Voices of Islam (76 page)

True servanthood of God means to become obedient. The servant has no will of his or her own but is subject to the will of the master at all times. Islam does not ask human beings to serve a cruel and whimsical master, but rather the Creator of all things, Who is the Aware, the Subtle, in His all- encompassing knowledge of both the needs and the desires of His servants.

One who attains this level of submission in Islam becomes
‘abd,
servant to the Lord. In Islam this is considered the highest achievement—the state of servanthood, known as
‘ubudiyya.
For that reason the Prophet said, ‘‘The names dearest to God are Abdullah (servant of God) and ‘Abdur-Rahman (servant of the Most Merciful).’’
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God says:

Glory to (God) Who did take His Servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did bless, in order that We might show him some of Our Signs.

(Qur’an 17:1)

The Importance and Meaning of Prayer in Islam
45

God specifi the Prophet Muhammad in this verse with the title ‘‘servant,’’
‘abd,
and again, relating to Prophet Muhammad’s ascension to the Divine Presence, when He says:

So did (God) convey the inspiration to His Servant- (conveyed) what He (meant) to convey.

(Qur’an 53:10)

...
For truly did he see, of the Signs of his Lord, the Greatest!

(Qur’an 53:18)

Of the station the Prophet Muhammad attained in that rapture, Imam Nawawi, one of the great scholars of Islam, says, ‘‘Most of the scholars say that the Prophet saw his Lord with the eyes of his head.’’

The unique greatness of God’s Messenger, Muhammad, is that he saw the Lord of Creation, thus making him the perfected monotheist (
muwahhid
). The Prophet Muhammad’s grasp of Divine Unity,
tawhid,
was perfected by ascension to the Divine Presence. Everyone else’s understanding of Divine Unity falls short of the Messenger’s. Despite this, the Prophet maintained absolute humility, never seeing himself as important, but rather as a servant, honored by the Master of masters.

It is related that when the Prophet reached the highest levels and most distinguished stations God revealed to him, ‘‘With what shall I honor you?’’ The Prophet said, ‘‘By relating me to You through servanthood (‘
ubudiyya
).’’
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Thus, true prayer is nothing less than Ascension to the Station of true Servanthood, which is the Station of Submission. In that station, Divine Unity becomes manifest, and there, the servant reaches the state where he hears what no ears have heard, sees what no eyes have seen, and tastes the reality of Divine Oneness. In this state of witnessing, the servant perceives only the Lord. He sees all existence through His Existence and the realization that all proceeds from the One. This is known as the Station of Annihilation, in which the servant no longer sees himself or herself, no longer sees anything, but only sees, feels and is immersed in the Presence of the Lord without any partner and with no likeness.

NOTES

1. The Hearer—
   al-Sami‘,
   The Aware—
   al-‘Alim,
   Responsive to those who call on Him—
   al-Mujib.
   

2. Ibn Rushd (Averroes),
   al-Muqaddima,
   the chapter of Prayer (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, 1994), 50.
   

   46
   Voices of the Spirit
   

3. See
   Fiqh al-Lugha,
   from al-Tha‘labi. Also in Qurtubi’s commentary on the Qur’an and others.
   

4. Cited from Qurtubi’s commentary by Ibn Rushd (Averroes),
   

   al-Muqaddima.
   

5. The traditional reverential phrase used whenever the Prophet’s name or titles are mentioned.
   

6. Bukhari, Muslim, and others.
   

7. Tabarani.
   

8. Muslim.
   

9. Bukhari. The specific prayer mentioned is the afternoon prayer (
   Salat al-‘Asr
   ).
   

10. Mawlana Muhammad Yusuf Khandalvi,
    Hayat al-Sahaba
    (New Delhi, India: Idara Isha‘at-e-Diniyat Ltd, 1992), 101.
    

11. Abu Bakr ibn al-Jaza’iri,
    Minhaj al-Muslim,
    chapter on Prayer, 1st ed. (Mecca, Saudi Arabia: Dar al-Fikr, 1995), 184.
    

12. Muslim from Jabir and others from Abu Hurayra.
    

13. Muslim, Tirmidhi.
    

14. Tabarani reported it from Anas in his
    Kabir.
    In another report it reads ‘‘
    ...
    

    then his prayers are not prayers.’’
    

15. Al-Jaza’iri,
    Minhaj al-Muslim,
    184–185.
    

16. The Prophet said:
    

    Verily this Qur’an is difficult and felt as a burden to anyone that hates it, but it is made easy to anyone that follows it. Verily my sayings are difficult and felt as a burden to anyone that hates them, but they are made easy to anyone that follows them. Whoever hears my saying and preserves it, putting it into practice, shall come forth together with the Qur’an on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever dis- misses my sayings dismisses the Qur’an, and whoever dismisses the Qur’an has lost this world and the next.
    

    Narrated from al-Hakam ibn ‘Umayr al-Thumali by Khatib in
    al-Jami‘ li Akhlaq al- Rawi
    (1983 ed. 2:189), Qurtubi in his
    Tafsir
    (18:17), Abu Nu‘aym, Abu al-Shaykh, and Daylami.
    

17. Bukhari.
    

18. A. Al-Masri,
    The Reliance of the Traveller,
    trans. N. Keller (Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Modern Printing Press, 1991), 34.
    

19. Ibid., 35.

1. Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
   

2. Ibn Rushd,
   al-Muqaddima.
   

3. Bukhari and Muslim from Abu Hurayra.
   

4. Muslim from Abu Hurayra.
   

5. On the right palm one sees the Arabic numerals 1 and 8, signifying 18, and on the left 8 and 1, signifying 81. The sum of these is 99.
   

6. Often cited, but not traced to a known hadith from the Prophet.
   

7. Without annihilation, that is, to see himself as existent before the Ultimate Divine Reality, which at the highest understanding of spirituality, is associating one’s self as partner with God.
   

   The Importance and Meaning of Prayer in Islam
   47
   

8. Muslim, Ahmad ibn Hanbal in his
   Musnad,
   and others from Zayd ibn Arqam.
   

9. Jili,
   al-Insan al-Kamil
   (the Perfect Human), Chapter ‘‘Secrets of Religion and Worship,’’ section ‘‘The Spiritual Symbolism of Prayer,’’ 260–261.
   

10. Also translated as the ‘‘Sacred Mosque.’’
    

11. Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s commentary on this verse summarizes traditional commentaries: ‘‘The Farthest Mosque,’’ he writes, ‘‘must refer to the site of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem on the hill of Moriah.’’ Muslims purposely built a mosque on this hill, according to tradition on the verifi site of earlier sanctuaries. It was a strong concern of the early Muslims to restore the site to its earlier function as a place of supplication venerated by all the prophets, including Abraham, David, and Solomon. Tradition relates that when the Caliph ‘Umar visited Jerusalem after its conquest, he searched for David’s sanctuary or prayer niche (
    mihrab Dawud
    ), which is mentioned in the Qur’an (38:21), the same site on which David’s son Solomon later erected the Temple. Satisfi that he had located it, the Caliph ‘Umar ordered a prayer niche (
    musalla
    ) to be established there which evolved into a mosque complex later known as the
    al-Haram al-Sharif,
    according to Prophetic tradition the third most venerated location in Islam.
    

12. Bukhari and Muslim.
    

13. Bukhari.
    

14. Ghazali mentioned this in his
    Revival of the Religious Sciences.
    It is similar to an Israelite tradition related by Ahmad ibn Hanbal in
    Kitab al-Zuhd
    from Wahb bin Munabbih.
    

15. Ka‘b al-Ahbar makes the entire verse refer to Muhammad, it is a metaphor of the Light of Muhammad. The Messenger of Allah is the niche, the lamp is prophethood, the glass is his heart, the blessed tree is the revelation and the angels who bought it, the oils are the proofs and evidence which contain the revelation.
    

16. Ibrahim Hakki Erzurumi,
    Marifetname
    (Cairo: Bulaq [Printing House], 1835).
    

17. Bukhari.
    

18. Bukhari and Muslim.
    

19. The basic essentials of the ritual prayer are:
    

    1. Standing in an upright posture (
       qiyam
       ).
       

    2. The opening affirmation of God’s Supreme Greatness (
       takbirat al-ihram
       ).
       

    3. Recitation of the Opening chapter of the Qur’an (
       Surat al-Fatiha
       ).
       

    4. Bowing (
       ruku‘
       ).
       

    5. Calm composure (
       tuma’nina
       ) in the bowing posture.
       

    6. Straightening up from the bowing posture.
       

    7. Calm composure in the erect posture resumed after bowing.
       

    8. Prostration (
       sujud
       ).
       

    9. Calm composure in the posture of prostration.
       

    10. Sitting between the two acts of prostration.
        

    11. Calm composure in the sitting posture.
        

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        Voices of the Spirit
        

    12. The final testimony (
        tashahhud
        ).
        

    13. Adopting the sitting posture in order to pronounce the final testimony.
        

    14. The invocation of blessing on the Prophet (
        al-Salat al-Ibrahimiyya
        ).
        

    15. The salutation (
        taslim
        ).
        

20. Al-Hakim in
    al-Mustadrak
    (authentic). In a similar vein, the Prophet is reported to have said, ‘‘Association with God (
    shirk
    ) is stealthier in this community than creeping ants.’’
    

21. The Prophet said, ‘‘I do not fear that you will become polytheists after me, but I fear that, because of worldly interests, you will fi each other, and thus be destroyed like the peoples of old.’’ Bukhari and Muslim.
    

22. Hajjah Amina Adil,
    Lore of Light
    (Columbo, Sri Lanka: Arafat Publishing House, 1989), p. xiii.
    

23. Ibid., 9.
    

24. Shah Waliullah al-Dihlawi,
    Hujjatullah al-Baligha,
    vol. 1, Secrets of Worship.
    

25. Muslim, Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
    

26. What is meant here is that Muhammad is the overall, universal opening of creation due to the fact everything was created from his light.
    

27. Ibn ‘Ata Allah as-Sakandari,
    al-Tuhfa fi l-Tasawwuf,
    from the Chapter on Prayer, arranged and compiled by Dr. ‘Ali Hasan al-‘Aridh, The Library of the Superior Achievement, al-Fajalah Egypt, pages 94–98.
    

28. It is related that Ibn ‘Abbas said, ‘‘If you had performed your prayers and you didn’t fi in your heart humility, when you read the Qur’an and you don’t fi a meaning in it and when you remember God by yourself and your tears don’t flow, then throw dirt on your head and cry about your loss. Then ask God to provide for you another heart.’’
    

29. What Ibn ‘Ata Allah means here is that after the prayer, one remembers God by magnifi praise, and glorifi n following the obligation prayers. It is related from Abu Hurayra in
    Sahih Muslim
    :
    

    The one who remembers God at the end of every prayer 33 times (by glorifica- tion [
    tasbih
    ], praise [
    tahmid
    ] and magnifi [
    takbir
    ]) and ends it with, ‘‘There is no god except God, He has no partners. To Him belongs the Kingdom and all praise and He has power over all things,’’ his sins will be forgiven even if they were as numerous as the foam of the ocean.
    

30. Suyuti recorded in his
    Jami‘
    that Abu Hurayra said: ‘‘When any of you are in prayer, he is conversing with his Lord.’’
    

31. To have the image of the Prophet in prayer is the highest summoning, even outside the prayer. Suyuti reported from Ibn ‘Abbas that he had a dream in which he saw the Messenger. Thereafter he went to the house of the Prophet’s wife ‘A’isha, the Mother of Believers, in which he was shown a mirror. But he did not see himself, he saw the image of the Messenger. Khalid al-Baghdadi added it in his
    Treatises in Obtaining Connection,
    reporting from al-Hafi in Suyuti’s,
    Tanwir.
    It is noted that this stage is reached after one has obtained constant connection with his spiritual guide (
    murshid
    ) through meditation (
    muraqaba
    ) which guides
    

    The Importance and Meaning of Prayer in Islam
    49
    

    him into the presence of the Messenger. Thus, meditation is an evolution after one has passed the higher stations of
    dhikr;
    by tongue, by heart, then by the combination of both.
    

32. Tirmidhi related this and it is sound.
    

33. These are two cycles before the dawn prayer, two or four before the noon prayer and two after, either none or two cycles before the afternoon prayer, two after the sunset prayer and two after the night prayer.
    

34. Bukhari and Muslim.
    

35. Part of the Opening chapter of the Qur’an (
    Surat al-Fatiha
    ) whose recitation in prayer is obligatory.
    

36. Muslim, Malik, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, an-Nasa’i, and Ibn Maja.
    

37. Yusuf Khandalvi,
    Hayat as-Sahaba,
    101. 57. Ibid., 105.
    

1. Abu Nu‘aym al-Isfahani,
   Hilyat al-Awliya wa tabaqat al-asfiya
   (The Beauty of the Righteous and Ranks of the Elite), trans. M. Akili (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Pearl Press, 1988), 56.
   

2. Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqani,
   al-Irshad ash-Sharif,
   

   private manuscript.
   

3. Ibn Asakir reported it from Abu al-Darda’ and Ibn al-Sina from Jabir. Day- lami recorded something similar from Ibn ‘Umar with the notable addition, ‘‘
   ...
   it extinguishes the anger of God and wards off the heat of hellfi from his family on the Day of Judgment.’’ Ahmad recorded it in his
   Musnad,
   and Tabarani in his
   Kabir,
   from Ibn Anas, ‘‘You should pray the night prayer, even if it’s only one cycle.’’ Al-Hafi in Suyuti graded it as sound.
   

4. Sayyid Haydar Amuli,
   Inner Secrets of the Path
   (London: Element Books, 1983), 233.
   

5. Bukhari.
   

6. Yusuf Khandalvi,
   Hayat as-Sahaba,
   101.
   

7. Bukhari.
   

8. Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
   

9. Part of the long ‘‘Gabriel Hadith’’ in which the Prophet describes the three levels of religion: submission, faith and perfection of character. The latter he described as ‘‘to worship God as if you see Him, and if you do not see Him, know that He sees you.’’ Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim.
   

10. Haydar Amuli,
    Inner Secrets of the Path.
    

11. Ibn ‘Ata Allah as-Sakandari,
    at-Tuhfa fi at-Tasawwuf,
    from the chapter of Prayer, pages 94–98.
    

12. Abu Dawud.
    

13. Related by Abu Qasim Sulayman al-Ansari.