Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

The Radiance of the Secrets of Prayer

This book is corrected and edited by Al-Hassanain (p) Institue for Islamic Heritage and Thought

• Foreword
• Note
• Preface
• Notes
• Worship {‘ibadah}
• Reasons for worship
• 1. Greatness of God
• 2. Feelings of dependence
• 3. Awareness of blessings
• 4. Human nature {fitrah}
• Role of worship
• 1. Making the perishable perpetual
• 2. Changing the material into the spiritual
• 3. Individual and collective development
• Dimensions of worship
• 1. Reflection on the handiwork of God
• 2. Earning a living
• 3. Seeking knowledge
• 4. Rendering service to the people
• 5. Waiting for the global government of justice
• How we should worship
• 1. Conscious worship
• 2. Fervent worship
• 3. Sincere worship
• 4. Worshipping submissively
• 5. Worshipping in private
• Dangers threatening worship
• 1. Ostentation {riya’}
• 2. Self-conceit {‘ujb}
• 3. Sin
• Ways of avoiding pride and self-conceit {‘ujb}
• 1. Have we really worshipped?
• 2. Have our acts of worship been accepted?
• 3. Futile acts of worship
• 4. Will we achieve redemption?
• 5. Comparing acts of worship and blessings
• 6. Comparing acts of worship and complacencies
• 7. Comparing acts of worship and needs
• 8. Comparing our state of worship with that of the divine saints {awliya’}
• Invalid acts of worship
• Servitude {‘ubudiyyah} and not worship {‘ibadah}
• Constancy in worship
• Opportunity to engage in worship
• Enduring difficulties of worship
• Promotion of worship
• Duty and its conditions
• 1. Puberty {bulugh}
• Some reminders
• 2. Strength
• 3. Freewill {ikhtiyar}
• 4. Intellect {‘aql}
• Conditions for the soundness of worship
• Motives behind changing the form of worship
• 1. Changing the form out of obduracy
• 2. Changing the form out of false enlightenment
• 3. Changing the form out of sanctimony
• Conditions for the acceptance of acts worship
• 1. Ideological condition: Faith in God
• 2. Political condition: Guardianship {wilayah}
• 3. Moral condition: God-wariness {taqwa}
• 4. Economic condition: Giving people their rights
• 5. Social condition: Wishing others well
• 6. Familial condition: Good behavior
• Signs of acceptance
• Conditions for the perfection of worship
• 1. Making greater effort
• 2. Concentrating on what is more important
• 3. Concentrating on what has lasting value
• 4. Acting in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet (S)
• 5. Having precedence in meritorious works
• 6. Performing devotional acts under difficult circumstances
• 7. Fervor and Constancy
• 8. Humility
• 9. Possessing insight
• Philosophy of worship
• Submission as the greatest philosophy of responsibility
• An encounter
• Notes
• Prayer {Salah}
• Importance of Prayer
• Prayer as viewed by reason and conscience
• Some Questions and Answers
• Negligence of Prayer
• Treating Prayer Lightly
• Unaccepted Prayers
• 1. Those who are Indifferent
• 2. Those who live on unlawful earnings
• 3. Those who are unmindful of their duties
• 4. Those who do not pay zakat {poor-rate}
• 5. Those who are lackadaisical
• 6. Those who are “haqin wa haqib”
• 7. Those who are unacceptable prayer leaders
• Prerequisites of Prayer
• Prayer and its Accompaniments
• Prayer as Spiritual Ascension
• Notes
• Let’s Welcome Prayer!
• Preliminaries of prayer
• Purification {taharah}
• Ablution {wudhu’} in every state
• Bathing {ghusl}
• Dry purification {tayammum}
• Clothing and place of the one praying
• 1. Observance of courtesy
• 2. Observance of the rights of others
• 3. Observance of priorities
• Focus of direction in prayer {qiblah}
• Call to prayer {Adhan}
• Bilal
• Notes
• Intention {niyyah}
• Intention {niyyah} as the criterion of value
• Examples of sincerity {ikhlas}
• Sincerity in worship {‘ibadah}
• Worldly effects of intention
• 1. Management of the society
• 2. Improvement of economic conditions
• 3. Good social relations
• Intention as an action {‘amal}
• Intention as compensation for deficiencies
• Ways of acquiring sincerity
• 1. Attention to values
• 2. Reflecting on creation
• 3. Attention to the Attributes of God
• 4. Attention to His blessings
• 5. Attention to the sure gain
• 6. Attention to worthlessness of the world
• 7. Attention to impotence of created beings
• 8. Learning from the experiences of others
• 9. Attention to final end of hypocrites in the hereafter
• Sound intentions
• 1. Fear of the Divine Station and Court
• 2. Hope for reward
• 3. Gratitude for blessings
• 4. Modesty {haya’}
• 5. Love of God
• The university of wisdom {hikmah}
• The root of sincerity
• Signs of sincerity
• 1. Not expecting anything from others
• 2. Focusing on duty, not title
• 3. Having no regrets
• 4. Treating receptivity and heedlessness as one
• 5. Consistency of motive and action
• 6. Lack of wealth and position does not hinder
• 7. Oneness of the apparent and the hidden
• 8. Without factional bigotry
• 9. Pursuit of important works undone
• 10. Desisting from error
• Outcome of sincerity
• Sincerity in the context of society
• Notes
• Let’s Engage in Prayer!
• “Allahu Akbar” {God is the greatest}
• Surah al-Hamd
• Bismillahi’r-rahmani’r-rahim {In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful}
• “Al-hamdulillahi rabbi’l-‘alamin” {All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds}
• “Ar-rahmani’r-rahim” {the All-beneficent, the All-merciful}
• “Maliki yawmi’d-din” {Master of the Day of Retribution}
• “Iyyaka na‘budu wa iyyaka nasta‘in” {You {alone} do we worship and to You {alone} do we turn for help}
• “Ihdina’s-sirat al-mustaqim” {Guide us on the straight path}
• “Sirat al-mustaqim” {The straight path}
• Some Notes
• “Sirat al-mustaqim” in the traditions
• Examples of immoderation and profligacy
• Sirat alladhina an‘amta ‘alayhim {The path of those whom You have blessed}
• Ghayri’l-maghdhubi ‘alayhim wa ladh-dhallin” {Such as have not incurred Your wrath, nor are astray}
• Surah at-Tawhid
• “Lam yalid wa lam yulad” {He neither begat nor was begotten}
• “Wa lam yakun lahu kufuwan ahad” {Nor has He any equal}
• To Be Calm While Reciting
• Ruku‘ {Bowing}
• Ruku‘ of the saints of God
• In The Company of Angels
• Sujud {prostration}
• Sujud of all created beings to God
• Sujud of the saints of God
• Effects of sujud
• Meaning of “Subhan Allah” {Glory be to Allah}
• Tasbih as the most oft-repeated command
• Qunut
• Tashahhud
• Salam
• A Glance at the Salam
• Notes
• The Post-prayer Supererogatory Devotional Acts {ta‘qibat wa nawafil}
• Post-prayer devotional acts {ta‘qibat}
• Invoking benediction and malediction
• Prostration of Gratitude {sujud shukr}
• Supererogatory prayers {nawafil}
• Night supererogatory prayers {tahajjud}
• Notes
• Congregational Prayer {salat al-jama‘ah}, Etc
• Importance of congregational prayer {salat al-jama‘ah}
• Effects of congregational prayer
• 1. Spiritual effects
• 2. Social effects
• 3. Political effects
• 4. Moral and Educational Effects
• The Leader of Congregational Prayer
• Selection of Congregational Prayer Leader
• Justness of Congregational Prayer Leader
• Means of Recognizing Justness
• Traveler’s prayer
• Conditions for shortened {qasr} prayer
• Ten days of stay
• (3) Masjid al-Kufah (in Kufah, Iraq); and
• Compensatory {qadha} prayer
• Notes
• Other Prayers
• Friday congregational prayer {salat al-jum‘ah}
• Manner of offering Friday congregational prayer
• Importance of Friday congregational prayer
• 1. Cultivating the spirit of fraternity and brotherhood
• 2. Formation of the Islamic forces
• 3. Intellectual and political development of the Muslims
• 4. Enhancing the spirit of collectivity
• 5. The center for mobilization
• Life conduct {sirah} of the holy saints {awliya’}
• ‘Id prayers
• ‘Id al-Fitr Prayer
• Divine gift
• ‘Id al-Fitr as a scene of the Day of Resurrection {qiyamah}
• ‘Id al-Adhha prayer
• ‘Id prayer as a prerogative of the leader
• Salat al-Ayat {Prayer for the Signs}
• Salat al-Ayat as a lesson on monotheism {tawhid}
• Manner of performing Salat al-Ayat
• Salat al-Mayyit {ritual prayer for the dead}
• Prayer for rain {salat al-istisqa’}
• Reason behind the absence of rain
• How can We who nurtured the enemy as such
• Manner of performing the prayer for rain
• Historical precedence of the prayer for rain
• Other prayers
• Notes
• Bibliography