Part 8

1.33 Servitude in al-Tashabbud and the meaning of al-Tabiyyat

prefixed by the definite article (a/) that semantically indicates that these greetings encompass all greetings. And, the word itself is detived from another word (/ayah) that means life; thus it affirms the perpetuity of the greeted. This is similar to how they used to say to their kings: “(we hope) you live the life yet to come’, or ‘(we hope) you have an everlasting life’, or “(we hope) you live ten thousand years’ and so forth. These are the roots of their statements (that we hear to this day): ‘I ask Allah to never cease your days and Task Allah to lengthen your life’,and so on and so forth... all these are used to mean continuation and prolongation of one’s life or kingship. For this reason, all such expressions should be used for ‘Allah alone because He is the All-Living, Self-Subsisting and Everlasting One.

Next in these supreme greetings comes the word al-salawat, which affirms the exclusivity of salah to Allah alone. It is for this reason, the word is used in a plural format and structured with the definite article (ato assett that anything that can be called salah, be it exclusive or general, is for Allah alone and befits none except Him.

1.34 The wisdom behind interlinking a/+Tapbiyyat and al-Salawat

The wisdom behind interlinking these two words al-Tabiyyat and al-Salawat is that al-Tabiyyat belong to Allah alone as He has ownership of us and a/-Salawat belong to Him as we are His slaves, and both of these are entitlements exclusive to Him; greetings are given to Him alone and prayers ate intended for Him alone. Then the adjective word al-Tayibat (the good and pure) is used to qualify His Attributes and His Kingship. It conveys the meaning that He is Good, and so is His Speech, Actions and everything that comes

INNER DIMENSIONS OF THE PRAYER

from Him and attributed to Him or associated with His Names. That is to say, His Essence, His actions, His words, and all that He attributed or associated to Himself such as: His house”', His servant”, His spirit”, His camel” ete. are all good.

The meanings of all goodly statements a/-Kalima al-Tayyib are His too as they encompass extolling, praising, glorifying and exalting Him with His Attributes and for His Graces such as saying:

ABB UNG HE “You are glorified O Allah and praised! Your Name is

Blessed; Your Majesty is Exalted and none has the right to be worshipped save You”*>

and estas Can Spel V5 ob Anshy dtu “Glorified is Allah and Praise and thanks be to Allah,

and There is none worthy of worship save You and Allah is the Greatest.”

% SubbanakAllébumma wa bibamdika, wa tabérakasmuka, wa ta‘dlé jadduka, wa la ilaba ghayruk,

1.35 The Noblest words after the Qur'an

and class alban 5 Paty Cal Spe Vy “There is none worthy of worship save You, Allah is

the Greatest, Glorified is Allah and Praise and thanks be to Allah.”

and other similar expressions. All good emanates from Him and to Him it belongs; He is Good and accepts nothing but good. He is the Lord and the Jah of the good; and those who will neighbor Him in the house of honour (Le. Paradise) are the good ones.

1.35 The Noblest words after the Qur’an

You ought to contemplate the best words and expressions that ate second only to the Qur’an, such as

“Glory be to Allah, and to Him is all Praise, Glory be to Allah, the Most Perfect (and all Greatness is for Him].

and way YB V5 IV

“There is no power or might except in Allah””

2 Sybban Allah wa bi Hamdihi, Subban Allahi al‘Agim, 2% Ta ilaha illa Allah, Allabu Akbar, SubbanAllab, Albamdulillab

% 1.4 Hawla wa lé Quuwata illa Billah.

INNER DIMENSIONS OF THE PRAYER

It is only then that you will realise that such words cannot be used to address anyone besides Allah.

This is because “Subban Allah” denotes that Allah is far above any defect or shortcoming, and that His Attributes are far beyond those of His creation. As for “Albamdulillah”, it testifies to the ultimate Perfection of His Words, Actions and Attributes. The words “Ld ilaha Allah” affirm that He is the only Lord and ab worthy of worship and and everything else that is worshipped besides Allah is falsehood, He is the only true //dh; anyone who takes an I/ab other than Him will be like a man who takes the (weak and fragile) house of spiders as his house, to which he retreats in hope of protecting himself from heat and cold, which surely shall not benefit him in the least. The words “Alléhu Akbar” affirm that He is Greater, more supreme, prouder, more powerful and more knowledgeable than anyone or anything other than Him. ‘This is why neither these words nor their underlying meanings ate appropriate to use in reference to anyone or anything other Allah.

1.36 Servitude in a/-Tashim

After greeting Allah, it is then prescribed for the “abd to send greetings upon all the righteous slaves of Allah - the persons whom Allah has favoured and chosen. This part of the greeting is positioned right after the greetings and praise of Allah, in conformation to the order mentioned in the aah,

“Say [O Muhammad (48): Praise be to Allah, and peace

be upon His servants whom He has chosen.”

1.37 The Meaning of the two Shabadahs in al-Tahiyyat

Not to mention that since it is a greeting intended for the created, (therefore as a matter of etiquette) it should not precede the greetings addressed to the Creator.

Within the greeting intended for His righteous slaves, Allah has prescribed that they be addressed in otder of the ranks of the recipients, so that the first to be greeted is the one who deserves it the most: the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (#8), whose nation received every form of good only through him. The second person to be greeted is the slave himself, followed by the rest of the pious slaves of Allah, the best among whom are the Prophets and Angels followed by the Companions of the Prophet and then the followers of all Prophets, and all the righteous slaves occupying the heavens and the earth. At the end, it is prescribed for him to send salutations of peace upon all those who deserve to be greeted, in particular and in general.

1.37 The Meaning of the two Shahadahs in a+ Tabiyyat

‘Then it is prescribed for the ‘abd to bear witness and declare the testimony of truth upon which the sa/dh is built, as well as one of its rights upon him; that is to say, if he does not testify it, the salah will be of no benefit to him. This is to testify that Allah revealed to His Messenger the Message (Le. Iskim).With this testimony, the salah is finished, as per the statement of “Abdullah ibn Mas‘td (radiyAllahu ‘anhn): “After you say it (Le. the two testimonies), your salah will have been finished; you have the choice then to either

get up or remain sitting down.”””

However, this word (ie. finish) can be interpreted linguistically * Abi Dawud #970.

INNER DIMENSIONS OF THE PRAYER

After having concluded the salah, the ‘abd is permitted to ask Allah for anything he wants.

1.38 Sending a/-Sa/at upon the Prophet (38)

It is prescribed for him to intercede by sending salah upon the Prophet (g8) before he starts beseeching Allah for his needs, because sending saldh upon the Prophet (8) is one of the most important intercessory means to be utilised before invoking Allah. Itis reported in the Sunan books of hadith that Fudalah ibn “Ubayd (radiyAllabu ‘anbu) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (88) said: “If any one of you prays, he should commence by glorifying his Lord and praising Him; he should invoke peace and blessings on the Prophet (4) and thereafter he should supplicate to Allah for

*' bear the witness that there is no J/ah worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger.

* Aba Dawid #3116.

1.38 Sending al-Salat upon the Prophet (48)

‘This supplication comes at the end of the salah after the greetings and the salah upon the Messenger of Allah (38); thereafter the ‘ahd has the choice and freedom to ask Allah for what he wants.

1.39 The Sunnah of the Adhan

This is similar to what has been prescribed for the ‘abd to do upon hearing the adhan;

1) To repeat the phrases uttered during the adban

2) To say at its conclusion: I am content and pleased that Allah is my Lord, Islam is my religion, and Muhammad is the Messenger

3) To ask Allah to grant the Prophet (gg) the right of intercession and ascendancy and to grant him (on the Day of Judgment) the best and the highest place in Paradise which You promised him

4) Then to send sa/éh upon him

5) And finally to ask Allah for his needs

The prescribed five acts mentioned above should nevet be overlooked.

The Secret of Sa/dh lies in devotion to Allah

The secret and the essence of salah is to devote oneself to Allah while praying -just as the slave should not turn his face away from the direction of the giblab, he should also disallow his heart from giving attention to anything except his Lord. Therefore the abd should let the Ka‘bah - the House of Allah - be the direction of his body and face, and let Allah be the direction of his heart and soul. Allah shall give His attention to His “bd in proportion to the level of his devotion and focus in sa/éh. Thus, if he turns away from Allah (by becoming unmindful), He too shall turn away from him - truly, as you judge, shall you yourself be judged.