Fundamntals of Salaah
Imam Ahmed Raza 'Alaihir Rahmah & the
Fundamentals of Salaah
Allah Ta'ala says, "Undoubtedly, the prayer forbids one from indecency and evil things."
Allah Ta'ala has mentioned the benefits of Salaah explicitly in the Holy Qur'an: they keep one away from indecency and evil things. However, nowadays we see many people who perform Salaah yet also lie, breach trust, break promises, utter profanities and useless words, and spend their time listening to music and singing songs. What is missing in the people who perform Salaah that is depriving them of obtaining the full benefits of Salaah? Let us look for those shortcomings in the blessed words of our beloved Prophet Sallallaho 'Alaihi Wasallam.
"The Salaah is deficient in which the performer of Salaah does not keep his back straight whilst bowing and prostrating."
One time, Rasool Allah Sallallaho 'Alaihi Wasallam asked the people what they thought of drunks, adulterers and thieves. The people answered, "Allah Ta'ala and Rasool Allah Sallallaho 'Alaihi Wasallam know best." Rasool Allah Sallallaho 'Alaihi Wasallam said, "These are all obviously great sins and are the cause of punishment, and the worst kind of stealing is stealing from Salaah." People asked, "Yaa Rasool Allah Sallallaho 'Alaihi Wasallam, how does one steal from Salaah?" The Beloved of Allah Ta'ala replied, "Not bowing and prostrating correctly."
The consequences for those who perform Salaah like this has been mentioned by Rasool Allah Sallallaho 'Alaihi Wasallam, who said, "Allah Ta'ala does not Look (as befits His Glorious Status) towards the Salaah of one who does not straighten his back between bowing and prostrating."
Hazrat Huzaifa Radiallaho Ta'ala 'Anhu saw a person performing Salaah but was not bowing and prostrating correctly. When he had finished his Salaah, Hazrat Huzaifa Radiallaho Ta'ala 'Anhu said to him, "You have not prayed Salaah, and if you die in this state, your death will not be on the faith that Allah Ta'ala granted and was preached by Rasool Allah Sallallaho 'Alaihi Wasallam."
At one stage, Rasool Allah Sallallaho 'Alaihi Wasallam states, "The person who performs ablution thoroughly for Salaah, prays the Salaah's on time, and bows and prostrates correctly, Allah Ta'ala has promised that He will forgive that person. But there is no promise from Allah Ta'ala for the person who does not do this; if He wishes, He will forgive him or He will embroil him in punishment."
We realise which things are necessary for Salaah to be performed correctly and for it to be accepted by Allah Ta'ala. Until these things are performed correctly, we will not profit from or gain any benefit from the Salaah.
Let us now look at and study how careful Imam Ahmed Raza Khan 'Alaihir Rahmah was in safeguarding and ensuring that each act of Salaah was performed perfectly and correctly.
A'ala Hazrat 'Alaihir Rahmah was so careful in observing and performing each part of Salaah meticulously and was so knowledgeable in the rules and regulations of each gesture that not only the general public, but most Scholars are not able to understand or comprehend them totally. Hazrat Maulana Shah Khwaja Muhammad Hussain Chishti Nizami Meerthi Ajmeri states:
"I sat in seclusion (I'tekaaf) in A'ala Hazrat's Mosque on the 20th of Ramadhan, and A'ala Hazrat 'Alaihir Rahmah also was in seclusion. One day, before the seclusion began, A'ala Hazrat 'Alaihir Rahmah came to the Mosque for 'Asr Salaah, led the Salaah and then left. I went and sat in my designated place in the Mosque. After a short while a person asked me, 'Do you still have to pray your Salaah?' I replied, 'I have prayed my Salaah behind A'ala Hazrat 'Alaihir Rahmah.' He said, 'But he (A'ala Hazrat 'Alaihir Rahmah) is praying right now.' I did not believe it because I thought that if the Salaah was invalidated for some reason, his memory is not such that he would have forgotten to tell me or discussed it with me. The person said, 'Look over there, see, he is praying his Salaah.' I got up and looked and saw that he was in fact performing Salaah. I was shocked and stepped forward and stood there and waited. After he had completed his Salaah, I said, 'Sir I have not understood your actions.' A'ala Hazrat 'Alaihir Rahmah replied, 'After Tashahud in the final sitting position ('Qaida e Aakhirah'), because of my breathing my belt broke (This was a specific kind of belt that was worn over the kurta). Due to the fact that Salaah is considered complete after reciting Tashahud, I went home, put on another belt, repeated my Salaah, and did not say anything to you or any of the other people who had prayed their Salaah behind me because the Salaah was not affected.'
This is such an incident that most people do not understand it. One pious person heard about this incident from me and was amazed at the magnificence and grandeur of it, and his name was Shaikh Hazrat Khwaja Shah Peer 'Abdul Hameed Baghdadi. He came to Baroda and, one day, he led the Maghrib Salaah in the Jaamia Mosque there. I had never before seen the effect that his recitation of the Qur'an had; it was amazing. I enquired afterwards as to who this pious person was and went to meet him at the place where he was staying. The following incident about his miracle of the Qur'an is worth mentioning. He said to me, 'One time, I went to a place in Iran where there is a very old temple of the fire worshippers. The people there put my name forward to have a debate with the fire worshippers. I suggested that we should ask the one whom they worship (the fire) as to who it supports. The people thought that I was making a threat and therefore the people announced my name and one of the worshippers' names and publicised a time and date on which a debate would take place between the two of us. On the appointed day, a great crowd gathered at the temple. I asked the fire worshipper to walk with me inside the temple and into the fire. He started to panic and hesitated and would not move forward. I thought that if I also stopped then people would think that I was only making idle threats and did not have the confidence to act upon my convictions. Therefore, I walked alone into the fire and stood in the fire for a full twenty minutes. After that, I came out and upon seeing me in perfect health, many fire worshippers accepted Islam and became Muslims. I told them that I stepped into the fire with the blessed Qur'an in my hand and said to myself that if this Holy Qur'an can save us from the fire of Hell, then it can surely protect us from a minor thing like the fire of this world.'
Respected readers! The status and strength of this Baghdadi Shah Saheb can be recognised from the aforementioned incident. I mentioned A'ala Hazrat 'Alaihir Rahmah and the incident that occurred with me during 'Asr Salaah to this pious person. The next day, I met him and he said, 'I spent all of last night crying and saying O Allah! I am amazed that there are such glorious accepted slaves of Yours who safeguard their Salaah and pray it with at much care as this.'"
Subhan Allah! We can not find anyone in the recent past who prayed Salaah with as much care and attention to detail, or safeguarded it as much as A'ala Hazrat Imam Ahmed Raza Khan 'Alaihir Rahmah. It is a fact that if someone has true devotion and love, then they do not worry about their own problems or pains; rather, they are always focused on the pleasure of the beloved. Imam Ahmed Raza 'Alaihir Rahmah was a true lover and devotee of Rasool Allah Sallallaho 'Alaihi Wasallam, and that is why he knew that Salaah gives coolness to the blessed eyes of his beloved Prophet Sallallaho 'Alaihi Wasallam. Therefore, Imam Ahmed Raza 'Alaihir Rahmah would withstand all troubles and pains but would be punctual in performing his Salaah. May Allah Ta'ala give us the guidance us to walk in the footsteps of Imam Ahmed Raza 'Alaihir Rahmah, Aameen.
Whatever place he passed, it became illuminated.
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