الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي أنعم على عبده بالصلاة، وأمرهم أن يقيموها بالخشوع وفي الأوقات، نحمده تعالى ونستعينه، ونشكره تعالى ونستغفره ونستغيثه، نعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، من يهد الله فهو المهتد ومن يضلل فلن تجد له وليا مرشدا، ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك و له الحمد، يحيي ويميت، بيده الخير، وهو على كل شيء قدير،  ونشهد أن سيدنا و مولانا محمداً عبده ورسوله، وحبيبه وصفيه، بلغ الرسالة وأدٌى الأمانة ونصح الأمة، النبي الأمي الذي أرسله الله بالهدى والدين الحق، بشيرا ونذيرا بين يدي الساعة، صلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.

أما بعد! فيا عباد الله اتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون. يأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولا سديدا يصلح لكم أعمالكم ويغفر لكم ذنوبكم. ومن يطع الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزا عظيما. اتقوا الله فيما أمر وانتهوا عما نها عنه وزجر.

 

Muslims, on the anniversary of the night of Isra and Miraj, there is much for us to be thankful about, for on it the Prophet of our umma was honoured above all of creation, and on it we were granted the most wonderful of gifts, the most marvellous of blessings that Allah has bestowed upon any creation. And by that I mean the prayer, for it was on this night 1434 years ago, 3 years before the hijra, that Allah made the five prayers that we know as an essential part of our deen. And they truly are something extraordinary, for each and every prayer is a direct audience with the Lord of all the worlds, the King of the Day of deen, where we engage in intimate conversation with Him. The Prophet said,

إن المصلى يناجي ربه

 

“The one who is praying is speaking intimately with his Lord.” So, by means of the prayer, the Almighty invites the lowly slave into His Presence and grants him a private audience, listening to everything he has to say and responding. In a famous hadith, transmitted by Muslim, the Prophet said,

 

قال الله تعالى: قسمت الصلاة بيني و بين عبدي نصفين ولعبدي ما سأل؛ فإذا قال العبد:" الحمد لله ربّ العالمين، قال الله تعالى: حمدني عبدي. وإذا قال الرحمن الرحيم، قال الله تعالى:  مجّدني عبدي. وإذا قال: مالك يوم الدين، قال: فوّض إليّ عبدي. فإذا قال: إياك نعبد وإياك نستعين، قال: هذا بيني وبين عبدي ولعبدي ما سأل. فإذا قال:اهدنا الصراط المستقيم صراط الذين أنعمت عليهم غير المغضوب عليهم ولا الضّالين، قال: هذا لعبدي ولعبدي ما سأل"

 

“Allah says, ‘I have divided the prayer between Me and My slave into two halves, and My slave will have what he wants. When the slave says, ‘Praise be to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds, Allah replies, ’My slave has praised me.’ When he says, ‘The All-merciful, Most Merciful’, Allah replies, ‘My slave has glorified Me.’ When he says, ‘The King of the Day of deen,’ Allah says, ‘My slave has handed his affair over to Me .’ When he says, ‘You Alone we worship and You Alone we ask for help’, Allah says, ‘This is between Me and My slave, and My slave will have what he asks for.’ When he says, ‘Guide us along the straight path, the path of those whom You have blessed, not of those with anger on them nor of the misguided,’ Allah says, ‘This is for My slave and My slave will have what he asks for.’” And unlike the kings of this world, Allah does not just grant His lowly subjects a public audience with Him once in a blue moon or never at all, nor does He limit access to five times a day, but instead allows him to have a private audience with Him whenever he wants, day or night. The door is always open and Allah is always there, ready to listen. No master has ever granted a slave such an honour, and no king has ever been so accommodating to his subjects. And in the course of the prayer, Allah addresses the slave directly and not through intermediaries, as is mentioned in a hadith,

 

إن العبد إذا قام إلى الصلاة رفع الله الحجاب بينه وبينه وواجهه بوجهه وقامت الملائكة من لدن منكبيه إلى الهوى يصلون بصلاته

 

“When the slave stands in prayer, Allah lifts the veil between them and faces him directly, while the angels that are on the slave’s shoulders do the prayer with him.” And in the course of that audience, Allah showers us with gifts and rewards, for He is the most generous of hosts and does not let anyone who has visited Him leave empty-handed. Muhammad ibn Ali at-Tirmidhi is narrated as saying,

 

دعا الله الموحدين إلى هذه الصلوات الخمس رحمة منه عليهم وهيأ لهم فيها أنواع الضيافة لينال العبد من كل قول وفعل شيئاً من عطاياه

 

“Allah invites those who affirm His Oneness to these five prayers out of His mercy for them, and readies all sorts of hospitality for them in them, so that the slave receives gifts for every word and for every movement.”

Among the gifts that Allah grants us through the prayer is that through it He guarantees us the Garden and give us His promise of that. The Prophet said,

 

خمس صلوات كتبهن الله على العباد فمن جاء بهن ولم يضيع منهن شيئاً استخفافاً بحقهن كان له عند الله عهد أن يدخله الجنة ومن لم يأت بهن فليس له عند الله عهد إن شاء عذبه وإن شاء أدخله الجنة

 

“There are five prayers that Allah has made obligatory for His slaves. Whoever does them and does not miss any of them through not attaching much importance to them, has the Promise of Allah that he will enter the Garden. But whoever does not do them has no promise from Allah, and so if He wills, He will punish him, and if He wants, He will grant him entry to the Garden.” Indeed the Prophet said in another hadith,

مفتاح الجنة الصلاة

 

“The key to the garden is the prayer.” Without it, the gate will remain locked and you will be unable to enter.

Another of the gifts He grants us through the prayer is to purify us of our wrong actions. the Prophet said,

 

مثل الصلوات الخمس كمثل نهر عذب غمر بباب أحدكم يقتحم فيه كل يوم خمس مرات فما ترون ذلك يبقي من درنه قالوا لا شيء قال صلى الله عليه وسلم فإن الصلوات الخمس تذهب الذنوب كما يذهب الماء الدرن

 

“The likeness of the five prayers is that of a river of sweet water that flows swiftly by the door of your house and into which you plunge five times every day. Do you think that any dirt will remain on you?’” They replied, No, nothing would remain.” So the Prophet said, “The five prayers remove wrong actions in the same way that water removes dirt.”

And another is that it is the secret to our rizq. The Prophet said,

 

يا أبا هريرة مر أهلك بالصلاة فإن الله يأتيك بالرزق من حيث لا تحتسب

 

“O Abu Hurayra, command your family to pray, for if you do then Allah will bring you provision from where you know not.” The prayer is the secret to everything in our lives - if it is healthy then we are healthy, and if is lacking, then we are lacking. For how we are in the prayer is how we are in life

Each and every time any one of us enters the prayer, we renew our connection with Allah. For the Arabic word for prayer ‘salat’, is derived according to some of the scholars, from the word ‘sila’. So, by means of it we plug ourselves back into the source, after the troubles and distractions of this world have run our batteries down. And that is why the Prophet called the prayer ‘raaha’, ‘rest’ when he said to Bilal,

يا بلال أرحنا بالصلاة

 

“Bilal, bring us our rest through the prayer.” And that is why, whenever he experienced difficulties or things became tough he took refuge in the prayer. For Allah has said

 وَاسْتَعِينُواْ بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلاَةِ

 

the translation of which is, “Seek help through patience and the prayer”

And at another level, the prayer is our own laylat al-miraj, for in the course of it, each of us emulates the journey of the Prophet in travelling into the presence of His Lord, arriving, in our sajda, at a station that is the closest a human being can come to his Lord in this abode. Abu Hurayra said,

 

أقرب ما يكون العبد إلى الله عز وجل إذا سجد فأكثروا الدعاء عند ذلك.

 

“The closest a slave can get to Allah is when he is in prostration, so make lots of dua when you are there.” Indeed, if a slave knew how close he was to His Lord, and to whom he was engaging in intimate conversation, he would never want to leave the prayer. This is the reality of the prayer, the secret of that action that we do at least five times a day, but unfortunately all too often rush through it and do not give it its proper due.  

The reality of the prayer and many of its secrets and gifts are wonderfully summarised by the Prophet in a truly remarkable hadith. He says

 

الصلاة مرضاة للرب تبارك وتعالى، وحب الملائكة وسنة الأنبياء ونور المعرفة وأصل الإيمان وإجابة للدعاء وقبول الأعمال وبركة في الرزق وراحة في الأبدان وسلاح على الأعداء وكراهية للشيطان ، وشفيع بين صاحبها وملك الموت ، وسراج في قبره وفراش تحت جنبه وجواب مع منكر ونكير ، ومؤنس في قبره إلى يوم القيامة ، فإذا كانت القيامة ، صارت الصلاة ظلا فوقه وتاجا على رأسه ولباسا على بدنه ونورا يسعى بين يديه ، وسترا بينه وبين النار ، وحجه للمؤمنين بين يدي الرب تبارك وتعالى وثقلا في الموازين وجوازا على الصراط ومفتاحا للجنة، لأن الصلاة تسبيح وتحميد وتقديس وتعظيم وقراءة ودعاء، وإن أفضل الأعمال كلها الصلاة لوقتها<

 

“The prayer is the pleasure of the Lord, the love of the angels, the sunna of the Prophets, the light of gnosis, the source of imaan, the answering of dua, the acceptance of action, baraka in provision, rest for the bodies, a weapon against enemies, hated by Shaytan, an intercessor between you and the angel of death, a lamp in the grave, a soft bed under your side [in the grave], a barrier between you and the Fire, a proof for the believers when they are in front of their Lord, a heavy weight in the balance, a swift crossing of the sirat and a key to the Garden. And that is because prayer is glorification, praise, recitation and dua. The best of all actions is doing the prayer in its time.” Is there anything else in this world that contains so much? No, the true treasure beyond compare is the prayer, so we ask Allah to make us constant in it and present in it, and grant us access to all its secrets.

 

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم ولسائر المسلمين من كل ذنب فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور الرَّحيم

الحمد لله الحمد لله رب العالمين، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله، صلى الله وسلم وبارك عليه وعلى آله وصحبه، والتابعين وتابعي التابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.

أما بعد! فيأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله ما استطعتم واسمعوا وأطيعوا وأنفقوا خيرا لأنفسكم. يا عباد الله أوصيكم وإياي بتقوى الله وطاعته وأحذركم وإياي عن معصيته ومخالفته.

 

Muslims, just as Allah has been generous to us in granting us an audience with Him, we must never take such audiences lightly and must always be aware of who we are going to meet. None of us, if we were invited to an audience with a king or leader would take such a meeting lightly. We would feel greatly honoured and would prepare ourselves properly and arrive on time. And when we were in his presence, we would devote all our attention to him. The same must be true with respect to the prayer - we must come to the prayer fully prepared and on time, and when we are in it we must have khushu and be present with our Lord. That is one of the meanings of ‘iqamat as-salat’ - establishing the prayer. For the Muslim is not commanded ‘to pray’, but rather ‘to establish the prayer’ and that implies all the things we have mentioned. Shaykh Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi said,

 

كل موضع ذكر فيه المصلون في موضع المدح فإنما جاء لمن أقام الصلاة أما بلفظ الأقامة أو بمعنى يرجع إليها قال الله سبحانه : ( الذين يؤمنون بالغيب ويقيمون الصلاة )( رب إجعلني مقيم الصلاة ) ( وأقام الصلاة ) ( والمقيمي الصلاة ) ولما ذكر المصلين بالغفلة قال : ( فويل للمصلين . الذين هم عن صلاتهم ساهون ) ولم يقل فويل للمقيمين الصلاة

 

“Whenever Allah mentions those who pray in a praiseworthy way, He always refers to them as establishing the prayer, such as when He says: ‘Those who believe in the Unseen and establish the prayer’, ‘My Lord, make me one who establishes the prayer’ and many other places. But when he mentions those who are forgetful about their prayer, He says: “So woe to those who do salat, and are forgetful of their salat”, and does not say ‘woe to those who establish the prayer.’” 

The central pillar to establishing the prayer is the quality of khushu’, which is being  humble and present in the prayer, remembering throughout it the One to whom you are praying. Allah says:

وأقم الصلاة لذكري

 

the translation of which is, “Establish the prayer to remember me.” And the Prophet said,

من لم تنهه صلاته عن الفحشاء والمنكر لم تزده من الله إلا بعداً

 

“If your prayer does not prevent you from wrong and decency, then it will only increase you in distance away from Allah.” In other words, if you are not humble, concentrated and present in the prayer, thereby causing you to remember Allah whenever you are about to embark on any action in your life - for as we said, how you are in the prayer is a microcosm of how you are in life, then you will gain nothing from that prayer. So khushu is the secret to the acceptance of the prayer, and the prayer is the secret to the acceptance of your actions.

This khushu may be nurtured and obtained in a number of ways, as is mentioned by Shaykh Ibn ‘Ajiba in Iqadh al-Himam. 

The first is zuhd - in other words, expunging  attachment to the dunya from one’s heart. For if the dunya is in your heart, then it is inevitable that Shaytan will come and use it to distract you, for the dunya is his daughter and what father does not come to visit his daughter,

And the second and third are plentiful dhikr and always keeping in wudu, for the outward and the inward are connected, and so purifying the outward brings about purity in the inward and constant remembrance of Allah.

And another way is to approach each prayer as if it were your last, for none of us knows when we are going to die. Indeed, that should be the way we approach everything in life. This was the approach taken by the great wali Hatim al-Asamm, who when he was asked about the prayer, replied,

 

إذا حانت الصلاة أسبغت الوضوء وأتيت الموضع الذي أريد الصلاة فيه فأقعد فيه حتى تجتمع جوارحي، ثم أقوم إلى صلاتي وأجعل الكعبة بين حاجبي والصراط تحت قدمي والجنة عن يميني والنار عن شمالي وملك الموت ورائي أظنها آخر صلاتي "ثم أقوم بين الرجاء والخوف وأكبر تكبيراً بتحقيق وأقرأ قراءة بترتيل وأركع ركوعاً بتواضع وأسجد سجوداً بتخشع وأقعد على الورك الأيسر وأفرش ظهر قدمها وأنصب القدم اليمنى على الإبهام وأتبعها الإخلاص، ثم لا أدري أقبلت مني أم لا

 

“When the time of the prayer comes, I do my wudu thoroughly, then go to the place in which I want to pray. Then I sit down and gather myself. Then I stand up to pray, placing the Kaba in front of my eyes, the sirat under my feet, the Garden on my right, the Fire on my left and the Angel of Death behind me, thinking that this prayer is going to be my last. Then I stand up between fear and hope, say my takbir with meaning, and recite my Quran with a measured recitation, do ruku with humility, do sujud with khushu, and sit on my left buttock with my left foot spread flat under it and my right foot upright. All of this I strive to do with true sincerity and at the end I do not know whether it has been accepted from me or not.” This is how we must all strive to be in our prayer, not thinking about our next meal or our problems at work. So we ask Allah to give us true khushu’ in our prayers and make us be among those whose entire prayer is accepted and not those whose prayer brings them nothing but distance from Allah.

 

إِنَّ اللهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ، يَا أَيُهَا الذِينَ آمَنُواْ صَلُّواْ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُواْ تَسْلِيماً. اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ  أَجْمَعِينَ. 

وَارْضَ اللَّهُمَّ عَنِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ وَعُثْمَانَ وَعَلِيٍّ، وَعَنْ سَائِرِ الصَّحَابَةِ أَجْمَعِينَ، خُصُوصاً اِلأَنْصَارَ مِنْهُمْ وَالمُهَاجِرِينَ، وَعَنِ التَّابِعِينَ وَتَابِعِي التَّابِعِينَ وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.

اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِ وُلَاةَ أُمُورِ المُسْلِمِينَ لِمَا يُرْضِيكَ وَلِاتِّبَاعِ سُنَّةِ نَبِيِّكَ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَهُمْ عَلَى الصِّرَاطِ المُسْتَقِيمِ، وَأَصْلِحْهُمْ يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ.

اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى شَيْخِنَا، وَعَلَى أَمِيرِنَا، وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ أُمَرَاءِ وَزُعَمَاءِ المُسْلِمِينَ.  

اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى المُسْلِمِينَ فِي هَذِهِ المَدِينَةِ، وَوَفِّقْهُمْ لِمَا تُحِبُّهُ وَتَرْضَاهُ يَا أَكْرَمَ الأَكْرَمِينَ. 

اللَّهُمَّ أَعِزَّ الإِسْلَامَ وَالمُسِْلمِينَ (3) وَاخْذُلِ الْكُفْرَ وَالْكَافِرِينَ، وَانْصُرِ المُجَاهِدِينَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ. وَاجْعَلْ كَلِمََتَكَ هِيَ العُلْيَا وَكَلِمَةَ الْكُفْرِ هِيَ السُّفْلَى.

رَبَّنَا ءَاتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقَِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ. 

اللَّهُمَّ لاَ تجْعَلِ الدُّنْيَا أَكْبَرَ هَمِّنَا وَلَا مَبْلَغَ عِلْمِنَا وَلَا تُسَلِّطْ عَلَيْنَا بِذُنُوبِنَا مَن لاَّ يَخَافُكَ وَلَا يَرْحَمُنَا

اللَّهُمَّ أَصْلِحْ لَنَا دِينَنَا الذِي هُوَ عِصْمَةُ أَمْرِنَا وَأَصْلِحْ لَنَا دُنْيَانَا التِي فِيهَا مَعَاشُنَا وَأَصْلِحْ لَنَا آخِرَتُنَا التِي إِلَيْهَا مَعَادُنَا وَاجْعَلِ الحَيَاةَ زِيَادَةً لَنَا فِي كُلِّ خَيْرٍ وَاجْعَلِ المَوْتَ رَاحَةً لَنَا مِن كُلِّ شَرٍّ

إِنَّ اللهَ يَامُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى، وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ، يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَّكَّرُونَ، وَلَذِكْرُ اللهِ أَكْبَرُ وَاللهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ. وَقُومُواْ إِلَى صَلاتِكُمْ يَرْحَمُكُمُ اللهُ.