Part 9

2.1 Devotion to Allah in salah is of three levels

Devotion in salah is of three levels:

1) Devotion of the heart: This level safeguards the heart and rectifies its affairs from the sickness of desires and the whispers of Satan, as well as all thoughts that may nullify his salah ot lessen its reward.

2) Devotion of éhsan: This level is when the ‘abd is mindful of Allah in his salah to the degree that he becomes as if he worships Him while seeing Him.

3) Devotion of understanding: This level is reached when the

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

slave reflects upon and comprehends the meanings of the words of Allah (i.e. Qur’an) that he recites. And,when he contemplates the details of the worship (Le. salah) in order to pay its due right in humility and tranquility.

If the slave successfully reaches these three levels, he will have truly established and performed his sa/ah in the most perfect mannet and in return, he will receive the full attention of Allah.

2.2 Devotion in Salah

‘The devotion of standing upright before Allah in salah comes into effect when the slave devotes his attention to the Greatness of Allah and His Attribute of Self-subsistence, as this will ensure that he turns neither his face nor his eyes from side to side.

The devotion of the statement “AW/dh is the Greatest” by which the slave commences the sa/dh’* is realised when the slave devotes his attention and focus to His Pride, Glory and Exaltation.

The devotion of taking refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan is realised by having confidence and faith that Allah shall support him, protect him and aid him against Satan.

% Takbirat al-Ibrim (Vhe opening sakbin).

% Dy'a al-Istifah (The Opening Supplication].

INNER DIMENSIONS OF THE PRAYER

The devotion of reciting the Qur’an lies in the slave’s endeavour to learn about Allah through His Words as if trying to see Him through His revelation. One of the righteous Salaf said: “Allah manifests Himself to His slaves through His Speech (i.e. Qur’an).” It is, however, the case that the degree of devotion while reciting and praying varies from one person to another, and the difference between them is like the difference between the one whose both eyes are sound and unimpaired, and the one-eyed individual, the blind person, the deaf person, etc. in their levels of perception. The ‘abd should be as heedful as possible to His Essence, Attributes, Actions, Commandments, Laws and Names.

The devotion of bowing down is contained in being mindful to the Greatness and the Pride of Allah, Exalted be He, For that reason it is prescribed for him to say while he is in the state of bowing down,

“Glory to my Lord, the Most High.”*”

After he rises up from his bowing stance, he should focus his attention upon glorifying and praising Allah repeatedly, so as to manifest his servitude to Him, the One in whose Hand is the sole authority to bestow and deny.

When the servant falls into prostration, he ought to focus his attention on feeling his nearness to Him, overwhelmed in humility in the hope that He forgives him, guides him, sustains him, protects him and bestows His mercy upon him. Then, when he raises his head and adopts the sitting posture, his inner condition

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

The feeling of bitterness he endures is due to his recognition that all this lasts only as long as he is praying. At this stage, the heart cannot but feel burdened and troubled knowing that all this is about to end and that he is about to return to these worldly affairs and concerns. This agitates the ‘bd to the point that he starts wishing that this sa/ah were the final act of his life. Not to mention the slave’s awareness that as soon as he finishes praying be will resume communicating with those who bring him nothing but concerns, worries and harm after he had been invoking and supplicating his Lord. However, this kind of feeling cannot be experienced except by those whose hearts are alive with the remembrance and love of Allah and who are cognisant of the negative effect that mankind leaves on their hearts. This is because interacting with people puts him in the way of harm and worries, agitates his heart and makes him overlook or miss good deeds, not to mention causing him to commit more sins. More importantly, it distracts him from invoking Allah, the most High.

INNER DIMENSIONS OF THE PRAYER

2.3 Discussion on Taslim

The ‘abd (of Allah) is either exposed to:

1) The universally decreed Judgment of Allah pertaining to his inward and outward conditions, which necessitates him to act in accordance with his state of servitude and slavery to Allah, since each judgment is associated with a special condition of servitude to Allah.

2) The actions that the ‘abd performs out of his servitude to Allah and these necessitate the judgments that ensue from the prescribed religious commandments.

Hach of these aspects necessitate that the “abd (of Allah) submits himself to Allah, Exalted be He. In fact, this is the reason for naming him a Muslim, with reference to Islam - which is derived from the word /asfim, which means submission. As the slave submits to the divine law of his Lord as well as His universally decreed Judgment by demonstrating his servitude to Him and abstaining from following his own desires and sins, he will be as if he’s saying: I am destined to bear the title of Islam deservedly.

2.4 Exposition on the fruits a-Khushi‘

After his heart has been filled with tranquility through the remembrance of Allah, recitation of His Words, expressing his love for Him as well as demonstrating his servitude to Him, he leans towards his Lord and draws closer to Him to find peace, receiving safety and peace through his ian and experiencing happiness through his shsan. It is for this reason that, abiding by these two ideals is of utmost necessity, failing this he shall neither enjoy life, success nor happiness. However, because the slave has been tried with an innate nature that entices him to commit sins, base

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

desires that serve the callings of his innate nature, not to mention the seductive whispers of Satan, all of which aim to waste his share of his reward or, at the very least, decrease his share of the teward, the wisdom of Allah, the Most Merciful and the Mighty, has decreed for him the sa/ah, to compensate him for the missed reward and to revive his willpower and rectify his iman. The Mercy and Wisdom of Allah manifest themselves again when He, Exalted be He, Decreed a period of time to pass between five prayers so that the slave can regain his composure and blot out the sins he earned in between.

Furthermore, He made the actions of salah such that they symbolise his submission, surrender and humility to Allah; thus He made for each body limb a duty to perform what demonstrates its servitude to Allah. He also made the spirit of salah and the means to reap its fruits that the slave give his full attention and complete devotion to Allah. And he made its reward and place be when he enters upon Allah (i.e. commences sa/é) and He ordered his ‘abd to adorn himself before commencing the sa/ah as a reminder for him of the Day of Judgment when he shall be screened for questioning.

2.5 The fruit of salah is true devotion to Allah

The fruit of fasting is the purification of the soul. The fruit of akéh (obligatory alms) is the purification of wealth. The fruit of hajj (pilgrimage) is forgiveness. The fruit of jihad (fighting is submitting the soul) that Allah bartered from His servants in exchange for Paradise. ‘The fruit of sa/éh is the attention of the ‘abd upon his Lord and the attention of Allah given to His ‘abd. However embarking towards Allah with complete devotion in salah encompasses all the aforementioned fruits because the fruits of all good

INNER DIMENSIONS OF THE PRAYER

deeds are found when the “bd embarks towards Allah with true devotion.

2.6 Why salah gives us comfort?

Meaning, call for the prayer so that we can pray and relieve ourselves from the hardships of this life, just as how a tired person finds repose as soon as he arrives at his house and settles down in it, breaking away from the hardships and the fatigue he enduted outside.

You ought to pause and reflect again upon his choice of words that reveal another subtlety; the Prophet (g¥)did not say, let us relieve ourselves from the burden of duty (i.e. salah), which is the attitude of those who pray just to release themselves from the obligation of praying, who feel hassled every time they have to ptay - and when they pray they cannot wait to finish it because the source of their comfort is found outside the salah, since their hearts