A R C H I V E S
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| The Excellence of the Remembrance of Allah |
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| HikmaH |
| 12/07/02 at 00:56:54 |
| The Excellence of the Remembrance of Allah Allah, the Exalted, says: "And the remembering (praising) of (you by) Allah (in front of the angels) is greater indeed [than your remembering (praising) of Allah in prayers]'' (29:45) "Therefore remember Me (by praying, glorifying). I will remember you.'' (2:152) "And remember your Rubb by your tongue and within yourself, humbly and with fear and without loudness in words, in the mornings and in the afternoons, and be not of those who are neglectful.'' (7:205) "And remember Allah much, that you may be successful.'' (62:10) "Verily, the Muslims (those who submit to Allah in Islam) men and women... (up to)... And the men and the women who remember Allah much with their hearts and tongues. Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a great reward (i.e., Jannah).'' (33:35) "O you who believe! Remember Allah with much remembrance. And glorify His Praises morning and afternoon [the early morning (Fajr) and `Asr prayers].'' (33:41,42) 1408. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "There are two statements that are light for the tongue to remember, heavy in the Scales and are dear to the Merciful: `Subhan-Allahi wa bihamdihi, Subhan-Allahil-Azim [Glory be to Allah and His is the praise, (and) Allah, the Greatest is free from imperfection)'.'' [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]. Commentary: This Hadith affirms that man's actions carry weight. On the Day of Judgement, his actions will be cast into the Balance. At that time Allah will endow these actions with weight, or according to some scholars, those records which register man's actions will be weighed. This is quite possible for the reason that Almighty Allah is Capable of weighing things without even their physical form. This discussion apart, when actions will be cast into the Balance, the formula mentioned in the Hadith, the utterance of which is very easy, will prove weighty. Every Muslim should make it a practice to repeat them frequently. 1409. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "The uttering of the words: "Subhan-Allah (Allah is free from imperfection), Al-hamdu lillah (all praise is due to Allah), La ilaha illallah (there is no true god except Allah) and Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest)' is dearer to me than anything over which the sun rises.'' [Muslim]. Commentary: This Hadith hightlights the fact that the formulas which mention the Praise and Glory of Allah, His Majesty and Oneness are liked by the Prophet (PBUH) more than anything in the world, because this is one of the virtues which will survive and will be rewarded, while the world and all that it has will perish. 1410. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "He who utters a hundred times in a day these words: `La ilaha illallahu, wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu, wa Huwa `ala kulli sha'in Qadir (there is no true god except Allah. He is One and He has no partner with Him; His is the sovereignty and His is the praise, and He is Omnipotent),' he will have a reward equivalent to that for emancipating ten slaves, a hundred good deeds will be recorded to his credit, hundred of his sins will be blotted out from his scroll, and he will be safeguarded against the devil on that day till the evening; and no one will exceed him in doing more excellent good deeds except someone who has recited these words more often than him. And he who utters: `Subhan-Allahi wa bihamdihi (Allah is free from imperfection and His is the praise)' one hundred times a day, his sins will be obliterated even if they are equal to the extent of the foam of the ocean.'' [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]. Commentary: Here sins mean minor sins and those which do not relate to the rights of people. This point has already been elaborated in the preceding Ahadith. 1411. Abu Ayyub Al-Ansari (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (PBUH) said: "He who utters ten times: `La ilaha illallahu, wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahulmulku wa lahulhamdu, wa Huwa `ala kulli sha'in Qadir (there is no true god except Allah. He is One and He has no partner with Him. His is the sovereignty and His is the praise, and He is Omnipotent),' he will have a reward equal to that for freeing four slaves from the progeny of Prophet Isma`il.'' [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]. Commentary: "Slaves from the progeny of Isma`il'' is a simile for very precious slaves. That is, it has the same reward to which the emancipation of four very precious slaves is eligible. 1412. Abu Dharr (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said to me, "Shall I tell you the expression that is most loved by Allah?'' It is `Subhan-Allahi wa bihamdihi' (Allah is free from imperfection and His is the praise)'.'' [Muslim]. 1413. Abu Malik Al-Ash`ari (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "Wudu' is half of Salat, and the expression: `Subhan-Allah (Allah is free from imperfection)' fills the Balance, and the expression: `Al-hamdu lillah (praise be to Allah)' fills the space between the heavens and the earth.'' [Muslim]. Commentary: "Tuhur'' is purification or Wudu', while "Tahur'' is water or something which is used for purification. According to some scholars, `Faith'' means Salat. This is also the sense in which it has been used in the Qur'an: "And Allah would never make your Faith to be lost (i.e., your prayers).'' [2:143]. Thus when Salat is the Faith, the purification is a prerequisite for Salat. Salat is not valid without purification. Some scholars are of the opinion that Faith here means Faith in general, as the Shari`ah defines it: To sincerely accept and believe in all that the Prophet (PBUH) came with, i.e., sincere acceptance of Allah and His Prophet (PBUH). "Purification is half of the Faith'' means the acceptance that purification is the most important article of Faith. It is like the saying of the Prophet (PBUH) that "Hajj is `Arafah'', which means that `Arafat (the place where the pilgrims stay on the 9th day of Dhul-Hijjah) is the most important element of the Hajj. Thus, this Hadith stresses the importance and merits of purification and offers an inducement for it. It also mentions the eminence of the invocations mentioned in the Hadith by saying that if they are given a form, they will fill the space between the heavens and the earth. In other words, it is a description of the infinite vastness of the Mercy and Grace of Allah. 1418. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The poor Emigrants came to the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and said: "The wealthy have gone with the highest ranks and lasting bliss.'' He asked: "How is that?'' They replied: "They offer Salat (prayer) as we offer it; they observe fast as we do; (and as they are wealthy) they perform Hajj and `Umrah, and go for Jihad, and they spend in charity but we cannot, and they free the slaves but we are unable to do so.'' The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "Shall I not teach you something with which you may overtake those who surpassed you and with which you will surpass those who will come after you? None will excel you unless he who does which you do.'' They said: "Yes, please do, O Messenger of Allah'' He (PBUH) said, "You should recite: Tasbih (Allah is free from imperfection), Takbir (Allah is Greatest), Tahmid (Praise be to Allah) thirty-three times after each Salat.'' [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]. Abu Salih, the subnarrator of the Hadith said, when Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) was asked about the manner of reciting Tasbih, Tahmid and Takbir, he said, "Recite: "Subhan-Allah, wal-hamdulillah, wallahu Akbar', till all are recited thirty-three times. Commentary: This Hadith has already been mentioned, but with a slightly different wording with reference to Sahih Muslim. The elaboration made by Abu Salih apparently seems to indicate that all the three words should be recited in combination while other religious scholars have shown preference for reciting them separately. The purpose is, however, attained in either way. There does arise one question here: Should one recite each of these words thirty-three times or in all for thirty-three times? The wording of the Hadith does not make this clear. Other Ahadith, (which will follow soon) make it clear that each of these words is to be recited for thirty-three times. This is how their aggregate will come to ninety-nine. The Hadith that follows makes this point lear. 1419. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "He who recites after every prayer: Subhan-Allah (Allah is free from imperfection) thirty-three times; Al-hamdu lillah (praise be to Allah) thirty-three times; Allahu Akbar (Allah is Greatest) thirty-three times; and completes the hundred with: La ilaha illallahu, wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu, wa Huwa `ala kulli shai'in Qadir (there is no true god except Allah. He is One and He has no partner with Him. His is the sovereignty and His is the praise, and He is Omnipotent), will have all his sins pardoned even if they may be as large as the foam on the surface of the sea.'' [Muslim]. 1420. Ka`b bin `Ujrah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "There are some words, the reciters of which will never be disappointed. These are: Tasbih [saying `Subhan-Allah' (Allah is free from imperfection)], thirty-three times, Tahmid [saying `Al-hamdu lillah' (praise be to Allah)] thirty-three times and Takbir [saying `Allahu Akbar' (Allah is Greatest)] thirty-four times; and these should be recited after the conclusion of every prescribed prayer.'' [Muslim] Commentary: "Muaqqibat'' means the words of Praise and Glorification of Allah which are recited after Salat. This Hadith says that the words "Allahu Akbar'' should be recited thirty-four times. 1421. Sa`d bin Abu Waqqas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) used to seek (Allah's) protection after prayers in these words: "Alla-humma inni a`udhu bika minal-jubni wal-bukhl, wa a`udhu bika min an uradda ila ardhalil-`umur, wa a`udhu bika min fitnatid-dunya, wa a`udhu bika min fitnatil-qabr (O Allah, I seek refuge with You from cowardice, miserliness and from being sent back to a feeble age; and, seek refuge with You from the trials of this life and those of the grave).'' [Al-Bukhari]. Commentary: Some religious scholars are of the opinion that it is better to observe reciting this Du`a after concluding prayers, and that it is better to combine both. Some scholars say that the Prophet (PBUH) used to recite this Du`a just before Taslim, while he used to recite the Du`a mentioned earlier after Taslim. |
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