Thanks be to Allah, the
Lord of the worlds. Peace and prayers be upon the
most honorable of all messengers Mohammad; and all his folks, companions, and
followers to the day they are all summoned together.
In the name of Allah
Most Gracious the Most Merciful.
Dear brothers, Islam
does not consider it enough for a Muslim to perform his prayers in isolation.
Islam strongly requires that prayers be performed in a congregation or group
of Muslims and in a Mosque. Allah says: {do the prayers, bring your donations,
and kneel down with those who kneel.}
Congregation prayers
have great status in Islam and with Allah. And for that purpose Allah
instructed to build mosques. The first thing the messenger (PPBU) when he
immigrated to Medina was to build a mosque. Allah instructed that a call for a
group prayer is made at the highest place at the highest voice. The messenger
(PPBU) used to inspect the congregation for those who are missing, and
threaten those who intentionally miss it. The messenger PPBU said: {I almost
intend to give order for the prayer to be performed, and I order some man to
lead the group prayer. And I go with a group of men carrying logs and firewood
to men who do not come to pray, and get their homes burned down on top of
them}, while in another version of the hadeeth the messenger was reported
saying: {except not for the women and siblings I would perform the Eshaa
prayer and order some young men to burn down those homes.}
The messenger PPBU told
of those who continuously attend congregation prayers, and his heart is
attached to it and to the mosques is that in the day of resurrection they are
in the shade or shadow of Allah when there will be no shade but his.
The messenger PPBU was
also reported saying:{There are seven who Allah will have them in his shade on
the day when there is no other shade but his: (and they are:) a just (or fair
and right) leader, a young person who grew up worshipping Allah be exulted,
and a man whose heart is attached to mosques, and two men loved one another
for the sake of Allah, they met on that and they parted on that. And a man who
is invited by a rich woman with high status but he says: “I fear Allah”. And a
man who gave a charity and he kept it hidden, such that his left hand did not
know how much his right hand has donated. And a man who alone, mentioned or
remembered Allah and his eyes over filled.}
The messenger also said:
{if you see a man accustomed in attending mosques, then bare witness that his
a believer}
Allah said {Allah’s
houses are made prosperous by those who believe in Allah and in the day
after.}
Allah has also made
walking to a congregation prayer a cause of clearing sins. The messenger said:
{whoever goes to a mosque for a congregation, then while walking, for each
step a sin is wiped out, and for the next step a good deed is written. In the
way up and in the way back.} and the messenger PPBU also said: {This who
leaves his home with cleanliness fit for prayer (Tahara), going for a
congregation prayer then his reward is the same as that for a Haj who is doing
Ihram}. Al7hamd-lil-Allah, imagine the size of reward the Haj receives, you
can receive the equivalent of that five times every day just for heading off
to the mosque for the prayer. Then what the reward would be for the actual
prayer in congregation itself.
On the other hand, there
is no excuse for an individual in not attending any prayer in congregation if
the individual is healthy and able. The messenger has promised those who walk
to mosques in the times of darkness with the complete light in the day of
resurrection.
The messenger PPBU told
of a resting place is prepared by Allah in paradise for this who keeps
attending congregation prayers. One place for each time he goes and another
place for each time he returns. It is not even possible to imagine what the
place may be like if it is prepared by Allah himself. And if this reward is
just for going and coming back, then you can imagine the reward for actually
performing the prayer itself in a group.
The messenger PPBU said:
{this who does a good Wathoo in his house and comes to the mosque to pray then
he is a visitor to or a guest for Allah. And it is the visitor’s right to be
honored by the host}
Dear brothers let us
make certain we are honored by the Lord of the worlds by keeping this
important pillar of congregation prayers. Let us compete in attending group
prayers. Remember what the messenger PPBU said: {This who do his prayers in
congregation for 40 days by making it at the first takbeer of each (attending
right at the start of each) Allah will right 2 exonerations (or clearances):
One exoneration from fire, and exoneration from hypocrisy.} May we all be
granted those two exonerations.
Dear brother whom we do
not regularly see at our congregation prayers in this mosque of ours, or who
neglect attending the congregation prayer. Did you know or not know that no
excuse is accepted by Allah for not attending a congregation prayer even in a
state of war. Allah does not exempt even a blind Muslim from attending prayers
in congregation.
A blind man came asking
the messenger PPBU to be excused from attending the mosque because he has no
one to lead him. He asked him “do you hear the call?” he said yes. The
messenger said “Then answer the call.”
Dear Muslims, much but
just a little of much that was said about prayers in general. But more
specifically, even more definitiveness was given to two of the five prayers:
the Isah (late evening) and the Fajr (dawn). The messenger said: {Whoever does
Isah prayer in congregation, it is as if he stayed up praying half the night.
And whoever does Fajr prayer in congregation it is as if he stayed up all
night}.
The messenger PPBU said
{The heaviest of the prayers on the hypocrites are the Isha and the Fajr
prayers. And if you just know what they have in rewards, then you would come
to them even if you had to crawl.}
