n37 20 Importance of Salatul Fajr

Importance of Salatul Fajr

Speaker: Sheikh Abu Usamah at-Thahabi

Opening

(السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ - Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh)

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ - Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim)

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Introduction

Come closer, brothers and sisters. May Allah bless you. Come closer. I want to take these few minutes, this opportunity, to remind myself and to remind all of you about something connected to the Salat, something practical, something that we need to hear, something that we need to know, especially during these days, the days in which the time is a trial for us in terms of performing the Ibadah of a Salat. And that is some of what has come to us from the Prophet ﷺ about the importance of Salat al-Fajr.

Because right now, the Fajr here in Birmingham comes in at 3:14. It comes in 3:14. We pray the Jama'at in Alamrak at 3:40. And in normal circumstances, when the Salat is 5:30, 6 o'clock, we get quite a few people in the Sufuf. But during these days, because it's so early, it's a trial for many people, people who we know are Musaleen. We know that they are Musaleen.

But during these times, due to lack of sleep, due to the fact that we carry on after Salat al-Isha, if a person gets up for Salat al-Fajr and he prays in his house, we're not - as we mentioned so many times, luck is against our deen. Everything is by the Qadr of Allah. But if a person gets up to pray Salat al-Fajr in his home during these days, then that's a big effort.

So we just wanted to remind you of the words that came out of the blessed mouth of our noble and illustrious Nabi, the Khatam of the Anbiyaan, the Musaleen, and Mustafa ﷺ concerning these issues of Salat al-Fajr.

The Best Salat in Islam

The first thing that I want to mention to you, Ikhwani, is the hadith that we always remind the people about concerning the importance of Salat al-Fajr. And that is, when you look at the single most important Salat in al-

Islam, out of all of the Salawat that we make in the Prophet ﷺ that the best Salat that a person can make is the Fajr prayer in congregation on the Friday.

You'll find when we talk about the Fada'il of the different prayers, Salat is always up there. Salat is mentioned with other prayers, but it is always mentioned, always. So we just want to remind you of some of what comes to us from our Nabi ﷺ as an encouragement to make the Jihad, the Jihad al-Nafs, of getting up and trying to come to the masjid if that's easy for you.

If it's easy for you. Because it's not easy for everyone to come to a masjid because Green Lane Masjid may be far from their home, the closest masjid may be a Berawi masjid and we don't see the permissibility of praying behind those Imams of Berawiya because of the shirk and kufr that's in the Aqidah. But if you pray or you have a masjid from the Deobandis or other than that, then I would encourage you to go ahead and make Salat, especially during these days because it's from the actions and the issues that you can make a tawassul with your deeds.

You have a problem, something that you need from Allah جل جلاله you can say if you're consistent and persistent and making Salat in a masjid that doesn't follow the Sunnah, but they don't have shirk, they don't read the Quran correctly, they don't practice the Sunnah, but you pray there because you believe in the virtues of Salat of al-Jama'ah, you say at one point, oh Allah, you know that that wasn't the type of masjid that I like to pray in because of the opposition to the Sunnah. Not because you hate the Muslims, not because you hate the masjid, but because of the opposition of the Sunnah. You know that I prayed in that masjid just because I believed in what you said and what your Rasul and your Nabi ﷺ said.

So because of that consistency and that persistence on my part, then I'm asking you to give me this or to give me that. So be patient with the situation.

The Angels Witness Salatul Fajr

So some of what we want to bring to your attention, Ikhwani, is what was collected by Imam Bukhari Muslim on the authority of Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه and shows the virtues of Salat al-Fajr, especially the one in the Jama'ah.

Hadith - Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim:

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

(تَعَاقَبُوا فِيكُمْ مَلَائِكَةٌ بِاللَّيْلِ وَمَلَائِكَةٌ بِالنَّهَارِ وَيَجْتَمِعُونَ فِي صَلَاةِ الْفَجْرِ وَصَلَاةِ الْعَصْرِ ثُمَّ يَعْرُجُ الَّذِينَ بَاتُوا فِيكُمْ فَيَسْأَلُهُمْ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِهِمْ كَيْفَ تَرَكْتُمْ عِبَادِي فَيَقُولُونَ تَرَكْنَاهُمْ وَهُمْ يُصَلُّونَ وَأَتَيْنَاهُمْ وَهُمْ يُصَلُّونَ - Ta'aqabu fikum mala'ikatun bil-layli wa mala'ikatun bin-nahari wa yajtama'una fi salatil fajri wa salatil 'asri thumma ya'rujul-lazeena batu fikum fa yas'aluhum wa huwa a'lamu bihim kayfa taraktum 'ibadi fa yaquluna taraknahum wa hum yusalluna wa ataynahum wa hum yusallun)

Quran 17:78 (Surah Al-Isra):

(وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا - Wa quran al-fajri inna quran al-fajri kana mashhuda)

Our Nabi ﷺ says: The angels of the night time and the angels of the day time, they meet one another at the Fajr prayer. And then he said, if you want then read the ayat that supports that, in which Allah tells the people and he praises the Qur'an of al-Fajr.

Verily the Qur'an at Fajr time is witness. The Qur'an at Fajr here is referring to the Salat that is being read by the Imam. The Malaikah come and they listen to it and they witness that. And they come and they relieve the angels who are with the people. And some of them go up to Allah at Fajr, the other ones come down. And then it also happens at Salat of al-'Asr. It happens at Salat of al-'Asr.

And every time a group of them goes back up to Allah جل و عز and he already knows, he says to them: كَيْفَ تَرَكْتُمْ عِبَادِي؟ How did you leave my slaves? How did you leave my servants?

And those Malaikah say to Allah سبحانه وتعالى: أَتَيْنَاهُمْ وَهُمْ يُصَلُّونَ وَتَرَكْنَاهُمْ وَهُمْ يُصَلُّونَ. We came to them and they were praying at Fajr time. And we left them and they were praying at Asr time.

So the fact that this ayat mentions Salat of al-Fajr, the Quran of al-Fajr, it goes to show the virtues of this particular Salat. The fact that Allah تعالی could have chosen any of the other Salats for the Malaikah to come down and to relieve each other from bearing witness of those who pray. But he chose Salat al-Fajr and he chose Salat al-'Asr. So that's one of the indications that you want to be in the place with your name being recorded by the Malaikah, those people who are Musaleen at this critical time.

The Reward of Praying the Whole Night

Also in addition to that, Uthman ibn Affan رضي الله عنه he said that the Prophet ﷺ said: Whoever prays Salat al-'Isha and Salat al-Fajr in the jamaat, in the masjid, whoever prays these two prayers, then it would be as if he prayed the whole night.

So we're in Maghrib right now, we finished Maghrib. We're sitting in the darus, making the dhikr of Allah جل و عز. As long as you're sitting here and you have wudu, you are in a state of Salat and the Malaikah are asking Allah سبحانه وتعالى to forgive you and so forth and so on. As long as you maintain your wudu, you remain here and you pray Salat al-'Isha. And then you go home and you wake up and you pray Salat al-Fajr in your local masjid, then you'll get the reward of praying the Fajr all night long or praying the night time.

Umar's Example: Checking on the Companions

Umar رضي الله عنه when he was the khalifa, he started to ask the people about a man who was a friend of his because he used to follow that sunnah, that is a sunnah that's mahjorah, the sunnah that the Prophet used to يَتَفَقَّدُ أَصْحَابَهُ where he would ,صلی الله عليه وسلم ,have . يَتَفَقَّدُ . He would see the brother who moved from Denmark or he

moved from Denmark. When he came from Denmark, we got to know the brother and then we don't see him for a week or two.

If that happened during the time of the Prophet ﷺhe would start to say, where is Abu Ahmed? Where is Abdullah? Where is Abu Huraira? Where is so and so? Not like our case where we don't even know one another. We don't know the brother sitting on the pole. We don't know him.

And we don't make an effort to get to know him, our Muslim brother. إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ أَخْوَةٌ our brother. We're shy to say, who are you? This and that.

So if someone went missing, the Prophet ﷺ would say, where is so and so? Where is this individual? So Umar and the companions after him used to hold on to this. It wasn't just something he did. So Umar رضي الله عنه missed a man who was Abu Sulaiman, Abu Bakr.

He went to the marketplace because the man didn't pray Salatul Fajr in the masjid. Between the marketplace and the masjid was that man's house as Umar was going on the way. Umar رضي الله عنه saw the man's wife and he said, what happened to Abu Sulaiman? Where is Abu Sulaiman? The wife said, last night, he prayed Qiyamul Layl and he was overtaken with fatigue.

So he slept on Fajr. He didn't wake up in time to go to the masjid. He didn't wake up in time to go to the masjid.

Umar رضي الله عنه said to her: For me to be present at the Salatul Fajr is more beloved to me than to read Qiyamul Layl all night. Because reading Qiyamul Layl all night, although it's from the virtuous deeds, if the person did that, but he missed Salatul Fajr, he did something that was virtuous, but he lost something that was more virtuous. He did something that was the sunnah, but he lost something that was wajib.

So it's not permissible for a person to do a sunnah when it's going to cause them to lose the wajib. Like coming into the masjid and they're praying the Salatul Fajr and you missed the two rakaats and you go in the back and you start to pray the two rakaats of Al-Fajr and you miss one rakaat or both rakaat. That's a lot in the back is haram. It's not even permissible. It's not even written down in your deeds. If anything is written down as a bad deed because you left what is wajib for what is the sunnah.

So we can't afford to lose what is wajib for what is the sunnah.

The Prophet Asks About Missing Companions at Fajr

Again, Umar r.a asking the people where is fulan, where is fulan? When it came to the Salat, he took that from the Prophet s.a.w. The Messenger of Allah prayed with the people Salatul Fajr and he turned around and he asked: أَشْهِدَ فُلَانٌ؟ Is so and so here? They looked around, they said, No, Ya Rasulullah. He said: أَشْهِدَ فُلَانٌ؟ Is so and so here? They said, No, Ya Rasulullah. He's also not here.

Also in his book, the Musnad of the Shamiyeen. We made reference to that particular book, but we didn't discuss it. With an authentic chain of narration of Imam al-Tabarani rahimahullahu ta'ala and what was collected or narrated by Abu Umama. May Allah be pleased with him.

Hadith - Mu'ajim al-Kabir and Musnad al-Shamiyeen of Imam al-Tabarani:

(Source Name)

The Nabi of Al-Islam, sallallahu alaihi wa tawba sallam: Whoever makes wudu in his home and perfects his wudu, and then he goes to the masjid, and then he prays the two raka'ats, the sunnah before fajr, and then he sits down in the masjid until the salah is established for fajr. He made two raka'ats, and he sat down, and then he made the salah in the jama'at. He made salat al-fajr.

Anyone who does this, he will be written down on that day with Allah as praying the salah of the abrar, those people who have al-birr and al-taqwa. He will be written down with Allah that this is a person who was bar mirrabihi, an individual who was muttaqi, an individual who takes care of the haqoq of Allah.

And he would also be written down as being from the delegation of Allah, the waft of Allah. So Allahu ta'ala has a number of wafud, those people who go from our community and they perform al-hajj, they're from the waft of Allah, the delegation of our community who went to Mecca representing us. Although we didn't go, they represented us.

They're the waft of Allah. We have people from this country, from the Muslims, Allahu a'lam, who could have gone to the World Cup, Allahu a'lam, they don't represent us in that kalam farek. They don't represent us because Allah is not concerned, subhanahu wa ta'ala, He doesn't take into consideration. The World Cup means nothing in the deen of Allah. That's not us being against community cohesion, that's not us being against living in this country, that's just our religion. We don't waste time on that kalam farek.

Who won? Did America win? Did the UK win? Who did you want to win? All that kalam farek. Although I always want the UK to lose all the time, not because they were America, but I always want them to lose all the time. Al-muhim, ikhwani, the person who prays salat al-fajr, he will be written down as being from the waft of Allah.

Those people represented his family, his wife and his children back at home. Those people represented his mother and his father who may be too old right now, they're not praying in the masjid. He's from the waft of Allah.

So this is from the virtues of praying the salat al-fajr in the masjid.

Entering Jannah by Praying the Two Cold Prayers

Also the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam informed us that praying the salat al-fajr in the masjid is one of the ways in which a person bi-idhnillah bi-fadlihi can go to the jannah.

Hadith:

(Source Name)

Qala sallallahu alayhi wa sallam: Whoever prays the two prayers that are cold, he will go to the jannah. The bardatayn, the two prayers that are cold. And the two prayers that are cold, pay attention here, is talking about salat al-fajr and salat al-asr.

Salat al-fajr and salat al-asr. Salat al-fajr and salat al-asr. Whoever prays these two prayers, he will go to the jannah.

Why did he mention al-fajr and al-asr? Before was al-fajr and al-isha. Clearly, salat al-isha at this time, some of our wives find it very difficult waiting until a quarter to eleven to pray. They just sit in there waiting for the time.

So the people always coming to us saying, is it permissible to combine the prayers? Yes, it's permissible to combine the prayers. You go to a masjid, they do that, then pray behind the imam and do what he does. I'm not comfortable with being the one who says, let's combine maghrib and isha all of these months. I wouldn't say that, I don't want to be responsible for bag yomu qiyamah. But if you go to a masjid that does that, then pray with them maghrib and isha and go home and don't worry about it.

But can the woman pray maghrib and isha at home combining her prayer for the same reason? The combination of the prayers should be done in the masjid. But if she's really tired, sometimes she can do it. Because if a person is not feeling well, or even you, if you're at home and you're really tired and you want to pray dhuhr and asr, maghrib and isha, four rakat, four rakat for dhuhr and asr, three rakat, four rakat for maghrib and isha, because of something like being tired, not feeling well, you have to get up early. You can do that sometime as the Prophet has allowed us, sallallahu alayhi wa ala alihi wa sallam. Because Allah didn't want to make any ihraj on us in our deen.

This hadith said, salat al-fajr and salat al-asr, they are the bardatan. And that's because number one, ikhwani, as we mentioned earlier, both of the salats, the angels witnessed them. They are mashhoodatan. The angels come down, they witness salat al-fajr, and they witness salat al-asr. So it's a virtuous prayer, both of them.

And the second reason is because these two prayers, ikhwani, like al-asr, this is the prayer, especially during this time in which many people are working and they are busy, and it's easy to allow salat al-asr to come and to go, and you don't take care of it. Not so much doing this time, because most people are off of work and asr is in. But during the time when the hour goes back, we're working and we're doing things, and asr time, the prayer comes and it goes without the individual praying.

He becomes preoccupied with his dunya.

Protecting the Prayer: Light, Proof, and Salvation

So there's another hadith, and we mentioned this hadith, and we made the tahqiq of this hadith, where the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said about the salat, when he started to tell the people about the virtues of the salat:

Hadith:

(Source Name)

Salah is wajib upon us, whoever makes the muhafaza, and he takes care of the prayer, he does it at the right time, he does it in the right mechanics, in the right mode, he does it with khushur, he knows what he's doing, he's not following the kalam of the madhab, but he's following the sunnah. He's praying the way he was commanded to pray, and the way he was told to pray.

Non-Muslim comes into the religion, he knows how to show the non-Muslim, who's a new Muslim now, how the Prophet pray, the mechanics of it. Sallallahu alayhi wasallam. And muhafaza, he's having the protection of the salah.

He learns the different dua to say. This doesn't stick with one thing, although that's permissible, but he tries to continue to perfect his salah. Allahu ta'ala loves it. When a person does something, that he does it to perfection. He does it with itqan. He wrote perfection on everything.

So we should try to be perfect in our salah to the best of our ability. Anyone who protects and takes care of the salah, he will have light, he will have burhan, he will have najat, yawm al qiyam. Light, he will have an argument, a proof that he's a Muslim.

It's the strongest proof after the tawheed, la ilaha illallah. After that, the strongest proof that a person is a Muslim, is that he pray. And the strongest proof that he's not a Muslim, is not a Muslim, is that he doesn't pray, even if he says la ilaha illallah.

Because his la ilaha illallah is in his heart between him and Allah. But if he doesn't pray, that's an indication that there's kufr in that person. It may be the kufr that takes him outside of Islam, and it may not be.

Hadith - Sahih Muslim:

(Source Name)

But he can say la ilaha illallah, have a beer, have niqab, but if they don't pray, then there's something about their Islam. It's suspect. As-salat, between a man and disbelief is his prayer, whoever leaves it, he has disbelieved.

He's a kafirun billah. She's a kafir billah. So how many people do we know, who are kuffar, or they've fallen into kufr, and they're claiming that they are Islam, you young brothers.

If you're one of those individuals, who you pray some prayers, and you let other prayers go. You don't pray at all, you only pray on Friday, you only pray on the Eid, you only pray when your father tells you to pray, you only pray when people are there, and then we're gonna pray together. If that's the way your situation is, then there's a question mark over your Islam.

There's kufr inside of you, and what you're doing. So whoever takes care of this salat, yawmul qiyamah will be a light for him, in his grave. That person who comes to him, he's going to say, who are you? You look like someone who has good news, his thobe is white, his picture is nice, he's going to say, I'm your good deeds.

And in him, nothing is better than the salat in terms of his actions, his physical actions, light in his cover, light yawmul qiyamah. And it's going to be a proof, and it's going to be najat, it's going to be najat, he's going to be saved. And anyone who comes yawmul qiyamah, and he didn't pray, he didn't make muhafazah, he didn't take care of the prayer, he won't have any light, he won't have any burhan, and he won't have any savior, he won't be saved yawmul qiyamah.

Raised with the Leaders of Kufr

And he'll be raised up yawmul qiyamah with Qarun, Fir'aun, Haman, and Ubay ibn Khalif, the one who we spoke about the other day, who was murdered in the battle of Badr. Who murdered him? Bilal ibn Rabah, as we mentioned to you, Ubay ibn Khalif was the one who was oppressing Bilal, and at the battle of Badr, Bilal radziya Allah anhu, made the tahyij and the tasjih of those ansar, and they dealt with the man.

So anyway, akhwani, whoever prays the two cold prayers, fajr and al-asr, he will enter into the jannah.

From the wisdom why these two prayers were mentioned is because as I mentioned, people become busy yawmul qiyamah, they become busy and they lose these two prayers, they lose salat al-asr. So I mentioned the second hadith because it is connected to what we're mentioning here, and what we're trying to bring to your attention.

Why did the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam say that the one who doesn't pray, and doesn't take care of his praying, he'll be raised up with those criminals of kufr? He'll be raised up with Qarun? He'll be raised up with Firaun? He'll be raised up with Haman? He'll be raised up with Ubay ibn Khalif?

Because usually people don't pray because of something dealing with the dunya that preoccupy these four people.

Firaun was a leader. He was the leader, he had a riyasa. So the person who's in a position of being an authority, his position prevents him from the dhikr of Allah. He doesn't pray because of his position. He has a big position

in the company. He works and he's the mudir, he's the manager. It can be something like Burger King, he's the manager of a restaurant. So A, he has to be on top of everything. He has to be on top of everything.

So as he's being on top of everything, he has to deal with them, and then he has to deal with this, then he has to deal with this problem, then he has to deal with the people who are bringing the product in, and he's just busy and he has no time to stop. The way the leader does.

Qarun and Haman, they were from the wuzara and the nusaha of Firaun. They were his ministers, they were the ones who used to advise him. So because of their dunya, Ubay ibn Khalif was a businessman, he had a lot of money. So the Prophet shallallahu alaihi wa sallam mentioned these four people because they will come yawmul qiyam as the imams of al-kufr and part of their kufr led them to not pray at all.

Quran 74:42-43 (Surah Al-Muddaththir):

As it's going to be said to the disbelievers, yawmul qiyamah. Allah ta'ala mentioned that the mala'ika will say to them: What put you people here in the hellfire? The mala'ika will say to them, why you people in the hellfire? They're going to say, we were those people who didn't pray. We didn't pray.

So the recompense and the reward of the one who doesn't pray is that he goes to the nara of jahannam like those individuals. And one of the things that led them to the nara of jahannam is their dunya.

The Greatest Ni'mah: Seeing Allah's Face

From the virtues, ikhwani, and the last one that we want to mention here today insha'Allah ta'ala, is that not only will the salat of al-fajr help an individual get into the jannah, but from the many virtues of the salat of al-fajr is that the one who prays the fajr and he takes care of the fajr, he positions himself to get the greatest ni'mah that the slave can get from Allah.

The greatest ni'mah that the slave can receive from Allah. Yawm al-qiyamah, Allah will give people different favors, different jizat. There's one single ni'mah that's greater than any and all ni'mah.

So I'm going to choose you brothers, I want you to answer the question insha'Allah. What is the single greatest ni'mah that Allah will give the slave that he created in this dunya? The number one ni'mah, the number one thing, the number one jizat in this whole creation of Allah, number one at the top of the list.

What is the number one ni'mah I'm going to choose you? This brother right here, he looks very smart insha'Allah. This brother, what's your name? You man, what's your name? What's your name? Ikhwani, we tell our brothers and I know you knew, you maybe knew, we tell brothers, even if you don't know the answer, you have to be a man. Don't look around like this and look like you ate a lemon and make funny faces.

The Example of the Young Companions

Now that's the difference between the people today, not my brother here. He was shocked, he's new, no problem. The companions radhiallahu anhu ikhwani, who was the companion who killed Abu Jahl? Who killed Abu Jahl? Who were the companions? Ibn Mas'ud? No.

Who were the companions? The two young boys, the two sons of Afra, Mu'adh and Mu'id. They killed Abu Jahl. They said to Abdul Rahman ibn Auf, Hey, ammi, ammi, where is Abu Jahl? He looked at them and they were little, like this brother right here.

Stand up, Ismail. Stand up, Ismail. Hamza, Hamza.

They were little like this. Abu Jahl. They said to Abdul Rahman ibn Auf, Who killed? Where is Abu Jahl? They didn't know him.

They're from Medina. Abdul Rahman ibn Auf looked at them and said, What do you two want with Abu Jahl? They said, he's been talking against the Habib. (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)

He had a lot of kalam against Islam, against our Nabi. We're gonna deal with him. We're gonna deal with him.

He said, that's him over there. And they just went after him like two lion cubs and jumped on him and dealt with Abu Jahl. And Abu Jahl, ikhwan, he was a personality that the grown companions respected his personality.

That's how the shabab were during the time of the companions. So I find it number one, ajeeb. I find it strange how a group of people call themselves Muslims can come now and say, all of the companions were kuffar.

All of them except five or six of them. And I also find it strange how some of the Muslims today talk about these issues that we're not ready to really deal with and questions make us afraid. Questions make us afraid.

Abu Umar, that's a strong kunya. Abu Umar, what is the greatest ni'mah that Allah bestowed upon his slave?

To look at Allah, yawmul qiyamah. That's the best and the greatest thing after all of the people go into the jannah.

The last person goes into the jannah, Allah will say to the people of jannah, I have something for you people. Do you want anything? They will say, you made our faces white, you made our mizan heavy, you put us in the

jannah, you saved us from the hellfire. What else is it that we can ask for? Allah says, there's one more thing and then Allah Azawajal will remove the hijab that is between Him and His creation and that is the greatest ni'mah that He bestowed upon them, the greatest thing.

Salatul Fajr will put you in a position to look at Allah's face yawmul qiyamah. Salatul Fajr.

Hadith - Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim:

(Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim)

Quran 50:39-40 (Surah Qaaf):

The delil for that is that the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), he said in what was collected by the Imam of Bukhari and Muslim: You will see your Lord, Yawmul Qiyamah, you're going to see Him, only in the hereafter, not in this dunya.

You will see Allah, Yawmul Qiyamah, the same way you see the full moon. Meaning, you don't doubt the full moon, that's the full moon, you'll see it, it's clear. That's what it means, you'll see it in that way.

Someone looks at the moon, he has no doubt. When Yawmul Qiyamah comes, the people of Jannah will see Allah, they will have no doubt, they won't be in any doubt. He went on to say, (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), so if any of you have the ability not to miss the salah before the sun comes up, and the salah before the sun sets, then do that.

Don't miss Salatul Fajr. Don't miss Salatul Asr. And then the Prophet read the ayah from Surah Qaaf, where he commanded us to make tasbih, glorify your Lord.

Glorify your Lord in the morning time before the sun comes up for Fajr. And glorify your Lord before the sun sets, Salatul Asr. The ulema of the Salaf, al-Hadith, they use this hadith to use it as a deliverance, and a proof to show that praying Salatul Fajr will position a person, bi-idhnillah wa fadlihi, to see Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's face yawmul qiyamah.

Shaytan Urinates in the Ears of Those Who Sleep Through Fajr

This is the dhikr, ikhwani, in the dhikr, tanfa'al mu'mineen, let us make jihad in terms of trying to get up for Salatul Fajr. Those people who sleep on Fajr, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was told about a man who Fajr, he didn't break the Fajr, he just kept sleeping. This is the condition of some people. The whole household just sleeps. Or the wife gets up, but the man stays asleep. The man gets up, the wife, she stays asleep.

The husband and the wife get up, but the children, they stay asleep. Especially when we're sharing our homes with other people. There was a man who, he would miss Fajr here and there.

Hadith - Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim:

(Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim)

They told the Prophet, he told them (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam): That man who slept on the Fajr time, he didn't pray, the Shaytan urinated in both of his ears.

Now, if this little boy who is not balik and he's shy as you can see, if he were to, for an example, for an example, if someone were to use the toilet (اللَّهُمَّ طَهِّرْ قُلُوبَنَا وَأَعْمَالَنَا - Allahumma tahhir qulubana wa a'malana) if the boy or someone put janajasa, urine in the bathroom and it got on your clothes, you're not going to like that. No one's going to say mashallah and get barakah from that.

No one, no one. If someone, not this little boy, someone put urine in a cup and threw it on you, he just threw it on you, no one's going to put his hand up and do barakah. It's going to be nasty because it's from the najasat.

Dua before entering the bathroom:

So we seek refuge in Allah before going to the bathroom. And we say what? Before going into the bathroom, the toilet. Seek refuge from the men jinn, the male jinn, the female jinn because they like that dirty place.

So we seek refuge in Allah (جل و عز - Jalla wa 'Azza) from the khubth of shaitan, his najasa. So the person who sleeps, a shaitan has put in the urine in both of his ears, both of his ears. So the Muslim is supposed to say (أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ - A'udhu billahi), I don't like the idea of that.

That doesn't sit well in my head. That's shaitan getting the best of me. He knocking me out right now.

And he has to get on top of the program. He has to get on top of the program. Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) overslept for salatul fajr when he was traveling.

He was traveling. It never was narrated in Medina at home, he overslept. But he was traveling.

Hadith:

And traveling is a piece of punishment. You're prevented from your food, from your drink, from your family. So you can understand, especially during that time, the mode of travel was difficult.

He was tired. He told Bilal, you stay up, and when fajr time comes, you wake us up. Everyone went to sleep.

The fajr came and went. Everyone went to sleep, including Bilal. So I said, yeah, Bilal, what happened? Bilal said, what overtook you overtook me, ya Rasulallah.

The Messenger of Allah said, let's move from this place where we were at. We're not going to pray here. Let's move from this place because this is the place of shaitan.

Shaitan made us miss the salat here. And then he went over there, made wudu, and he made us salat. So the one who doesn't pray at khawairi, shaitan is urinating in his ear, and his bed, his house, his room, that's the place of a shaitan.

And if you have people who are under your authority, your brothers, your sisters, your mother and your father, you have to say to them, hey, get up for salat. You have to give dawah every day. And you have to say, later on, like I told you, praying in those messages that are not on the sunnah, oh Allah, you know that every day I took it as a responsibility to say to my mother, my father, my sister, my brother, whoever, get up for prayer.

And I was consistent in doing that because I believed in you. I believe in the haq that they had upon me. And I did it consistently.

And I never got mad. And I was never judgmental. And I never abandoned it.

I just always gave them nasiha. So because I did that, please give me this, please do that, please give me that. Make a tawassul as opposed to letting it become an issue when you're fighting with them.

You hate them, they hate you. Give them a dawah in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Three Knots and the State After Waking

The one who wakes up in the morning, if he remembers Allah, he wakes up, he remembers one of the du'a of waking up.

Dua upon waking:

He says any of those du'a of waking up. He doesn't know the dua, but he says (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا الله - Alhamdu lillah la ilaha illallah)

When he wakes up, then he has three knots on him. One of those knots untied when he makes the dhikr of Allah. He gets up and he drags himself to the wudu area and he makes wudu.

The second knot is untied and then he makes the salah. The third knot is untied and he'll find himself during that day طَيِّبُ النَّفْسِ. He'll be ready to go, ready to take the exam, ready to go to work, ready to deal with this, ready to deal with that.

But the one who doesn't get up and just stays in the bed, for that day, he'll be lazy and he'll be a person who his nafs is not. He's lethargic, he's upset, he's in a bad mood. He wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, as they say.

He woke up on the wrong side of the bed because he didn't make salah. He didn't make salah and that's why his day goes like that. So, brothers and sisters, this is the dhikr that we want to remind you of.

Praying in Jamaat: At Home or in the Masjid

Inshallah, we want to be of the people of the salah. Those of you who can do it in the masjid because it's easy for you, if it's easy for you because you live close to the masjid and the salah in the masjid is wajib. If it's not easy for you, you're not close to the masjid, then pray the salah in jamaat if you can with your relatives.

Tahiyyat al-Masjid: The Right of the Masjid

Last thing that we want to mention, we have not ceased to see people coming to the masjid and they sit down without praying. That's because they may not know. They may not know but our Nabi, he told us, (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam):

Hadith - Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim:

(Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim)

If any of you enters into the masjid, don't sit down until you pray two rakaat. It's the haq of the masjid on you. On the day of the jumaat, the imam has given the khutbah.

If you come into the masjid, you have to pray two rakaats. You have to pray two rakaats. That companion came in, he sat down.

The prophet stopped his khutbah. He said, Hey, you, you, you, Suleik, did you pray two rakaats? He said, No, Ya Rasulullah. The prophet saw they didn't pray, so he stopped them.

It's the sunnah. He said, You didn't pray? He said, Get up and pray two rakaats and make them quick so that you can listen to the khutbah. Even doing the khutbah where you can't talk and mess around, but you have to pray these two rakaats, which goes to show the importance, yeah, ikhwani, of giving the haq of the masjid and making these two rakaats.

Closing Dua

We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us of the musaleen. And before that, to make us of the muwahhideen. And that He established our hearts firmly about the killing of the tawheed.

And may He make us of those people who are from ahlul sunnah haqqa, from ahlul hadith in reality. And may He forgive us for our mistakes that we've committed and the zillat that we've fallen into. He subhanahu wa ta'ala is qadr al-anadhalik.

Welcoming New Brothers

Before you go, ikhwani, we just want to find out, what's your name brother? Say it again. Wow, say it one more time. You're new here. You're from Kifli.

These brothers right here, they seem new as well. Sheikh, what's your name? Muhammad. You're new here? Where did you come from? From straight from Somalia.

You didn't go to Denmark or Finland? And you speak English that well, Sheikh? You must have been a wazir in Somalia or something, huh? And these are your sons right here? It's a question for you. Sheikh Muhammad, welcome, welcome, welcome. What was your question? I didn't say, I just said that you don't ask this question because we are new here.

Okay, okay. All right, well, we just want to welcome all of you. Our masjid is your masjid.

Because all of the masajid are the masajid of Allah azza wa jal. Barakallah fikum wa ahsana wa aleykum. Ikhwani, I can't take any questions because I have to do something really important right now, right? Inshallah.

Closing

End of Lecture