Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship

Imam al-Ghazali, Muhtar Holland

• Publisher: The Islamic Foundation
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9780860375166
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Islamic Theology

Covers those dimensions of Islamic rituals of worship – prayer, almsgiving, fasting, Pilgrimage, etc. which are essential to the fulfilment of inner quality. Consists of selections from al-Ghazali's Ihya, a pivotal work in the history of Islamic thought.

1

The Prayer

ṢALĀT

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Mercy-giving.

(Bismi-Ilāhi-Iraḥmāni-Iraḥīm.)

All praise belongs to God, Who has lavished His favours on His servants, filling their hearts with the light of religion and its duties, sent down from the Throne of Glory to the heaven of this world by the steps of mercy. One mark of His compassion: in contrast to earthly kings, though majesty and might belong to Him Alone, He urges the people to bring Him their requests and pleas, saying: ‘Will anyone call, that I may answer him? Will anyone seek My forgiveness, that I may forgive him?’ Unlike the rulers of this world, He keeps an open door and does not screen himself away. He allows His servants to converse with Him intimately in their Prayers, under all circumstances, be they in Congregation or in isolation. Not merely allowing, indeed, He gently urges and invites. How different are those feeble worldly kings, who grant an audience only when they have received a gift or bribe!

Glory be to Him, therefore, so grand in His sublimity, so Strong in His authority, so Perfect in His graciousness, so Allembracing in His goodness. Blessings and salutations to Muhammad, His chosen Prophet and selected friend, and to his family and Companions, those keys of right guidance and lanterns in the dark.

* * *

Prayer is the pillar of religion, the mainstay of conviction, the chief of good works and the best act of obedience …

EXCELLENT MERITS OF PRAYER

1 Merit of the Call to Prayer (Adhān)

Said the Prophet, on him be peace: ‘On the Day of Resurrection, three people will find themselves on a ridge of black musk. They will have no reckoning to fear, nor any cause for alarm while human accounts are being settled. First, a man who recites the Quran to please God, Great and Glorious is He, and who leads the Prayer to people’s satisfaction. Second, a man who gives the Call to Prayer in a Mosque, inviting people to God, Great and Glorious is He, for the sake of His good pleasure. Third, a man who has a hard time making a living in this world, yet is not distracted from the work of the Hereafter.’¹

According to other Traditions, the Prophet, on him be peace, said: ‘All that hear the Muezzin’s cry, be they jinn, human or whatever, will testify for him on the Day of Resurrection.’² And: ‘The hand of the All-merciful is on the Muezzin’s head until he completes his Call to Prayer.’³

Commentators say that God, Great and Glorious is He, was referring to Muezzins when He revealed the Quranic Verse:

‘Who speaks better than one who calls to God and acts righteously?’ [Fuṣṣilat, 41:33]

(Wa-man aḥsanu qawlan mimman da’ā ilā-Ilāhi wa-’amila ṣāliḥā.)

The Prophet, on him be peace, also said: ‘When you hear the Call, repeat what the Muezzin says.’⁴ This is the recom- mended practice, except that on hearing the two sentences beginning ‘ḥayya ‘alā …’ (‘Come to …’), one says: ‘There is neither power nor strength save in God’ (lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā bi-llāh). The response to ‘qad qāmati-lṣalāh’ (‘Prayer has begun’) is: ‘May God establish it and preserve it as long as the heavens and earth endure’ (aqāmahā-Ilāhu wa-adāmahā mā dāmati-Isamāwātu wal’arḍ). At dawn, the Call includes the sentence: ‘Prayer is better than sleep,’ to which we respond with: ‘You have spoken truly and veraciously and given good advice’ (ṣadaqta wa-bararta wa naṣaḥta). When the Call to Prayer is over, one says:

‘O God, Lord of this perfect invitation and firmly established Prayer, endow Muhammad with favour, merit and exalted rank. Raise him to the glorious position You have promised him. You do not break Your promise.’

(Allāhumma rabba hādhihi-lda’wati-Itāmmati wa-Isalāti-Iqā’imati Muḥammadani-Iwasīlata wa-Ifaḍīlata wa-IdarajataIrafi’a / wa-b’athhu-Imaqāma-Imaḥmūda-Iladhī wa’adtah/ innaka lā tukhlifu-Imī’ād.)

Sa’īd ibn al-Musayyab said: ‘If a person performs Prayer in a wilderness, an angel prays on his right and an angel prays on his left. If he also gives the Call to Prayer and the signal to begin, angels perform Prayer behind him in rows like mountain ranges.’

2 Merit of the Prescribed Prayers at Set Times (Ṣalāt)

Allah, Exalted is He, says:

‘Prayers have been prescribed for the believers at set times.’[al-Nisā’, 4:103]

(Inna-Iṣalāta kānat ‘alā-Imu’minīna kitāban mawqūtā.)

Said the Prophet, on him be peace: ‘There are five Prayers which God has prescribed for His servants. For those who perform them properly, without disrespectful omissions, there is a guarantee that God will admit them to Paradise. To those who do not observe them, however, God offers no such guarantee: He may punish them or He may admit them to Paradise, as He wills.’⁵

Said the Prophet, on him be peace: ‘The five set Prayers may be compared to a stream of fresh water, flowing in front of your house, into which you plunge five times each day. Do you think that would leave any dirt on your body?’ When they replied: ‘None at all!’ The Prophet, on him be peace, said: ‘Indeed, the five Prayers remove sins, just as water removes dirt.’⁶

Other sayings of the Prophet, on him be peace:

‘The five set Prayers are an expiation, for there is something amongst them by which major sins are repelled.’⁷

‘What distinguishes us from the Hypocrites is our attendance at late night and early morning Prayers, both of which they miss.’⁸

‘If a man meets God when he has been negligent of the Prayer, God will pay no attention to his other virtues.’⁹

‘Prayer is the pillar of religion; to neglect it is to prepare the downfall of religion.’¹⁰

‘Prayer at the appointed times.’¹¹ (In answer to the question: ‘Which action is the most meritorious?’)

‘If a man performs the five Prayers, in a proper state of purity and at the times prescribed, they will be a light and a proof for him on the Day of Resurrection. But he who misses them will be resurrected along with Pharaoh and Hāmān.’¹²

‘The key to Paradise is ritual Prayer.’¹³

‘After the affirmation of His Unity, no duty God has imposed on His creatures is dearer to Him than ritual Prayer. Had anything been dearer to Him than this, it would have become a form of worship for His angels. As it is [each of them performs part of the Prayer,] some bowing, some prostrating themselves, some standing upright and some sitting on their heels.’¹⁴

‘Anyone who deliberately misses a Prayer has forsaken his faith.¹⁵ That is to say, he has virtually been stripped of faith, since its knot has been untied and its pillar has fallen. The [Arabic verb meaning] ‘has forsaken …’ is used idiomatically, much as one might say that a man ‘has arrived’ when he is very near his destination.

‘If someone deliberately omits a Prayer, he ceases to enjoy the protective custody of Muhammad, on him be peace.’¹⁶

Abū Hurayra, may God be pleased with him, said: ‘If someone makes his ablution and does it well, then sets out with the intention of performing the Prayer, he is already in the state of Prayer while on his way to it. With each two steps he takes, a good deed is added to his record and a bad deed is erased from it. So do not linger when you hear the signal that the Prayer is beginning, for the one who is farthest from home will get the greatest reward.’ They asked: ‘Why is that, Abū Hurayra?’ and he said: ‘Because of all the steps he had to take.’

According to Tradition: ‘Of all a man’s actions, the first to be examined on the Day of Resurrection will be the Prayer. If it is found to be complete, it will be accepted of him along with the rest of his works, but if it is found wanting it will be rejected along with the rest of his deeds. ’¹⁷

The Prophet, on him be peace, said: ‘Abū Hurayra, command your family to perform Prayer, for God will provide you with blessings too numerous to reckon.’¹⁸

A scholar once said: ‘One who performs Prayer is like a merchant, who does not start making a profit until he has recovered all his capital. In similar fashion, one who performs Prayer gets no credit for supererogatory devotions until he has discharged his basic obligations.’

Abū Bakr, may God be pleased with him, used to say: ‘When it is time for Prayer, get up and extinguish the Hellfire you have kindled for yourselves.’

3 Merit of Correct Performance (Ta’dīl)

The Prophet, on him be peace, said: ‘The prescribed Prayer is like a pair of scales: whoever gives full measure will also receive in full.’¹⁹

Yazīd al-Riqāshī said: ‘The Prayer of God’s Messenger, on him be peace, was as even as if it had been perfectly balanced.’²⁰

Traditions of the Prophet, on him be peace:

‘Two members of my Community may perform the Prayer in such a way that their bowing and their prostration are as one, yet their Prayers may be as far apart as heaven and earth.’²¹ (In respect of their humility, that is.)

‘God will have no regard, on the Day of Resurrection, for that servant of His who does not straighten his spine between bowing and making prostration. ’²²

‘Is he not afraid – he who turns his face around in the Prayer – that God may turn his face into that of a donkey?’²³

‘If someone performs his Prayer at the proper time, makes his ablution correctly, does the bowing and prostration properly and observes due humility, that Prayer will rise up, all bright and shining, and will say: “May God take care of you as you have taken care of me!” But if someone performs his Prayer at the wrong time, without correct ablution, not bowing and prostrating properly and not observing due humility, his Prayer will rise up all dark and gloomy, saying: “May God neglect you as you have neglected me.” Then when it has reached wherever God wishes, it will be folded up like an old rag and he will be slapped with it in the face.’²⁴

4 Merit of Congregational Prayer (Jamā’a)

The Prophet, on him be peace, said: ‘The merit of congregational Prayer surpasses that of individual Prayer by twenty-seven degrees.’²⁵

According to Abū Hurayra, the Prophet, on him be peace, once noticed that certain people were missing from the Congregation. He said: ‘I considered appointing someone else to lead the Prayer, while I went to show my disapproval of those absentees by burning down their houses.’²⁶ According to another version, he added: ‘Any one of them would have joined the Congregation if he had expected to get a marrowbone or a couple of trotters.’

According to ‘Uthmān, may God be pleased with him, the blessed Prophet said: ‘To perform the late evening Prayer (‘Ishā’) in congregation is equivalent to spending half the night in vigil, while to perform the dawn Prayer (Fajr) in congregation is like keeping vigil throughout the night.’²⁷

The Prophet, on him be peace, also said: ‘To perform the Prayer in congregation is to fill one’s throat with worship.’²⁸

Sa’īd ibn al-Musayyab said: ‘In all of twenty years, the Call to Prayer has always found me in the Mosque.’

Muhammad ibn Wāsi’ said: ‘Only three things do I wish for in this world: a brother to set me straight if I get crooked; a livelihood for which I do not have to beg; and a congregational Prayer in which I am relieved of absent-mindedness and which is recorded in my favour.’

Ḥātim al-Aṣamm said: ‘I was once too late for congregational Prayer and Abū Isḥāq al-Bukhārī was the only one to commiserate with me. Had I lost a son, more than ten thousand would have offered me their condolences, for people find religious misfortune easier to bear than worldly calamity.’

Ibn ‘Abbās, may God be pleased with him and with his father, said: ‘If a man hears the crier (Muezzin) and does not respond, he does not wish for good and no good is to be expected of him.’

Abū Hurayra, may God be pleased with him, said: ‘Better for a human being to have his ear filled with molten lead, than to hear the Call and fail to respond.’

It is related that Maymūn ibn Mihrān once came to the Mosque, only to be told that the people had all left. He quoted from the Quran: ‘Surely we belong to Allāh, and to Him we are surely returning,’ then said: ‘Truly, the value of this Prayer is dearer to me than the governorship of ‘Irāq.’

Said the Prophet, on him be peace: ‘If a man performs his Prayers in conregation for forty days, never arriving after the “Allāhu Akbar!” of consecration, God will grant him two absolutions: absolution from hypocrisy and absolution from Hellfire.’²⁹

It is said that on the Day of Resurrection a group of people will be assembled, their faces like shining stars. The angels will ask them: ‘How did you conduct yourselves in life?’ To this they will reply: ‘On hearing the Ca...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Transliteration Table
• Foreword
• Translator’s Foreword
• Chapter 1 Prayer – Salat
• Chapter 2 Almsgiving – Zakat
• Chapter 3 Fasting – Sawm
• Chapter 4 Pilgrimage – Hajj
• Chapter 5 Night Vigil – Qiyam al-Layl
• Chapter 6 Invoking Blessings upon God’s Messenger
• Chapter 7 The Merit of Seeking Forgiveness – Istighfar
• Notes