It is related by Hadhrat Abu hurairah (R.A.)
that (once) the Apostle of Allah (Sallallaho alaiho wasallam) was sitting
to one side in the mosque that a man came in and offered his Namaz (Prayer).
Afterwards, he came to the holy Prophet (SAW) and paid his respects
to him. The Holy Prophet (SAW) returned the salutation and remarked:
"Go and offer the Namaz (Prayer) again. You have not said it properly."
He went back and said the prayers again and returned to the Holy Prophet
(SAW), and paid his respects. The Holy Prophet (SAW), returning the
salutation, once again remarked: "Go and offer the Namaz (Prayer) again.
You have not said it properly". After offering Namaz (Prayer) for the
third (and the fourth) time, the man said to the Holy Prophet (SAW):
"Sir, tell me how to offer Namaz (Prayer)". The Holy Prophet (SAW) replied:
"When you decide to offer Namaz (Prayer), first perform Wadhu throughly
and well, then turn to Qibla, then begin the Namaz (Prayer), after uttering
Takbir-i-Tahrima. After it recite some part of the Holy Qur?aan which
you know by heart and can recite easily. (In other Traditions relating
to the same incident it is stated that the Apostle of Allah (SAW) told
the questioner, specifically, to recite Surah-i-Fateha and whatever
he liked, in addition to it). Then after the recital, perform Ruku till
you are still and at ease in Ruku. Then, arise from Ruku till you stand
erect. Then, perform the Sajadah till you are still and at ease in Sajadah.
Then arise till you sit up comfortably. (According to another narrator,
the Holy Prophet (SAW), instead of it, said: "Then arise till you stand
erect). Then, do like that throughout the Namaz (Prayer) (i.e., in every
Ruku, Sujud, Qauma and Jalsa in a calm and collected manner)." (Bukhari
and Muslim)
The incident mentioned above related to Hadhrat
Khallad bin Rafay (RA), the brother of the well-known Sahabi, Hadhrat
Rifa?ah bin Rafay (RA). According to Nassai, he had offered up two Raka?ah
of Namaz (Prayer) in the Holy Prophet?s (SAW) mosque but some other
commentators suggest that these Raka?ah were of Tahiyyat-ul-Masjid which
Hadhrat Khallad (RA), had said rather hurriedly, and upon it, he was
reproached by the Holy Prophet (SAW) and told to offer them up again.
It shows that the Holy Prophet (SAW) did
not plainly tell Hadhrat Khallad bin Rafay (RA), at the first time,
what was wrong with his Namaz (Prayer) and how it was to be said correctly
but at the third or fourth time, and, then, at his own request. It was,
probably, for the simple reason that a lesson imparted in such a manner
suffices for a lifetime and gets talked about among others as well.
The paractical teaching imparted in the above
Tradition is that Namaz (Prayer) should be offered up in a calm and
composed manner and if it is offered hurriedly and wiithout making the
necessary pauses and carrying out the various acts properly it be as
good as unsaid.
Namaz (Prayer) of Holy Prophet (SAW)
Hadhrat Ayeshah (RA) narrated that the Apostle
of Allah (SAW) commenced his Namaz (Prayer) with Takbir and the recital
with Al-Hamdu-Lilaahi Rabbil ?Alameen, and while performing Ruku he
neither raised his head upward nor bent it downwards but kept it in
the middle position (i.e., in line with the waist) and when he from
Rukuh he did not go into Sajadah till he had stood erect, and when he
raised the head from Sajadah he did not perform the second Sajadah until
he had sat upright and he recited At-Tahiyyatu after every two Rak?ah
and at that time, he flattened the left foot under him and kept the
right foot in the upright postion and he forbade Uqbatish Shaitan (sitting
like the Devil), and he, also, forbade that a man sat (in Sajadah) with
his forearms (i.e., parts of arms between elbow and wrist) placed on
the ground like the animals, and he brought the Namaz (Prayer) to an
end by saying Assalmu ?alaikum wa rahmatullah." ----Muslim
Namaz (Prayer) is a worship of a very high
order. For it such forms and postures of Qayam, Qaood, Ruku and Sujood
have been prescribed as constitute the finest marks and expressions
of adoration and humbleness, and all the unbecoming manners of holding
the body that are indicative of vanity, awkwardness or indifference,
or bear a resemblance with the lowly creatures have been, particularly,
forbidden. The Holy Prophet (SAW) has, accordingly, ordered us not to
sit in Sajadah with forearms spread on the ground as the dogs and wolves
do or in the manner which, in this Tradition, has been described as
Uqbatish Shaitan , and, in another, as Aq?aa-al-kalb.
Commentators have differed in their explanation
of the two terms. In our humble view, however, they denote sitting on
the heels with the feet held upright on the toes and since this posture
gives the impression of haste and exaggerated self-es-teem and only
the knees touch the ground and it is the way dogs and wolves and other
wild animals, generally, sit, the Holy Prophet (SAW) took special care
to forbid against sitting like that in Namaz (Prayer).
It is to be remmembered that such a manner
of sitting is disallowed only when one is not constrained to do so owing
to a disease or deformity.
Special prayers and formulas of Allah-remembrance
The inner feelling of earnestness and deep
devotion that runs through the prayer-formulas through which the revere
and adore the Lord during the various parts or acts of Namaz (Prayer)
like Qayam, Ruku and Sujood, and the entreaties he made in them, form
the essence of Namaz (Prayer). The sayings we are now going to discuss
should be read from that point of view and the endeavour should be to
produce the same emotional and spiritual state of feeling because it
is the characteristic legacy of the Holy Prophet (SAW).
Hadhrat Ayeshah (RA) related to us that ?when
the Apostle of Allah (SAW) began (to offer up) Namaz (Prayer) he first
glorified the Lord in these words: Subhaanakal-laa-humma wabihamdika
wa tabarakasmuka wa ta?ala jadduka wa laa-ilaaha ghiruka (O Allah, with
Thy glorification and Thy praise; blessed is Thy Name; and there is
no Allah save thee). Tirmidhi, and Abu Dawood.
Hadhrat Ibn-Taimiyah (RA) writes in Muntaqa
about Hadhrat Abu Bakr (RA), on the authority of Hadhrat Sunnan-i-Saeed
bin Mansur (RA), and about Hazrat Omer (RA) on the authority of Sahih
Muslim, and about Hadhrat Osman (RA) and Hadhrat Abdullah bin Masud
(RA), on the authority of Qutni, that they began their Namaz (Prayer)
with Subhaanakallahumma wa bihamdika... and, then, goes on to observe
that it appears from it that the Holy Prophet (SAW), usually, recited
this short prayer after Takbir in Namaz (Prayer). It, therefore, enjoys
preference over all the other prayers of adoration mentioned in the
traditions with relation to the commencement of the service though there
is no harm in reciting the other proven hymns, as for instance, the
one occurring in the next Tradition related on the authority of Hadhrat
Ali (RA).
Hadhrat Ali (R.A.) related that "when the
Apostle of Allah (SAW) stood up to offer Namaz (Prayer) he recited the
following prayer after Takbir: Waj-jahtu Waj-hil-lazi fataras samawati
wal-arz hanifan wa maana minal-mushrikeena in-nasalaati wa nusuki wa
mahya-yawa ma-matillahii rabbil ?Aalimeena Laa Shareeka Lauhu Wa bizaalika
omirtu wa ana minal muslimeena allahumma antal maliku laa ilaaha anta
anta rabbi wa ana abduka azlamtu mafsi wa-?ataraftu bizanbi faghfirli
zunubi jamee?an in-nahu laayaghfiruzzunuba illa anta wahdin li-absaril
akhlaq laa yahdi liahsaniha illa anta was-rif? annisaiyyi-aha laa yahsnifu
?an-nisajyyi-aha illa anta, labbaika wa sa?adaika was-sharru laisa ilaika
anabika wa ilaika tabarkta wa ta?a-laita astghfiruka wa atoobuilaika
(I have turned away from every direction and set the Creator of the
heavens and the earth, and I am not of those who associate anyone with
Him in allegiance. My worship, and my every religious act, and my life
and my death are for Allah alone, the Lord of the Worlds. To this I
have been commanded and I am of those who obey. O Allah Thou art the
Sovereign and Master. No one is worthy of obedience save Thee. Thou
art my Lord and Owner, and I am Thy slave. I have wronged my soul, and
ruined myself, and I confess my inquities. O Lord! Forgive me my sins;
no one can forgive sins expect Thee. And remove all bad manners and
deplorable morals from my side, and take them away from me. This, too,
no one aside of Thee can do. I am in THY presence the service and Thy
victory. Here I am, O Lord! All the good things, and every kind of piety
and virtue are in Thy hands, and evil has no access towards Thee. Thou
art the Blessed, the Most High, then art my only hope and my face is
turned towards Thee. I beg The forgiveness and unto the do I turn penitent).
This prayer the holy Prophet (SAW) recited
after Takbir and before the commencement (of recitation from the Holy
Qur?aan. Then, as he perform the Ruku?, (after completing the recital),
he used to say: Allahumma laka rak?atu wa bika aamantu wa laka aslamtu
khash?a laka sam?anini wa basari wa mukhkhi wa?azmi wa ?asbi (O Allah!
I am bowed low before Thee and I have believed in Thee and placed myself
I Thy charge. My earns, and my eyes, and my marrow and my bones, and
my muscles, and my nerves are all bent in submission to Thee). Later,
as the Holy Prophet (SAW) raised his head from Rukuo? and stood erect,
he said: "Allahhumma rabbana lakal-hamdu mila-a-as- samawaati wal-arzi
wa ma bainahuma wa mila-a ma shiata min shaiyyan b?adu" (O Allah! Praise
is for Thee alone, such boundless praise as my cover the extensiveness
of the heavens and the earth and fill all the empty space between them).
After it when the Holy Prophet (SAW) performed Sajadah, he used to say
(placing his forehead on the ground): Allahumma laka sajad-tu wa bika
aamantu wa laka aslamtu sajada waj-hiyyallazi khalaqa-hu wa sawwar-tuhwa
shaq-qa sam-?ahu wa basarahu tabarak-allahu ahsanul khaliqeen (O Allah!
I am prostrating myself for Thy sake, and in Thy presence, amd I have
believe in Thee, and I have placed myself in Thy charge. My face is
carrying out genuflexion before the Creator who created it, and gave
it its shape, and its ear, and its eyes out of nothing. \Blessed, indeed,
is the Best of Creators).
In the end, between Attahyyaatu (Also known
as Tashahhud) and Salutation,he would pray: Allahummaghfirli ma qaddamtu
wa ma akhkhartu wa ma anta a?alamu bihi minni antalmuqqdimu wa ant-al
muwakhkhartu la ilaaha illa anta (O Allah! Forgive me all the sins I
have committed earlier or later, and secretly or openly) and whatever
in equity I have been guilty of, and of which Thou art better informed
than me.
"Thou it is who raises to higher rank and
reduces to lower position. Verily, there is no deity save Thee)."--Muslim
From the narratives relating to the Namaz
(Prayer) of the Holy Prophet (SAW) is it clear that it was not the Prophet?s
(SAW) regular practice to recite in Namaz (Prayer) the prayers mentioned
by Hadhrat Ali (RA) in the above report. Perhaps, he did so occasionally,
and most probably,in Tahajjud. Infact, Imam Muslim (RA) has quoted this
Tradition in connection with the traditions appertaining Tahajjud.
Many other prayers were, also, recited by
the Holy Prophet (SAW) in Namaz (Prayer), particularly in Tahajjud which
will be taken up at the approbate time. These possess a special significance
and are charged with rare feeling. The Imam can read them in Fardh Namaz
(Prayer) as well if he is satisfied that it will not go hard with the
Muqtadis, and as far as supererogatory services are concerned, there
is no reason why one should not avail oneself of this marvellous bequest
in them.
Recital of Holy Qur?aan in Namaz (Prayer)
Like Qyam Rukuo? and Sujud, recital of the
Holy Qur?aan, also, is a principal part of Namaz (Prayer), and it is
done during Qayam. It is common knowledge that after Takbir some prayers
in the nature of a hymn are recited. We have just mentioned two of them
from the Traditions. It is followed by the recital of the first surah
or opening chapter of the Holy Qur?aan, i.e., Surah-i-Fateha, which
is a priceless gem of adoration and constains a most inspiring and comprehensive
description of the Attributes of Allah. Along with the rejection and
repudiation of every form of Polytheism there is, in it, an emphatic
affirmation of Divine Oneness and an earnest prayer for the Straight
Path, i.e., for guidance towards Faith and the Shari?ah. Anyhow, first
of all, this Surah is recited without which there can be no Namaz (Prayer).
After it the worshipper is required to recite any other Surah or a part
of it. Whatever passage of the Holy Qur?aan he recites will, invariably,
impart a message of guidance to him.
Either it will be way of glorification of
the Lord and exposition of His Immaculate attributes or dealing with
the Last Day, Heaven and Hell, and Divine reward and punishment or conveying
a command for practical life or narrating an event that has a religious
or moral significance. It will thus, be a ready answer to the worship?s
entreaty for guidance. In the second Rak?aah, too, another Surah or
some verses of it will be recited after Surah-i-Fateha but if the service
consists of three of four Rak?ah, but it is not necessary to recite
some other Surah with it.
Now, the Traditons:
It is relatedd by Hadhrat Abu Huraira (RA)
that the Apostle of Allah (SAW) said: "There can be no Namaz (Prayer)
without the recital of the Holy Qur?aan," Proceeding, Hadhrat Abu Huraira
remarks on his own that "we recited the Holy Qur?aan." with a loud voice
in the prayer service in which the Holy Prophet (SAW) recited it with
a loud voice and silently in the prayer-services in which the Holy Prophet
)SAW) recited it sliently." Muslim
It is recited by Hadhrat Abadah bin Samit
(SAW) that the Apostle of Allah (SAW) said: "Whoever did not recite
Surah-i-Fateha in Namaz (Prayer) did not offer Namaz (Prayer) at all."
--Bukhari and Muslim
In another version of the above Tradition,
quoted, also, in Sahih Muslim, it is stated that "whoever did not recite
Surah-i-Fateha and something else after it did not offer Namaz (Prayer)
at all." (Bukhari and Muslim)
It shows that while Surah-Fateha is an essential
constituent to Namaz (Prayer) it is, also, necessary to recite something
else from the Holy Qur?aan after it, although one is at liberty to make
one?s choice.
Points of views of legist Doctors
Hadhrat Imam Shafa?i (Rahmatullahe alaih)
and some other leading legist-doctors have inferred from the foregoing
and few other similar Traditions that it is obligatory to recite Surah-i-Fateha
in Namaz (Prayer), on matter whether one is offering it alone or in
congregation leading the service or participating in it as a Muqtadi,
and saying it with a loud voice or silently. Imam Maalke (Rahmatullahe
alaih) and Imam Ahmed Hambali (Rahmatullahe alaih), on the other hand,
hold that if the worshippers be a Muqtadi and Namaz (Prayer) is celebrated
along, the recital of Surah-i-Fateha by the Imam will suffice for the
Muqtadis. In this case the Muqtadi should abstain from doing the recitation.
But in all other circumstances one must recite Surah-i-Fateha in Namaz
(Prayer).
The same view is supported by Hadhrat Imam
Abu Hanifa (Rahmatullah alaih) who, further, believes that the recital
by the Imam will do for the Muqtadis as well in Raka?at that are offered
up sliently.
It is related by Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (RA)
that the Apostle of Allah (SAW) said: "The Imam has been appointed for
no other reason than that the Muqtadis follow him. Thus, say Allah-o-Akbar,
and listen in silence when he does the recitation." Abu Dawood, Nassai
and Ibn-i-Maja
Some other Ashat too have related in the
same words, the advice of the Holy Prophet (SAW) about listening quietly
when the Imam does the recitation. For instance, in the course of a
long Tradition, quoted in Sahih Muslim, on the authority of Hadhrat
Abu Musa Ash?ari (RA), the aforementioned instruction is given in identical
words. The Holy Prophet?s (SAW) exhortation, evidently, is based upon
the Qur?aanic injunction that when the have faith in their sincerity
and to believe that whatever conclusion they have arrived at in the
light of the Holy Qur?aan and the Sunnah and the coduct of the Ashab,
are in good faith and none of them is guilty of falsehood or distortion.
It is not, at all, opposed or antithetical to aligning oneself with
a particular school of jurisprudence. The path of justice and moderation
pursued by Hadhrat Shah Waliullah (Rahmatullah alih) in Hujjatullah
-i-Baligha is, in our view, the best and the wisest course in the current
circumstance through which unity can be brought back into the disintegrated
ranks of the Muslim.)
Recital of Holy Qur?aan by the Holy Prophet (SAW)
during Fajr
Hadhrat Jabir bin Samura (RA) narrated that
the Apostle of Allah (SAW) recited Surah-i-Kaaf and other Surahs like
it in the Namaz (Prayer) used to be light. --Muslim
Commentators have interprated the concluding
part of the above Tradition in two ways: one that the Holy Prophet?s
(SAW) prayers, i.e., those of Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha used to be
lighter, and in them, he recited less of the Holy Qura?an compared Fajr,
and the other that the Holy Prophet?s (SAW) prayers were usually long
in the earlier days of Islam when the Ashab were few in number and those
who formed the congregation behind him were Muslims of the highest caliber,
but letter when the number of worshipers had increased and they included
Believers of the second and third grades as well, the Holy Prophet (SAW)
began to celebrate comparatively shorter services and the more the worshipers,
the greater was the possibility of there being among them some weak
sick and faint-hearted people for whom a long service could be tiresome.
Both the interpretations are correct from
the factual point of view, but, to us, the latter apperars to be more
convincing.
It is related on the authority of Hadhrat
?Amr bin Hurais (RA) that he heard the Apostle of Allah (SAW) reciting
Wal-ley-i-Iza-? as-asa (i.e., Surah-i-Takvir) in the Namaz (Prayer)
of Fajr. --Muslim
Hadhrat Ma?az bin Abdullah elJuhani (RA)
related that a member of the tribe of Juhama told him that once he heard
the Apostle of Allah (SAW) reciting Iza zulzilat in both the Raka?at
of the morning service. (The narrator, then added that) he did not know
whether the Holy Prophet (SAW) did so deliberately or inadvertently.
--Abu Dawood
The usual pration of the Holy Prophet (SAW)
was to recite different Surahs in the two Raka?at of a service. So when
he, once recited the Surah of Iza zulzilat in both the Raka?at, the
Sahabi, on whose authority the above Traditon has been related, felt
uncertain If the Holy Prophet (SAW) had done so unintentionally or intentionally
in order to indicate that it, too, was permissible.
Hadhrat Ibn-i-Abbas (RA) related that hte
Apostle of Allah (SAW) used to recite the verses, Qooloo aamanna billahi
wa ma unzila ilaina.. of Surah-i-Baqara, and the verses, Qul yaa aiyyuhal
Kitaabi ta? aloo ilaa Kalimatin Sawaa-in baina-nana wa bainakum... of
Surah-i-Imraan (respectively) in the two Raka?at of Fajr. ?Muslim It
is related by Hadhrat Uqba bin Aamir (RA) that "in a journey I was going
along on foot, holding the reins of the Holy Prophet?s (SAW) camel in
hand. During the gonrny of the Holy Prophet?s (SAW) said to me: ?Uqba,
may I teach you two of the best Surahs of the Holy Qur?aan?? After it,
he taught (me) the Surahs of Qul aoozn be rabble falaga and Qul ?aoozu
be rabbin naas. He, then felt that I had not been very happy with the
choice of the two Surahs. So, when the Holy Propeht (SAW) dismounted
for the Fajr service, he let the prayers by recitig both the surahs.
At the end of the Service he turned towards me and said: Uqba! What
did you see and how did you feel??? --Musnadi-i-Ahmad, Abu Dawood and
Nassai.
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