Halaqa - Ramadan Prep Cultivating Mindful Prayer

it's five.

And even that, even that, Sayyiduna Musa says, go back. You need a discount. Five is too much.

And that's when it was done. No, this is the sacred connection. The sacred connection that you and I, by the grace of Allah, have to be with Allah, to be in contact, in communication with Allah, are these five prayers, brothers and sisters.

Being Humbled by Prayer

And we have to be humbled by this. When we think about salah, we have to be humbled by salah. When we think about the prospect of being in that type of communion with Allah and connection to Him, we have to be humbled by that reality.

We have to think, you know, if this is what Allah, the most magnificent, chose and willed in that moment when the Prophet Muhammad was at the highest of heights for the ultimate human, human divine connection, and that you and I as very lowly, simple human beings that are remarkably undeserving, that are remarkably insignificant, that you and I have been given access and the ability to be with Allah in that way, wallahi we have to be humbled. Wallahi we have to be humbled and we have to say, Ya Allah, we are undeserving, we are undeserving of prayer. Do we understand that salah is Allah's call? You know, (حَيَّ على الصلاة - hayya 'alas-salah) come to prayer.

Allah is calling, Allah is calling. No one else, you know, if a friend that we really love, or a love interest, you know, for a potential spouse, or a spouse, or a friend, or whoever it is, or a president, or a powerful person calls us, if we see their missed call, if we see a text message, our heart flutters, our heart jumps in awe, you know, we're just, oh my god, wait, is that, did so and so just call me? We are humbled. And then we'll go and we'll say to our friends, you know, by the way, do you know who called me the other day? You know, president so and so, shaykh so and so, designer so and so, whatever, you know, floats your boat as they say.

Can you believe they called me? Well, Allah is calling us every single day. He's calling us five times today, and He wants to be in conversation with us. So what is our response to that call? And that's what I want us to, in the brief moments that we have together, I want us to think about what our response actually looks like.

Understanding Allah's Call

Because I think you and I, we are in categorical agreement that our response to Allah's call to be with Him in intimate connectedness is one that we want to look at very differently. See, I, you know, I'm talking, and I'm saying many things, and I have not even referenced the virtues of salah, you know, the standard, what we hear about in the Quran and the sunnah about what salah brings as virtues, that salah repels evil, repels wrongdoing, that salah is like a running river as the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) right outside of

your home. Imagine if you were to dip yourself in that river five times a day, would you have any filth left upon you? No, nothing.

Salah is what is the first thing to be accounted for on the Day of Judgment. And if your salah is sound, then you have nothing else to worry about. If your salah on the Day of Judgment is sound, then you have nothing else to worry about.

And your salah will be the fundamental identifier and differentiating factor between you and the entirety of the billions and billions if not trillions of human beings who will be there on the Day of Judgment. Your salah is what will allow you to stick out and to be present and to be elevated and to be high and to be above the fray. Because if you want to be above the fray in the dunya, you want to be elevated and you want to disconnect in the healthy sense.

The Reality of Prayer as Elevation

Because a lot of people, they disconnect but they disconnect by doing drugs, they disconnect by drinking, they disconnect by watching movies and having bad, ugly relationships and numbing themselves to death by all sorts of pleasurable entities. But if you want to, in a nourishing fashion, disconnect from the entanglements of this world, then it is salah. Because as the Prophet was elevated in that mi'raj to be in the company of (الْحَصْرَةِ الْإِلهيّة - al-hasratul-ilahiyyah) in a manner that was ultimately profound, then that is an opportunity for us five times a day, every single day, to truly disconnect.

That's why when we read the accounts of the companions and the awliya and the salihin, when they would say, they would literally be on the battlefield, okay? And they would need to have their limb cauterized, right? You know what it means to have a limb cauterized, right? To have maqwa, you know, to be... If you're in those times, the only way to stop blood, to stop a... Like if your limb has been cut off, you have to apply heat and steel to basically kill the nerve endings and seal up that reality. And that would happen on the battlefield. And they didn't have any forms of anesthesia that we have today.

But you know what their anesthesia was? (وَاللهُ العَظِيمِ، وَاللهُ العَظِيمِ، وَاللهُ العَظِيمِ - wallahul-'adheem, wallahul-'adheem, wallahul-'adheem), their anesthesia was salah. And the reason I say (وَاللهُ العَظِيمِ - wallahul-'adheem) because we have multiple sound narrations that indicate that companions would be in a state of salah and they would not feel the maqwa. They would not feel the heat of that steel on their limbs.

This is not hyperbole. This is not fanciful speech. This was the haqiqah of their mi'raj. Just as the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was able to elevate to a rank that disconnected him from the realities of this dunya and any pain point in this world, that was the reality of their own mi'raj and prayer. There are accounts and narrations where you have companions who would have arrows that would go through them and they would not feel it because they're in salah.

And you know, one time I was saying this and someone said to me afterwards, you know Shaykh, maybe, especially in the modern world, maybe it's not wise to say these things because, do you think it really happened? Yes.

Call me a crazy person, I do. Okay? I believe it with the entirety of my heart because these are sound narrations, unbroken chains of transmission. And yes, salah is an access point to the divine reality like nothing else.

That's what salah is in its essence. It's an access point to the divine reality where you now can go into realms of power, realms of endlessness that nothing in the dunya can give you. Right? All the common sense, knowledge and theory and perception about what is reasonable and what's sensible and what gives you strength and how you can overcome your trauma or your pain and all of this wisdom that is peddled in society today, when we're talking about access to endlessness and that is Allah, power, light, virtue, beauty, bounty, elevation, and that is in the being of Allah and Allah is giving us access through a connection of salah, then yes, absolutely, we believe in what our pious predecessors have handed down to us in this regard.

The Obligation of Prayer

That's why, brothers and sisters, just so that we understand something. All the ibadat, all the ibadat that we have, you can find yourself in circumstances when you do not need to fulfill those ibadat except salah. Salah, no matter what the circumstance is, if you are of sound mind, you have to pray.

Which means, if you're on the battlefield and literally you are in the heat of the battle, you have to pray. You have to pray. You can't miss prayer.

So imagine, you know, for us it's like, oh, I was in the mall. Shaykh, I was in the mall, I was in Macy's, you know, how can I pray at Macy's? It's like so hard. I don't mean to diminish the challenges that we face, but even in battlefield, if you are debilitated, you are handicapped, you are immobile, you cannot walk, you cannot speak, you cannot, you know, even bat an eye, you still have to pray with your thoughts.

You have to pray with your thoughts. So if you can't move your body, you sit down. If you can't move your limbs, right, you pray with your eyes.

You can pray with the twitch of your nose if that's all you have. You can pray with your thoughts. Salah, and by the way, this is not because Allah is trying to burden us.

No, this is because Allah loves us so much that no matter what our physical condition may be, He never ever wants us to be in a state outside of prayer. Except if He has commanded that we do not pray. That's why there are times when He says do not pray, by His will and His wisdom.

But beyond those moments and beyond those times, He always has commanded prayer. So all of the ibadat can be, you know, suspended except salah. So we take that legal reality or that legislative reality to say what? Wait, Allah loves this.

Allah loves this for us. Because Allah (لَا يُشَرِّعُ إِلَّا لِمَحْضِ مَصْلَحَةِ الْمُؤْمِنِ - laa yusharri'u 'illaa limahdi maslahatil-mu'min) The only reason Allah legislates is for the pure benefit of the believer.

It is only for our maslaha. That's why, you know, we'll read hopefully, I get to the book, you know me. I'm gonna, hopefully we get to it today, Allah knows if we get there.

But Imam Ibn al-Qayyim, the author of (أَسْرَارُ الصَّلاةِ - Asrar as-Salah) The Secrets of Prayer, he himself says that all of shari'ah, all of shari'ah is (لِمَصْلَحَةِ الْعِبَادِ - limaslahatil-'ibaad). It is purely for our benefit because of how much Allah loves us. So with all that is said, do we not think that perhaps our attitude towards salah has to continentally shift? You know, that this idea of salah being a burden is a false conception.

Salah is not a burden. Salah is a beautiful gift. So may Allah make that our realities, inshallah.

The Secrets of Prayer by Imam Ibn al-Qayyim

So before Isha, hopefully I can get through a few selections, but I wanted to read some of what Imam Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, who's passed away in 751 of the Hijri calendar, roughly in the 12th, 13th century of the Gregorian calendar. Imam Ibn al-Qayyim, he's someone who, like Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, was very concerned about getting into the secrets and the deeper meanings that are found in ibadah and worship. And he wrote, he authored this book (أَسْرَارُ الصَّلاة - Asrar as-Salah), The Secrets of Prayer.

And his entire goal and intention is to give us (ذوق - dhawq). He wants us to have a real taste and a deep appreciation for what prayer actually is at its essence. And I've shared some of that in my intro.

But I want to share explicitly some of the accounts that he shares or some of the excerpts that I think is of benefit. And if you have a chance, I believe this book is translated, I haven't checked. But those of you who want to check, you should check, inshallah.

But certainly it exists in the PDF form online. So he says, know without a doubt that prayer is (قُرَّةُ عَيْنِ الْمُحِيِّينَ - qurratu 'aynil-muhibbeen). Know that without a doubt prayer is the apple or the fruit of the eye, the (قُرَّةُ عَيْنِ - qurratu 'ayn) the great delightment or the pleasure of the lover, of the (مُحِبٌ - muhibb).

Because the one who loves Allah, the (مُحِبّ - muhibb) of Allah, then joy and true happiness lies in salah. That's why for the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)، (إِذَا حَزَبَهُ أَمْرٌ - idha hazabahu amrun) anything even remotely concerned him, anything even remotely came over his (خَاطِر - khatir) his thought, that would cause him some agitation, what would he say? یا (بِلالُ أَرِحْنَا بِهَا - ya bilalu arihnaa bihaa). Bilal, bring us comfort.

We need comfort now. Call to prayer. Say (الصَّلاةُ جَامِعَةُ - as-salatu jami'ah).

Bring people so that we can get into this space. And he says, it is the gardens of those in loving surrender. And it is the true pleasure and the true joy of the hearts that are tranquil.

You know, the hearts that are sound. (إِلَّا مَنْ أَتَى اللهَ بِقَلْبِ سَليم - illaa man atallaaha biqalbin saleem). Except those who arrive at Allah with the sound heart.

So the soundness of our heart is very much a function of the extent to which we find in our hearts this type of attraction to salah. May Allah grant us that. And don't fear for a moment.

When we speak about this, don't fear for a moment when we may say, listen, salah is a burden for me. I really think salah is hard. I actually don't even pray all of my salawat.

Yes, I'm not going to tell you that that's not a difficult state to be in. That is a state that we should only beg Allah to exit us out of quickly. Because to not be in salah and to neglect salah is to be in a state of self-mourning.

Because when I don't pray, I am really, really exacting a tremendous crime against myself to not be in salah with Allah. So may Allah grant us the opportunity to be people who preserve our salah and establish our salah. And we are not as Allah mentioned in the Quran, when they stand up for prayer, they stand up lazily.

The Warning Against Laziness in Prayer

When they stand up for prayer, they stand up lazily. Or as Allah says in the Quran (وَيْلٌ لِلْمُصَلِّينَ - waylun lil-musalleen) وَيْلٌ means literally woe to them. See, Allah notes these people as being amongst those who pray.

(وَيْلٌ لِلْمُصَلِّينَ، وَيْلٌ - waylun lil-musalleen, waylun) may be for those who pray. So either it means woe to them or it means a valley in Jahannam. Pay attention to this. A valley in Jahannam is there for the (لِلْمُصَلِّينَ - lil-musalleen), for those who pray. Now you think to yourself, well, how can that be? Allah gives the description, the reality of why. He says (الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنْ صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ - alladheena hum 'an salatihim sahoon). Those who are neglectful of their prayers.

And do you know what, when the ulama have explained what it means to be (سَاهِي عَنِ الصَّلاة - sahee 'anis-salaah)? This is something that is worrisome, but we speak about the beauty, but we speak about the fearful matters. And so we don't fear, we only like to hear the beautiful things. But Allah has brought (بَشارَة - bashaarah) but He's also brought (تذارة - tadhaarrah)

He's brought the glad tidings but He's also brought the warnings. And from the warnings is that Allah says that this valley in Jahannam is yes for the (لِلْمُصَلِّينَ - lil-musalleen) those who delay their prayers. Those who not

within the allowed or the allotted time of prayer, but those who سَاهُونَ. Just الَّذِينَ يُرَاؤُونَ الصَّلَاةَ إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ مِنْ سَهْوِ. Those who bring one صَلَاة into the other صَلَاة lazily.

Just سَاهُونَ عَنْ صَلَاتِهِمْ. And it's like, oh, I'll just pray later. It's not a big deal, I'll pray later. I'll combine it later.

Without any true شَرْعِي justification. Like I don't have an actual dispensation from a scholar or a Shaykh that was told to me that, yes, in your case you can delay or you can combine. Because certainly there are circumstances where that is allowed.

But me, just kind of on my own whim, because of سَهْوِ, I'm just kind of thoughtlessly combining a prayer to a prayer, then that's what is in store for them. May Allah protect us. And so yes, it's a serious matter.

It's a matter of, let's just be clear, صَلَاة is a matter of profound elevation, but the lack of صَلَاة is also a matter of profound abasement. And so it's reality, it's a duality that is drastic. It really is.

صَلَاة takes you very high, but صَلَاة can also be a reality that when we neglect it, we disrespect it, we disregard it, that can abase us miserably. May Allah protect us. But find deep hope and that Allah loves it for us.

And there's always time. And that's why we do these gatherings by the way. Let's just be clear on why we come together.

We come together to remind ourselves because we are all at fault of this. We come together to remind ourselves and to take heed and to take some corrective measures. And you know what you can do right now as you're sitting? Say أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْهِ.

Cleanse yourself with that and commit yourself to say, I will respect صَلَاة. I will not take this lightly.

And so He tells us that Allah has guided us to this. And He has acquainted us to صَلَاة. On the hands of our beloved messenger Prophet Muhammad الصَّادِقُ الْأَمِينُ, the honest, the trustworthy one.

That Allah has gifted us out of His mercy.

To be generous and kind. لِيَنَالُوا بِهَا شَرَفَ كَرَامَتِهِ So that they through this prayer can attain the dignity of Allah's generosity.

When Allah wants to dignify us, He invites us into His court. See, what Allah could do is that He could throw something at us from afar. You know, from afar He can say, here, take this.

Or He can give it to someone and say, go give it to them. But Allah from His desire, now this is what Imam Ibn Qayyim is saying, He wants to grant us تَشْرِيف. He wants to dignify us.

He wants to honor us. So He invites us into His court through صَلَاة. Because Allah wants us to be dignified.

And Allah knows that the only hope for our عِزَّة our dignity on this earth is through الصَّلَاة.

Reference: Hadith - Ahmad and An-Nasa'i

For that reason, the Prophet says that the joy of my life was placed in صَلَاة.

Because when he tasted صَلَاة, you know, the saying, I'm not sure who, maybe Sheikh Muhammad you can remind me but, لَوْ يَعْلَمُونَ مَا عَلِمْنَا لَجَالَدُونَا بِالسُّيُوفِ they knew what we knew, this is what the saying of our saints would be, if they knew what we knew, then they would fight us with swords, because we have صَلَاة. If they knew what we have, if they knew what we knew, they would fight us. And that's why they fight viciously against the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم).

Because early on, when the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) first received revelation, and he tasted صَلَاة, he tasted these divine realities, and they came to him, and they said, Ya Muhammad, please take whatever you want. Take wealth, take power, take مُلْك, take dominion, whatever it is you want, just take it. Just please come back to us, be with us, be like us. He said, if they were to give me, if they were to put the sun in my right and the moon in my left, I would never leave.

I would never leave what I'm upon. You have nothing, you have nothing for me, when I have Allah. And we have to understand the power and the عِزَّة that is embedded, and the dignity that is embedded in prayer.

The Power of Prayer

When you embed yourself in the divine reality, no one has anything for you. No one can give you anything. No one can uplift you, and no being can abase you other than Allah.

That is a truth. And that's why, one of the ulema was sitting in the masjid one day, and from the king of his time came to him. And at that time the ulema, they had a particular standing, and so the kings would have to come to the masjid, and visit the ulema and the mashayikh.

And so this king came, and he went to the shaykh as the shaykh was sitting, and he said to him, what do you need? What can I give you? What can I give you? So the shaykh said to him, I'm sitting in the house of Allah. I'm sitting in Allah's house, مَالِكُ الْمُلْكِ. And you're asking me this question? You know, he retreated. So then the shaykh was outside the masjid.

And so the king came to him, he said now that you're outside the masjid, is there anything that I can give you? He said, you think when I was inside the masjid, and I was with مَالِكُ الْمُلْكِ that outside the masjid,

I'm going to ask of you, when it is مَالِكُ الْمُلْكِ who has absolute... I don't need you. You don't get it. I don't ever need you.

You have nothing for me. That's power. I want you to understand this.

Please, really understand this. That's power. Today they talk about power, and power dynamics.

They talk about cultivating power, and establishing power, and developing power, and being empowered. Wallahi, this is power. When no human being can motivate you, when no force, when no entity... That's why this is fearful to people.

You know, that's why when some of the Islamophobe trolls who are probably listening to me right now, when I'm gonna go write a hit piece on me, which they've done multiple times. Oh, this guy is scary. You know, what is he talking about? Yes, I'm talking about power.

I'm talking about being مَعَ الله, and that is power, and that is very powerful, and that is fearsome to the human being who wants to dominate, and control, and subjugate other human beings. But the one who wants to liberate human beings, who wants to liberate, and that's why, that's why and that's their message was.

Those who came to exit people from the عِبَادَة of عِبَاد from the subjugation of the servant to the liberation of the servant to the Lord of servants. And that's what we are in the business of. That's why salah is dignity, salah is honor, and it's from Allah's grace.

So He invites us into His court, and He wants us to be elevated. And that's why He says وَأُولَئِكَ يَفُورُونَ بقريه. And you are then, you succeed by being close to Him. Because when we are in the اسْتِعَاذَة of Allah, when we are in His enveloped protection, we've succeeded, we've won.

That's it. No one, you know, you've ever seen like your children, when one of them runs to you, and then they, Oh, Nana and Abubu, you know, you can't, you know, talking to their sibling or their friend, Oh, you can't touch me. You know, I'm here.

You know, when they do that move, I just don't have two hands free. No, it's relevant. Imam Abdul-Malik is like, But that's how you are with Allah.

When you go into that comfort place, and that's in that space of genuine comfort, there's nothing else that's needed. May Allah grant us the comfort of being in close proximity to Allah. So he says وَيَفُوزُ بِقُرْبِهِ لَا لِحَاجَةٍ مِنْهُمْ إِلَيْهِ. Allah does not need us.

Allah without, with having no need for us, His pure generosity brings us into His close confines. مِنْةٌ مِنْهُمْ بَلْ مِنْةٌ مِنْهُمْ. It's just pure generosity.

So he continues to say, and let me just share a few pieces before we close for Q&A.

But he says that from the realities of Salah, is that Salah is the Ibadah that is done with the entirety of the body. So when we enter into Salah, what happens is that the entire body is now completely in a state of surrender. And that is unique to Salah.

So when you say الله أَكْبَرُ, and you enter into Salah, what happens? Your limbs are forced into a frozen state. You can't move. You can't be shifty in Salah.

If you move more than 2-3 times, what happens? You can invalidate your prayer by multiple motion. And so you can't be shifty, you can't look around. Your words are now restricted.

You can only speak very specific words. Your look, your eyes are controlled. You can only look in a particular direction.

Your thoughts are now controlled to be only in a particular space. Your qalb, your entire being, is in a state of surrender in Salah in a way that no other Ibadah is. And that's why to enter into Salah, what do you have to do? You have to say الله أَكْبَرُ.

You have to glorify Allah. You have to say, God is the greatest. And you have to raise your hands in a way that asserts that you throw everything behind your back.

And that you raise Allah into the highest of stations. And you assert with firmness that, Ya Allah, in this moment, as I transition from doing whatever it is, I am doing, saying whatever it is I'm saying, walking as I walk, talk as I talk, look as I look, to say, Allah, You are the greatest, and now I am in utter surrender to Your magnificence. And before you do that, before you ever even enter into that space, you have to purify and cleanse yourself.

The Importance of Purification

That's why the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) before his mi'raj, what happened? Jibreel took him by the Kaaba. And this was one of the moments where Jibreel opened the chest of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم). And he took out the heart of the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم). And he washed it with zamzam. He purified his heart with zamzam.

Because to be able to elevate the way he elevated, he had to be pure. That's why in wudu, the practices of wudu are twofold. The practices of wudu are an external cleansing, but also an internal cleansing.

That's why the dhikr and the dua that accompanies wudu is what? Istighfar. You do istighfar and you seek forgiveness. And that is the dhikr, the dua that is accompanied with wudu.

So to say that you are engaged in an external purification, as well as an internal purification, so that your mi'raj actually happens. That's why the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) he says when the Prophet, he was

exposed to the unseen reality. And he stood on top of graves.

And he said, I hear the screams of the graves. And they said, Ya Rasulullah, why do they scream? And from the reasons that he said they scream, because they did not purify themselves well. They did not take seriously their self-purification.

How they wash themselves after using the bathroom. How they wash their limbs. How they ensure that every part of their limb was washed well.

That their face and all of its creases, the water arrived to it. Because that was what would secure for them access into the space of mi'raj to be in that elevated state in salah. So for your salah to be accessible, for your elevation to be accessible, it has to be preceded by purification.

That's why even we have symbolic purification in the form of tayammum, where you just hit dirt. In normal states you have wudu. But when you don't have it, what do you have? You have dirt.

You have الصَّعِيدُ الطَّيِّبُ stone, dirt, etc. Dust, you tap it, and your hands and your face and that's it. But it's a symbolic reality that replaces the lack of water in that moment or the inability to use water.

And so this then becomes the reality of your station or your time ma'allah. And I'll just close with sharing one last kind of moment as we're entering into salah. And that is the words that we utter when we come into the space of prayer.

The Conversation with Allah in Prayer

When we come now after we've done our takbir, and we're standing, what do we begin to do? We begin to recite. We begin to speak because Allah has invited us into His divine court, and now He's taught us how to speak. So what do we say? We say الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ.

We begin by praising Allah because the qalb, the heart of the believer that is present in that divine presence is the one that knows to extol immediately, praise be to you, ya Allah. And that being, that mu'min knows full well that Allah is present. And as the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) indicates that when we say الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ Allah does what? Allah says what?

Reference: Hadith - Sahih Muslim

My servant has praised me. Imagine, imagine to be on the receiving end of that affirmation. When someone that we love or someone that we respect tells us, by the way, I really love you, and I'm proud of you, and I'm so happy with what you're doing.

What does that do to our heart? How does that make us feel? That really gives us a boost. You know, we are taught, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) teaches us to on the horizontal level, to say to one another, I

love you. To say, I love you, and I care about you, and you're looking really good today, you know, and your smile is very beautiful, and I love to see you.

You know, we say these statements of affirmation to one another because it injects love and confidence. Now imagine, if you're saying to Allah, as you say (الله أَكْبَر - Allahu Akbar) and you say (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ - Alhamdulillahi Rabbil 'Alamin) and Allah says, you have praised me. What type of affirmation does that do for me? In my heart, in my soul, when I know that Allah has affirmed.

You know, if we talk today, they talk about identity, affirming identities. Well, if you and I aspire to be servants of Allah, and Allah will affirm our identities as those who have praised Him, and we say (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ - Alhamdulilah) ... All we have to say, we make wudu, we say (الله أَكْبَر - Allahu Akbar) we get into the sacred sanctuary. That's why it's called (تَكْبِيرَةُ الْإِحْرَامِ - takbiratul ihram) the takbir of entering into sacredness.

And we say (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ - Alhamdulillahi Rabbil 'Alamin), Allah affirms. He says, (حَمِدَنِي عَبْدِي - Hamadani 'abdi). And then, when we praise and glorify Him by saying (الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ - Ar-Rahmanir-Rahim) You are the most gracious, You are the most merciful.

Allah says (أَثْنَى عَلَيَّ عَبْدِي)

(Sahih Muslim)

Reference: Hadith - Sahih Muslim

My servant, My servant has profoundly praised Me. (أَثْنَى، ثَنَاءٌ - Athna, Thana'un) They have brought glory, they have spoken in these words of glory, and beauty, and bounty. By affirming what? By saying a true statement of fact, and iman, and that is, Ya Allah, You are (الرَّحْمَنُ الرَّحِيم - Ar-Rahmanir-Rahim)

There is much that is said about You, Ya Allah. There is so much that people say about You today. There are people who have a big problem with You, Ya Allah.

There are people who reject You. There are people who deny You. There are people who say that You are not so many things.

But what I say, is You are (الرَّحْمَنُ الرَّحِيمُ - Ar-Rahmanir-Rahim). See, and that's why Allah says (أَثْنَى عَلَيَّ عَبْدِي - Athna 'alayya 'abdi) My servant knows who I am, and they have spoken the truth. And they have affirmed to me, for me what I am.

So what else, what type of language do we want to be using, Ma Allah, other than what is His. And when we say (مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ - Maliki Yawmid-Din), Allah is the one who has absolute servant sovereignty on the day of judgment. Allah says in response (مَجَّدَنِي عَبْدِي - Majjadani 'abdi)

(Sahih Muslim)

Reference: Hadith - Sahih Muslim

My servant has glorified Me in a due fashion.

(إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ، إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ - Iyyaka na'budu wa iyyaka nasta'in, iyyaka na'budu) Ya Allah. To You, all worship belongs. To You we worship, You we worship, and You we rely on.

What is the response of Allah? (هَذَا بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ عَبْدِي - Hadha bayni wa bayna 'abdi)

(Sahih Muslim)

Reference: Hadith - Sahih Muslim

You know, once the transition happens, we praise Allah, then we say (إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ - Iyyaka na'budu) Ya Allah. It is You who we worship.

And Ya Allah, it is You who we rely on. And this happens every time we enter into salah. Allah says (هَذَا بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ عَبْدِي - Hadha bayni wa bayna 'abdi)

This is between Me and My abd. Meaning to say, that You rely on Me, You worship Me, I'll take care of You. Don't worry about it, I got You.

This is between You and I now. This is between You and I. So all that's happening outside of this space of ihram, of the tahreem of salah, the sacred space of salah, forget about it because it's about You and I now. And what do we have to do to do that? And I want us to appreciate, this is low hanging fruit by the way.

Salah is low hanging fruit, meaning that it's accessible. And that's why from the unique, you know, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) when he speaks about the things that he was given, that no other Prophet was given. What were some of those things?

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

Reference: Hadith - Sahih al-Bukhari

That from the things that the Prophet Muhammad was given, that no other Prophet was given, was that the earth, the entirety of the earth was made as a masjid.

(مَسْجِدًا وَطَهُورًا - Masjidan wa tahura). Meaning to say what? You can pray at any point. That's why this is such a unique trait of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam). He was given something that no other Prophet was given. The access to (الْحَصْرَةِ الْإِلَهِيَّةِ - al-hasratul-ilahiyyah) at any moment, at any time, in any location.

Isn't that something beautiful? This is a khasisa of the khasais of the Ummah of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam). This is something, a unique trait for the Ummah of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam). So what do we say? (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَالشَّكْرْ لِلَّهِ - Alhamdulillahi wa shukru lillah) Ya Allah, we are not aware of this. We are not aware of how bountiful you've been with us. That we can be in a space where Allah says (هَذَا بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ عَبْدِي - Hadha bayni wa bayna 'abdi) then you exit your conversation, that space of Quranic recitation and conversation.

The Physical Movements of Prayer

And the natural bodily state or condition is to do what? To do what? You come into the divine court, you speak to Allah kind of in an introductory fashion. And what does your body do? You bow. You bow.

And this introductory bow is to show humility. Ya Allah, I'm so overwhelmed. I'm so compelled.

I'm so in awe of your generosity that I just have to bow my head. I have to bow my body. I have to contort because my body just is feeling that compulsion to contort in your divine presence.

And of course in that state, what do we do? (سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الْعَظِيمِ - Subhana Rabbiyal 'Adheem). Glorified be you Allah, the most magnificent. (سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الْعَظِيمِ - Subhana Rabbiyal 'Adheem). But then interestingly enough, when we're in that state and we're in the state of glory of Allah, what do we do after that? We stand up and we say something very specific.

What is it? Say it out loud, let's hear it. But just imagine now you're in ruku'a and that bowed kind of state of (خُضُوعٍ - khushu') and then (سَمِعَ اللهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ * رَبَّنَا وَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ - Sami'Allahu liman hamidah, Rabbana wa lakal hamd)

You are making a very distinct proclamation. It's almost as if you're saying, this is almost as if you're saying this, I am so overwhelmed by the fact that I'm in this state of conversation with Allah and in this divine communion that I bow myself out of just utter awe.

And then when I get my senses back, I lift my head up to say Allah hears those who praise Him. It's a statement of affirmation. Like I have experienced it now.

(سَمِعَ اللَّهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ - Sami'Allahu liman hamidah). Allah hears those who praise Him. We said in the beginning (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ - Alhamdulillahi Rabbil 'Alamin). I now experientially know Allah hears those who praise Him (رَبَّنَا وَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ - Rabbana wa lakal hamd). Due to you is absolute praise.

And that's the whole function of it. And the transitions happen. As Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim says, from one (إلَى الْمَشْعَرِ الْآخَرِ - ilal mash'aril akhar)

Just like in hajj when you're going from one sacred ritual to the next sacred ritual. The way you are transitioning is how? (الله أَكْبَرُ - Allahu Akbar). What is the talbiyah of hajj? (الله أَكْبَرُ - Allahu Akbar)

Is it not that? (لَبَّيْكَ اللَّهُمَّ لَبَّيْكَ * لَبَّيْكَ لَا شَرِيكَ لَكَ لَبَّيْكَ - Labbayk Allahumma labbayk, labbayka la sharika laka labbayk). Correct? And in salah, the talbiyah of salah is (الله أَكْبَرُ - Allahu Akbar). (اللهُ أَكْبَرُ - Allahu Akbar). And that's what even in the salah when it is quiet, when there's no speech, when there's no jahr bil qawl, when there's no recitation of the Quran, what do you hear? What do you hear the shaykh saying? That's the reality of it.

So may Allah help us to internalize this glory. Wallahi. And lastly, of course, is the beautiful conversation.

The Final Conversation in Prayer

And I know we need to close now for salah. The beautiful conversation that happens when you're in tashahhud, when you're now exiting salah. And there's much that I didn't say, but when you're exiting salah, you go back to the moment of Isra'il Mi'raj.

As many of the athar indicate. When the Prophet Muhammad first meets Allah in that point of Sidratul Muntaha (التَّحِيَّاتُ لِلَّهِ، وَالصَّلَوَاتُ، وَالطَّيِّبَاتُ - At-Tahiyyatu lillahi was-salawatu wat-tayyibat) You know all salutations.

And attahiyya, in its haqiqah is to say, Ya Allah, all forms of recognition, all forms of being present belong to You. All moments of just being present in that type of, you know, mental, emotional, spiritual state belong to You. (الصَّلَوَاتُ، وَالصَّلَوَاتُ، وَالطَّيِّبَات - As-salawatu was-salawatu wat-tayyibat). All prayers and all beautiful realities are attributed to You. (التَّحِيَّاتُ لِلَّهِ، وَالصَّلَوَاتُ، وَالطَّيِّبَاتُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ - At-Tahiyyatu lillahi was-salawatu wat-tayyibatu was-salamu 'alayka ayyuhan-Nabiyyu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh)

And peace be on to You, O Muhammad. And prayers upon You. Peace and prayers upon You, O Muhammad.

And when that reality now becomes connected to You, then the only thing, (مَا يَحِلُّ عَلَيْكَ - ma yahillu 'alayk) what settles upon us in that moment is what? Is peace and mercy. Peace and mercy. And then the affirmation of tawheed, (أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ - Ashhadu an la ilaha illallahu wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan 'abduhu wa rasuluh)

(اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ - Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammadin wa 'ala ali Muhammad) Say it with me as we exit (اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ - Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammadin wa 'ala ali Muhammad) (كَمَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَعَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ - kama sallayta 'ala Ibrahima wa 'ala ali Ibrahim). (وَبَارِكْ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا بَارَكْتَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَعَلَى آلِ إبْرَاهِيمَ - wa barik 'ala Muhammadin wa 'ala ali Muhammad kama barakta 'ala Ibrahima wa 'ala ali Ibrahim)

(فِي الْعَالَمِينَ إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ - Fil 'alamina innaka hamidun majeed, as-salamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullahi, as-salamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullahi)

What a profoundly beautiful... See, the Prophet is the one went in mi'raj, beyond Sidratul Muntaha, to be in that company, to receive salah, to have that exchange. And then our response to that whole reality, and this whole reality of Allah's relationship to Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam)and Allah's gift to Muhammad and to the ummah of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam)is for us as the ummah of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam), to extol and to proclaim for the remainder of the existence of believers on this earth, is to send salah upon Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) (فِي الْعَالَمِينَ - fil 'alamin). And that's our tribute, our tribute to the Prophets of Allah.

And that's why we start with Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam), and then we start with Abu'l-Anbiya. Then we continue with Abu'l-Anbiya Ibrahim (عليه السلام - alayhis-salam). We proclaim that reality.

We proclaim the reality of, Ya Allah, be peaceful with them. Shower them with your peace. Shower them with your blessing.

And let that blessing and let that mercy be in all of the worlds. And the alameen (كُلُّ مَا سِوَى اللهِ - kullu ma siwallah) Everything other than