Chapter on the Virtue of the Prayers: Allah the Exalted said: “Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing.”
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The Reciter: He said (may Allah have mercy on him): “Chapter on the Virtue of the Prayers:
Allah the Exalted said:[Al-'Ankabut 29:45].
From Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say:Sahih Muslim 667 Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
And from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Riyad as-Salihin 1043 Narrated by Muslim “ .
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author said (may Allah have mercy on him) in his book *Riyad al-Salihin*: “Chapter on the Virtue of the Prayers”:
The prayers are known acts of worship, beginning with the takbir and ending with the taslim. They are the most emphasized pillars of Islam after the two testimonies, the most excellent pillars of Islam after the two testimonies, and the most beneficial pillars of Islam after the two testimonies. They are a connection between the person and his Lord, because the person stands before Allah (Mighty and Majestic) conversing with Him, saying: الحمد لله رب العالمين فيقول الله : حمدني عبدي ، الرحمن الرحيم فيقول الله : أثنى علي عبدي ملك يوم الدين فيقول الله عز وجل : مجدني عبدي ، إياك نعبد وإياك نستعين فيقول الله : هذا بيني وبين عبدي نصفين ، اهدنا الصراط المستقيم هذا لعبدي ولعبدي ما سأل Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Allah says: My servant has praised Me. The Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. Allah says: My servant has spoken well of Me. Master of the Day of Judgment. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: My servant has glorified Me. You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help. Allah says: This is between Me and My servant, and it is divided in two. Guide us to the straight path. This is for My servant, and for My servant is what he has asked for.: a dialogue of intimate conversation. Then they are also actions and words, all of which are magnification, from the moment the person begins and says: Allah is the Greatest, meaning: Greater than everything, greater than everything in knowledge, authority, majesty, power, and everything. The seven heavens and the seven earths are in His hand like a mustard seed in one of our hands. Allah folds the heavens with their greatness, folding them with His right hand (Mighty and Majestic), and He grasps the earth with its magnitude like one of our hands grasping something. All created things are nothing to Him; Allah is the Greatest. Then he converses with Him with His words, then he bows in magnification of Him with his action, and he magnifies Him with his tongue, saying: Glory to my Lord, the Most Great. Then he raises his head, then he prostrates, and this raising is for the separation between the pillar of magnification and the pillar of humility. The pillar of magnification is the ruku', and the pillar of humility is the sujud. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih Muslim 479a.
Then he prostrates in humility to Allah and submission, placing the most noble part of him at the level of his feet, which are the lowest part of him. He places his forehead on the ground in humility to Allah and submission to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), then he says: Glory to my Lord, the Most High: purifying his Lord (Glorified and Exalted is He) from lowness. So the person’s face is now low in the earth, so he says: Glory to my Lord, the Most High, as if he is saying: Glory to the One who is pure from lowness, so He is the Highest above everything (Exalted and Majestic is He). So prayer is a great act of worship. We ask Allah to open for us and for you so that we know its value. And it points to its virtue and greatness and Allah’s love for it: that no obligatory duty was made obligatory upon the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) except through revelation, except prayer, which Allah made obligatory upon His Messenger directly from Allah to the Messenger, speaking to him with it, and He made it obligatory upon him in the highest place that humans reach, and He made it obligatory upon him in the most noble night that was for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), which is the Night of the Ascension. And He made it obligatory upon him in a large number, fifty prayers in the day and night, because Allah loves it, and because its reward is great. The Lord (Mighty and Majestic) gives generously to His servants with it, but out of Allah’s mercy, Allah lightened it until it became five prayers from fifty prayers. O Allah, to You is praise. Prayer has noble and great fruits, among them:
What Allah the Exalted mentioned in the verse with which the author began this chapter:[Al-'Ankabut 29:45]. Al-fahisha: the major sins, such as zina and sodomy and the like. And al-munkar: what is less than that. Prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, but when? When it is a prayer established in the most perfect manner. For this reason, we often find that we pray and do not find the hearts changing, or hating immorality or wrongdoing after prayer, or the person being better after prayer than before it. We do not find this. Why? Because the prayer we are praying is not the prayer that prohibits immorality and wrongdoing. Otherwise, the word of Allah is true and His promise is sincere. Prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing if you have intended an evil deed or your heart is inclined to sins, then when you pray, all of that is erased. But on the condition that the prayer you are seeking and that you want is for Allah (Mighty and Majestic), a prayer that is as perfect as it can be.
For this reason, it is obligatory upon us—and we ask Allah to help us—it is obligatory upon us to take care of our prayers, completing them as much as possible with all their pillars, conditions, obligations, and complements, for it prohibits immorality and wrongdoing. Some of the Salaf said: Whoever’s prayer does not prohibit him from immorality and wrongdoing, he does not increase thereby from Allah except distance. We ask Allah for safety, because it is not the prayer required of us. The prayer required of us should be a prayer in the true sense of the word. Some of the Salaf, when they entered their prayer, did not feel anything; they were absent from everything except from Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So much so that Urwah ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah have mercy on him), who was one of the jurists of the Tabi'un: “A gangrene affected one of his limbs. Gangrene: wounds that ulcerate until they destroy the whole body. The doctors decided to cut off his leg so that the gangrene would not spread to the rest of the body. And at that time, he was in a state of ritual impurity, so he said: Give me time until I enter my prayer. When he entered his prayer, they cut off his leg, and he did not feel it”, because his heart was occupied with Allah. And when the heart is occupied, it does not feel what affects the body. Look at the porters, for example, who carry a car or unload a car; one of them gets a wound in his hand or leg while loading, and he does not feel it, because he is occupied. So when the work is finished, he feels it, he feels the wound. So the person in his prayer must be with Allah (Mighty and Majestic), not that when he enters prayer his heart goes right and left as is the habit of many of us. And the intrusive thoughts and whispers that have no root or branch do not take hold except when the person enters prayer. Satan comes and says to him: Remember such and such, remember such and such, do such and such, do not do such and such. And this disrupts the prayer. Perhaps the person leaves with nothing from his prayer, even if it absolves the obligation, but he did not attain anything from it. “And 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) would prepare his army in prayer”. So the idle people took from this that there is no harm in a person having intrusive thoughts in his prayer, whispering, doing and leaving, because 'Umar was preparing the army. But preparing the army is jihad in the path of Allah, and jihad in the path of Allah is permissible to enter into prayer. For this reason, we find that Allah prescribed for the Muslims the prayer of fear. The prayer of fear has actions that are not done in other than fear, as is known to students of knowledge.
So 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was preparing his army in his prayer, and his heart was present. His heart did not go right or left, because he was worshipping Allah (Mighty and Majestic), even though he was preparing the army while praying. So we ask Allah the Exalted to make us and you among those whose prayer prohibits them from immorality and wrongdoing, and to accept from us and from you. Indeed, He is capable of all things.
Allah the Exalted said:
Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing
إن الصلاة تنهى عن الفحشاء والمنكرFrom Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say:
just see, can anything of his filthiness remain (on the body of) any one of you if there were a river at his door in which he washed himself five times daily? They, said: Nothing of his filthiness will remain (on his body). He said: That is like the five prayers by which Allah obliterates sins.
أرأيتم لو أن نهراً بباب أحدكم يغتسل منه كل يوم خمس مرَّات، هل يبقى من درنه شيء ؟ قالوا : لا يبقى مِن درنه . قال : فذلك مثل الصلوات الخمس، يمحو الله بهنَّ الخطاياAnd from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The similitude of the five (obligatory) Salat is like a river running at the door of one of you in which he takes a bath five times a day.
مثل الصلوات الخمس كمثل نهر غَمر جارٍ على باب أحدكم يغتسل منه كل يوم خمس مراتThe Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author said (may Allah have mercy on him) in his book *Riyad al-Salihin*: “Chapter on the Virtue of the Prayers”:
The prayers are known acts of worship, beginning with the takbir and ending with the taslim. They are the most emphasized pillars of Islam after the two testimonies, the most excellent pillars of Islam after the two testimonies, and the most beneficial pillars of Islam after the two testimonies. They are a connection between the person and his Lord, because the person stands before Allah (Mighty and Majestic) conversing with Him, saying: الحمد لله رب العالمين فيقول الله : حمدني عبدي ، الرحمن الرحيم فيقول الله : أثنى علي عبدي ملك يوم الدين فيقول الله عز وجل : مجدني عبدي ، إياك نعبد وإياك نستعين فيقول الله : هذا بيني وبين عبدي نصفين ، اهدنا الصراط المستقيم هذا لعبدي ولعبدي ما سأل Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Allah says: My servant has praised Me. The Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. Allah says: My servant has spoken well of Me. Master of the Day of Judgment. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: My servant has glorified Me. You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help. Allah says: This is between Me and My servant, and it is divided in two. Guide us to the straight path. This is for My servant, and for My servant is what he has asked for.: a dialogue of intimate conversation. Then they are also actions and words, all of which are magnification, from the moment the person begins and says: Allah is the Greatest, meaning: Greater than everything, greater than everything in knowledge, authority, majesty, power, and everything. The seven heavens and the seven earths are in His hand like a mustard seed in one of our hands. Allah folds the heavens with their greatness, folding them with His right hand (Mighty and Majestic), and He grasps the earth with its magnitude like one of our hands grasping something. All created things are nothing to Him; Allah is the Greatest. Then he converses with Him with His words, then he bows in magnification of Him with his action, and he magnifies Him with his tongue, saying: Glory to my Lord, the Most Great. Then he raises his head, then he prostrates, and this raising is for the separation between the pillar of magnification and the pillar of humility. The pillar of magnification is the ruku', and the pillar of humility is the sujud. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
So far as Ruk'u is concerned, extol in it the Great and Glorious Lord
أما الركوع فعظموا فيه الربThen he prostrates in humility to Allah and submission, placing the most noble part of him at the level of his feet, which are the lowest part of him. He places his forehead on the ground in humility to Allah and submission to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), then he says: Glory to my Lord, the Most High: purifying his Lord (Glorified and Exalted is He) from lowness. So the person’s face is now low in the earth, so he says: Glory to my Lord, the Most High, as if he is saying: Glory to the One who is pure from lowness, so He is the Highest above everything (Exalted and Majestic is He). So prayer is a great act of worship. We ask Allah to open for us and for you so that we know its value. And it points to its virtue and greatness and Allah’s love for it: that no obligatory duty was made obligatory upon the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) except through revelation, except prayer, which Allah made obligatory upon His Messenger directly from Allah to the Messenger, speaking to him with it, and He made it obligatory upon him in the highest place that humans reach, and He made it obligatory upon him in the most noble night that was for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), which is the Night of the Ascension. And He made it obligatory upon him in a large number, fifty prayers in the day and night, because Allah loves it, and because its reward is great. The Lord (Mighty and Majestic) gives generously to His servants with it, but out of Allah’s mercy, Allah lightened it until it became five prayers from fifty prayers. O Allah, to You is praise. Prayer has noble and great fruits, among them:
What Allah the Exalted mentioned in the verse with which the author began this chapter:
Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing
إن الصلاة تنهى عن الفحشاء والمنكرFor this reason, it is obligatory upon us—and we ask Allah to help us—it is obligatory upon us to take care of our prayers, completing them as much as possible with all their pillars, conditions, obligations, and complements, for it prohibits immorality and wrongdoing. Some of the Salaf said: Whoever’s prayer does not prohibit him from immorality and wrongdoing, he does not increase thereby from Allah except distance. We ask Allah for safety, because it is not the prayer required of us. The prayer required of us should be a prayer in the true sense of the word. Some of the Salaf, when they entered their prayer, did not feel anything; they were absent from everything except from Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So much so that Urwah ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah have mercy on him), who was one of the jurists of the Tabi'un: “A gangrene affected one of his limbs. Gangrene: wounds that ulcerate until they destroy the whole body. The doctors decided to cut off his leg so that the gangrene would not spread to the rest of the body. And at that time, he was in a state of ritual impurity, so he said: Give me time until I enter my prayer. When he entered his prayer, they cut off his leg, and he did not feel it”, because his heart was occupied with Allah. And when the heart is occupied, it does not feel what affects the body. Look at the porters, for example, who carry a car or unload a car; one of them gets a wound in his hand or leg while loading, and he does not feel it, because he is occupied. So when the work is finished, he feels it, he feels the wound. So the person in his prayer must be with Allah (Mighty and Majestic), not that when he enters prayer his heart goes right and left as is the habit of many of us. And the intrusive thoughts and whispers that have no root or branch do not take hold except when the person enters prayer. Satan comes and says to him: Remember such and such, remember such and such, do such and such, do not do such and such. And this disrupts the prayer. Perhaps the person leaves with nothing from his prayer, even if it absolves the obligation, but he did not attain anything from it. “And 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) would prepare his army in prayer”. So the idle people took from this that there is no harm in a person having intrusive thoughts in his prayer, whispering, doing and leaving, because 'Umar was preparing the army. But preparing the army is jihad in the path of Allah, and jihad in the path of Allah is permissible to enter into prayer. For this reason, we find that Allah prescribed for the Muslims the prayer of fear. The prayer of fear has actions that are not done in other than fear, as is known to students of knowledge.
So 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was preparing his army in his prayer, and his heart was present. His heart did not go right or left, because he was worshipping Allah (Mighty and Majestic), even though he was preparing the army while praying. So we ask Allah the Exalted to make us and you among those whose prayer prohibits them from immorality and wrongdoing, and to accept from us and from you. Indeed, He is capable of all things.