Chapter Four THE PRAYER AND ITS EFFECT UPON ABANDONING SINS AND DEVELOPING THE SOUL 24

Allaah, the Sublime said:

Indeed prayer restrains from the obscene and evil deeds. Soorahal-Ankaboot [(29:45)].

Allaah has explained in this aayah that a correct prayer, performedwith humility and submissiveness (khushoo’ ) undoubtedly prevents itsperformer from obscene and evil deeds and leads him to goodness.Therefore, you will see that the people of the mosque are the mostsuperior of mankind and the best amongst them. The sins andshortcomings of others are many times more than the sins andshortcomings of these people.

If the prayer does not prevent us from obscene and evil deeds thenit is necessary to carefully scrutinise the deficiency within it and tocorrect it. There is no escaping from correcting one’s prayer and thereis no fleeing from bringing about khushoo’ within it. So let us look atthe causes and let us strive to treat them with the cure, just as wetreat our bodies for their diseases. However the treatment of the soulsis more appropriate and comes first, and this is what will help us tounderstand the saying of the Messenger (PBUH), “The first thing forwhich a servant will be held to account is his prayer. If it is correctand sound, all the rest of his actions will be correct and sound, andif it is corrupt then all the rest of his actions will be corrupt.” [Reportedby at-Tabaraanee in Al-Awsat and Ad-Diyaa from Anas . It is also inSaheehul-Jaami no. 2570].

So in the correction of the prayer lies the correction of all theother actions. The position of the prayer (relative to all the otheractions) is like that of the head to the body. This is because theservant is nearest to his Lord during his prayer. He calls upon hisLord and seeks forgiveness from Him. He returns to Allaah and cries toHim, the Sublime.

The prayer cannot be corrected except with the correction of thecreed, being observant of Allaah, having fear of Him, bringing oneselfto account in front of Him, and trembling out of fear of His Fire. Whenhe finishes his prayer and is put to trial with sins and disobedience,he finds strength in his heart to repel them. This is because he looksat the temporary and vanishing pleasures and then at the bliss and joywhich never ends and the happiness which is never cut off. So he putsthe good which will remain (and last forever) ahead of that which isonly transitory and vanishes.

The prayer of the servant is corrupted due to lack of the carefulobservance of Allaah and weakness in taqwaa. 25 Aperson is, therefore, not able to produce such awe as will come betweenhim and his acts of disobedience.

There also occurs in the hadeeth, “Indeed, there is in the bodya morsel of flesh, if it is sound and wholesome, then the whole bodywill be sound and wholesome and if it is corrupt, the whole body willbe corrupt. Indeed it is the heart.” [Reported by Bukhaaree,Muslim and others from an-Nu’maan ibn Basheer ].

In the correction and purification of the heart lies the correctionof the whole body and in the corruption of the heart lies thecorruption of the whole body. If the heart is corrected, the hand willbe corrected so that it does not steal or strike anyone or commit zinaby touching what is unlawful. The feet will also be corrected so thatthey do not walk towards what is unlawful. The ears will be putstraight so that they do not listen to musical instruments, slander orbackbiting. The situation of the tongue will improve so that it doesnot speak except what is good. If the heart is corrupted, the wholebody becomes corrupt and the limbs will not depart except towards evilconduct and mischief.

The matter of the heart is either set aright or corrupted by theprayer. If the prayer is good it is an indication that the heart hasbenefited and that it is sound and wholesome. If it is not good, it isan indication of the heart receiving little benefit and of itscorruption. Evil deeds then become manifest and overtake the limbs.

Know that every prayer which is performed with awe and humilityenlivens the heart and stimulates it to do good deeds and also makes itadapt to good deeds, just as every good action which is performedoutside of the prayer increases ones khushoo’ within the prayer. In ahadeeth there occurs, “Upon you is the Night Prayer (Tahajjud) asit was the habit of the righteous people before you. It is a means ofnearness to Allaah, the Exalted, a prevention from evil deeds and anexpiation for sins.” [Reported by Ahmad in his Musnad,at-Tirmidhee and others. It is also in Saheehul-Jaami, no. 3957].

The Messenger (PBUH) has made it clear that the Night Prayer is aprevention from sins in that it stops the one who performs it from evildeeds and incites him to do good deeds. Therefore, it is necessary forus to establish the prayer and to increase in it. Likewise we mustperform the Night Prayer, standing awestruck, humble and submissive toAllaah, the Sublime, our hearts weeping over what we have neglected andfallen short of while hoping for the mercy of our Lord. We seeknearness to him by calling Him by His Names and Attributes, asking Himby them that he establishes us (upon His path) and that He gives usbenefit from our prayer and standing at night.

It was said to the Prophet (PBUH), “So and so prays the whole of thenight, yet when he reaches the morning he steals!” He (PBUH) said, “Whatyou say (i.e., about his prayer) should prevent him from that…” orhe said, “His prayer will prevent him (from that).” 26

When the prayer of the servant reaches its goal in preventing himfrom sin and disobedience it is written for him in Iliyyeen as ismentioned in the hadeeth, “If a prayer is performed after anotherprayer and there is no foolishness (vain talk) between them, it iswritten in Illiyyeen.” [Reported by Aboo Daawood and others. It isalso in Saheehul-Jaami, no.3731].

Therefore, the performance of prayer with earnestness and bringingtogether the elements of love, fear, hope, awe and reverence, all ofwhich are constituents of khushoo’ is a necessary and vital matter. Asis well known, the difference between an accepted prayer and a rejectedone is khushoo’. Ibn al-Qayyim mentions in Al-Madaarij, “Two peoplepray in the same row, behind the same Imaam-and the difference betweenthe prayers of the two is like the distance between the heavens and theearth.” And this is because in one heart is khushoo’ and in the otherheart-which is dead and has found more pleasure in escaping to thevalleys of the world-there is the darkness of heedlessness.

24From As-Salaat wa Atharuhaa fee Ziyaadatil-Eemaan wa Tahdheebin-Nafs,of Husain al-Awaa’ishah, with slight additions and modification25 Thetaabi’ee, Talq ibn Habeeb was asked to define taqwaa. He said,”Taqwaa is to act in obedience to Allaah, hoping for His Mercy upon alight from Him. And taqwaa is to abandon acts of disobedience toAllaah, out of fear of Him upon a light from Him.” Reported by Ibn AbeeShaibah in his Kitaabul-Eemaan, no. 99. Ibnal-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) explained the phrase, “…upon a light from Him …” to mean pure and correct faith, that nothingbut pure faith initiated the servant to perform the action. [Transl.note] 26 Reportedby Ahmad, Bazzaar and others. Shaikh al-Albaanee declared it authenticin Silsilatul-Aahaadeeth ad-Da’eefah, vol.1, p.16, in relation to thefalse hadeeth, “Whoever is not prevented by his prayer from committing obscene andevil deeds does not increase except in distance from Allaah.