EXCELLENT MERITS OF PRAYER
1 Merit of the Call to Prayer (Adhān)
Said the Prophet, on him be peace: ‘On the Day of Resurrection, three people will find themselves on a ridge of black musk. They will have no reckoning to fear, nor any cause for alarm while human accounts are being settled. First, a man who recites the Quran to please God, Great and Glorious is He, and who leads the Prayer to people’s satisfaction. Second, a man who gives the Call to Prayer in a Mosque, inviting people to God, Great and Glorious is He, for the sake of His good pleasure. Third, a man who has a hard time making a living in this world, yet is not distracted from the work of the Hereafter.’
1
According to other Traditions, the Prophet, on him be peace, said: ‘All that hear the Muezzin’s cry, be they jinn, human or whatever, will testify for him on the Day of Resurrection.’
2 And: ‘The hand of the All-merciful is on the Muezzin’s head until he completes his Call to Prayer.’
3
Commentators say that God, Great and Glorious is He, was referring to Muezzins when He revealed the Quranic Verse:
‘Who speaks better than one who calls to God and acts righteously?’ [Fuṣṣilat, 41:33]
(Wa-man aḥsanu qawlan mimman da’ā ilā-Ilāhi wa-’amila ṣāliḥā.)
The Prophet, on him be peace, also said: ‘When you hear the Call, repeat what the Muezzin says.’
4 This is the recom- mended practice, except that on hearing the two sentences beginning ‘ḥayya ‘alā …’ (‘Come to …’), one says: ‘There is neither power nor strength save in God’ (lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā bi-llāh). The response to ‘qad qāmati-lṣalāh’ (‘Prayer has begun’) is: ‘May God establish it and preserve it as long as the heavens and earth endure’ (aqāmahā-Ilāhu wa-adāmahā mā dāmati-Isamāwātu wal’arḍ). At dawn, the Call includes the sentence: ‘Prayer is better than sleep,’
to which we respond with: ‘You have spoken truly and veraciously and given good advice’ (ṣadaqta wa-bararta wa naṣaḥta). When the Call to Prayer is over, one says:
‘O God, Lord of this perfect invitation and firmly established Prayer, endow Muhammad with favour, merit and exalted rank. Raise him to the glorious position You have promised him. You do not break Your promise.’
(Allāhumma rabba hādhihi-lda’wati-Itāmmati wa-Isalāti-Iqā’imati Muḥammadani-Iwasīlata wa-Ifaḍīlata wa-IdarajataIrafi’a / wa-b’athhu-Imaqāma-Imaḥmūda-Iladhī wa’adtah/ innaka lā tukhlifu-Imī’ād.)
Sa’īd ibn al-Musayyab said: ‘If a person performs Prayer in a wilderness, an angel prays on his right and an angel prays on his left. If he also gives the Call to Prayer and the signal to begin, angels perform Prayer behind him in rows like mountain ranges.’
2 Merit of the Prescribed Prayers at Set Times (Ṣalāt)
Allah, Exalted is He, says:
‘Prayers have been prescribed for the believers at set times.’[al-Nisā’, 4:103]
(Inna-Iṣalāta kānat ‘alā-Imu’minīna kitāban mawqūtā.)
Said the Prophet, on him be peace: ‘There are five Prayers which God has prescribed for His servants. For those who perform them properly, without disrespectful omissions, there is a guarantee that God will admit them to Paradise. To those who do not observe them, however, God offers no such guarantee: He may punish them or He may admit them to Paradise, as He wills.’
5
Said the Prophet, on him be peace: ‘The five set Prayers may be compared to a stream of fresh water, flowing in front of your house, into which you plunge five times each day. Do you think that would leave any dirt on your body?’ When they replied: ‘None at all!’ The Prophet, on him be peace, said: ‘Indeed, the five Prayers
remove sins, just as water removes dirt.’
6
Other sayings of the Prophet, on him be peace:
‘The five set Prayers are an expiation, for there is something amongst them by which major sins are repelled.’
7
‘What distinguishes us from the Hypocrites is our attendance at late night and early morning Prayers, both of which they miss.’
8
‘If a man meets God when he has been negligent of the Prayer, God will pay no attention to his other virtues.’
9
‘Prayer is the pillar of religion; to neglect it is to prepare the downfall of religion.’
10
‘Prayer at the appointed times.’
11 (In answer to the question: ‘Which action is the most meritorious?’)
‘If a man performs the five Prayers, in a proper state of purity and at the times prescribed, they will be a light and a proof for him on the Day of Resurrection. But he who misses them will be resurrected along with Pharaoh and Hāmān.’
12
‘The key to Paradise is ritual Prayer.’
13
‘After the affirmation of His Unity, no duty God has imposed on His creatures is dearer to Him than ritual Prayer. Had anything been dearer to Him than this, it would have become a form of worship for His angels. As it is [each of them performs part of the Prayer,] some bowing, some prostrating themselves, some standing upright and some sitting on their heels.’
14
‘Anyone who deliberately misses a Prayer has forsaken his faith.
15 That is to say, he has virtually been stripped of faith, since its knot has been untied and its pillar has fallen. The [Arabic verb meaning] ‘has forsaken …’ is used idiomatically, much as one might say that a man ‘has arrived’ when he is very near his destination.
‘If someone deliberately omits a Prayer, he ceases to enjoy the protective custody of Muhammad, on him be peace.’
16
Abū Hurayra, may God be pleased with him, said: ‘If someone makes his ablution and does it well, then sets out with the intention of performing the Prayer, he is already in the state of Prayer while on his way to it. With each two steps he takes, a good deed is added to his record and a bad deed is erased from it. So do not linger when you hear the signal that the Prayer is beginning, for the one who is farthest from home will get the greatest reward.’ They asked: ‘Why is that, Abū Hurayra?’ and he said: ‘Because of all the steps he had to take.’
According to Tradition: ‘Of all a man’s actions, the first to be examined on the Day of Resurrection will be the Prayer. If it is found to be complete, it will be accepted of him along with the rest of his works, but if it is found wanting it will be rejected along with the rest of his deeds. ’
17
The Prophet, on him be peace, said: ‘Abū Hurayra, command your family to perform Prayer, for God will provide you with blessings too numerous to reckon.’
18
A scholar once said: ‘One who performs Prayer is like a merchant, who does not start making a profit until he has recovered all his capital. In similar fashion, one who performs Prayer gets no credit for supererogatory devotions until he has discharged his basic obligations.’
Abū Bakr, may God be pleased with him, used to say: ‘When it is time for Prayer, get up and extinguish the Hellfire you have kindled for yourselves.’
3 Merit of Correct Performance (Ta’dīl)
The Prophet, on him be peace, said: ‘The prescribed Prayer is like a pair of scales: whoever gives full measure will also receive in full.’
19
Yazīd al-Riqāshī said: ‘The Prayer of God’s Messenger, on him be peace, was as even as if it had been perfectly balanced.’
20
Traditions of the Prophet, on him be peace:
‘Two members of my Community may perform the Prayer in such a way that their bowing and their prostration are as one, yet their Prayers may be as far apart as heaven and earth.’
21 (In respect of their humility, that is.)
‘God will have no regard, on the Day of Resurrection, for that servant of His who does not straighten his spine between bowing and making prostration. ’
22
‘Is he not afraid – he who turns his face around in the Prayer – that God may turn his face into that of a donkey?’
23
‘If someone performs his Prayer at the proper time, makes his
ablution correctly, does the bowing and prostration properly and observes due humility, that Prayer will rise up, all bright and shining, and will say: “May God take care of you as you have taken care of me!” But if someone performs his Prayer at the wrong time, without correct ablution, not bowing and prostrating properly and not observing due humility, his Prayer will rise up all dark and gloomy, saying: “May God neglect you as you have neglected me.” Then when it has reached wherever God wishes, it will be folded up like an old rag and he will be slapped with it in the face.’
24
4 Merit of Congregational Prayer (Jamā’a)
The Prophet, on him be peace, said: ‘The merit of congregational Prayer surpasses that of individual Prayer by twenty-seven degrees.’
25
According to Abū Hurayra, the Prophet, on him be peace, once noticed that certain people were missing from the Congregation. He said: ‘I considered appointing someone else to lead the Prayer, while I went to show my disapproval of those absentees by burning down their houses.’
26 According to another version, he added: ‘Any one of them would have joined the Congregation if he had expected to get a marrowbone or a couple of trotters.’
According to ‘Uthmān, may God be pleased with him, the blessed Prophet said: ‘To perform the late evening Prayer
(‘Ishā’) in congregation is equivalent to spending half the night in vigil, while to perform the dawn Prayer
(Fajr) in congregation is like keeping vigil throughout the night.’
27
The Prophet, on him be peace, also said: ‘To perform the Prayer in congregation is to fill one’s throat with worship.’
28
Sa’īd ibn al-Musayyab said: ‘In all of twenty years, the Call to Prayer has always found me in the Mosque.’
Muhammad ibn Wāsi’ said: ‘Only three things do I wish for in this world: a brother to set me straight if I get crooked; a livelihood for which I do not have to beg; and a congregational Prayer in which I am relieved of absent-mindedness and which is recorded in my favour.’
Ḥātim al-Aṣamm said: ‘I was once too late for congregational Prayer and Abū Isḥāq al-Bukhārī was the only one to commiserate with me. Had I lost a son, more than ten thousand would have offered me their condolences, for people find religious misfortune easier to bear than worldly calamity.’
Ibn ‘Abbās, may God be pleased with him and with his father, said: ‘If a man hears the crier (Muezzin) and does not respond, he does not wish for good and no good is to be expected of him.’
Abū Hurayra, may God be pleased with him, said: ‘Better for a human being to have his ear filled with molten lead, than to hear the Call and fail to respond.’
It is related that Maymūn ibn Mihrān once came to the Mosque, only to be told that the people had all left. He quoted from the Quran: ‘Surely we belong to Allāh, and to Him we are surely returning,’ then said: ‘Truly, the value of this Prayer is dearer to me than the governorship of ‘Irāq.’
Said the Prophet, on him be peace: ‘If a man performs his Prayers in conregation for forty days, never arriving after the “Allāhu Akbar!” of consecration, God will grant him two absolutions: absolution from hypocrisy and absolution from Hellfire.’
29
It is said that on the Day of Resurrection a group of people will be assembled, their faces like shining stars. The angels will ask them: ‘How did you conduct yourselves in life?’ To this they will reply: ‘On hearing the Call to Prayer, we used to set about our ablutions, letting nothing else distract us.’ Another group will then be assembled, their faces like radiant moons. In answer to the same question, they will say: ‘We used to make our ablutions ahead of time.’ The next group to be assembled will have faces like the sun. They will say: ‘We used to hear the Call to Prayer inside the Mosque.’
It is related that early believers used to commiserate with themselves for three days if they missed the first ‘Allāhu Akbar!’ and for a whole week if they missed the congregational Prayer altogether.
5 Merit of Prostration (Sujūd)
God’s Messenger, on him be peace, said: ‘The servant has no
better means of approaching God than prostration in private.’
30 Also: ‘Whenever a Muslim performs a prostration for God’s sake, God raises him one degree and absolves him of one offence.’
31
It is related that a man once said to God’s Messenger, on him be peace: ‘Pray to God that He may include me among those who enjoy your intercession, and that He may grant me your companionship in Paradise.’ The Prophet, on him be peace, replied: ‘Help me by making frequent prostration.’
32
According to another Tradition: ‘The servant is never closer to God, Exalted is He, than when he is prostrating himself in worship.’
33 This is the meaning of the words of God, Great and Glorious is He, ‘Prostrate yourself and draw near.’ [Iqra’, 96:19] (Wa-sjud wa-qtarib.) God, Great and Glorious is He, also says: ‘Their foreheads show the mark left by prostration.’ [al-Fatḥ, 48:29] (Sīmāhum fī wujūhihim min athari-lsujūd.) Some say this refers to the dust that sticks to the brow during the act of prostration, while others say it is the light of humility, shining forth from within. The latter view is more correct. According to yet others, it is the radiance that will shine on their faces on the Day of Resurrection, as a result of their ablution.
The Prophet, on him be peace, said: ‘If a human being prostrates himself at an appropriate point in his recitation of the Quran, the devil withdraws, weeping as he says: “Alas! This man was bidden to prostrate himself and he has obeyed, so Paradise is his. I was also commanded to make prostration, but I disobeyed and so Hell is my lot.’”
34
It is told of ‘Alī ibn ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Abbās that he used to make a thousand prostrations every day. They used to call him the Great Prostrator (al-sajjād).
It is related that ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-’Azīz, may God be pleased with him, never prostrated himself on anything but the bare earth.
Yūsuf ibn Asbāṭ used to say: ‘Young men, take advantage of your good health, before you become infirm, for I no longer envy anybody except a man who completes his bowing and prostration in Prayer, now that my own time is too short for that.’
Sa’īd ibn Jubayr said: ‘I look to nothing in this world for consolation except to prostration in Prayer.’
‘Uqba ibn Muslim said: ‘No quality in a man is dearer to God, Great and Glorious is He, than the longing to meet Him. At no moment is a man closer to God, Great and Glorious is He, than when he sinks down in prostration.’
Abū Hurayra, may God be pleased with him, said: ‘The servant is nearest to God, Great and Glorious is He, when he prostrates himself in Prayer, so that is the time to make many supplications.’
6 Merit of Humble Adoration (Khushū’)
God, Exalted is He, said:
‘And perform the Prayer in remembrance of Me.’ [Ṭā Hā, 20:14]
(Wa-aqimi-Iṣalāta li-dhikrī.)
The Exalted One also said:
‘Do not be one of those who are neglectful.’ [al-A’rāf, 7:205]
(Wa-lā takun mina-Ighāfīlīn.)
God, Great and Glorious is He, also said:
‘Do not approach the Prayer when you are intoxicated, until you know what you are saying.’ [al-Nisā’, 4:43]
(Wa-lā taqrabū-Iṣalāta wa-antum sukārā ḥattā ta’lamū mā taqūlūn.)
Some say that ‘intoxicated’ means inebriated by many anxieties, while others say it means drunk on the love of this world. According to Wahb, the meaning is obviously a caution against worldly attachment, since the words ‘until you know what you are saying’ explain the underlying reason. Many are those who pray without having drunk wine, yet do not know what they are saying in their Prayers!
Said the Prophet, on him be peace: ‘If a man performs two cycles of Prayer without the distraction of any worldly thought, all his previous sins will be forgiven.’
35
The Prophet, on him be peace, also said: ‘Prayer is nothing but submissiveness, humility, supplication, sighing and remorse, holding out your hands and saying: “O God! O God!” Otherwise it is abortive.’
36
In the earlier scriptures, we find these words attributed to God, Glorified is He: ‘I do not accept the Prayers of everyone who prays. I accept the Prayers of none but those who are humble before My Majesty, who are not arrogant towards My servants, and who feed the poor and hungry for My sake.’
The Prophet, on him be peace, said: ‘Ritual Prayer was made obligatory, Pilgrimage and circumambulation were ordained, and the rites of sacrifice were instituted, all for the purpose of ensuring remembrance of God, Exalted is He. If your heart is devoid of awe and reverence for the One Remembered, who is the
aim and the
goal, what is your remembrance worth?’
37
This advice was given to someone by the Prophet, on him be peace: ‘When you pray, pray like a person who is saying farewell,’
38 i.e. saying farewell to himself, to his passions and to his life, before setting off on the journey to his Lord. As God, Exalted is He, says:
‘O Man, you labour towards your Lord laboriously, and you shall meet Him.’ [al-Inshiqāq, 84:6]
(Yā ayyuhā-l’insānu innaka kādiḥun ilā rabbika kadḥan fa-mulāqīh.)
The Exalted One also says: ‘Be aware of God, for it is God who teaches you.’ [al-Baqarah, 2:282] (Wa-ttaqū-Ilāha wayu’allimukumu-llāh.)
God, Exalted is He, says also: ‘Be aware of God, and know that you are going to meet Him.’ [al-Baqarah, 2:223] (Wa-ttaqū-Ilāha wa’lamū annakum mulāqūh.)
Said the Prophet, on him be peace: ‘If a man’s Prayer does not deter him from indecency and mischief, he gains nothing from God but remoteness.’
39
Since Prayer is intimate communion, how can it go with heedlessness? Bakr ibn ‘Abdullāh said: ‘Human being, if you wish to enter the presence of your Lord without permission, and to speak with Him without an interpreter, you have only to enter!’ When someone asked him how this could be he said: ‘You do your ablution correctly and enter your prayer-niche … There you are! You have entered your Lord’s presence without permission and may now speak to Him without an interpreter.’
Said ‘Ā’isha, may God be pleased with her: ‘God’s Messenger, on him be peace, would talk to us and we to him, but when it was time for Prayer it seemed as though he did not know us, nor we him. ’
40 This was because they were completely in awe of God, Great and Glorious is He.
The Prophet, on him be peace, said: ‘God has no regard for a Prayer in which a man’s heart is not present as well as his body.’
41
When Abraham, God’s special friend, got up to pray, the throbbing of his heart could be heard two miles away.
When Sa’īd al-Tanūkhī was praying, tears used to flow incessantly down his cheeks and onto his beard.
God’s Messenger, on him be peace, once saw a man playing with his beard during the Prayer, so he said: ‘If this fellow’s heart was submissive, his organs would also act with humility.
42 It is related that al-Ḥasan noticed a man playing with pebbles as he prayed: ‘O God, marry me to the maidens of Paradise!’ ‘A poor suitor you are,’ said al-Ḥasan. ‘You propose to the maidens of Paradise while playing with pebbles!’
Someone asked Khalaf ibn Ayyūb: ‘Don’t the flies bother you so much during your Prayer that you have to chase them away?’ But he replied: I do not make a habit of anything that would spoil my Prayer.’ When asked how he had acquired such patience, he said: I have heard that culprits patiently endure the Sultan’s whip, because this gives them a reputation for being “able to take it.” They boast of their patient endurance. Here am I, standing before my Lord in Prayer. Am I going to budge for a fly?’
It is related of Muslim ibn Yasār that, when he wanted to pray, he would say to his family: ‘You may talk, for I shall not hear you’. It is said that he was praying one day in the Great Mosque of Basra, when a corner of the building collapsed. This attracted a crowd, but he was quite unaware of what had happened until he had finished his Prayer.
Whenever the time of Prayer approached, ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may God be pleased with him and ennoble his countenance, used to quake and change colour. They asked him: ‘What is the matter with you, Commander of the Believers?’ To this he would reply: ‘The time has come for a trust which God offered to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to carry it; they were wary of it, but I have taken it on.’
It is said of ‘Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn that he used to turn pale when he made his ablution. When his family asked him what came over him during his ablution, he would say: ‘Do you realise before Whom I wish to stand in Prayer?’
According to Ibn ‘Abbās, may God be pleased with him and his father, the Prophet David, God bless him and give him peace, used to say in his intimate Prayers: ‘My God, who inhabits Your House? And from whom do you accept the Prayer?’ Then God told him by inspiration: ‘David, he who inhabits My House, and he whose Prayer I accept, is none but he who is humble before My Majesty, spends his days in remembrance of Me and keeps his passions in check for My sake, giving food to the hungry and shelter to the stranger and treating the afflicted with compassion. His light shines in the sky like the sun. If he invokes Me, I am at his service. If he asks of Me, I grant his request. In the midst of ignorance, I give him discernment; in heedlessness, remembrance, in darkness, light. He stands out among ordinary people as Paradise towers over earthly gardens, its rivers inexhaustible and its fruits not subject to decay.’
It is related of Ḥātim al-Aṣamm, may God be pleased with him, that he said, in answer to a question about Prayer: ‘When the time for Prayer is at hand, I make a proper ablution, go to the spot where I intend to pray and sit there till all my limbs and organs are in a collected state. Then I stand up to perform my Prayer, placing the Ka’ba between my brows, the Bridgeover-Hell beneath my feet, Paradise to my right and Hell to my left, and the Angel of Death behind me, thinking all the while that this is my final Prayer. Then I stand between hope and fear. I carefully pronounce “Allāhu Akbar!” Then I recite the Quran harmoniously, bow in humility and prostrate myself submissively. I then sit back on my left haunch, spreading out the top of my left foot and raising my right foot on the toes. I follow this with sincerity. Then I wonder whether or not my Prayer has been accepted.’
Ibn ‘Abbās, may God be pleased with him and with his father, once said: ‘Two moderate cycles of Prayer, performed in full awareness, are better than a whole night’s vigil when the heart is inattentive.’
7 Excellence of the Mosque and Place of Prayer (Masjid)
God, Great and Glorious is He, said:
‘The only ones to frequent God’s Mosques shall be those who believe in God and the Last Day …’ [al-Tawbah, 9:18]
(Innamā ya’muru masājida-Ilāhi man āmana bi-Ilāhi walyawmi-l’ākhir.)
The Prophet, upon him be peace, said: ‘If a man builds a Mosque for God’s sake, be it no bigger than the hollow where a sand grouse lays her eggs, God will build him a palace in Paradise.’
43
Other Traditions of the Prophet, on him be peace:
‘If a man is fond of the Mosque, God will be fond of him.’
44
‘When one of you enters the Mosque, let him perform two cycles of Prayer before sitting down. ’
45
‘He who lives next to the Mosque may not pray outside of the Mosque.’
46
‘The angels bless you as long as you remain sitting in the place where you do your Prayers, saying: “O God, bless him. O God, have mercy on him. O God, forgive him.” They keep this up until you need an ablution or leave the place of Prayer.’
47
‘In the latter days, there will be members of my Community who come to the Mosques and sit there in circles. Their talk will be of this world and their love of it. Do not sit in their company, for God has no need of them.’
48
‘God, Great and Glorious is He, has said in one of His Books: “The Mosques are My houses on My earth. My visitors are those who frequent them, so blessed is he who purifies himself in his own house, then visits Me in Mine. For the host has a duty to entertain
his guest.” ’
49
‘If you see a man frequenting the Mosque, you may testify to his faith.’
50
Sa’īd ibn al-Musayyab said: ‘Anyone who sits in the Mosque is actually sitting in the company of his Lord, so he has no right to say anything that is not good.’
It was probably one of the Companions who said: ‘Gossip in the Mosque consumes good deeds as animals eat up grass.’
Al-Nakha’ī said: ‘They used to maintain that walking to the Mosque on a dark night gave a guarantee of Paradise.’ Anas ibn Mālik said: ‘If someone installs a lantern in a Mosque, the angels and the bearers of the Heavenly Throne do not cease to beg forgiveness for his sins as long as that lamp continues to illuminate that Mosque.’
‘Alī, may God ennoble his countenance, said: ‘When a man dies, he is mourned by his place of Prayer on earth and by the place in heaven to which his good deeds have ascended.’ Then he recited the verse [referring to Pharaoh and his unbelieving followers]:
‘Neither heaven nor earth shed a tear over them; nor were they reprieved.’ [al-Dukhān, 44:29]
(Fa-mā bakat ‘alayhimu-Isamā’u wa-l’arḍu wa-mā kānū munẓarīn.)
Ibn ‘Abbās said: ‘The earth laments him for forty mornings.’ ‘Aṭā’ al-Khurāsānī said: ‘Any spot on earth where a man has made a prostration to God will testify on his behalf on the Day of Resurrection, and will weep for him on the day he dies.’ Anas ibn Mālik said: ‘If a man remembers God, Exalted is He, on any plot of ground, be it by way of Prayer or other form of remembrance, that plot will boast about it to all the surrounding plots. It will rejoice in the remembrance of God, Great and Glorious is He, to the utmost extent of seven lands. No man gets up to pray without the earth being embellished for him.’ It is also said that any place where people stop for the night will either bless them or curse them in the morning.