Asalaamu alaikum G-l,

Alhamdulillah and here is the last part of the series on benefits of Salaah.
We pray that Allah make us hearers of the message and followers of the best
of it. Allahumma a'inna ala dhikrika washukrika wa husni ibaadatika.

Insha Allah the intention is to turn to 'Muqadimmaat fee usuul tafseer'
(Principles of interpretation of the Qur'aan) wich will be excerpted from an
excellent classic treatise by Shaickh Ibn Taymiyya (Raheema hullah). May
Allah make it easy. Innahu Jawwadul Kareem.

Shaick al-Munajjid wrote:

When a person suffers a great deal of waswaas
(insinuating thoughts from Shaytaan) in his
prayer, is his prayer valid or does he have to
repeat it?

Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allaah have mercy on him, said:

“It was said: what do you say concerning the prayer of one who has no
khushoo’,
does he have to repeat it or not?

With regard to whether it will count for the purposes of reward, it will not
be
counted, except for [the parts] where one is focused and has the correct
attitude of
khushoo’ towards one’s Lord.

Ibn ‘Abbaas said: ‘You will gain nothing from your prayer except the parts
where
you were focused.’

In the Musnad it is reported that the Prophet  (peace and blessings of
Allaah
be upon him) said: “A person may offer a prayer, and nothing will be
recorded of it
for him except half of it, or a third, or a quarter … or a tenth.”

Allaah has made the success of the worshipper in prayer dependent on his
khushoo’, and has indicated that the one who has no khushoo’ will not be
among
the successful, but if it is counted for him for the purpose of reward, he
will be one
of the successful. With regard to the matter of whether it counts in terms
of worldly
rulings and exempts him from having to repeat it, if he focused with proper
khushoo’ for most of the prayer, it is OK, according to scholarly consensus.
The
sunnah prayers and adhkaar recited after prayer make up for anything that is
lacking.

But in the case where there was no khushoo’ or proper focus for most of the
prayer, there is a difference of opinion among the fuqahaa’. Ibn Haamid, one
of the
companions of Ahmad, thought it obligatory to repeat the prayer. The
fuqahaa’
also differed with regard to khushoo’ in prayer, and there are two scholarly
opinions on this point. They are to be found in the Hanbali madhhab and
others.

These opinions differ as to whether it is obligatory to repeat prayers in
which one
encountered a great deal of waswaas. Ibn Haamid among the companions of
Ahmad said that it was obligatory, but the majority of fuqahaa’ do not share
this
view.

They take as evidence the fact that the Prophet  (peace and blessings of
Allaah
be upon him) commanded the one who gets mixed up in his prayer to do
sajdatay
al-sahw (two prostrations of forgetfulness); he did not say that the prayer
has to
be repeated, even though he said, “The Shaytaan comes to any one of you when
he is praying and says, ‘Remember such and such, remember such and such,’
about something that he had forgotten, until he misguides him to the extent
that he
does not know how much he has prayed.”

There is no dispute regarding the fact that there is no reward for the
prayer except
for the portion in which a person had proper presence of mind, as the
Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “A person may offer a
prayer,
and nothing will be recorded of it for him except half of it, or a third, or
a quarter
… or a tenth.”

Ibn ‘Abbaas said: “You will gain nothing from your prayer except what you
focus
on.” So [the prayer] is not correct if you are looking at it from the point
of view
that it has to be perfect, but it may be regarded as valid in the sense that
we are
not commanded to repeat it. (Madaarij al-Saalikeen, 1/112).

It was reported in al-Saheeh that the Prophet  (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When the muezzin calls the
adhaan, the Shaytaan runs away farting, so that he will not hear the
adhaan. When the adhaan is over, he comes back. When the prayer
starts, he runs away, but once it is in progress, he comes back, until
he comes between a man and his own soul, and says, ‘Remember
such and such, remember such and such,’ which he had forgotten,
until he cannot remember how much he has prayed. If any one of
you experiences this, let him do two prostrations of forgetfulness
(sajdat al-sahw) whilst he is sitting.”

They said: The Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) commanded him, with regard to this prayer in which the
Shaytaan made him forget how much he had prayed, to do the two
prostrations of forgetfulness. He did not command him to repeat it.
If the prayer was invalid – as they claim – he would have told him to
repeat it.

They said: This is the reason for the two prostrations of
forgetfulness – to annoy the Shaytaan for “whispering” insinuating
thoughts to a person and coming between him and his own soul
when he is praying. For this reason, these two prostrations are also
called al-murghimatayn (the two annoying ones). (Madaarij
al-Saalikeen, 1/528-530).

If you say that the prayer has to be repeated, so as to gain the
benefits and rewards, then that is up to the individual. If he wants to
gain those benefits, he can, and if he wants to miss out, he can.

If you say that we have to force people to repeat the prayer and
punish them if they do not, applying to them the rulings on those
who forsake prayer, then this is not right.

This is the more correct of the two opinions. And Allaah knows best.




Conclusion

Khushoo’ is a serious, major issue, which is impossible to achieve
without the help of Allaah. Being deprived of khushoo’ is nothing
short of a calamity. Hence the Prophet  (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) used to say in his du’aa’: “Allaahumma innee
a’oodhu bika min qalbin laa yakhsha’… (O Allaah, I seek refuge
with You from a heart that has no khushoo’…).” (Reported by
al-Tirmidhi, 5/485, no. 3482; Saheeh Sunan al-Tirmidhi, 2769).

Those who have khushoo’ are of varying levels or degrees.
Khushoo’ is an action of the heart that may increase and decrease.
Some people have khushoo’ as great as the clouds of the sky, and
others may finish their prayer without having understood anything at
all.

“When it comes to prayer, people are of five levels:

The first is the level of the one who wrongs himself and is negligent.
He does not do wudoo’ properly, or pray at the right time or make
sure he does all the necessary parts of prayer.

The second is one who observes the outward essentials of prayer,
prays on time and does wudoo’, but he has lost the battle against his
own self and is overwhelmed with waswaas.

The third is one who observes the outward essentials of prayer,
prays on time and does wudoo’, and also strives against his own self
and against waswaas, but he is preoccupied with his struggle against
his enemy (i.e. the Shaytaan), lest he steal from his prayer, so he is
engaged in salaah and jihaad at the same time.

The fourth is one who when he stands up to pray, he fulfils all the
requirements of the prayer, and his heart is fully focused and alert
lest he omit anything, and his concern is to do the prayer properly
and perfectly. His heart is deeply immersed in his prayer and
worship of his Lord.

The fifth is one who does all of that, but he takes his heart and
places it before his Lord, looking at his Lord with his heart and
focusing on Him, filled with love and adoration, as if he is actually
seeing Him. That waswaas and those thoughts diminish, and the
barriers between him and his Lord are lifted. The difference between
the prayer of this person and the prayer of anyone else is greater
than the difference between heaven and earth. When this person
prays, he is preoccupied with his Lord and content with Him.

The first type is punishable; the second is accountable; the third is
striving so he is not counted as a sinner; the fourth is rewarded and
the fifth is drawn close to his Lord, because he is one of those for
whom prayer is a source of joy. Whoever finds their joy in prayer in
this life, will find their joy in being close to Allaah in the Hereafter,
and will also find his joy in Allaah in this world. Whoever finds his
joy in Allaah will be content with everything, and whoever does not
find his joy in Allaah, will be destroyed by his feelings of grief and
regret for worldly matters.”

(al-Waabil al-Sayib, p. 40).

Finally, we ask Allaah to make us among those who have khushoo’
and to accept our repentance. May He reward with good all those
who helped to prepare this book and may He benefit all those who
read it; Aameen. All praise be to Allaah, Lord of the Worlds.

Wasallalahu wasallim ala Nabiyyina Muhammad. Subhaana Rabbika Rabbil izzati
amma yasifuun wa salaamun alal Mursaleena wal hamdulillahi Rabbil aalameen.
Wa aakhiru da'wa un anil hamdulillaahi rabbil alameen.

Modou Mbye


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