Allah Almighty Says (what means): “And when you have completed the prayer, remember Allah standing, sitting, or [lying] on your sides. But when you become secure, re-establish [regular] prayer. Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a decree of specified times.” [Qur’an 4:103]
For 40 consecutive years, Sa’eed Ibn al-Musayyib, may Allah have mercy upon him, was to be found in the mosque before the Athaan (call to prayer) was made. ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, became unconscious after he was stabbed, and according to Al-Miswar Ibn Makhramah, may Allah have mercy upon him, it was said: “Nothing would wake him up except the call to prayer, if he is still alive.” So people said to him: “The prayer has finished, O Chief of the Believers!” He therefore awoke and said: “The prayer! I swear by Allah that there is no share of Islam for whoever abandons the prayer.” He then performed the prayer while his wound was bleeding.
After Ar-Rabee’ Ibn Khaytham, may Allah have mercy upon him, became partially paralysed, he would go to the mosque helped by two men. He was told: “O Abu Yazeed! You have been given permission to pray at home.” He replied: “You have said the truth, but I heard the caller say: ‘Hayya ‘ala al-falah’ (rush to success), and so I thought that whoever hears this call should answer it, even by crawling.”
‘Uday Ibn Haatim, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “Every time the time for prayer arrives, it finds me eager and ready to perform it (i.e. in the state of ablution).”
Abu Bakr Ibn ‘Abdullaah al-Muzani, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “Who is like you, O son of Aadam? Whenever you desire, you use water and make ablution, go to the place of worship and thus enter the presence of your Lord (i.e. start praying) without a translator or barrier between you and Him!”
Abu Rajaa’ al-’Ataaridi, may Allah have mercy upon him, said on his deathbed: “I am not grieved by leaving anything behind, except that I used to bow down on my face five times a day before my Lord, the Exalted and most Honoured.”
Abul-’Aaliyah, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “I would travel for days to meet a man and the first thing I would note about him would be his prayer. If he was one who established the prayer perfectly and on time, I would stay with him and hear the knowledge he had to impart. If I found him to be careless concerning the prayer, I would leave him and say to myself that for things other than the prayer, he would be even more careless.”
When ‘Ali Ibn al-Husayn, may Allah have mercy upon him, would perform ablution, the colour of his face would change. His family asked him why this would always happen and he would reply: “Do you know before Whom I am about to stand (in prayer)?”
Yazeed Ibn ‘Abdullaah, may Allah have mercy upon him, was asked: “Should we make a roof for our mosque?” He replied: “Purify your hearts and your mosque (in its current state) will suffice you.”
‘Uday Ibn Haatim, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “Ever since I became a Muslim, I always made sure to have ablution when the Athaan is called.”
‘Ubayd Ibn Ja’far, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “I never saw my uncle Bishr Ibn Mansoor miss the first Takbeer (that commences the congregational prayer in the mosque), and whenever any person stood up in our mosque to ask people for help, he would always give him something.”
Ibn Sam’ah, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “For 40 years, I only missed the first Takbeer once, and that was when my mother died. If you know of a man’s disinterest in being present in the mosque for the first Takbeer, then wash your hands of him (i.e. know that there is no good in him).”
Sufyaan Ibn ‘Uyaynah, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “Honouring the prayer includes arriving before the Iqaamah (the call that establishes the prayer) is called.”
Maymoon Ibn Mahraan, may Allah have mercy upon him, was once delayed from coming to the mosque on time. When he did eventually arrive, he was told that the people had already concluded the prayer: “We all belong to Allah and to Him shall be our return! I value the congregational prayer more than being made governor of Iraq,” he lamented.
‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, once said while standing on the pulpit: “A man may have white hair in Islam (i.e. reach old age while being Muslim), but has not yet completed even a single prayer for Allah the Exalted!” He was asked: “Why is that?” He replied: “Because he does not perfect the prayer’s required Khushoo’ (solemness) and fails to be attentive to Allah with his heart.”
Hammaad Ibn Salamah, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “I have never stood up for prayer without imagining that the Hellfire is before my eyes.”
Mu’aath Ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him, advised his son saying: “My son! Pray the prayer of he who is just about to leave this world, and imagine that you may never be able to pray again. Know that the believer dies between two good deeds: one that he has just performed, and the other that he intended to perform next.”
Bakr al-Muzani, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “If you want your prayer to be of benefit to you then say to yourself prior to it that you may not have the chance to perform another prayer.’”
Al-Qaasim Ibn Muhammad, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “Whenever I went out in the morning, I would visit (my aunt) ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, and greet her. One day, I found her performing the Al-Dhuha prayer (two unit of supererogatory prayer performs in between sunrise and forenoon) while crying and invoking Allah by reciting one verse from the Qur’an repeatedly. The verse of the Qur’an was (which means): “So Allah conferred favour upon us and protected us from the punishment of the Scorching Fire.” [Qur’an 52:27] I stood there until I felt weary, then I left and went to the marketplace, telling myself that I would return to her when I finish. Later, when I did return to her, I found her still standing in prayer, reciting the same verse, and crying and invoking Allah.’”
Article source: http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/
GULF TIMES
