Part 10

“ Aba Dawid #4985,

Chapter Tivo: The Secret of Salah les in devotion to Allah

are filled with everything except Allah. T’hus, praying merely keeps them from indulging in this worldly life that they love so much. They are easily observed from their manner of performing prayer; they pray in a rush and lack tranquility and calmness. The only thing that compels them to pray in the first place is that they know it is a must (obligation). However, their salah is deficient; they utter with their tongues that which does not conform to what is in their hearts. All the while, the voice of their heart echos, let’s get this sa/db over with! Therefore the difference between a petson whose comfort is found in the salah and a person whose comfort is found outside the salah is obvious and self-evident. The former finds salah to be a grace upon his heart through which he experiences tranquility, calmness and pleasure, whereas the latter finds salah akin to heavy chains shackling his limbs and a gloomy cell imprisoning his heart.

"Truly, those whose comfort is not found in saléh feel as if praying was a prison for their soul and chains confining their limbs from committing sins. Despite that, the salah of this type of people might be a means whereby their sins are forgiven and they receive a share of Allah’s Mercy depending on how much servitude to Allah they manage to demonstrate while praying. But on the other hand, it is also possible they might be punished for the deficiency in their salah. As for those whose comfort is to be found in salah, for them praying is the garden in which they find comfort, pleasure, tranquility, and the grace of their hearts and souls. It brings them nearer to Allah and elevates their rank, so that they only have a reward similar to those that preceded, but they also enjoy a special rank that none ever had, by being brought near to Allah, in addition to the mete reward they receive for the performance of their salah.

INNER DIMENSIONS OF THE PRAYER

2.7 From the benefits of Sa/ah is nearness to Allah

It is customary for kings to promise reward and nearness to those whom they are pleased with. The magicians said to pharaoh,

Heisei abs “Is there indeed for us a reward if we are the predominant?”

and he answered that they would be rewarded and be among those near to him, saying OWNS KGS 556 “Yes, and, [moreover], you will be among those made

The example of the first type is like a man who entered the abode of the king but was unable to gain entrance to him as there was a barrier standing between him and the king, hence he was unable to see him or gain access to this person. The battier is an embodiment of his desires and lusts as well as the smoke screen of his hopeful wishes in this life; his heart is sick and his self is wrapped up in what it desires wanting only its immediate share in this life. It is for these reasons that all the while they pray they are in an unhappy state wherein they are not only unable to obtain any comfort, but are also empty of feelings of fear and hope in Allah, which makes prayer a suffering for them that only ceases when they finish praying, as only then are they able to return to that in which they find their comfort (i.e. worldly affairs and pleasures),

Chapter Two: The Secret of Salah lies in devotion to Allah

The example of the second type is like a man who entered the house of the king upon which the barrier screening him from the king is removed; thus he is able to find delight in looking at the king and being at his service and in his obedience. In return, the king lavishes upon him every form of grace and brings him near to himself, For all these reasons, he is unable to bear leaving the house and wishes to remain standing before him to enjoy the sweetness of being close to him, the tranquility that he experiences from it, and being held in esteem by Allah while he basks in His good Words (i.e. Qur’an). He also enjoys being in such a state of humbleness and humility before Him, for which he invokes Him more and more while he is being showered with His graces from every direction, not to mention the calmness that his soul experiences while his heart and limbs are fully attentive to his Lord. He is pleased and comfortable, worshipping Allah as if he sees Him, for He manifests Himself to him through His Words (.e. Que’An). It should thus come as no surprise that the most distressing thing for him is to have to leave all that (i.e. conclude the salah). And Allah is the Guide and the Helper.

‘The aforementioned are just some brief glimpses and hints about

saléh and a disclosure of some of its subtle qualities and hidden gems.

Distinction between the people of a/-Sama‘and the people of Salah

I call upon the people (a/Sama') who indulge themselves in listening (to music and songs) and I ask them by Allah, the One and only truthful ah worthy of worship, to tell me if the experience and enjoyment they attain from listening to songs could ever be equal to, or even vaguely similar to, such feelings and state of heart! Moreover, I ask them, by Allah, to tell me whether their indulgence in songs would allow them at all to experience these sublime emotions and state of heart when they pray? In fact, I would like to know if they have ever even detected from afar the fragrance of such sublime emotions and experiences!

I will take the liberty of answering these questions on their behalf, and I swear by Allah that the experience and enjoyment attained from praying is incongruous with, and bears not an iota of resemblance to the experience and enjoyment they attain from listening to songs.(I fear that I might end up writing a long chapter, otherwise I would have mentioned some of what they experience when listening to songs, in order to explain the nature of this type of listening.)

A person whose heart has life in it and who enjoys even a mini-

Chapter Three: Distinction between the people of alSama‘ and the people

mal level of understanding shall realise the difference between the experience and enjoyment attained from reciting the Words of Allah (.c. Qur’in) and the experience and enjoyment attained from singing lyrics. And he shall recognise the difference between the experience and enjoyment attained from standing before Allah, the Lord of all the worlds (in sa/ah) and the experience and enjoyment attained from standing before singers (and musicians). He will also understand the difference between the experience and enjoyment attained from comprehending the meanings of the Words of Allah and the experience and enjoyment they attain from singing and enrapturement, which is the spell of fornication and the Qur’an of Satan. By Allah, whenever the love of both tastes (ic. Qur’an and songs) enters the heart of a petson, only one of them can remain in the heart as one of them will expel the other; just as the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (4g) and the daughter of the enemy of Allah cannot ever be married at the same time to one man." And Allah, Exalted be He, Knows best.

“| He quotes a part of a hadith in which the Prophet (3) disliked ‘All ibn Abi ‘Talib to marry the daughter of Abii Jabl.

Bukhari #2943 and Muslim #2449. This part is used as a metaphor to mean that the words of Allah and the words of Satan cannot gather in one place.

It is only when the hearts that have deviated far from the guidance of the Prophet (ig) and have abandoned what he, his Companions and the righteous Salaf were upon, become upright that they will regain the discernment through which they can experience the right enjoyment and sensation. ‘Ihe early generations used to find enjoyment in matters pertaining to Allah, Exalted be He, such as: praying, reciting the Qur’an, contemplating on the Words of Allah and listening to them, attending the assemblies of scholars and the gatherings of knowledge, fighting in battles for the sake of Allah, enjoining the good and forbidding the wrongdoing, loving and despising people for the sake of Allah, etc. However, the preference of the later generations, except those whom Allah saved, became distorted and they sought enjoyment in musical instruments, songs, dancing, noise and clamour, while desisting from doing deeds that Allah loves. Indeed, the experience and enjoyment attained from melodies is nothing like the experience and enjoyment attained from the Qur’an. The experience and enjoyment attained from musical instruments is nothing like the experience and enjoyment attained from reciting a/-Nir? and

al-My’minin. The experience and enjoyment attained from tunes is nothing like the experience and enjoyment attained from the a/- Zumar, and the expetience and enjoyment obtained from flutes is nothing like the experience and enjoyment attained from the aah,

“The Hour has come neat, and the moon has split [in two].”

“ Surah al-Saffit (37)

INNER DIMENSIONS OF THE PRAYER

The expetience and enjoyment of those who stand on their feet serving Satan is in nothing at all like the experience and enjoyment of those who stand on their feet serving the most Merciful while reciting a/-An‘an and al-ArGpf'.The experience and enjoyment of those in rapture upon being overwhelmed by music is nothing like the experience and enjoyment of the knower (“rif) when listening to the Great Qur’an and, in particular, when listening to a/-Fatibab. And, the experience and enjoyment of those who jostle in Satan’s barn to listen to music is nothing like the experience and enjoyment of those who crowd before the Most Merciful.