prayer

Towards Perfecting Prayer : how the nations before us went wrong

Listening to the tafseer of Surah Maryam, I was really touched by the lessons taught regarding the importance of salaah (prayer).
From Salaam Studios, Shaykh Jangda in a month long Intensive course on Surah Maryam on YouTube eloquently explained how the really bad nations before us that were involved in the worst of sins and evil deeds. It all started with them being neglectful of the prayer. Some scholars interpret being neglectful as being reducing the quality of prayer by rushing, or delaying prayer or just not going to the Musjid at all. Whichever way it was, it was surely all downhill from there. 
Why is that? Well he explains, if you can’t be good to Allah ( ie  fulfill His rights), then how can fulfill anyone else’s?
It goes like this :
When you choose not to pray your salaah, you are in effect just looking after yourself. So then you stop feeling like helping other people as you are self absorbed with your own desires. That leads on to you interacting with bad people. Then, when at times you  feel a bit guilty, you start seeing the Day of Judgement- not something believable as a reality when you are so busy with having a good time here and now. This is how you can become totally distracted and on the wrong path.
We hear the stories about the people of the past that were destroyed… And it seems to us so distant from us – but are we not also guilty of neglecting the prayers to some extent… So in reality how close are we to becoming that way and how important is it that we halt our negligence of prayer right away!

 Related in Muslim : A man came to the Prophet (saws) and said O Prophet of Allah (saws),what is the act or deed most loved by Allah?The Prophet (saws) replied:  To pray ones prayers on time. The man asked further: What (deed or act most loved by Allah) next? The Prophet (saws) replied: Obedience to ones parents.The man asked further: What (deed or act most loved by Allah) next?The Prophet (saws) replied: Jihaad in the Way of Allah.

Some Very Practical Steps I have been inspired to take to perfect the prayer, as suggested from Shaykh: 
 1. Pray salaah when the time of the prayer starts  -It’s a really simple thought, but I found if I do this, I feel more relaxed during and after the prayer. I now live in a country where I am fortunate to hear the adhaan live, giving me every chance possible to do this. Knowing it’s a teaching from the sunnah is a great boost as well.
2. If the above is not possible (due to work or another valid  reason), then fix a personal specific time of prayer (within reason of course!), so in your schedule you know that at 2pm everyday you will pray Zuhr, for instance. Then you can work your day around this. Certainly in Europe during winter this became a must as the days were so short, and with an hour or so between the day’s prayers I had to set specific times to pray and not miss the time!
3. Work our salaah! When Nabi Muhammad (may peace be upon him), was sad when there was a pause between revelation, he was advised to turn to prayer as a means of still connecting to Allah. We can do the same. All we have to do is turn salaah from being a ritual to it being functional – a source of comfort, a way to connect and speak to Allah. And we know that through reciting Surah Faatiha,  Allah responds to us. How much more meaningful can the prayer now be for us?
Towards perfecting prayers Insha Allah,
M4life

Keeping teaching prayer and charity to my children IN HOUSE!

Salaams
 
Came across this whilst listening to the tafseer of Surah Maryam by Shaykh Jangda. Really interesting advice about this verse from the Quraan (19:55).
 
“He used to enjoin on his people Prayer and Charity, and he was most acceptable in the sight of his Lord”
 
This is referring to Ismaeel (son of Abraham May peace be upon them both) and we can learn from it the importance of us being the teachers to our own children and family about these two important pillars in Islam. It is not good enough to outsource this to someone outside- no matter how learned. These are fundamental practices in Islam that have so many benefits- such as learning discipline, time management, social awareness etc. If a child learns about prayer from outside, then he associates this very significant aspect of his life with that other than his own parents – and in many ways this is a loss to the parent-child connection. Therefore we should be the ones to teach our children basics like making wudu (ablution before prayer), praying and giving charity. For more specialised areas like hifdh (memorisation of the Quraan) for instance, that would make sense to have an expert to instruct the kids as they have more in depth knowledge and skill. However the basics, we gotta keep that in house 🙂
 
I even have an idea to involve my future children Insha Allah in my annual Zakaah (compulsory charity) calculation – let them go around counting their teddy bears and dolls and give out 2.5% of their toys to charity (or better still a poor family we know)- how fun and relevant this can be for them to learn first hand what it means- not just the theory when they hit school.
 

Keeping up the Ibaadah when you cant fast or pray Salaah/Quraan during Ramadaan

Salaams

Ah that moment during Ramadaan when you have to stop fasting due to natural reasons!

For me its a bit dreaded because I have been enjoying the month so much, the barakah and blessings, adjusted schedule, building up a momentum with ibaadah and achieving so much. But Allah knows best, and whilst I do feel a pang of disappointment, I know it is Allah’s Will and His Timing – so it must be Perfect, so I’m just going to get on with it!

I did plan for this time beforehand, trying to increase Quraan recitation and Salaah especially, knowing I could do my Istighfaar and other tasbeehs during the time when I am “not reading”. So come that time, and I’m amped!

One thing I wanted to ensure was that I would use the usual time for Salaah and Quraan recitation for ibaadah – and not waste it with anything else. So here are some ideas inspired to me through the Mercy of Allah, for keeping up the Ibaadah when you cant fast or pray Salaah:

– listen to Quraan recitation. a great way to revise as well if you have memorised some parts of the Quraan.
– listen to Tafsir of surahs, especially the ones you read often, or know by memory, My favourite resource for this is a detailed series by Nouman Ali Khan available on YouTube
– Read Extra duroods on Nabi (SAW)
– Read extra tasbeeh – Laailaaha Illallah, Subhanallah etc

So in this way the time I usually spent on Salaah is still maintained using these alternative beautiful ways to worship, Alhamdulillah. May Allah accept.

What else do you do during this time when you cant pray salaah? Share your ideas and Inshallah many people can benefit!