Asalamualaikum warehmatullah wahbarakatuhu
I read this hadeeth in a book I bought the other day, and it made me think to myself - what a hurry we are always in, when we pray "Oh I must get back to work", "Oh I must go and eat", "Oh such and such is waiting for me"....ya'ani...do we forget this next salaah may be our last...?
It's the simple things that we often neglect, that become routine and no longer an act of "iba'dah" and the dhikr that flows off one's tongue so fast it is like we are reciting a book all in one breath...or the wudhu that is done so fast there are still dry spots that remain untouched, unpurified...the sujud where the head literally raises from the ground so fast that you would think it bounced....when that last breath departs from our lips, will we not have remorse and regret for not paying heed to the the things that mattered, the many opportunities we had to please Allah, that we neglected or didn't give 100%...stealing from our salah the khushu, the benefits, the reward, the purpose......
May Allah protect us from the evils of the dunya and the whispers of shaytaan and our nafs and help us all to correct our iba'dah, so that we may benefit from it in the dunya and in the akhirra inshaAllah....
"On the authority of Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with Him), a man entered the masjid and started praying while Allah's Messenger (Peace be upon Him) was sitting somewhere in the masjid. Then (after finishing the prayer) the man came to the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) and greeted him. The Prophet (Peace be upon Him) said to him, "Go back and pray, for indeed you have not prayed". The man went back and prayed, and having prayed, he came back and greeted the Prophet (Peace be upon Him). The Prophet (Peace be upon him) after returning the greeting said, "Go back and pray, for you did not pray". On the third time the man said, "O Messenger of Allah! Teach me how to pray". The Prophet (Peace be upon Him) said, "When you get up for prayer, perform the ablution properly and then face the Qiblah and say Takbeer (Allaahu Akbar), and then recite of what you know of the Qur'aan and then bow, and remain in that state till you feel at rest in bowing, and then raise your head and stand straight; and then prostrate till you feel at rest in prostration, and then sit up till you feel at rest while sitting, and then prostrate again till you feel at rest in prostration; and then get up and stand straight, and do all this in all your prayers."
- Al Bukhari 2/276
From the book selected pearls by Shaykh Abu Abdir Rahman Fawzee al-Atharee (Al-Athariyyah.com/Salafi Publications).
