Hamza Yusuf – Vision Of Islam CD2 #06

			spinarak mama Rahim
		

			Allah Allah Allah say the Mohammed Juana and he will find you send them to SEMA. What a half an hour
apart a nebula honey and alim
		

			Alhamdulillah. The second pillar after the Shahada is called prayer Salah. And again there are
different types of prayer. It's interesting that in the Quran and this is brought out here is that
the thing that is commanded more than any other human activity in the Quran is prayer, Salah prayer,
and also the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that Assad emerged to deem that the prayer is
the Imad of this religion. It is the central pole or pillar that holds the tent up. And the
traditional Bedouin tents had four pegs on each side, and then they had a central peg. So the idea
here is that the four other pillars the Shahada, Zakat, fasting, and Hajj, are these other pillars,
		

			but the prayer is really what's giving this tent, it's real reality. So prayer is at the essence and
the province I sent him said a doula, which is another word for prayer. supplication, do our Mohali
Bader. Prayer is the bone marrow of worship. And it's really interesting from a physiological point
of view, to describe it as the bone marrow because what the bone marrow is one, it's the core and
that's what it means the Arab say, Mo Shea, the core of something, but the bone marrow is really
what gives birth to the blood, it generates blood, it also generates the defense system or the
immune system, and the prophet in another Hadees said, A do as sila.
		

			Prayer is the weapon of the believer.
		

			So the idea that prayer is like the immune system of the body. And that's why the Quran says that
God does not punish the people that pray that are calling on God. So one prayers is the soldato law.
Allah praise what are the eleatic that he preys on you? So Allah subhanho wa Taala Anna, and his
prayer, His mercy, His mercy is called Salah. It's the same word that's used, but it has a different
meaning, but it's still it's considered Salah, and then there's everything that's in the heaven and
the earth is praying. So there's this prayer of creation. The Quran says Subhanallah emf is semi
automatic. Everything is in this state of glorification, the thing that says in verse 2441, Have you
		

			not seen that everyone in the heavens and the earth glorifies God, the birds spreading their wings,
each one knows its prayer and its glorification. So each one of the things in creation has a prayer
of salah and it has a test via when we pray, what do we do immediately after the prayer? So how nama
handling and that's too severe, so we have Sala and in the prayer you're doing your test via as
well. So behind that a banana. I mean, that's the essence of the prayers Sasha so salah and test via
the idea of having a means to glorify God. And that's what essentially the prayer is, it's the means
by which we've been given. And the third type is this, the prayer that all prophets have been given.
		

			So every prophet was given a prayer, they might not look the same. And that's why different
religions have different outward forms of praying. Because just like different animals have
different forms in which they do their worship. different communities have been given different
forms. And Allah says we gave every oma its own form shutout woman has its own shutter, which is the
law and min hajer the way in which it goes, so each one. Now obviously, things are similar, which is
one of the reasons why in most traditions, there's some form of praying with the hands and these
type things, you'll see similarities, but they don't have to be the same to be a prayer. And then
		

			finally, there's the specific prayer, which is the ritual that Muslims do, and it's the second
pillar of Islam. So those are the different types of prayer, and that prayer is divided into two.
Now that prayer is done five times a day, which is interesting also, because five is an interesting
number. Obviously, we're just kind of stuck with it. We have five fingers, we have five toes on each
side of our hands, five
		

			Also, you can say why five and ultimately those type of things. Random, outpolled they're irrational
meaning not that they're crazy, but that they're not something that our rational minds can arrive
at. And I'm somebody that does not like to go into numerology. It's not that I don't think numbers
have a reality. But numerology is kind of a path to insanity. And that's traditionally, the way
Muslims have looked at it. So numbers do have reality, don't think they're not significant, they're
very significant. But generally, we don't like to go in there. But I'll make a few remarks about
five. There are five pillars in Islam. There are five prayers in Islam, there are five rulings in
		

			every action. So every action falls under one of five categories. Five is a very interesting number,
it is the first number that occurs as a sum of an even in an odd, so you have after one, which is
the divine number, and it belongs to a law alone. A laws number is one. And that's why is the first
number but ahead is not 100 is not an add that one is God's number. But if you look at two and
three, it's the even and the odd was shift that you would with today, by the even and odd. So Allah
swears by the even and odd, and the even in the odd is also representing the male and the female,
it's represented a lot. So the coming together these two numbers produces five. So it's an
		

			interesting number. And we do pray five times a day, the quintessence is the fifth nature, which is
the spirit, the rule. And because you have the four elements that were composed of, which is earth,
water, fire, and air, and then you have the quintessence or the Quinta snco, which was the, the
fifth essence, which is the spiritual essence that permeates the world. So we pray five times a day
three of those prayers are in when the sun is not visible, and two of them are when the sun is
visible, so they're divided by night, and by day, and will shift very wintery. They're, they're
divided in that way. They're also done according to the movements of the sun, which again, is
		

			harmonizing with the world. So the idea of watching the sun, see we, if you get up before dawn,
Muslims should do that. I mean, you should have been up this morning, if you pray, you should have
been up before the sun went up, just to see that every morning is something spectacular, just to go
out and look at that phenomenon of the breaking of dawn. And what that means, then watching that sun
move across and becoming aware of this movement that's occurring every day, because one of the
things about modern human beings is they're so out of sync with reality, just with nature. I mean,
people are completely isolated food comes in packages. People don't just experience the earth
		

			anymore. I mean, people live in cities that are just all cement, and skyscrapers block out the sky.
There's a lot of people don't even know that the sun traverses the sky every day, they're not even
aware of that fact. And these astronomical centers get calls all the time, where people are
horrified that they saw the moon during the daytime, and they want to know why the moon's out in the
daytime, really, I read that in an astronomy book, where people just see the moon for the first time
in the daytime, and what's it doing up there in the sky? That's only supposed to come out at night.
And so this is a type detachment that people have. And I remember being in New Mexico with a group
		

			of inner city youth who've never been outside of New York or New Jersey. And that night, when the
stars came out, they were in shock. They were literally in shock. And one of the things Emerson said
is how if the stars only came out once every 1000 years, how would we even know how to adore God?
		

			That's part of what the stars are about. And that's why it but I mean, who's the father of the MBL?
What was the first thing that he does, because he was kept according to one tradition, in a sort of
Deb for 12 years, he never saw the light of day. And when he was 12, he came out. And it was his
first experience of the world. And he saw the stars. And he said, This is my Lord.
		

			And then he saw the moon. He said, No, this is and they kept setting and then he saw the sun, this
must be it. And then he said and he said, I don't know what you mean. I don't love things that set.
In other words, he knew that God was the one that didn't set. And so the ultimate say that it's
using the stars to prove the existence of God. That the order of the heavens is one of the ways
		

			Understanding that God is real. And that's something, I guarantee you that studying the stars will
increase your Eman, just going out and watching them looking and thinking about them. So during
those prayers, and obviously we have a cat. Now I'm going to show you something and this is not my,
this is one of the Egyptian scholars, Mr. masago. He points this out in one of his books, the
scholars, they call this millet, you know, so one of the things that he said is that a word armored
is the form of the prayer that you have a standing position, and then a bowing position, and then a
prostrating position, and then the sitting position. So, and he said, also, it's in Adams name,
		

			which is the standing, the bending, and the sitting, and then the search data. So the letters, you
know, the human being has been designed to pray. And one of the things that you can notice, when you
do Woo, is that you're designed the wufu works perfectly. I mean, just if you watch, just when you
do, woo, you'll realize that your whole all your limbs are made to do this thing, each one of these
positions of prayer. And that's why you don't go way down, you stop right where it's natural to
stop, because as you go further begins to hurt, the body is designed to do ruku. Because when you
get to that most people can get to that point, it doesn't hurt. If you try to go any further, you'll
		

			feel the pain of that. And then the such that the going down on all seven limbs. I mean, this is
very interesting as well, of putting,
		

			everything goes down, and then sitting as well, the sitting position. So each one of these
positions, the prayer is conforms with the body perfectly. And these are natural positions to do.
And part of the reason why in Islam, you pray is because your body should be sharing in the worship
of God. So the body itself is participating. It's not you don't just sit and meditate, it's not in
your head, that your body is actually worshiping with you. And this removes this kind of dualistic
Mind Body separation, it's a very profound. And really, if you're on a strong path, you will spend
your life perfecting it and mastering it, you will never reach the ultimate prayer. And that's why
		

			the prayer is something that must be done every day, five times a day until you die because you know
one of the things about kados when you do a kata, the reason that I have to do them every day is not
just to keep remembering them but to perfect them.
		

			mastery in a martial art is a lifetime experience and every martial art, I don't care if he has, if
he's reached that he will admit to you. I'm not as good as my teacher. I still haven't perfected
this. They're always working on that perfection. And that's the thing about the prayer is that it is
a lifetime commitment. So that's why if you're doing it the same way every day, you're missing the
point that you've fallen into a perfunctory routine. You've gone to sleep,
		

			that the prayer should be a commitment. It is a lifelong commitment to the mastery of the art of
communicating with God.