The benefits of prayer

The first benefit of Salah is that, of all acts of worship, the most comprehensive, and of all acts of obedience, the one that brings a person nearest to Allah, is the performance of Salah. The Master (upon him be blessings and peace) said: 'Salah is the pillar of the religion; whoever establishes it has established the religion, and whoever abandons it has demolished the religion.' That is, Salah is the pillar of the religion: whoever established it established the religion, and whoever abandoned it abandoned the religion.

The second benefit of Salah is that whoever is granted the ability to perform Salah, it keeps him back from indecency and evil. The noble verse says: 'Indeed Salah restrains from indecency and evil' (inna-s-salata tanha 'ani-l-fahsha'i wa-l-munkar); indeed Salah forbids shamelessness and wrongdoing, and it urges this. A Salah that is not like this is Salah in form only and has no reality. But as long as the reality has not been attained, the form should not be let go of,

for 'What cannot be attained in full is not to be abandoned in full'; that is, if the whole of something cannot be obtained, the whole of it is not to be given up either. It is not unlikely that the Most Generous of the generous (Allah Most High) will count the form as the reality. So it is binding upon you always to perform Salah in congregation and with humility and devotion (khushu' and khudu'), for it is the means of salvation and success.

Humility in Salah Is the Means of Success

The third benefit of Salah is that performing Salah with humility (khushu') is the means of success. Allah Most High says:

قَدْ اَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُوۡنَ الَّذِیۡنَ ہُمْ فِیۡ صَلَاتِہِمْ خٰشِعُوۡنَ ( )

Successful indeed are the believers, who are humble in their prayers.

Indeed the believers have attained their goal, who humble themselves in their prayer.

The Rank of Salah in This World

This is a very important and special benefit of Salah: the rank that Salah holds in this world is the same rank that the vision of Allah holds in the Hereafter. In this world the utmost nearness is attained in Salah, and in the Hereafter the utmost nearness is at the time of the vision. It should also be borne in mind that the other acts of worship are means to Salah, whereas Salah is among the ends (maqasid).

Finding Delight in Salah

Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) says that finding delight in acts of worship, and the removal of hardship and difficulty in performing them, is among the great blessings of Allah, Glorified is He, especially in the performance of Salah, which is not granted to one who has not reached the end of the path, and especially in performing the obligatory prayers. For at the beginning delight is found in performing voluntary prayers, while at the very end of the end this affiliation (nisbat) becomes bound to the obligatory prayers,

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Al-Mu'minun, verses 1 and 2

and he considers himself idle in performing voluntary prayers; in his view only the performance of the obligatory prayers is the great work. It should also be remembered that in the delight that is granted at the time of performing Salah, the self (nafs) has no share of pleasure or enjoyment at all; in the very midst of that delight it is lamenting and crying out. Subhan Allah! What a rank!

Congratulations to the people of bliss on their bliss!

The Nearness of the Obligatory and the Nearness of the Voluntary

Explaining the superiority and excellence of the World of Creation ('alam-e-khalq) over the World of Command ('alam-e-amr), he says: 'O son! Listen! The Prophets (upon them be blessings and peace) kept their call confined and restricted to the World of Creation. "Islam is built upon five": the foundation of Islam is upon five things (and of these, the five things have a special connection with the World of Creation). And since the heart (qalb) has greater affinity with the World of Creation, they also called to its affirmation; and they said nothing about what lies beyond the heart, and treated it as something cast aside on the road (that is, regarded it as of no use), and did not count it among the ends. And why should it not be so, when the delights of Paradise and the pains of Hell, and the treasure of the vision and the misery of being deprived of it, are all bound up with the World of Creation, and the World of Command has no connection with it?

The second reason for its excellence is that the performance of every deed that is obligatory (fard), necessary (wajib) or Sunnah is connected with the bodily frame (qalib, the body), whereas the share of the World of Command is the voluntary deeds. So nearness, which is the fruit and proof of performing these deeds, will be in proportion to the deeds. Then inevitably the nearness that results from performing the obligatory acts will be the share of the World of Creation, and the nearness that is the fruit of performing voluntary acts is the share of the World of Command. And there is no doubt that the voluntary has no standing at all compared with the obligatory; would that it had even as much standing as

a single drop has in relation to the encompassing ocean.

Since most people have no share of this matter, they try to promote the voluntary acts while ruining the obligatory ones. The immature Sufis, making dhikr and contemplation (fikr) their greatest aim, are lax in carrying out the obligatory and Sunnah acts, and adopting forty-day retreats (arba'inat, chillas) and spiritual exercises (riyazat), they abandon the Friday prayer and the congregation. They do not know that performing one obligatory prayer in congregation is better than thousands of their forty-day retreats.

Yes! With due observance of the courtesies of the Shari'ah, dhikr and contemplation are extremely important and good. The ineffectual scholars too strive to promote voluntary acts and regard the obligatory acts as wasted and deficient. For example, the prayer of 'Ashura', which is not established by any authentic hadith of the Prophet ﷺ, they offer with full gathering and in congregation, even though they know that the juristic narrations declare congregation for voluntary prayers to be disliked (makruh).

And (these very people) show laziness and sloth in performing the obligatory prayers. It rarely happens that they offer the obligatory prayer at its recommended time; rather they let it pass beyond that time. They pay no particular attention to keeping to the congregation, contenting themselves with a congregation of one or two people, and very often they even pray alone. When the leaders and guides of Islam do this, what is to be said of the common people? Because of the ill omen of this conduct, weakness and feebleness have arisen in Islam, and from the blackness and darkness of this behaviour, the desires of the self and innovation (bid'ah) have become manifest.

Another difference between the voluntary and the obligatory acts is that performing the voluntary acts grants nearness to some station among the shadows (zilal), whereas performing the obligatory acts brings about nearness to the Origin (asl), which has no trace of shadowiness.

Yes! Those voluntary acts which are performed to complete the obligatory acts are helpers and supporters of nearness to the Origin and are among the appendages of the obligatory. So inevitably the performance of the obligatory acts is suited to the World of Creation, which is turned towards the Origin, and the performance of the voluntary acts is suited to the World of Command, whose face is towards the shadow. And although all the obligatory acts grant original nearness, the most excellent and most perfect of them is Salah.'

The State of Most Scholars and Shaykhs Today

This humble Mujaddidi (may he be pardoned) submits that the state of affairs today is far worse than what Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) recorded about scholars of this kind in his own age. Now most scholars are not regular in prayer and fasting at all; and of those who are, most give no thought to congregation, especially to offering Salah in the mosque along with the congregation. Because of this, the worth and value, and the devotion and love, for such scholars have left the hearts of the common people.

In the eyes of the young scholars Salah no longer has any standing. Most pirs, sons of pirs and teachers are miles away from Salah. The state of the professional speakers is very bad indeed. Most of the young huffaz, reciters (qurra') and scholars who are imams of mosques pray out of compulsion; as soon as they are removed from the imamate, they have no concern for Salah.

Every sensitive and knowledgeable person knows the harm that this conduct of today's scholars and shaykhs has done to Islam and the Sunni way. Opposing sects keep pointing to their conduct and are making the common people into Wahhabis, Deobandis and the like. Seeing this carelessness regarding Salah, the ordinary person has lost sight of the importance and greatness of Salah. When such is the state of these scholars and shaykhs, the carelessness of their disciples and followers, and of their friends and associates, you

can well imagine.

The Harms to the Scholars Themselves from Abandoning Salah

Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) spoke the truth when he said that through their conduct Islam has been weakened. Such people have also brought great harm upon themselves through their conduct. First, the punishment and burden of all or some of the prayers that they abandoned remains upon their heads. Second, the four matters which Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) counted among the completing elements of Salah, and likewise the nearness to the Divine Essence that would have been granted through humility and devotion, have been lost through their abandonment. This is so great a loss that it cannot be estimated, and so immense a harm that it cannot be made up.

Third, when the obligatory prayers were dropped, the Sunnah and recommended acts went too, and they lost the voluntary prayers as well; so the nearness that would have been gained through them is gone. Fourth, Salah is a deed that keeps many other good things attached to it. For example, one who prays remains in a state of wudu; outside Salah too he keeps to many glorifications, remembrances and the like; for the sake of Salah he walks to the mosques by night and by day; in the mosques he remembers Allah, and listens to and gives admonition. Moreover, by the blessing of Salah he repents from evil and indecent matters and hastens towards good deeds. This Salah and the other good deeds lead him on to other great good deeds; the divine light pervades his heart and body; and his eagerness for praying, recitation and the like increases.

Besides these are the harms that relate to those people themselves who do not pray at all, or who pray some prayers but not with the courtesies with which they ought to be offered. In addition there is also the great harm to Islam and the Sunni way that came about from people seeing their conduct and practice,

and laziness and sloth towards the prayers arose among people, or they fell into evil practice. Today every aware Sunni knows that some false sects, making Salah alone their means, have gained such spread and currency that their numbers keep growing while ours keep shrinking.

An Important Message to the Sons of Pirs

Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified), in Letter 266, addressed to his pir's sons, Khwaja Muhammad Ubaydullah and Khwaja Muhammad Abdullah (may Allah Most High sanctify their lofty secrets), showed the most earnest concern about Salah, and stressed it in these words:

'I am setting down in writing some of the excellences and essentials of Salah, which is the pillar of the religion; listen to them! First, a complete wudu is necessary, in such a way that each limb is washed completely three times so that it accords with the Sunnah. In wiping the head, be comprehensive, that is, wipe the whole head; take care in wiping the ears and the neck; and pass the little finger of the left hand between the toes. Pay good attention to this, and do not regard acting on a recommended act (mustahabb) as a small thing. The recommended act is that which is beloved and pleasing to Allah Most High.

That one act about which it becomes known that it is pleasing and beloved to Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, if one is enabled to act upon it, is a prize worth the whole world in exchange. It is just as if someone were to buy a precious jewel (a pearl) in exchange for a few pieces of potsherd, and obtain a soul in exchange for a useless stone.

After complete purity and a full wudu, turn to Salah, which is the Ascension (Mi'raj) of the believer, and take care that the obligatory prayer is not offered without congregation; rather, that even the opening takbir (takbir-e-ula) with the imam is not missed. Offer Salah at its recommended time, keep to the Sunnah length in recitation,

and calmness (tuma'ninat) in bowing (ruku') and prostration (sujud) is necessary, which is obligatory, and according to the preferred view necessary (wajib).

In the standing after bowing (qawmah, after rising from ruku'), stand fully upright, to the extent that the bones return to their places and one stands straight. Calmness is necessary here, which according to the differing views is obligatory, necessary or Sunnah.

Likewise in the sitting (jalsah, sitting between the two prostrations), calmness is required after sitting properly, just as in the qawmah. Recite the glorifications of bowing and prostration at least three times, and at most seven or eleven times, according to the differing views. The imam's glorification is to be in proportion to the state of those following him (that is, he should take into account the weakness and strength of the followers).

It is shameful that a person praying alone, despite having the strength and capacity, should restrict himself to only three glorifications; and if he cannot do more, let him say them five or seven times.

When going into prostration, let him first place on the ground whatever is nearest to the ground: so let him first place both knees on the ground, then both hands, then the nose, then the forehead; and in placing the knees and the hands, let him begin with the right. When raising the head, let him first raise whatever is nearest to the sky; so let him begin raising with the forehead.

While standing, the gaze should be fixed on the place of prostration; in bowing, on one's feet; in prostration, on the nostrils; and in sitting (julus), on one's two hands or on one's sides (kinar), that is, the armpits. By this the gaze will be protected from distraction and scattering, and by keeping the gaze fixed on the places mentioned, Salah is attained with collectedness (jam'iyyat),

as is reported from the Holy Prophet ﷺ.

Likewise, spreading the fingers of both hands at the time of bowing and keeping them together at the time of prostration is Sunnah; so this too should be attended to. Opening or closing the fingers is not without benefit; rather, the Bringer of the Shari'ah ﷺ acted upon it keeping in view the benefits contained in it. For us there is no benefit equal to following the Bringer of the Shari'ah ﷺ. All these rulings are mentioned in detail and with clarity in the books of fiqh; the purpose of stating them here is to create eagerness for deeds in accordance with the science of fiqh.'

The Five Pillars of Islam

In most verses and hadiths, entry into Paradise has been linked and tied to righteous deeds. For a long time Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) remained uncertain whether by righteous deeds all righteous deeds are meant or only some. If all are meant, it is difficult, because very few people would be granted the ability to do all righteous deeds; and if some are meant, then those some are unknown and undetermined.

He (may his secret be sanctified) says that at last, purely by the grace of Allah, it was put into his heart that perhaps by righteous deeds are meant the five pillars of Islam, upon which Islam is founded. If these five foundations are performed completely, then salvation and success are ready at hand, for they are in themselves righteous deeds and they restrain from evils, sins and wrongdoing. The noble verse:

اِنَّ الصَّلٰوۃَ تَنْہٰی عَنِ الْفَحْشَآءِ وَالْمُنۡکَرِ ( )

Indeed Salah restrains from indecency and evil.

Al-'Ankabut: 45

That is, indeed Salah restrains from shamelessness and evil, bears witness to this. When one is enabled to perform these five, it is hoped that gratitude has been fulfilled; and when gratitude has been fulfilled, deliverance from punishment has been attained. The Lord of the universe, Mighty and Exalted is He, says:

مَا یَفْعَلُ اللہُ بِعَذَابِکُمْ اِنۡ شَکَرْتُمْ وَاٰمَنۡتُمْ ( )

What would Allah do with your punishment if you are grateful and believe?

That is, what has Allah Most High to do with punishing you, if you give thanks and believe?

So one should strive more than with one's very life in carrying out these five, especially in establishing Salah, which is the pillar of the religion. As far as possible, one should not be content to leave out any of its courtesies. If one has perfected Salah, one has gained the great pillar of Islam and taken hold of a firm rope for deliverance from Hell. Allah, Glorified is He, alone grants the ability.

The Wisdoms of the Takbirs

Let it be known that the opening takbir in Salah is an indication that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, is independent of and greater than the worship of the worshippers and the prayers of those who pray; and the takbirs that come after the pillars (that is, after the standing and so on) are an indication that the performance of each pillar is not worthy of the worship of the Lord, Mighty and Exalted is He. And since the meaning of takbir is contained in the glorification of bowing (Subhana Rabbiya-l-'Azim), therefore one was not commanded to say Allahu Akbar on rising from bowing; rather one was commanded to say Sami'a Allahu liman hamidah.

In contrast, for the two prostrations, despite their glorifications, the command came to say Allahu Akbar at the end of performing them,

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An-Nisa': 147

so that no one should fall into the illusion that in prostration, which is in the utmost lowering and abasement and the furthest humility and brokenness, the due of worship has been fulfilled. To repel this illusion, the word 'A'la' (Most High) was chosen in the glorification of prostration too, and the repetition of the takbir (that is, when going into prostration and rising from it) was made Sunnah.

And since Salah is the Ascension (Mi'raj) of the believer, the command came to recite at the end of Salah those words with which the Holy Prophet, the Master of the worlds ﷺ, was honoured on the Ascension. So the worshipper should make Salah his own Ascension and seek the utmost nearness in Salah. It is in the noble hadith that the servant is nearest when he is in Salah. (Abu Dawud and Nasa'i)

The Wisdoms of the Glorifications after Salah

Since the worshipper is in intimate converse (munajat) with his Lord Most High (speaking words of secret and supplication) and witnesses the greatness and majesty of Allah Most High, this is a place where awe and dread arise; therefore, to reassure him, Salah was concluded with two salams. As for what is mentioned in the noble hadith regarding saying, after the obligatory prayer, a hundred times the glorification (Subhan Allah), the praise (Alhamdulillah), the magnification (Allahu Akbar) and the declaration of oneness (La ilaha illallah), its secret, to my knowledge, is this: since shortcoming and deficiency occur in performing Salah, one should make up for it with glorification and magnification, and now acknowledge one's unworthiness and the incompleteness of one's worship. And since the performance of worship is granted only by divine enabling (tawfiq), one should give thanks for this blessing with praise, and should not regard anyone other than Allah Most High as deserving of worship.

It is hoped that when the performance of Salah is joined and combined with its conditions and courtesies, and

after it the making up of shortcomings, the gift of gratitude for the blessing, and the negation of the right to worship from all besides Allah are done from the depths of the heart through these pure words, then that Salah will become worthy of acceptance by Allah, and the one who offers that Salah will be successful and prosperous. (Letter 304)

Visualising the Shaykh in Salah

Hazrat Khwaja Muhammad Ashraf and Haji Muhammad Farkati (may Allah have mercy on them both) sent a letter to the service of Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) and wrote that the bond (rabitah, visualising the form of the shaykh) has become so dominant that in Salah he regards and sees him as the one towards whom he prostrates, and if, supposing, he tries to negate it, it does not go away. (It should be known that when perfect saints teach the rabitah to a capable disciple, its outpouring of grace (fayzan) is sometimes such that he sees only the shaykh in every direction, and he falls into a wondrous state.)

Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) says in reply: 'O you of loving ways! This treasure is the longing of the seekers of Allah; perhaps it is given to one in thousands. The one possessing this state is a person of capacity who has perfect affinity with the shaykh; it may be that through a little companionship of the shaykh who is followed he absorbs all the perfections of the shaykh. Why would you negate the rabitah, when it is that towards which prostration is made (masjud ilayh), not that for which prostration is made (masjud lahu)? Why do you not negate the mihrabs and the mosques? Such a treasure is granted to the fortunate, so that in all states they regard the possessor of the rabitah (the shaykh who is followed) as their means and intermediary (wasilah), and remain turned towards him at all times.

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Such as the Venerable Ka'bah.

Let them not be like that unfortunate group who consider themselves self-sufficient, turn the qiblah of their attention away from their shaykh, and spoil and impair their affair.' (Letter 30, Volume Two)

It should be known that the image of the perfect shaykh coming to mind of its own accord in the state of Salah is one thing, and deliberately visualising him is another. What Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) said concerns the first, not the second. How praiseworthy and beneficial this state is, is clear and evident from the letter mentioned.

From this it is learned that when such is the state of visualising the perfect shaykh, what then must be the state of that fortunate one who attains this treasure in relation to the blessed form of the Master of the worlds ﷺ! Those people should take a lesson from this who describe even the blessed thought of the Holy Messenger ﷺ in the most hideous words.

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As Maulvi Isma'il Dehlavi writes in his book 'Sirat-e-Mustaqim', printed by Mujtaba'i, Delhi, p. 86, in Persian, to the effect that the thought of intercourse with one's own wife is better than the whisper of adultery, and that directing one's attention towards the shaykh and others like him among the venerated, even if it be His Excellency the Messenger, is many times worse than being absorbed in the image of one's own ox or donkey. Its meaning is that in Salah, the thought of the shaykh and other venerated persons, even if it be His Excellency the Messenger ﷺ, is such that, far better than it, by many degrees, is to have a whisper of adultery and of intercourse with one's wife, or to have the thought of one's own ox and donkey come to mind. We seek refuge in Allah.

Muslims should adopt the way of Imam Rabbani and not be led astray by the misguidance of such insolent people.