then he would place them both somewhere on his torso alley, he started to slam the details of this can be found in the books.
He will place his right hand over his left hand, how come?
Because the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said in Maharashtra NBR E. O nila na de Terre de Lille Iftari Wahby that key it is so holy what another email via email Nina Isla Shana enough your Salah, he's said we the prophets, were commanded by Allah Subhana Allah it seems to be an instruction to not just our Prophet and us, but all of the prophets throughout the ages. This was how their Salah was in terms of the hand positioning, he said we the prophets.
We were commanded by Allah
to hasten with the Iftar meaning to quickly break our fast not to delay it, when we finish fasting in Ramadan, to quickly break our fast number one, number two, to delay the pre Dawn meal, the support to delay it as close to failure as possible. And number three, he said and we were instructed to place our right hands over our left hand inside out SubhanAllah.
And with this, the salah has begun, Allahu Akbar.
And the moment he does this alayhi salatu salam, what would be his next priority, it would be to drop his head to the ground
to stare at the ground beneath him.
And that is the stance on the position of a humble slave before his master and he looks at the ground.
This is the behavior of the created when standing before the Creator, Imam Muhammad was asked why is it that we are to place our right hands over our left hands and to stand like this. And the Imam Muhammad he said dualtone beignet. Azeez.
Here is a humbled stands before a mighty load.
It is a humble stands before a mighty Lord, if you were to enter a particular room, and you see a group of men standing like this, having placed the right hands over their left hands and arching their backs perhaps and looking towards the ground. And there is one man standing in the middle who perhaps has his hands to his sides. And his head is up high. You know, just from looking at them what's what and who's who.
You know, who is the big boss, right? The top gee, you know who the king is there and you know who the Pope or is straightaway you know that King from the seven just from looking at them. So the moment you put your right hand over your left hand and you drop your head to the ground and you stay where you are humbling yourself before Elijah legit. That is the appropriate
position. And he
of the mortal when he stands before the immortal one, Elijah
Khan and the bui Isha she said, God and maybe us Allah Allahu alayhi wa sallam either a Salah when the Prophet would pray, she said up Baratza who he would drop his head.
What are my boss, I really never went out and he would fixate his glands on the ground. He would keep it here. Humble.
And that is why I am he says that the idea of lowering the gaze is one of the signs of love.
In his book, I mean, he speaks about the mouth and the showerhead the signs and indications of love. And one of them he says Birmingham, whoo. And another movie he was from New Haven Luffy. He's one of the signs of true love is that when you know that the beloved is looking at you, you lower your gaze, because of fear. He says because of glorification and humbleness and shyness before the object of love. One of the signs of love is that when you are being looked at by the one you will love the one you love.
You can't help but lower your gaze to the ground.
And that's why our prophets Allah, Allah, Allah who has said that when he was taken to the heavens, how did Allah praise Him? Allah praised his gaze. He said mazahub nassarawa Murtaza, that his his vision did not transgress it didn't wonder, even his eyes. Allah praised him for that, when he was taken to see the kingdoms of the heavens, and to meet the prophets, and taking beyond that, to meet Allah, and to speak with him to hear his divine voice. Allah said Mazagon Bazar, Juan Mata, his glands did not wander off, nor did it transgress any limits, humble before his Lord.
And I would have known us he was unable to look at the face of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
He found it too tough companions a hobby.
And he was an arch enemy of the religion. He hated the Prophet alayhi salatu salam, but Alhamdulillah later on in life, Allah guided him to the religion and when he was dying, after years of service to Islam, when he was dying, what did he say?
He said, Makanda Raja Luna had the lamb Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
while our agenda behind him and who he said, I swear there was no human being who I loved more than the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and there was no human being who was more sublime in my eyes than him. He said, one come to otoko
I mean, who he learned and know who and I was never able to
pluck the courage to catch a full glimpse or full glimpse of his face because of the honor that I had for him. He said, and if you were to ask me now to give you an accurate description of how he looked, I would be unable to do it because I was unable to fill my eyes from his sublime face.
Yeah, so this is a sign of love. So you stand before Allah, Allah, Allah, Janelle who and you know what you're against, you're humble. And you put your right hand over your left, and you fix your eyes onto the ground.
I feel that some of us are a little bit restless. So there were a few other things I wanted to mention. But I think we will stop here in sha Allah Allah so as to not make it overburdening.
We're going to speak about some of the introductory dua that we say when we begin our Salah Subhan Allah Allah humma with your handshake with a bottle of smoke with a halogen to cola in the hydro and a few others as well.
And then we will look into the STR either all the bIllahi min ash shaytani R Rajim and divestment at Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim and then we will take a tour around the fragrant gardens of sweltering fatty high as well since we recite it several times a day.
But all of this will be inshallah in the weeks to come because all along and of you know Mohammed Al Hamdulillah