Bismillah
What is the greatest gift you could ever receive? That you could ever want? That would bring you the greatest happiness and delight?…..Think about it.
Got an idea? ….good.
Most of us will be thinking of Jannah and all of its delights. But the most pleasurable thing in Jannah is not having spouses, or servants that will serve you, or drinking milk and honey. No rather, there is something MUCH GREATER for the Dwellers of Jannah that Allah ta’ala is keeping for them…
Bismillah wa’lhamdolilah wassalatu wassalam ‘ala Rasool Allah
For the most part, or at least from my personal experience, from childhood salat was always made to seem very rigid; one way of doing it, no variation, very systematic. And since we were never taught these variations, salat just ended up becoming a thoughtless set of actions, repeating the same things over and over again. However, as I grew older I realized that there is a lot of variation in salat, a lot that we can do to really build that relationship Allah throughout our salat.
Bismillah walhamdolilah was-salatu was-salam ‘ala Rasool Allah sallalahu alayhi wasalam
Continuing in our discussion of the oft-repeated words and phrases in our salat, this week inshallah we will focus on looking at: SubhanAllah
This is another word that is very common in the Muslim’s vocabulary. We all have heard the word, we all say it in our prayers daily (inshallah), yet how many of us truly understand its meaning?
Bismillah walhamdolilah wasalatu wasalam ‘ala Rasool Allah
Asalamu ‘alaikum,
There are certain words and phrases which we pronounce in our salat repeatedly, yet more than likely we do not know what they mean. This is the state of our salat these days…nothing more than actions of the limbs. O Muslims! Remember faith (eman) is belief in the heart, statements upon the tongue, and actions of the limbs. All three are required for a completeness of faith. Inshallah, we will look at some of the oft-repeated words and phrases in our salat and analyze them to give us a deeper understanding and a deeper connection with our Lord.
Bismillah.
Alhamdulillah, we now know what hamd means, let’s move on to tasbeeh!
Tasbeeh means to say subhanAllah just as tahmeed means to say alhamdulillah.
Tasbeeh is comprised of two words: Subhan and Allah: سبحان الله
Bismillah
Allah ta’ala says:
Those who have believed and done righteous deeds – ‘Tooba’ is theirs and a good return. (Suratur Ra’ad, ayah 29)
Allah ta’ala promises ‘Tooba’ to the believers in this ayah. We also know this word for the famous hadeeth of the strangers, the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam states: fa Tooba lil ghurabaa’, so Tooba to the strangers. What does Tooba mean?
By dear brother and sisters in Islam, Asalamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullah
In this blessed month of Ramadan, it is only beneficial to us to increase our worship of Allah azza wa jal. Surely, this month is full of blessings like no other. O Muslims! Take advantage of this month, because the reality is we don’t know if we will see another one.
Our beloved Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam has said:
“The prayer offered in congregation is twenty five times more superior to the prayer offered alone in one’s house or in a business center; because if one performs ablution and does it perfectly, and then proceeds to the mosque with the sole intention of prayer, then for each step which he takes towards the mosque, Allah upgrades him a degree in reward and crosses out one sin till he enters the mosque. When he enters the mosque he is considered in prayer as long as he is waiting for the prayer and the angels keep on asking for Allah’s forgiveness for him and they keep on saying: ‘O Allah! Be Merciful to him, O Allah! Forgive him’, as long as he keeps on sitting at his praying place and does not pass wind.” [Bukhari]
Bismillah.
As Muslims, the phrase “alhamdulillah” الحمد لله (all praise and thanks is for Allah) is an integral part of our deen; we are taught to say it from both the Qur’an and Sunnah. Linguistically, Hamd is from ha-meem-daal ( حمد or ح م د) and it is to mention the good attribute of a person, such an attribute that is the at the level of perfection. Hamd is based on mahabbah (love) and ta’dheem (greatness). Hamd is not a fake praise, meaning it is not done to please the person or with no significance, Hamd is always true. Hamd implies admiration, love and magnifying the praise of mahmood (one who is praised). Hamd is a sincere and true praise, that the mahmood (one who is praised) deserves. The one doing hamd is doing submission to the one being praise–out of humility. Hamd also includes sincere gratitude and mentioning the kamaal (best) traits of someone.When we say alhamdulillah, it implies exclusivity and entirety, meaning that praise is entirely and only for Allah. The ‘al’ (ال) before ‘hamd’ is called “istighraaq” in Arabic, and when “al” comes before this phrase its means that entire praise, all kinds of praise and all the time, hamd is due to Allah. The “li” (in lillah, meaning for Allah) implies limitation which is known as “ikhtisaas” in Arabic and it means that Allah is the only One who deserves the hamd.
My dear brothers and sisters in Islam our beloved Prophet alayhi salatu wasalam has told us:
“The angels keep on asking Allah’s forgiveness for anyone of you, as long as he is at his mu’sallah (praying place) and does he does not pass wind. They say, ‘O Allah! Forgive him, O Allah! be Merciful to him.” [Bukhari]
Gems
The Prophet of Allah sallalahu alayhi wasalam has coined an amazing analogy in regards to salat. The analogy is depicted in a conversation between the Prophet and the Companions radhiAllah anhum, in which the Prophet alayhi salatu wasalam said:
“Do you think that if there was a river by the door of one of you and he bathed in it five times a day that there would remain any dirt on him?” They answered: “There would not remain any dirt on him.” The Prophet of Allah alayhi salatu wasalam said: “That is how it is with the five prayers, through them Allah washes away the (minor) sins.” [Bukhari and Muslim]