Make your SALAH more meaningful
The Nabiy [Sallallahu Alayhi (Waalihi) wa
salam] was resting one evening and he saw a man enter the
masjid and then come out soon thereafter. He asked the man what
he did in the masjid and the man replied that he had prayed the
`Asr Salaah. The Nabiy [Sallallahu Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam]
told him that he had not prayed `Asr and asked him to return to
the mosque and to pray `Asr. The man again came out after a
short while, and the same conversation occurred.
After the third time, the man mildly protested that he had
indeed prayed `Asr all these times, and yet the Nabiy [Sallallahu
Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam] sitting outside was telling him that
he had not.
The Nabiy [Sallallahu Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam] then explained
to him that the ritual actions during salaah each take some
time to perform, and in the time it was taking him to pray `Asr,
he could not possibly have been performing his prayers with the
devotion that it requires.
You often see Muslims performing sujood, for example, by merely
touching their forehead to the ground and lifting it as if the
musalla was a hot plate, and they barely straighten their backs
before they repeat that quick sajdah in a time that one can not
even say a part of Subhana Rabbiyal A'ala. The Nabiy [Sallallahu
Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam] sometimes used to sit between sujood
for so long that the congregation behind him would think that
he had forgotten to perform the second sajdah! If you would
just think about the beauty of the declaration, "Subhana
Rabbiyal A'ala" (Glory be to the Sustaining Lord the Most
High), and imagine the feeling of love and submission that must
come from the heart when you recite this, you would
automatically find it lingering on your tongue and affecting
your entire being.
To improve the quality of salat and to inject Khushu in it, it
could be useful to remember the occasion of Me'raj when Salat
was ordained on Muslims. In the presence of Allah (Subhanahu wa
Ta'Ala), separated by only a veil, Nabiy Muhammad [Sallallahu
Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam] stood respectfully with a bowed head
and folded arms, and among other praises recited,
"Glory be to Thee O Allah, and
Thine is the praise, and blessed is Thy name, and exalted is
Thy Majesty, and there is no diety besides Thee".
Then after reciting Surah Fateha and some other verses, he
bowed, and repeated several times,
Subhana Rabbiyal Adheem:
Glory be to the Sustaining Lord, the Great".
When he stood up, Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'Ala) said,
"Sami Allahu
Liman Hamidah:
Allah listens to the one who praises Him".
Moved by this, the Nabiy [Sallallahu Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam]
responded,
"Oh Lord, Thine is the praise", and with Allahu Akbar (Allah is
the Greatest),
he prostrated himself and repeated an even more glorified
praise several times,
"Subhana Rabbiyal A'ala".
When he finally assumed a sitting position and recited
Attahiyat:
"All services rendered by me by words, and bodily actions, and
sacrifice of wealth are in honor of you, Oh Allah",
Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'Ala) replied,
"Assalaamu Alaika ya ayyuhan-nabiyyu wa Rahmatullahi wa
Barakatuhu:
My peace on thee Oh Nabiy, along with My Mercy and My
Blessings".
The Nabiy [Sallallahu Alayhi (Waalihi) wa
salam] was ever desirous that his disciples should share in any
gift that Allah had bestowed on him, and he said,
"Assalaamu Alaina wa alaa ibaadil-laahis saaleheen:
Let the peace of Allah be on the worshippers and on the
righteous ones".
Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'Ala) asked the Nabiy [Sallallahu Alayhi
(Waalihi) wa salam] what he would give in exchange of this
magnanimous gift that he had asked for, and his reply was,
"Ashadu An-la Ilaaha illal-Laahu:
I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah".
This was very pleasing to Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'Ala) and
He declared,"Wa ash-hadu anna
Muhammadan abduhu wa Rasooluhu: And I bear witness that
Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger".
Then Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'Ala) asked the angels
in the gathering to send prayers of exaltation and blessings on
Nabiy Muhammad [Sallallahu Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam].
After some du'ah, when the Nabiy [Sallallahu Alayhi (Waalihi)
wa salam] completed his prayers by greeting salam to the
assembly of angels to his right and to his left, he yearned
that his followers be given the privilege of performing this
Mehraj as well, so that their heart would be moved by this
experience as much as his own was.
And Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'Ala) gifted mankind with salat as a
Me`raj-Al-Mohmeneen, a conversation that they could have with
Him not once in a lifetime, but fifty times a day (as we know,
this was later reduced in number to five times a day, but with
the same reward as fifty times a day).
Hence, when we perform salat, let us imagine that we are in the
Divine presence of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'Ala), and that when
we praise Him, He replies,
"Sami Allahu Liman Hamidah",
and that we Glorify Allah (Subhanahu Wa
Ta'Ala) in our rukuh and sujood, and we join with the angels in
giving salutations and blessings to the Nabiy [Sallallahu
Alayhi (Waalihi) wa salam]. For then, Insha'Allah, each salaah
of ours will be truly a Me`raj-Al-Mohmeneen.