The Window within the Jail
We reside in a world the place home windows are greater than mere glass: they’re silent witnesses to our deepest desires. Time and time once more, our movies and literature, throughout eras and genres, seize characters gazing longingly towards the sky or horizon. Their gazes transcend the mere act of outwardly observing the tapestry of this world. They’re caught misplaced within the pursuit of one thing higher.
“The world is a jail for a believer,”1 our beloved Prophet and Messenger ﷺ tells us. And who understands the blessing of the small window within the encaging partitions higher than the prisoner, who overlooks the world outdoors from inside? For a prisoner, the austere cell whispers tales of tangible isolation and confinement. Somber realities nestle throughout the barren partitions which have by no means recognized the consolation of heat. Inside, time takes on a rhythm solely its personal because the prisoner paces throughout the naked ground to interrupt the stillness of the jail room. Life right here is decreased to its most basic essence.
And but, the small window body is a sliver of the world past—a sliver of hope to quickly appease a soul craving for a freedom that lies simply past the prisoner’s grasp. Via it, the prisoner can style mild, witness the passing of night time and day, spring to winter, and listen to a distant symphony of voices. Via it, the prisoner sees the passing of time, which suggests holding on just a bit longer. Resilience is born within the grimmest of areas so long as there’s a sliver of sunshine.
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To the Muslim, the vastness of the earth mirrors the chilly, confining partitions of a jail cell. The pleasures of this world are however faint, fleeting echoes of Paradise. Numerous instances we attain for the pleasures of this world, solely to comprehend they’re mere mirages eluding our grasp.
The Return House
As people, we’re eternally looking to return residence. But many spend lifetimes with out ever understanding the place “residence” really lies. As a substitute, as sloppily as a baby constructing a gingerbread home, we assemble fragile illusions of “residence,” solely to finish up unhappy earlier than leaving them behind. House lies in a realm that transcends the restrictions of human expertise. Within the phrases of the King of kings ﷻ,
“this worldly life is just not however diversion and amusement. And certainly, the house of the Hereafter – that’s the [eternal] life, if solely they knew.” [Surah Al-Ankabut: 29;64]
People are prisoners awaiting their return residence, with a window that opens up for us 5 instances a day trip of the mercy of Allah ﷻ, for individuals who know and consider. The properties of this world, product of brick and mortar, pale compared to the properties of the Hereafter. Our Beloved Messenger ﷺ stated, Paradise is constructed from “bricks of silver and gold, its mortar is musk of sturdy perfume, its pebbles are pearls and rubies, and its soil is saffron. Whoever enters it is going to get pleasure from bliss with out despair and eternity with out dying. Their garments won’t fade, nor will their youth expire.”2 For the believers, their properties reside within the “Gardens of Eternity; beneath them rivers will movement; they are going to be adorned therein with bracelets of gold, and they’re going to put on inexperienced clothes of advantageous silk and heavy brocade: They are going to recline therein on raised thrones. How good the recompense! How lovely a sofa to recline on!”3 For “those that concern their Lord could have excessive rooms upon rooms constructed below which rivers movement. [This is] the promise of Allah. Allah doesn’t fail in [His] promise.”4
In His infinite mercy, Allah ﷻ has given the believer a window—a religious escape from the confines of this worldly jail. 5 instances a day, He ﷻ invitations us to face in prayer earlier than Him ﷻ, permitting us to linger at this window of transcendence for so long as we would like, to gaze upon the divine and converse with our Lord ﷻ. In His infinite knowledge and compassion, 5 instances a day, He ﷻ provides us a short lived escape, to catch a whiff of the candy fragrances of the Gardens of our properties in Jannah (Paradise). The pillar of prayer within the Islamic custom is a present to us from Allah introduced by our beloved Messenger after his journey to heaven on the Night time of Ascension, the Night time of Al-Isra Wal-Mi’raj. He ﷺ stated, “Once you rise up to hope, carry out ablution completely, then face the qiblah and say: ‘Allāhu Akbar’ (Allāh is Higher). Then recite a handy portion of the Qur’ān; then bow and stay calmly in that place for a second, then stand up and stand erect; then prostrate and stay calmly in that place for a second; then stand up and sit calmly; then prostrate and stay calmly in that place for a second; then try this all through your prayer.” [Reported by as-Sab’a and the wording is that of al-Bukhari]
The Fruits of Worship
We provide our prayers to our Lord ﷻ, however it’s we who reap the rewards and profit. God doesn’t have to see us stand on the window. He ﷻ is aware of our want for it, and so He commanded it. Each command from Allah ﷻ bears fruit for the believer. Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, a prolific Islamic scholar wrote,
“The fruit of fasting is the purification of the soul. The fruit of zakah (compulsory alms) is the purification of wealth. The fruit of Hajj (pilgrimage) is forgiveness. The fruit of jihad (combating is submitting the soul) is that Allah has bought from his servants their lives and their properties in trade for Paradise. The fruit of salah (prayer) is the turning of the servant upon his Lord and the dealing with of Allah given to His servant. Nevertheless, embarking in direction of Allah with full devotion in salah encompasses all of the aforementioned fruits as a result of the fruits of all good deeds are discovered when the ‘abd embarks towards Allah with true devotion.”5
He ﷻ likes to see His devoted servant stand to worship Him. And who higher to worship than “Allah, [who is] One, Allah, the Everlasting Refuge. He neither begets neither is born, Neither is there to Him any equal.” [Surah Ikhlaas: 1-4] His devoted servant, marked by “the signal [of brightness seen] on their faces from the hint of prostrating [in prayer],” loves to face to satisfy their Lord in profound moments of religious love. Certainly, “doesn’t each lover like to be alone along with his beloved?”6
A Assembly With Our Beloved
Within the quiet hours of the night time, whereas the world slept, our beloved Messenger ﷺ, whose coronary heart held love for his spouse and deep devotion to his Lord, turned to our mom Aisha with a query of reverence: he ﷺ stated, “O Aisha, wouldn’t it grieve you if I spend this night time in worship to my Lord?” Her reply to the Messenger ﷺ solely echoed their love; she stated, “By Allah, I like to be near you and I like what pleases you.”7 And thus, the Prophet left the heat of his mattress and the facet of his spouse, to face in serene submission earlier than the One who captivated his coronary heart much more than his beloved spouse, his Beloved Lord. The whole lot of the universe is obedient to Allah ﷻ,
“and to Him belongs whosoever is within the heavens and earth. All are to Him devoutly obedient.” [Surah Ar-Rum: 30;26]
Thus, because the universe surrenders to the Lord of the worlds, the believer conforms to the concord of creation by prostrating to Allah ﷻ. With a head bowed in humility, the believer stands on the prayer mat able to enter the chamber of prayer with angels, every the dimensions of mountains, standing behind her or him, and to the fitting and to the left.8
Within the presence of those celestial beings and earlier than the revered King of all kings, it’s a prophetic apply from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to adorn ourselves in lovely apparel and with nice scents. Devotion to Allah ﷻ transcends mere bodily ritual or cleanliness. It entails purifying our limbs by performing wudu (ablution) and aligning our hearts solely in direction of Allah ﷻ. This religious orientation is a purification as a lot as it’s a aware turning of our being away from that which isn’t our Lord ﷻ. A soul anchored in such intentionality, navigating the world within the identify of Allah ﷻ, ascends past the jail of dunya, this transient, decrease world.9 It doesn’t undergo from the pangs of estrangement or the existential disaster of aimlessly current on this ephemeral world. As a substitute, it finds peace and familiarity in constantly assembly with the Divine, garnering His pleasure, and delightful, celestial rewards are blossoming within the Gardens of Jannah.
The Sanctuary of Salah
Once we increase each our palms up in Takbir to begin the prayer with the phrase Allāhu Akbar (God is Higher), we forged away each burden of this fleeting life, affirming with our hearts that Allah ﷻ is larger than these non permanent trials. The veil of worldly illusions is lifted and with the attention of our hearts, we’re reminded that Allah ﷻ is the “originator of the heavens and the earth. When He decrees a matter, He solely says to it, ‘Be,’ and it’s.”10 His authority and energy transcend the confines of the austere jail of this world, we solely have to ask. In His personal phrases, He ﷻ promised, “Name upon Me; I’ll reply to you”11 and He ﷻ is the Keeper of His guarantees. On this non-public viewers with the Divine, the center speaks to its Creator figuring out that He ﷻ understands and responds to our name.
Nevertheless, our worship is just not transactional. It isn’t to have our calls answered. It’s to reply the decision of Allah ﷻ that we stand to worship Him. We acknowledge Allah’s Majesty and fulfill the aim for which we have been created. Allah ﷻ says,
“I didn’t create the jinn and mankind besides to worship Me.” [Surah Adh-Dhariyat: 51;56]
As a part of the prayer, the believer, who is aware of and loves Allah ﷻ, glorifies His Majesty “profusely for His Attributes and Perfection.”12
The essence of recitation of the Quran within the prayer is an “endeavor to study Allah via His phrases as if making an attempt to see Him via His Revelation.”13 The Quran is a divine love letter, despatched to us from our Beloved ﷻ, to know Him, love Him, and to information our hearts to Him. One among our righteous Salaf (predecessors) stated, “Allah manifests Himself to His slave via His speech [the Quran].”14 Thus, we’re guided by the divine mercy and lightweight of Allah ﷻ, for “all the pieces which provides mild and illuminates different issues has acquired its mild from Him; it has no mild of its personal.”15 He ﷻ “is the sunshine of the Heavens and the Earth.”16 And the creation is a mere reflection of the Creator. The believer is a conduit of His mild: reflecting the sunshine of Allah ﷻ and dispelling the shadows of ignorance and corruption on this world. With each prayer, we current our hearts earlier than our Lord ﷻ, searching for to shine and align them with His guiding mild.
Once we place our palms over our chests and communicate to Him from the depth of our hearts, or bow our heads in humility and our mind yields to His reverence, Allah ﷻ sees the sincerity of our hearts. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught us that
“Allah doesn’t look to your faces and your wealth however He appears to be like to your coronary heart and to your deeds.”[Sahih Muslim 2564c]
As we press our faces to the earth, from it we got here and to it we are going to return,17 our hearts ascend above our mind and the masks we put on for the world fall away. Within the state of sujood (prostration), our burdens lighten, forgiveness is discovered, and our whispered dua’s (supplications) for mercy are heard and answered by Allah ﷻ. Each phrase and motion of the prayer attracts us nearer to Him ﷻ, elevating our religious standing, bringing us nearer to the Abode of Eternity. This stillness in salah is a sanctuary, fulfilling our deepest psychological, religious and emotional wants—wants that no creation can deal with. We stand with conviction, figuring out Allah ﷻ, the Keeper of guarantees, will settle for our honest devotion out of His boundless mercy:
“And worship your Lord till the knowledge [of death] involves you.” [Surah Al-Hijr: 15;99]
Gazing In the direction of Eternity
5 instances a day, the individuals of salah “rise to prayer, rise to success” upon the echoing divine calls of Allah ﷻ. We gaze wistfully from contained in the enclosure of this worldly jail via a small window to catch a mere glimpse of the eternity of the Hereafter. Every prayer brings us nearer to seeing the majestic face of Allah ﷻ and returning to the true residence of Jannah. In a land of thornless lote trees18 and sprouting fruits of seventy-two completely different colours, and infinite “rivers of recent water, rivers of milk by no means altering in style, rivers of wine scrumptious to drink, and rivers of pure honey”19, the dwellers of Jannah will reside in mansions with “exterior[s] [that] might be seen from inside and inside[s] [that] might be seen from outdoors.”20 They are going to go to each other “on white, high-bred mounts that resemble sapphires.”21
Within the deepest crevices of our hearts, we lengthy to be among the many Individuals of the Proper, who see the celestial gates of Jannah open for us, as its keepers say, “Peace be upon you! You will have executed effectively, so are available in to remain eternally,”22 as we’re known as to return residence. The individuals of salah will probably be summoned to enter via their very own gate: Baab As-Salah, the Gate of Salah. They are going to depart behind the ephemeral for the everlasting. The pillar of prayer within the Islamic religion is a scent of Paradise that reached the temporal jail of dunya, as it may be smelt from the space of “seventy autumns.”23 Via the serenity of salah, humanity is aware of Allah ﷻ, which is a present unmatched. For “the one who is aware of Allah, what does he not know? And the one who doesn’t know Allah, what do they know, actually? If you understand all the pieces else, however have no idea Allah, you understand nothing.”24
Might Allah ﷻ make us of those who know Him, love Him, and all the time try to please Him with each second of our existence. Might Allah ﷻ make us from amongst the dwellers of Jannat al-Firdous and use us to information others to His path. Allahumma Ameen.
Associated:
– Conversing with Allah: Reflecting On Surah al-Fatihah For Khushoo In Salah
– The Sacred Elixir: The Night time Prayer And The Extraordinary Muslim