Madina Archives

Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board

Misplaced your keys again???
AbdulBasir
03/11/01 at 19:56:32
[slm] This shaykh during Hajj used to give us dars' after every salah and one day he talked to us about the waswaas of Shaytaan during prayer...some of the things he said really made you think about salah differently...for example sajda at-sahw...ever have to do it and you feel bad about it? well the shaykh was saying how forgetfulness caused by the shaytaan is what he wants. Of all the parts of prayer Shaytaan hates the most, it is sujood. So he reminded us that when we have to do Sajda-as-Sahw, we shouldn't feel bad...Allah in his Mercy gives us even more Ajr because we do two more sujoods than normal and Shaytaan is even more horrified...subhanallah! never thought of that way.. Anyways, he told us a story that some of you might find interesting... A man had misplaced something of his. He spent a few days looking all over his home, all over the town, but he couldn't find it. He traced his steps over and over again, thought hard and long, but still he couldn't remember where he had put it. So being distressed about this, he went to the imam and asked him what he should do. The imam said, "Go to your home and pray nawafil salah". The next day the man came to the imam and said "I prayed only a few rakahs and then suddenly I remembered where I put my belongings!" The imam replied, "This is the waswaas of Shaytaan, he reminded you to break your salah. He will do anything and this is one of his favorite methods" Isn't this so true? The Shaykh admonished us, "How many times during Salah do we remember things we have forgotten or things we have to do that day?" All of us were shaking our heads... So the next time you forgot where you put your keys, just go pray nawafil! Might as well make Shaytaan work for you for once...RELAX guys, that's a joke ok :)

Re: Misplaced your keys again???
BrKhalid
03/12/01 at 02:32:26
Asalaamu Alaikum ;-) Reading that reminds me that a lot of the good ideas that I get sometimes come whilst I'm praying. Above post really puts that into perspective!! I'm a big fan of knowing the methods of our enemy. I mean how else are we going to defeat him if we don't know he operates.

Re: Misplaced your keys again???
Daud
03/12/01 at 15:49:21
SubhanAlah, this is SO true! I feel like it is the most exhaustive struggle to get through salat without allowing my thoughts to stray--almost impossible for me!!! :-(  I find it is worse when I pray silently. When I pray "audibly" I can concentrate better. And as a new revert and an American to boot (we have a problem with anyone invading our personal space), it is REALLY distracting when I am being jostled and elbowed, and having my feet stepped on, and the brother next to me is praying so loudly I lose my place.  SUBHANALLAH, what a wonderful way to learn to CONCENTRATE!!! ;-)

Re: Misplaced your keys again???
Arsalan
03/12/01 at 16:47:23
[slm] This reminds me of something ... I read somewhere that Ali (r.a.) was hit with an arrow in a battle, and it was extremely painful to take out the arrow from his leg.  As they were trying to figure out how to pull the arrow out without giving him too much pain, the time for salaah came, and people began to congregate for the prayer.   Ali, then the Khalifah I think, got up to lead the prayer.  During the prayer, the companions pulled out the arrow, and Ali did not show any sign of pain! Such was the concentration of the Sahaabah during their prayers! Subhan Allah!  How far are we from achieving such greatness?

Re: Misplaced your keys again???
AbdulBasir
03/12/01 at 18:04:44
[slm] Indeed, the concentration of the Sahaba was amazing. Br. Daud, interesting that you mention the prayer in jam'aah because the shaykh addressed this too. One of the brothers in our group asked him specifically how he felt he had more concentration praying alone and that he felt his prayer is more acceptable to Allah than when he is distracted in the congregation. The shaykh again reminded us the waswas of Shaytaan will be in any prayer, alone or in congregation. Given that jamaah prayer is necessary or at the very least strongly encouraged, one of the waswaas of Shaytaan to each of us is to make us believe we have more kushoo' in individual salah and therefore abandon the jamaah, which makes us both spiritually and socially more susceptible to more of his waswaas. As one hadith states about abandoning the jamaah salah, the person will be like a lone sheep to be devoured. The shaykh continued. He reminded us that Allah SWT knows about the waswaas and knows about the human nature. It is natural for the human being's concentration to fade, and the concentration is harder to keep in a congregation. He stated that we must do our best to maintain concentration, but, even if we have waswaas during the jamaah, Allah SWT will accept the salah more readily because it was mandated and the distractions that break our kushoo' may come from outside our own self. These distractions are natural. If we pray individually however, all the distractions, all the waswaas, come from us alone, and Allah SWT may not accept the salah because that is within our control. So sayeth the shaykh. Again, I appreciated his words because it made me think about the issue of jamaah prayer in a different way. In fact, jamaah is really a mercy on us, it allows us to make salah easier though we may believe the opposite. It may be "harder" for us to do it, but God willing, Allah finds it "easier" to accept. Subhanallah!

Re: Misplaced your keys again???
sis
03/12/01 at 18:32:50
[slm] "As one hadith states about abandoning the jamaah salah, the person will be like a lone sheep to be devoured." just to add to this..subhan Allah this was something addressed in Islam201 last friday at my uni....the speaker explained that praying alone increases the influence of the shaytan (a'otho billah) over u ..whereas praying in jama'a minimizes it..ie if there are two praying then its less and with  3 its even less and with 4 its even lesser..etc.. subhan Allah there's a benefit for us in every aspect of this deen... and the rasul sal Allah 'alayhi wa sallam also said.."wa 'alaykum bi jama'a" ..stressing that we should pray in jama'a when we can do so insha'Allah also about the initial subject....i experience the same thing...when i was small and would lose something and couldn't find it..my mom would tell  me to say 'bismillah' or surat ul-fatiha ..and subhan Allah i would find what i lost soon after

Re: Misplaced your keys again???
se7en
03/12/01 at 18:51:25
Abbad ibn Bishr From [url=http://www.abuzubair.com/al-ghurabaa_.shtml]al-Ghurabaa'[/url] It was the fourth year after the Hijrah. The city of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was still under threat from within and without. From within the influential Jewish tribe, the Banu an-Nadir, broke their agreement with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and made plans to kill him. For this, they were banished from the city. This was in the month of Safar. Two months of uneasy quiet passed. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) received news that tribes from distant Najd were planning an attack. To pre-empt them, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gathered a force of over four hundred men, and leaving one of his companions Uthman ibn Affan in charge of the city, set out eastward. Among this force was the young Madinan, Abbad ibn Bishr. Arriving at Najd, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) found the habitations of the hostile tribes strangely deserted of men. Only women were about. The men had taken to the hills. Some of them regrouped and prepared to fight. The time of Salaah al-Asr (the afternoon prayer) came. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) feared that the hostile tribesmen would attack them during prayer. He arranged the Muslims in ranks and divided them into two groups and performed the prayer as the Salaah al-Khawf (the Prayer of Fear). With one group he performed one rakah while the other group stood on guard. For the second rakah the groups changed places. Each group completed its prayer with one rakah after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had finished... On beholding the disciplined ranks of the Muslims the hostile tribesmen became uneasy and afraid. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had made his presence felt and something of his mission was now known at first hand in the central highlands of Arabia whence he departed peacefully. On the way back, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) pitched camp in a valley for a night. As soon as the Muslims had settled their camel mounts, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) , asked: "Who will be our guard tonight?" "We, O Messenger of Allah," said Abbad ibn Bishr and Ammar ibn Yasir both of whom had been paired off as 'brothers' by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he arrived in Madinah after the Hijrah. Abbad and Ammar left for the mouth of the valley to take up duty. Abbad saw that his "brother" was tired and asked him: "What part of the night do you wish to sleep, the first or the second?" "I shall sleep during the first part," said Ammar who was soon fast asleep quite close to Abbad. The night was clear, calm and peaceful. The stars, the trees, and the rocks all appeared to celebrate in silence the praises of their lord. Abbad felt serene. There was no movement, no threatening sign. Why not spend the time in ibadah (worship) and reciting the Quraan? How delightful it would be to combine the performance of Salaah with the measured recitation of the Quraan which he so much enjoyed. In fact Abbad was enthralled by the Ouraan from the moment he first heard it being recited by the mellow and beautiful voice of Musab ibn Umayr. That was before the Hijrah when Abbad was just about fifteen years old. The Quraan had found a special place in his heart and day and night thereafter he would be heard repeating the glorious words of Allah so much so that he became known among the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) companions as the "friend of the Quraan". Late at night, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) once stood up to perform the Tahajjud Prayer in Aishah's house which adjoined the masjid. He heard a voice reciting the Quraan, pure and sweet and as fresh as when the angel Jibril revealed the words to him. He asked: "Aishah, is that the voice of Abbad ibn Bishr?' "Yes, O Messenger of Allah," replied Aishah. "O Lord, forgive him," prayed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) out of love for him. And so in the stillness of the night, at the mouth of the valley in Najd, Abbad stood up and faced the Qiblah. Raising his hand in surrender to Allah, he entered into the state of Prayer. Finishing the compulsory opening chapter of the Quraan, he began reciting Surah al-Kahf in his sweet, captivating voice. Surah al-Kahf is a long Surah of one hundred and ten verses, which deals in part with the virtues of faith, truth and patience and with the relativity of time. While he was thus absorbed in reciting and reflecting upon the divine words, eternal words of illumination and wisdom, reciting and reflecting upon the divine words, eternal words of illumination and wisdom, a stranger stalked the outskirts of the valley in search of Muhammad and his followers. He was one of those who had planned to attack the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) but who had fled into the mountains on the approach of the MusIims. His wife whom he had left in the village had been taken as a captive by one of the Muslims. When he eventually found that his wife was gone, he swore by al-Lat and al-Uzzah that he would pursue Muhammad and his companions and that he would not return unless he had drawn blood. From a distance, the man saw the figure of Abbad silhouetted at the mouth of the valley and he knew that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his followers must be inside the valley. Silently he drew his bow and let fly an arrow. Unerringly it embedded itself in Abbad's flesh. Calmly, Abbad pulled out the arrow from his body and went on with his recitation, still absorbed in his Salaah. The attacker shot a second and a third arrow both of which also found their mark. Abbad pulled out one and then the other. He finished his recitation, made ruku and then sujud. Weak and in pain, he stretched out his right hand while still in prostration and shook his sleeping companion. Ammar awoke. Silently, Abbad continued the Salaah to its end and then said: "Get up and stand guard in my place. I have been wounded." Ammar jumped up and began to yell. Seeing them both the attacker fled into the darkness. Ammar turned to Abbad as he lay on the ground, blood flowing from his wounds. "Ya Subhanallah (Glory be to Allah)! Why didn't you wake me when you were hit by the first arrow?" "I was in the midst of reciting verses of the Quraan which filled my soul with awe and I did not want to cut short the recitation. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had commanded me to commit this surah to memory. Death would have been dearer to me than that the recitation of this surah should be interrupted." Abbad's devotion to the Quraan was a sign of his intense devotion to and love for Allah, His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and His religion. The qualities he was known for were his constant immersion in ibadah, his heroic courage and his generosity in the path of Allah. At times of sacrifice and death, he would always be in the front line. When it was time for receiving his share of rewards, he would only be found after much effort and difficulty. He was always trustworthy in his dealings with the wealth of Muslims. All this was recognized. Aishah, the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), once said: "There are three persons among the Ansar whom no one could excel in virtue: Sad ibn Muadh, Usayd ibn Khudayr and Abbad ibn Bishr." Abbad died the death of a shahid (martyr) at the battle of Yamamah. Just before the battle he had a strong presentiment of death and martyrdom. He noticed that there was a lack of mutual confidence among the Muhajirin and Ansar. He was grieved and upset. He realized that there would be no success for the Muslims in these terrible battles unless the Muhajirin and Ansar were grouped in separate regiments so that it could be clearly seen who really bore their responsibility and who were truly steadfast in combat. At the break of day when the battle commenced, Abbad ibn Bishr stood on a mound and shouted: "O Ansar, distinguish yourselves among men. Destroy your scabbards. And do not forsake Islam." Abbad harangued the Ansar until about four hundred men gathered around, him at the head of whom were Thabit ibn Qays, al-Baraa ibn Malik and Abu Dujanah, the keeper of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) sword. With this force, Abbad unleashed an offensive into the enemy's ranks which blunted their thrust and drove them back to the "garden of death". At the walls of this garden, Abbad ibn Bishr fell. So numerous were his wounds, he was hardly recognizable. He had lived, fought and died as a believer.

Re: Misplaced your keys again???
Arsalan
03/12/01 at 19:14:57
[quote]Abbad stood up and faced the Qiblah. Raising his hand in surrender to Allah, he entered into the state of Prayer. [/quote][i]Raising his hand in surrender to Allah[/i] ... I never looked at raf'a yadain (raising of the hands) like that before!

Re: Misplaced your keys again???
AbdulBasir
03/13/01 at 21:45:20
[quote]I never looked at raf'a yadain (raising of the hands) like that before[/quote] Cool isn't it? Like you're taking the instrument of all of man's power and skill, the symbol of his agreements and achievements, acknowledging the source of all these bounties and abilities, realizing these abilities are infinitesmal in comparison to the Creator and that [i]Allahu Akbar[/i], surrendering everything to Him, commencing in a conversation with the Listener with the tools of human arrogance now folded passively and powerlessly over our chests, humbled, before the Most High... Heard an imam also reflect that the raising of the hands is like you're throwing everything from the world behind you!... [slm]

Re: Misplaced your keys again???
Anonymous
03/14/01 at 13:34:07
There is good tip on getting khushoo http://216.205.122.233/books/khushoosalat/english.html wassalam
Individual posts do not necessarily reflect the views of Jannah.org, Islam, or all Muslims. All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the poster and may not be used without consent of the author. The rest © Jannah.Org