Some notes about prayer
For performing prayer perfectly and increasing its reward:
❶A praying person should put a widthwise barrier in
front of him, in his prostration position, so as not to allow people to pass in the spot in which he is praying,
thus he prevents embarrassment of the others who want to pass in the remaining
area.
●Ibn
ᶦUmar reported: Whenever the Messenger of Allah went out on the festival day (ᶦId day), he ordered
to carry a bayonet and it was fixed in front of him, and he prayed towards its
direction, with the people behind him. He used to do it in the journey.
[AL-Bukhari].
❷It is prohibited for a Muslim to pass in front of a
praying person in his prostration spot.
●It
was narrated from Abi-Juhaim that the Messenger of Allah (P.P.B.U.H) said:
“If the one who passes in front of a person who
is praying knew what (burden of sin) there
is on him, it would be better for him to stand for forty than to pass in front
of him.” [AL-Bukhari].
❸It was narrated
from Abi-Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (P.P.B.U.H) said: “When one of you finishes the last testification, he
should seek refuge in Allah from four things: the punishment in Hell, the
punishment in the grave, the afflictions of life and death, and the evil of the
false Christ.” And in
the narration of ᶦAᶦishah: “from the
punishment in the grave, from the affliction of the false Christ, from the
afflictions of life and death, and from sin and debt.” [Muslim].
●ᶦAᶦishah (May Allah be pleased with her)
reported: When the Messenger of Allah (P.P.B.U.H) gave salutation, he would not remain
seated except long enough to say: “O Allah,
You are Peace, and peace comes from You, blessed are You, O Possessor of Glory
and Honor.” [Muslim].
●Muᶦadh
ibn Jabal (May Allah be pleased
with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah held my hand and said, “O Muᶦadh, By Allah, I love you and advise you not to
miss invocation after every prayer saying: O Allah, help me in remembering You,
in giving You thanks, and worshipping You well.” [Abu-Daoud].
●AL-Mughirah
ibn Shuᶦbah reported: The Messenger of Allah (P.P.B.U.H) used to say at the conclusion of prayer: “There is no god but Allah. He is alone, Who has no
partner. To Him belongs the dominion and to Him praise is due and He is Potent over
everything. O Allah! No one can withhold what You have given, and no one can
give what You have withheld, and no wealth or fortune can benefit anyone, for
from You comes all wealth and fortune.” [Muslim].
●It
was narrated from Abi-Hurairah (May
Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah said, “If
anyone exalts Allah after every prayer thirty-three times, praises Allah thirty-three
times, declares His Greatness thirty-three times, ninety-nine times in all and
says to complete a hundred: ‘There is no god but Allah, having no partner with Him,
to Him belongs dominion and to Him is praise due, and He is Potent over
everything.’, his sins will be forgiven even if these are abundant as the foam
of the sea.” [Muslim].
❹Severe hunger prevents humbleness in prayer. Also who
resists urination or defecation can not be humble in his prayer.
●ᶦAᶦishah
(May Allah be pleased with her) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah say, “No prayer can be (rightly said) when
the food is there (before
the worshipper), or when he is prompted
by the call of nature (urination
or defecation).” [The Two
Scholars].
❺When you are standing in your prayer, you should point
your eyes to the spot of your prostration. And in your bowing, make your body
as a 90-degree angle and do not raise your head, but point your eyes to your
feet.
●It
was narrated from Anas ibn Malik (May Allah be pleased with him) that the
Prophet (P.P.B.U.H) said: “How is it that some
people raise their eyes towards the sky during the prayer?!” He stressed (this point) and added, “People must refrain from raising their eyes towards the sky in
prayer; otherwise, they will lose their eyesight.” [AL-Bukhari
and Muslim].
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●It
was narrated from Abi-Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet
said, “The most burdensome prayers for
the hypocrites are night prayers and morning prayers. And if they knew their
merits, they would come to them even if they had to crawl.” [The Two Scholars].
To overcome this impasse, you should get out of bed immediately after
waking up, remember Allah using any form, and seek refuge in Allah from the
Devil. If you got up lazily, you would give the Devil an opportunity to sneak
to you and arouse laziness and sickness in yourself.
●It was narrated from
Abi-Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah
(P.P.B.U.H) said, “When anyone of you sleeps, the Devil (Shaytan) ties three knots at the back of his
neck, and he seals the place of each knot with ‘You
have a long night, so sleep.’ If he wakes up and remembers Allah, a knot is
untied. If he performs ablution, a knot is untied. If he prays, a knot is
untied. He begins his morning in a happy and refreshed mood; otherwise, he gets
up in bad spirits and lazy.” [The Two
Scholars].
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Making up for the missed prayer
A menstruating woman, a woman in confinement period, and crazy persons,
do not make up for the missed prayer.
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Times in which prayer is disliked
●ᶦUqbah ibn ᶦAmir reported: there were three times at which Allah’s
Messenger forbade us to pray, or bury our dead: when the sun begins to rise
till it is fully up, when it is directly overhead at noon till it passes its
zenith, and when it draws near to setting till it sets. [Muslim].
●And in
another tradition, the Prophet (P.P.B.U.H) said, “The sun rises and with it the horn of the Devil, then when it
gets higher the horn leaves it. When the sun is in the middle of the sky the
horn joins it, and when the sun declines the horn leaves it, when it is closer
to setting it joins it. And when it has set it leaves it.”
The
following are excluded from this dislike:
①The missed obligatory prayer. It must be performed at
any time.
②When it is time of eclipse prayer, rain-invoking prayer,
funeral prayer, circumambulation prayer, mosque greeting prayer, ablution
prayer, a prostration of recitation, or a prostration of thankfulness.
③Prayer in the Sacred House.
The Prophet (P.P.B.U.H)
said, on the day of the Conquest of Makkah, “O
Banu ᶦAba Manaf, do not prevent anyone from circumambulating this House and
praying at any time he wants of night or
day.” [AL-Tirmidhi].
