The Gift of Prayer

The Gift of Prayer

A Journey of Journeys

from a Journey of Journeys

Jumuʿah Khuṭbah | Friday, 15^th June 2012

laylah al-miʿrāj | ṣalāh | the heart and tongue

 

Bismillāh wa al-ḥamdu lillāh

wa al-ṣalātu wa al-salāmu ʿalā rasūlillāh,

ʿāmmā baʿd:

Qur’ān [17:1], “Glory be to Him who took his bondman on a journey by night from al-Masjid al-Ḥarām to al-Masjid al-Aqṣā whose surroundings We have blessed, in order to show him some of Our Signs. He is the All-Hearing the All-Seeing.”

Qur’ān [53:1-19], “By the star when it descends, your companion is not misguided or misled, nor does he speak from whim. It is nothing but Revelation revealed, taught to him by one immensely strong, possessing power and splendour. He stood, stationary, there on the highest horizon. Then he drew near to him and hung suspended, he was two bow-lengths away or even closer. Then He revealed to His slave what He revealed. His heart did not lie about what he saw. What! Do you dispute with him about what he saw? He saw him again another time by the Lote-tree of the Final Limit, beside which is the Garden of Refuge, when that which covered the Lote-tree covered it. His eye did not waver, nor did he look away. He saw some of the greatest signs of his Lord.”

Laylah al-Miʿrāj occurred, according to the majority of the ʿulamā’, one year before the hijrah, on the 27^th of rajab. Although, the blessed Prophet (upon him and his family salutations and peace) had already seen Allāh in Divinely Inspired Dreams before, the miʿrāj allowed for the blessed Prophet (upon him and his family salutations and peace) to experience the meeting of His Lord in physical person, which is also the one muʿjizah that no other Prophet or Messenger was granted, except the blessed Prophet.

What is a muʿjizah? The word muʿjizah commonly means miracle. In Arabic it is from the root word ʿajaza which means to fail, to disable or inability. So the word muʿjizah means something that occurs, that it disables the mind, causing inability of comprehension and failure of understanding. There are four types of unnatural occurrences that can take place; first is irhāṣ: a miracle that may occur from a Prophet before they announce their Prophethood; second is muʿjizah: a miracle that may occur from a Prophet after they announce their Prophethood; third is kirāmah: a miracle that may occur from someone other than a prophet but is a pious, steadfast believer, a friend of Allāh; and fourth is istidrāj: a miracle that may occur from a hypocrite, non-believer, etc.

The miʿrāj then, as we know is a muʿjizah as it is a miracle associated with the blessed Prophet (upon him and his family salutations and peace) that occurred after he had announced his Prophethood. It is a physical experience that took place whilst he was awake, in which he was granted a special meeting with Allāh.

The precursor to laylah al-miʿrāj: over the period of the first ten years of his life, the blessed Prophet’s father, mother and grandfather had already passed away. After already incurring such grave losses, from the time the blessed Prophet (upon him and his family salutations and peace) announced his Prophethood, he had to face grave hardships. These hardships included social and economic boycotting as well as exile. In the tenth year of Prophethood, not only did his uncle, Abū Ṭālib, but also his beloved wife, Khadījah al-Kubrā, pass away, leaving the blessed Prophet (upon him and his family salutations and peace) alone to face the wrath of the people of Makkah. There was now no one from the household of the blessed Prophet to defend him and the quraysh took advantage of this as did others.

The blessed Prophet (upon him and his family salutations and peace) and Ṭā’if: after realising that his efforts in Makkah were not bearing fruit, the blessed Prophet (upon him and his family salutations and peace) left Makkah and went to Ṭā’if to continue spreading the word of Islām. Tā’if was based one hundred and twenty miles outside of Makkah and the inhabitants, at the time, were known as the banī thaqīf. The area was lush and blooming with beauty. Apple trees and grape vines ran for miles, cold, sweet water flowed between the trees. The people of Makkah had made homes there, so when Makkah would become too hot, they would come to Ṭā’if for holidays. Due to the wealth there, the banī thaqīf also paid attention to their children’s education, who in turn specialised in astronomy and medicine.

The blessed Prophet (upon him and his family salutations and peace) stayed there between ten days and a month. He visited many houses and urged people to believe in the one God but they refused and poked fun at him. A man said, “If Allāh has sent you as a messenger of God then I have torn the cover of the kaʿbah to pieces.” Another said, “Did God not find anyone other than you whom He could send as a Messenger?” Before the blessed prophet left he asked the banī thaqīf to keep what happened in Ṭā’if here, between them (as he knew that the people of Makkah would take advantage of this news) but they did not listen. Instead they told every passerby about what had happened and how they had treated the blessed Prophet (upon him and his family salutations and peace). In fact they went far enough as to say, “O Muḥammad, get out of our city.” However, they did not stop here.

The elders rounded up the youngsters and ordered them to form a march. They pelted the blessed Prophet (upon him and his family salutations and peace) with rocks and stones. Each time he would place his blessed foot on the ground they would make it their target and after continuous efforts, on the youth’s behalf, the blessed Prophet’s (upon him and his family salutations and peace) feet began to bleed. Any place of exit was marked by these youths. Whenever the blessed Prophet became tired he would try and sit down but the youths would grab him by the arms and pick him right back up, threw more stones and then laughed at him. A companion called Zayd bin Ḥārithah would continuously stand in front of the blessed Prophet (upon him and his family salutations and peace) and act as a shield but he too was heavily wounded.

Zayd bin Ḥārithah: once he and a munāfiq (hypocrite) travelled to an abandoned place. When Zayd went to sleep, the munāfiq tied his arms. Zayd asked why he had done this and in reply he said, “I want to slaughter you because you love the Prophet (upon him and his family salutations and peace).” Zayd then cried out, “Yā Raḥmānu aghithnī (O Most Merciful, help me)!” The munāfiq heard a voice ordering him not to kill Zayd. He went out to see who it was but could not find anyone and so he made a second attempt to kill Zayd who again cried out, “Yā Raḥmānu aghithnī!” This time the munāfiq heard the same voice but a little closer which ordered him not to kill Zayd. He went out again, but saw nothing and then made a third attempt to kill Zayd who again cried out, “Yā Raḥmānu aghithnī!” This time the munāfiq heard a voice right outside the door, ordering him not to kill Zayd. This time when he went out he saw a man standing there with a weapon, who then killed him (the munāfiq). The man came inside and untied Zayd, who asked who he was, he said, “I am Jibrīl, and when the first time you called out I was at the place of the Final Limit, the second time I was at the sky of this world and the third time at the door of this abandoned place, and so I killed the munāfiq.” Tafsīr Kabīr, Fakhr al-Din al-Rāzī.

The blessed Prophet (upon him salutations and peace) was severely wounded and as result became very weak, he found a vineyard close by where he took shelter near some vines and prayed two rakʿah nafl. When he finished the blessed Prophet (upon him salutations and peace) raised his blessed hands, his heart broken, body in pain, he supplicated Allāh, invoking His Mercy. The pearls that poured from the lips of the blessed Prophet (upon him salutations and peace) know no bounds of humbleness or humility. Even at that point, in such a state, where even the likes of the Prophets Yūnus – who left his people – and Nūḥ - who prayed to Allāh for total destruction of the disbelieving mankind – the blessed Prophet (upon him salutations and peace) shed tears only about how it was he who Allāh was angry with, attributing failure to himself (but as we know this is something we cannot say about the blessed Prophet (upon him salutations and peace), only he can call himself sinful or weak. We merely relate his words and take guidance from the patience and humbleness he practiced even at such testing times). Imagine the moment, try and recreate this scenario in your minds. What would you say to Allāh? How would you ask from Him and what would you ask from Him? As always, the blessed Prophet (upon him salutations and peace) gave us a beautiful example, and so below is the supplication made by the blessed Prophet after the Ṭā’if attack:

“Allāhumma innī ashkū ilayka ḍūʿfa quwwatī, wa qillata ḥīlatī, wa hawānī ʿala al-nās. Yā arḥam al-rāḥimīna anta rabbu al-mustaḍʿafīna, wa anta rabbī ilā man takilnī ilā baʿīdin yatajahhamunī au ilā ʿaduwwin malaktahū amrī in lam yakun bika ʿalayya ghaḍabun falā ubālī wa lākin ʿāfiyatuka au saʿu lī. Aʿūdhu bi nūri wajhika alladhī ashraqat lahu al-ḍhulumātu wa ṣaluḥa ʿalayhi amru al-dunyā wa al-ākhirati min an tunzila bī ghaḍabaka au taḥulla ʿalayya sukhṭaka laka al-ʿutbā ḥattā tarḍā, wa lā ḥaula wa lā quwwata illā bika.”

“O Allāh! I bring to you the complaint of my lack of strength, the lack of my power to act, my weakness in the eyes of people. O Most Merciful of Merciful, You are the Lord of the weak! You are my Lord also. In whose care did You leave me? With such who treat me so harshly, or have You made enemies the lord of my fate? If you are not angry with me then I am happy in this state but even still ʿāfiyyah (health, preservation, outer/inner peace, serenity, guidance) and Your protection is more beloved to me. I seek refuge with the Light of Your Existence, with which darkness becomes light and matters of this world and the next are remedied. That you reveal Your anger upon me and Your disappointment, I will carry on seeking Your happiness until You are pleased. Without You I have no power, neither any ability.”

The blessed Prophet (upon him and his family salutations and peace) was approached by Jibrīl who conveyed Allāh’s greetings and presented the Angel of Mountains. He greeted the Prophet and said, “If you so wish I can turn the mountains upside down upon these people and finish them.” The Prophet replied, “No I shall be patient, maybe one of their descendants will believe in the One God.” Further it is narrated from ʿĀ’ishah (upon her peace) that the blessed Prophet held the experience in Ṭā’if even more hurtful than the battle of Uḥud. Know then that it was these difficulties that the blessed Prophet withstood and Allāh rewarded him, after a short time, with the journey of all journeys, al-miʿrāj.

The miʿrāj has three parts to it; first is isrā which is from al-masjid al-ḥarām to ­al-masjid al-aqṣā; second is miʿrāj which is from al-masjid al-aqṣā to sidrah al-muntahā (the place of the final limit); and third is iʿrāj which is from sidrah al-muntahā to qāba qausayn (the two bows) and even further.

Know that much can be said about the miʿrāj. Enchanting chronicles that concern the unknown can be listed from Jibrīl (upon him peace) waking the blessed Prophet (upon him and his family salutations and peace) up, opening his chest and bathing it with the kauthar (water from heaven) to his departure upon the burāq (four-legged creature, smaller than a mule, but magnificent and beautiful, faster than lightning) to Jerusalem; seeing Musā (upon him peace) in his grave along the way; leading all the Prophets and Messengers in prayer; to mounting the rafraf (stone) and ascending the skies and heavens; meeting the different prophets; meeting Allāh becoming one with Him; the secret talks and exchanging of gifts, all can be discussed in great detail. What is key to this lecture, however, is one of the gifts that Allāh gave the blessed Prophet (upon him salutations and peace).

Upon returning from miʿrāj Allāh gave the blessed Prophet (upon him and his family salutations and peace) a gift for his people called ṣalāh. At the time there were fifty in number, however, Musā (upon him peace) advised the blessed Prophet to have them decreased. Some ʿulamā write that they were reduced five times and some write nine times. This depends on whether the reduction was five at a time or ten. In any case, Allāh said to His beloved, “Your people may read five but will be rewarded the bounties of fifty.” Bukhārī and Muslim.

Thus ṣalāh is important in so much of the sense that it connects us to the greatest muʿjizah that ever occurred amongst the Prophets. It allows us to unite with Allāh in a physical capacity, not in terms of seeing him, rather by standing, bowing and prostrating – This is why it is our journey of journeys given to us by the blessed Prophet (upon him salutations and peace) on his journey of journeys. – We begin by uttering His greatness, continue by reciting His very words – remember that the words of the Qur’ān are the kalām (speech) of Allāh, and so connected to Him directly – and end by repeating some of the secret words that were exchanged by the blessed Prophet and Allāh – Allāh said, “Assalāmu ʿalayka ayyuhan nabiyyu wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh (peace be upon you O Prophet and may Allāh’s Mercy and Bounty be upon you).” and the Prophet replied, “Assalāmu ʿalayna wa ʿala ʿibādillāhiṣ ṣāliḥīn (peace be upon us and the pious slaves of Allāh).” – What an amazing blessing we are blessed with, yet our hearts and tongues are paralysed in this regard.

The concept of ṣalāh is similar to that of duʿā as the linguistic meaning of ṣalāh is to supplicate. Thus the preconditions that are evident in making duʿa are then also prevalent in ṣalāh. There are two such conditions that I want to focus on. Each contains a concept that is connected to an action relating to a part of our body. First is sincerity of the heart and second is protection of the tongue.

Why are these so important, especially in duʿā and even more so in ṣalāh? To understand this you must know that Allāh is One and the Only One, and so He likes to be remembered as One. Observe then that all aspects of physical movement in ṣalāh are important, yet there is the heart and tongue that hold superiority over everything, for if the heart is not sincere and the tongue does not translate that sincerity by uttering what it must, the lack thereof will render the ṣalāh invalid. This said, it is no wonder then that our physical anatomy contains most parts in pairs. Two arms, legs, hands, feet, eyes, ears, nostrils, even our brain is divided, in main, into two parts. However, the two most important things i.e. the heart (organ) and tongue (muscle), involved in ṣalāh are single, one in number.

Having understood the above we turn to the matter of sincerity of the heart. Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣafūrī al-Shafiʿī writes in his Nuzhah al-Majālis that once the blessed Prophet Mūsā (upon him peace) saw a man praying with utter desperation. Upon this, Mūsā (upon him peace) said to Allāh, “If  it were in my hand to grant this person what he asks, I would have granted it.” Allāh, in reply, sent Mūsā (upon him peace) a waḥī (Divine Revelation) and said, “O Mūsā, I feel more mercy upon him than you, however, when he prays to Me his attention is to his animals and I do not answer prayers of such people that ask Me for something yet their hearts are busied with something else.” Know then from this, it is not only a command to us that we must have attentive hearts when invoking Allāh, rather it is a command that has been given to nations, through their Prophets (upon them all be peace), even before our time.

Why can the heart not be sincere in two separate matters? To understand this one must know that ʿālam al-khalq (world of the created) and ʿālam al-amr (world of the command) are two separate worlds. Allāh says in the Qur’ān [7:54], “Truly both creation and command belong to Him.” ʿalam al-khalq is that which concerns things that can be divided, shortened, elongated, measured, and so on. The word khalq in linguistic terms possesses the meaning of estimate and approximation. The heart does not belong to this world as it is incapable of division. For example, it is impossible that one may possess the knowledge of something and then also be ignorant about it. Hence, one can only possess knowledge of something or be ignorant about it. Similarly, if you take two things that are similar, you cannot love both the same in equal measures. This is also because we love from our soul and the soul resides within the heart. The soul, therefore, is from ʿālam al-amr and that is a world where there is no estimation or division. It is what gives us the ability to be sincere in our intentions, and so, our actions.

The protection of the tongue is also an obligation. The Prophet (upon him and his family salutations and peace) advised his companion Muʿādh ibn Jabal, whilst he took hold of his tongue, “Restrain this.” He further said, “Is there anything that topples people on their faces - or he said on their noses into Hell-fire other than the jests of their tongues?” Tirmidhī.

The heart and tongue combined, perfect our actions as they both bring together four fundamental elements that are needed for any practice; first: yaqīn (certainty, conviction); second: niyyah (intention); third: ikhlāṣ (sincerity); and fourth: ʿamal (action). The former three are related to the heart and the latter with the tongue. This is why it is essential not to involve ḥarām in eating, drinking, sleeping and earning (Muslim and Tirmidhī) as they all involve interaction of the heart and tongue. It is important that when one invokes Allāh, one is in a state to be doing as such. Therefore, one needs to be careful of what face and body they present to Allāh. It would be an act of shamelessness if one were to be kicked out of a nightclub brawling over something ḥarām, especially after consuming something as such and then begin invoking Allāh. This is not to say that Allāh does not hear any such person’s prayer, it is just to reiterate that before one invokes Allāh in this state, one must seek sincere forgiveness and repent to Allāh with intentions that qualify the conditions of a true act of repentance.

In relation to this, the companion Abu Hurairah (Allāh is pleased with him) narrates that the blessed Prophet (upon him and his family salutations and peace) said, “O people, Allāh is al-Ṭayyib (The Pure) and He only accepts that which is pure. Allāh has commanded the same for the believers that which He has commanded for the messengers and to them He commanded, ‘O messengers, eat from pure foods and do what is right.’ He further said, ‘O believers, eat from the pure and good foods We have given you.’ After this the (blessed) Prophet (upon him and his family salutations and peace) spoke of a traveller on a long journey who is (due to the long journey) dishevelled (in appearance) and dirty. He raises his hands to Allāh pleading, ‘O my Lord, O my Lord!’ all whilst his food, drink, clothes and nourishment are unlawful, how would he be answered?” Muslim, Tirmidhī and Aḥmad.

Our tongues and hearts should reflect Allāh’s names, attributes and characteristics. This is by no means an invitation to shirk (polytheism), it is simply another way of conditioning ourselves. For example, the Arabic word for heart is qalb which contains three letters. Qāf, lām and bā. That qāf should reflect Qawi, meaning strong – so our hearts must be strong in adversity and patient in the wake of calamities. – then lām should reflect Laṭīf which means to be kind and gentle – so we must be gentile, loving and empathetic to others. The idea of being hard hearted and cold is Western and Allāh does not favour those who have hearts of stone. – then bā should reflect Baṣīr, meaning to see – so one must develop one’s heart so that they are capable of seeing the good and bad in others through the medium of their hearts as here it is the spirit that sees not the, satanic, inner desire.

In a similar context, the Arabic word for tongue is lisān and contains four letters. Lām, sīn, alif and nūn. So lām should reflect the word Laṭīf which means to be kind and gentle – It also means the keeper of secrets and ʿAlī (upon him peace) relates, “Who hasn’t the sunnah of Allāh, His beloved and His chosen people has nothing. The sunnah of Allāh is to safeguard secrets; sunnah of His beloved is being gentle with people; and sunnah of His chosen people is bear peoples harm. Ibn Ḥajar al-Asqalānī. – Sīn should reflect Salām which means bestower of peace – so when one speaks they should be a means of peace upon the other. – from alif we have Awwal and Ākhir, which mean the beginning and end – so one should be aware that beginning and end of what they say must be noble. – finally nūn should reflect Nūr, which means light – so when we speak it should be a means of light and guidance to the one who is listening.

In conclusion then, we began with the discussion of laylah al-miʿrāj which brought us neatly to the mention of ṣalāh. The mention of ṣalāh inevitably caused us to discuss the importance of sincerity of the heart and the protection of the tongue. Know that any right mentioned is attributed to Him and the mercy of His beloved and any wrong is attributed solely to me. In my err I seek forgiveness from Allāh in the sake of His Beloved, and his beloved, for only He can forgive me. Upon these humble words I respectfully end.

Wa ākhir al-daʿwāna ʿan al-ḥamdu lillāhi rabb al-ʿālamīn,

Wa al-ṣalātu wa al-salāmu ʿalā rasūlihi wa ahli baytihī wa aṣḥābihi ajmaʿīn.