Friday Khutbah (3rd June 2005) delivered by Shaykh Muhammad Taher
DISCLAIMER: This reminder was originally delivered in Arabic. Any meanings lost in translation are not to be attributed to the speaker as reminders are translated by volunteers. The mosque has no official translater and volunteers often have no formal qualifications to translate on the day. Please forgive any errors as they are from our human weakness and any right guidance is from Allah.In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Allah says in Surah al-Mu’minun, ‘Successful are the Believers, who are humble in their prayers,’ and in surah al-Baqarah, ‘Stand in humility before your Lord’, and in surah al-Anfal, ‘The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts tremble, and when the Signs of Allah are recited to them, their faith increases, and they trust in their Lord.’
How often we complain of the inattentiveness of our hearts during the prayer; indeed for many of us, our worldly affairs assail us the moment we begin to pray. What is the cause of this condition?
And why is it that our pious predecessors from the Sahaba and those who followed them were humble in our prayers, and yet we ourselves have no humility?
Among the many reasons for this inattentiveness are the sins that we commit, while believing them to be nothing but simple, light affairs. Indeed, these acts of disobedience are the reason for the lack of tranquillity in our hearts when we pray, for how can humility be present in the heart of he who performs the prayer whilst he continually sins against his Lord?
For Allah the Exalted has said, in Surah al-Ankabout, ‘Verily, prayer preserves from wickedness and sin.’ So who is it that prays, but his prayer does not preserve him from sin, after Allah has affirmed that the prayer indeed does preserve him from this? Why this imbalance?
Indeed, the problem is in your heart, O Muslim, in your demeanour, and your actions! The problem is the weakness of the belief in your heart, and the lack of awareness of Allah. The problem is the absence of understanding that the prayer is the link between yourself and your Lord, and the ultimate discourse between the bondsman and his Creator.
It has reached the stage where talk of a truly humble prayer is a fantasy, not a reality; nothing but another of the stories we tell about the pious Muslims who came before us.
It is related that one of the Companions said ‘The Messenger of Allah, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, would smile and chat with us, until the time for the prayer arrived, when he would be so focused on praying it was as if we didn’t know him, and he didn’t know us.’
It is also related that Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, would be so still in his prayer through humility that he appeared as a fixed pole, and that when he recited a loud prayer he would choke on his tears through weeping.
This was once the state of people when they prayed. Do our prayers resemble theirs? One of us may set out to the mosque, his heart immersed in the affairs of this world, and then begin to pray, heedless and inattentive, performing mechanical motions with no life or soul in them, and then get up to leave, not knowing what he has done, or for what he has prayed, never mind what the Imam has recited. And above this, many of us may remember during the prayer things that had not crossed our minds even before we began the prayer, our hearts and thoughts flitting wildly between our various worldly affairs and troubles. This is due to nothing else but weak faith and lack of certainty.
The Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: ‘a man may pray, and nothing may be recorded of his prayer but half of it, or a third, or a quarter, or a fifth, or a sixth, or a tenth.’ He also said, ‘nothing is recorded for a man of his prayer except that part in which his mind is present.’ He also said, ‘when a bondsman makes wudu, and excels therein, and then stands in prayer, Allah faces him as he prays, and He does not thereafter disregard him until the bondsman himself turns away, or his gaze wanders left and right.
Indeed he has succeeded, he who commences his prayer with presence of mind, humble and abased before his Lord, calling upon Him. Indeed he has succeeded he who focuses his attention, whilst praying, solely on his Lord, immersed in intimate discourse with Him.
By Allah, none of us know if we will pray another prayer after this, or if our time to leave this world will come before that. Perhaps our prayers will be accepted, and perhaps they will be refused from us, and we will truly be of the wretched.
But even with this certainty upon us, we continue in our heedlessness and frivolity, even though we will all be shown the hellfire, as Allah says in Surah Maryam: ‘There is not one of you who shall not come to it. This is the decree of your Lord.’ There is no one who should weep and tremble as we should, unless Allah accepts our prayers from us. For when we wake, we do not know if we shall ever reach the evening, and if we should reach the evening, we do not know if we shall ever see another dawn. None of us know if we shall enter Paradise, or be cast into the Fire.
A contrite, fearful heart is the heart that is humble in the prayer, and is uplifted by the hope of meeting Allah, and takes delight in private discourse with Him.
Allah says in Surah Al-Hadid, ‘is it not time for the hearts of those who believe to tremble with the remembrance of Allah, and what was sent down of the Truth, so they be not as those who were given the Book before them, but whose time was prolonged for them so their hearts hardened, and many of them were corrupt?’
O slaves of Allah! Is it not time for our hearts to turn to their Creator? Is it not time that our wayward souls return to their Lord and Protector? Is it not time that we change our standing before Allah; that we present ourselves to our Lord humble, and contrite? That we repent to Allah from every sin and error, and redeem what we have lost through frivolity and heedlessness? It is not time that we offer a prayer that will preserve us from wickedness and evil, a real prayer, in which our hearts are abased before our Mighty Creator? Our prayer must have a real impact on our lives, so that we shed tears before our Lord every time we bow, and every time we prostrate. By Allah, there is no benefit in heedlessness and distance from Allah, and no one will succeed who strays far from his Lord, for he who strays from his Lord is attracted to Satan, who leads his to perdition and destruction. The wolf only eats the sheep that has strayed, so do not stray from Allah, but place yourself before Him in humility and contrition, magnifying, praising and sanctifying His Name. Mean what you say when you call upon Him, and immerse yourself in His remembrance. Ponder deeply upon His Signs, and look to where they lead.
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