Salaah

Awrah: islamically, this refers to the area of a human being that is considered private, and, for lack of a better description, “not for public consumption.”

We know of many reports that the Messenger of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said, “once a woman achieves puberty, it is not befitting that she show anything except this (indicating his face) and this (indicating his hands up to the wrists).” So we know about a woman’s awrah … but how about a man’s awrah? Know that the scholars divided this issue into two parts–awrah in prayer, and awrah out of prayer. And the main proof of a man’s awrah is a hadith where the Messenger of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) states that a man’s awrah is between his navel and his knees in prayer.

Attaining Jannah can be easy if we want it to be. The choice is ours to make. Just take a step towards Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) and watch!

To make things easy, it is reported that Abu Umamah said: The Messenger of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: “Whoever recites Ayatul-Kursi immediately after each prescribed prayer, there will be nothing standing between him and his entering Paradise except death.” (Reported by An-Nasa’i and Ibn Hibban)

To continue our series of ways to purify our salaah, a very important aspect is to take some time and to actually reflect and think about the ayaat being recited.

Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says in the Qur’an:

(This is) a Book (the Qur’an) which We have sent down to you, full of blessings that they may ponder over its Verses, and that men of understanding may remember.”
– Surah Saad 38:29

Many of us desire to be among those who pray Qiyam al-Layl (or Tahajjud), but find it difficult to wake up in the middle of the night for it. What can we do to make this easier?

Option 1: Late Sleepers. If you happen to be one of those late-night people–whether you’re up late studying for exams, chilling, or working on a project–why not make wudoo and pray two rakahs before you sleep? It’s not the sunnah way, and it doesn’t have to be long, but it starts you out with a regular habit, at least.

Continuing in our series of ways to attain purification in salaah: Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says in the Qur’an:

“… and recite the Qur’an in slow, measured rhythmic tones” (Surah al-Muzammil 73:4)

From this alone, we see the importance of reciting the Qur’an in a proper manner–slowly and with a rythmic tone–and not just whizzing through it as if we were reading a magazine of some sort. Also, our beloved Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) had a recitation which was clear, with each letter proncounced distinctly (Ahmad, 6/294, saheeh). You can easily begin to comprehend the likliness of gaining khusoo’ while reciting in a slow, calm voice rather than fast, abrubt voice. To list a few reasons:

This is the fourth part of our discussion on ways to achieving purification of our salaah.

The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: “Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, has said: ‘I have divided the prayer between Myself and My slave, into two halves, and My slave shall have what he has asked for.’

“When the slave says “Ar-Rehman-nir-Raheem“, Allaah (سبحانه وتعالى) says, “My slave has extolled me.”

Ibn al-Qayyim (رحمالله) said:

And mankind, with regard to their performance of prayer are in five levels:

The First: The level of the one who is negligent and wrongs his soul: He is the one who falls short in performing wudoo properly, performing the prayer upon its time and within its specified limits, and in fulfilling its essential pillars.

The Second: The one who guards his prayers upon their proper times and within their specified limits, fulfills their essential pillars and performs his wudoo with care. However, his striving (in achieving the above) is wasted due whisperings in his prayer so he is taken away by thoughts and ideas.

Continuing in our series of purification of salaah, we all need to realize that it’s not a race to see who can finish first! Inshallah ta’alla take your time, relax, and comfort your soul with the tranquility of being in communication with Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), your Lord and Creator!

Our beloved Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) used to move at a measured pace throughout his salaah; so much so that he would allow every bone to return to its place after each movement (classified saheeh by Ibn Kuzaymah and al-Hafiz). On top of that, he would command those who were not offering their prayers properly to do this as well: “None of you have prayed properly until he does this.” (Abu Dawood 1/536)

Getting further in our discussion on the means to attain the utmost purification in our salaah; one of the best ways is to realize that it may be our last salaah we offer to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). So the question is, how do you wanna go out?

The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: “Remember death in your prayer, for the man who remembers death during his prayer is bound to pray properly, and pray the prayer of a man who does not think that he will pray any other prayer.” (al-Silsilat al-Saheehah by al-Albaani, 1421. It was reported from al-Suyooti that al-Haafiz ibn Hajar classed this hadeeth as hassan)

Continuing our discussion of the purification of salaah, one of the primary ways to gain khushoo’ is to prepare ahead of time! Try these authentic actions from the sunnah:

• Perform wudoo properly; start with bismillah and end with ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illallah wahdahu laa sharee ka lahu wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abdahu wa rasoolahu.