The way of Performing Salah (Practical sunan)

The way of Performing Salah

(Practical sunan)

Translated by Alamgeer Usmani.

Praise be to God, the Pardoner, the All-Forgiving, the Almighty, the Patient, the Forbearing, the Grateful, and I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone who has no partner, He made darkness and light, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, the owner of the praised station on the Day of Resurrection, may God bless him, his family and his companions abundantly.

Then:

So, I advise you and myself to fear God, for, piety is among the good fruits in this world and in the grave and in the hereafter. God Almighty said:

﴿ لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا فِي هَذِهِ الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةٌ وَلَدَارُ الْآخِرَةِ خَيْرٌ وَلَنِعْمَ دَارُ الْمُتَّقِينَ ﴾ [النحل: 30].

“For those who do good, there is good (end) in this world, and indeed the abode of the Hereafter is much better. Excellent is the abode of the God-fearing”.

Brothers in Faith,

Worshiping Allah the Almighty by establishing prayer is among the greatest characteristics of piety and the greatest Islamic laws. The Almighty said:

﴿ وَأَنْ أَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَاتَّقُوهُ وَهُوَ الَّذِي إِلَيْهِ تُحْشَرُونَ ﴾ [الأنعام: 72]

“ Establish Salah, and heed Him. He is the One before whom you are to be gathered”.

And in another place, Allah the Almighty said:

﴿ مُنِيبِينَ إِلَيْهِ وَاتَّقُوهُ وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَلَا تَكُونُوا مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ ﴾ [الروم: 31].

“Set your face to the Faith) turning totally towards Him, and fear Him, and establish Salah, and do not be among those who associate partners with Allah”.

Servants of the Most Merciful,

Prayer is the comfort of the eye of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace.

And the prayer is one of the gates of sustenance. Almighty said:

﴿ وَأْمُرْ أَهْلَكَ بِالصَّلَاةِ وَاصْطَبِرْ عَلَيْهَا لَا نَسْأَلُكَ رِزْقًا نَحْنُ نَرْزُقُكَ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلتَّقْوَى ﴾ [طه: 132].

“Bid your family to perform Salah, and adhere to it yourself. We ask no provision from you. We give provision to you. And the ultimate end is in favour of Taqwa (God-fearing, and piety)”.

Like this, Salah restrains one from shameful and evil acts.

Prayer is the pillar of Islam. And it has remembrance of all kinds in it. It includes the Qur’an, glorification, praise, monotheism, takbeer, seeking forgiveness, sending salutations upon the Messenger, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, and supplication.

Servants of the Most Merciful,

It is a great worship which raises the spirit of the one who shows the reverence and connects him to his Lord, glory be to Him.

Brothers in Faith:

One of the greatest things that should remind ourselves is that we have be always keen to establish prayer, not just we should perform it. Allah the Almighty repeatedly commanded to establish salah as in the following verses:

﴿ ..وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ.. ﴾ [البقرة: 3] ﴿ وَأَقَامُواْ الصَّلاَةَ ﴾ [الأعراف: 170] ﴿ رَبَّنَا لِيُقِيمُواْ الصَّلاَةَ ﴾ [إبراهيم: 37] ﴿ وَالْمُقِيمِي الصَّلَاةِ ﴾ [الحج: 35] ﴿ وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ ﴾ [العنكبوت: 45] ﴿ وَأَنْ أَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ ﴾ [الأنعام: 72].

Al-Sa’di said: “That is, he commanded us to establish prayer with its obligatory and mandatory acts, and with its conditions, Sunnahs, and complements.”.

Our talk today is about practical Sunnahs of this great worship.

Its obligatory and supererogatory practices as well as following the Sunnah is evidence of the servant’s love for his Lord, Glory be to Him. Almighty said:

﴿ قُلْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ﴾ [آل عمران: 31].

“Say (O Prophet): “If you really love Allah, then follow me, and Allah shall love you and forgive you your sins.”.

Honourable people:

Among the practical Sunnahs is to take adornment for prayer, the Almighty said:

﴿ يَا بَنِي آدَمَ خُذُوا زِينَتَكُمْ عِندَ كُلِّ مَسْجِدٍ ﴾

“O children of ’Adam, take on your adornment at every mosque”.

Ibn Katheer said: “Because of this verse,and because of the narrations which are reported in the same meaning, it is desirable to adorn when praying, especially on Friday and the day of Eid. And using perfume is also from adornment. And to using miswak is also from the adornment. And white cloth is the best cloth.

Among the practical Sunnahs of prayer is to raise the hands to the level of shoulders or the ears, with the extended fingers towards the Qiblah in four places: at the time of saying takbeer of starting salah, when bowing, when rising from bowing, and when standing for the first tashahhud. It is narrated from Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Ibn Omar, may God be pleased with them, he said:“Allah’s Messenger used to raise both his hands up to the level of his shoulders when opening the prayer; and on saying the Takbir for bowing. And on raising his head from bowing he used to do the same and then say “Sami`a l-lahulimanhamidah, Rabbanawalaka l-hamd.” And he did not do that (i.e. raising his hands) in prostrations.

And amoung the Practical Sunnahs of prayer: holding the right hand over the left while standing. It is a perfection of etiquette and expression of reverence for God Almighty.

And holding hands is of two types:

The first: placing the right hand over the left,

The second: placing the right hand on the arm of the left hand.

Wael bin Hajar, may God be pleased with him, said:"I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), when he was standing in prayer, holding his left hand with his right. (Narrated by Abu Dawood and al-Nasa’i).

And in al-Bukhari on the authority of Sahel bin Saad al-Saadi, he said: “People were commanded to place the right hand on his left arm in prayer”.

And amoung the Sunnah of bowing is to straighten up the back of the worshiper.

Abu Hamid reported from the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, as in Al-Bukhari: “and on bowing he placed his hands on both knees and bent his back straight”.

That is, he bent himself flat without bending, and the head was straight and neither raised nor lowered.

Aisha said May God be pleased with her:" When he bowed he neither kept his head up nor bent it down, but kept it between these extremes”.

(Narrated by Muslim).

And it is Sunnah to hold knees tightly in bowing and one must spread his fingers apart.

Abu Hamid said that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “When he bows, he used to hold his knees with his hands and would separate his fingers.” Narrated by Abu Dawood and authenticated by al-Albani.

God bless you and me...

♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦

Second sermon

Praise be to God...

Afterwards,

Being concerned about the Sunnahs of prayer is among the establishment of prayer. And it multiplies the reward and virtue of prayer.

Servants of the Most Gracious,

It is Sunnah to place one’s palms parallel to his shoulders or the lobes to his ears, in prostration, and the separation must be as long as it does not harm those people who are around. And he must put fingers of feet in a position that their direction would be towards the Qibla.

It is Sunnah to keep his stomach away from his thighs and his thighs from his legs. Because as it is reported by the Prophet, peace be upon him.

And stretching out is Sunnah between the two prostrations and in sitting for the tashahhud in the second rak’ah: That is, the right leg must be erected, with its toes facing the qiblah, and one should sit on the left foot.

And from the Sunnah: Pointing with the finger in the first and second tashahhud.

Ibn Umar said, informing the prayer of Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: When he sat during the prayer, he placed his right hand on his thigh and clenched all his fingers, and pointed with the finger that is next to the thumb, and he put his left hand on his left thigh." Narrated by Muslim.

And from the practicalSunnahs is the twarruk (to put right hip on the right leg and to affix left hip on left stretched leg.) in the last tashahhud of prayer with three rakaa or with four rakaa if it doesn’t harm those around him.

In al-Bukhari, Abu Hamid al-Saadi, may God be pleased with him,said:I was sitting with some of the companions of Allah’s Messenger, and we were discussing about the way of praying of the Prophet. Abu Humaid As-Sa`idi said, “I remember the prayer of Allah’s Messenger better than any one of you. I saw him raising both his hands up to the level of the shoulders on saying the Takbir; and on bowing he placed his hands on both knees and bent his back straight, then he stood up straight from bowing till all the vertebrate took their normal positions. In prostrations, he placed both his hands on the ground with the forearms away from the ground and away from his body, and his toes were facing the Qibla. On sitting In the second rak`a he sat on his left foot and propped up the right one; and in the last rak`a he pushed his left foot forward and kept the other foot propped up and sat over the buttocks.”.

In conclusion: These are Sunnahs that one should feel, while applying them, that he has devoted himself to worship God Almighty by following the example of the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, who said: “Pray as you have seen me praying” (Bukhari).

And may God be pleased with his companions who told the most accurate details of his prayers, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him.

Then send peace and salutations...