Magazine Articles

- Salatul-Istikharah (The Guidance Prayer)… Does it have bad denotations and others that are good?

- Interesting details and various meanings that help you to be truly with Allah all the daylong are in the following article, by Mr. Amr Khaled, published in Almara’a Alyawm Magazine (The Woman Today) in Oct. 28^th, 2003:

In Sahih Al-Bukhari, narrated on the authority of Jabir ibn `Abdillah (RA) who said, "Allah's Messenger (pbuh) used to teach us how to seek guidance in choosing the best option available -in everything- in a practical enterprise, just as he would teach us a Surah (Chapter) of the Qur'an.”

Look my dear brother to this sentence, “in everything”, indeed in everything! Salatul Istikharah is indispensable in basic matters and secondary matters as well. I am afraid that you might have gotten married without performing Salatul Istikharah. How strange! Is it possible? Marriage is crucial decision, so how can you execute it without seeking guidance from Allah? The Prophet (pbuh) said, “Al-Istikharah brings nothing but goodness.”

Pray two Rak`ats (two cycles of ritual prayer) -not as a Faridah (obligatory prayer)- but voluntary, then you should say: “O Allah, I ask You to show me what is best, through Your knowledge, and I ask You to empower me, through Your power, and I beg You to grant me Your tremendous favor, for You have power, while I am without power, and You have knowledge, while I am without knowledge, and You are the One who knows all things invisible.”

O Allah, if You know that this undertaking –(then you mention your supplication)- is in the best interests of my religion, my life in this world, and my life in the Hereafter, and can yield successful results in both the short term and the long term, then make it possible for me and make it easy for me, and then bless me in it.

If not, then turn it away from me, and make it easy for me to do well, wherever I may happen to be, and make me content with Your verdict, O Most Merciful of the merciful.”

Look at the extent of your submission to Allah! This Du`a’ (call or prayer) may arouse various meanings in your mind, summarized in the phrase “My destiny is in the Hands of Allah”. Who does not feel safety and rest after reciting this Du`a’? Some people passed by this Du`a’ without paying attention to it at all. Others said that it is really a good Du`a’, but it is a long one, so we cannot memorize it. Subhan Allah!! Many of you are able memorize an endless number of songs. Moreover, you exert great efforts, patiently, to learn different languages. Hence, when it comes to this Du`a’, how can you say that it is difficult or long? My dear brother, you have to realize that you are the one who needs this Du`a’, and you are the one who will benefit from it. Can you leave happiness, and desire for misery? The Prophet (pbuh) said, “One’s happiness lies in his satisfaction of what Allah has decreed for him, and his misery lies in deserting seeking guidance from Allah as well as his dissatisfaction of the decrees of Allah.” Can we ever accept misery as a substitute for happiness?

One of the optional prayers is Salatul Doha. It is a Sunnah Mu’akkadah (supererogatory). The Prophet (pbuh) persisted in performing it, approved it, and highlighted its merits to the people. My dear brother, do you pray Salatul Doha? I believe you are a virtuous person, yet I do not justify anybody before Allah.

Its time is from twenty minutes after the sunrise till twenty minutes before Salatul Zuhr (noon prayer).

The Prophet (pbuh) said, "In the morning, charity is due on every joint of the body of every one of you. Every utterance of Allah's Glorification (i.e., saying Subhan Allah) is an act of charity, every utterance of His Praise (i.e., saying Al-hamdu lillah) is an act of charity, every utterance of declaration of His Greatness (i.e., saying La ilaha ill Allah) is an act of charity, and every utterance of declaration of His Power (i.e. saying Allah Akbar); and enjoining M`aruf (good) is an act of charity, and forbidding Munkar (evil) is an act of charity, and two Rak`ats of Doha Prayers which one performs in the Forenoon is equal to all this (in reward).''

The number of the joint (the phalanxes) in every one’s body is nearly 360 joints. Let us, my dear brother, give the due charity on every joint bone of our bodies, for each utterance of “Subhana Allah”, “Al-hamdu lillah”, “La ilaha ill Allah”, “Allah Akbar”, as well as enjoining good, and forbidding evil.

Oh Allah, who can do this! Thanks to Allah for Salatul Doha: for performing it makes us rich!

Abu Hurayra (RA) said, "My Dear One (pbuh) enjoined me with three: to sleep having performed the Witr prayer; to observe two Rak`ats of Doha, as it is the prayer of the righteous believers; and to fast three days every month."

The opposite of “righteous” is “oblivious”. Thus, my dear brother, be righteous by performing Salatul Doha.

Um Hani Said, “The Prophet (pbuh) performed eight Rak`ats of Doha prayer with a Tasleema (the action of ending a prayer) after each two Rak`ats.”

Since a little regular amount of goodness is better than a large but irregular amount, let us start with two Rak`ats and persist in performing them; for we have to give numerous due charities!

Fatigue… exhaustion… fighting during a long day… full of hopes and pains, and heaped with tiresome tasks… then the battle goes on, and the body, which embraces this heart, holds out until night falls… and every lover sets apart with his beloved… what wonderful moments in which one forgets the feeling of tiredness, and the heart enjoys the happiest times.

A calm night… hearts stand within the Hands of Allah… tears are shed out of the fear from Allah… the solitude with Allah is the essence of life, so let us adhere to Qiyam Al-Layl … let us purify our hearts; for Qiyam Al-Layl gratifies the true Muslim’s heart. Some people do not feel these meanings. Moreover, one may say that he is not praying the obligatory prayers regularly, so how can he feel the merits of Qiyam Al-Layl?! My dear brother, you have to realize that I am giving you one of the secrets of this life… Qiyam Al-Layl is one of these secrets. I believe that you need a clarification, so here it is!

The human heart is like a mirror; it can see only what is presented in front of it. Hence everything presented in front of your heart dominates all your dispositions. Therefore, if you put money in front of your heart, it will rule all your inclinations and you will love it and become greedy. In the same manner, if you put a woman that you cannot marry in front of your heart, then you will commit sins. Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “nor taking boy-friends.” (TMQ, An-Nissa’: 25)[1]. Thus, a virtuous woman is not allowed to have a boyfriend. Some people have so many images in front of their mirrors (i.e., in front of their hearts). Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “Beautified for men is the love of things they covet; women, children, much of gold and silver (wealth), branded beautiful horses, cattle and well-tilled land. This is the pleasure of the present world’s life; but Allah has the excellent return (Paradise with flowing rivers) with Him.” (TMQ, Al-`Imran: 14).

Therefore, it is difficult to put the image of the “Qur’an” or the image of “loving Allah” in front of such hearts, which are full of these images and many other images as well. Only one thing can do this; it is Qiyam Al-Layl. It makes the mirror and the image identical.

The Difference Between Their Prayers Is Like The Difference Between The Earth And The Heaven!!

The influence of Qiyam Al-Layl on the heart is limitless. It makes you feel what others do not feel, and perceive what others do not perceive. Thus, you may find a person crying heartily when he prays or when he hears the sound of Al-Adhaan (call to prayers) echoing in the sky. Now he hears and sees with his observant heart. Ibn El Qyem said, “Two men may stand in the same row, their feet are next to each other, behind the same Imam (the one who leads Muslims in prayers), and they hear the same verses of the Qur’an, yet the difference between their prayers is like the difference between earth and heaven.”

What makes this great difference? Indeed, it is the image in front of their hearts. My dear brother, if you want to have only one image in front of your heart -the image of “loving Allah”- then you have to adhere to Qiyam Al-Layl while people are sleeping.

A Youth Who Restored The Time Of Al-Sahaba (The companions of the Prophet (PBUH)):

Last Ramadan, I was praying Al-Tahajjud (Night Prayer in Ramadan) next to a youth. Once the Imam started the prayer saying “Allahu Akbar”, I heard this youth crying heartily. I was very astonished, since the Imam had not started reciting verses from the Qur’an yet! After finishing the prayer, I requested from him not to be angry with me, and to tell me the reason of his crying even before the Imam started recitation. He surprised me by saying, “When I said “Allahu Akbar” -with my tongue- I felt very afraid to be a hypocrite, who is saying it with his tongue, while he does not sincerely believe it in his heart!” Some of us have the same feelings of this person. Therefore, let us love Allah the way this sincere youth loves Him. For those who lived in this world without tasting the most beautiful thing in it, which is yearning for Allah, adhere to Qiyam Al-Layl.

[1] TMQ=Translation of the Meaning of the Qur'an. This translation is for the realized meaning, so far, of the stated (Surah:Ayah) of the Qur'an. Reading the translated meaning of the Qur'an can never replace reading it in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed.

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