Understanding Salat 1

Understanding Salat
A Word by Word Commentary on Salat
by
Murabbi Rizwan Khan

Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya USA
Understanding Salat
First published in USA, 2021
© MKA USA Publications Ltd.
Published by
Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya USA
Publication Department
15000 Good Hope Rd.
Silver Spring, Maryland 20905, USA
Cover design: Wajahat Ali
For further information please visit www.alislam.org.
ISBN 978-0-9990794-9-2
987654321
Contents
About The Author..............................................vii

Publisher’s Note..................................................ix
Foreword...........................................................xiii
Qiyam......................................................... 3
Ruku‘........................................................ 89
Qaumah.................................................. 113
Sajdah..................................................... 135
Jilsah....................................................... 151
Qa‘dah.................................................... 171
Glossary...........................................................233
About The Author
Murabbi Rizwan Khan is a graduate from Jami‘ah Ahmadiyya

Canada, 2011. Since graduating, Murabbi Rizwan Khan has
been posted to different cities serving as a missionary of
Islam.
In his spare time, Murabbi Rizwan Khan enjoys
live-streaming and answering questions about Islam under
the subject of, “Ask an Imam.”
For comments or questions, you can reach Murabbi
Rizwan Khan at [email protected]
Publisher’s Note
References to the Holy Quran contain the name of the surah

[i.e. chapter] followed by a chapter:verse citation, e.g. Surah
al-Jumu‘ah, 62:4, and count Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim
[‘In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful’] as the
first verse in every chapter that begins with it.
The following abbreviations have been used:
sas sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, meaning ‘peace and bless-

ings of Allah be upon him’, is written after the name
of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sas.
as ‘alaihis-salam, meaning ‘peace be on him’, is written

after the names of Prophets other than the Holy
Prophet Muhammad sas.
ra radiyallahu ‘anhu/‘anha/‘anhum, meaning ‘may

Allah be pleased with him/her/them’, is written after
x Understanding SalAt
the names of the Companions of the Holy Prophet

Muhammad sas or of the Promised Messiah as.
rta rahmatullah ‘alaihi/‘alaiha/‘alaihim, meaning ‘may

Allah shower His mercy upon him/her/them’, is writ-
ten after the names of those deceased pious Muslims
who are not Companions of the Holy Prophet
Muhammad sas or of the Promised Messiah as.
aba ayyadahullahu Ta‘ala binasrihil-‘Aziz, meaning

‘may Allah the Almighty help him with His pow-
erful support’, is written after the name of the pres-
ent head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community,
Hadrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad aba, Khalifatul-
Masih V.
Readers are urged to recite the full salutations when read-

ing the book. In general, we have adopted the following
system established by the Royal Asiatic Society for our
transliteration.
‫ ا‬at the beginning of a word, pronounced as a, i, u

preceded by a very slight aspiration, like h in the
English word honor.
‫ ث‬th – pronounced like th in the English word thing.
‫ ح‬h – a guttural aspirate, stronger than h.
‫ خ‬kh – pronounced like the Scottish ch in loch.
Publisher’s Note xi
‫ذ‬ dh – pronounced like the English th in that.

‫ص‬ s – strongly articulated s.
‫ض‬ d – similar to the English th in this.
‫ط‬ t – strongly articulated palatal t.
‫ظ‬ z – strongly articulated z.
‫ع‬ ‘ – a strong guttural, the pronunciation of which must
be learnt by the ear.
‫ غ‬gh – a sound similar to the French r in grasseye, and to
the German r. It requires the muscles of the throat to
be in the ‘gargling’ position to pronounce it.
‫ ق‬q – a deep guttural k sound.
‫ – ’ ء‬a sort of catch in the voice.
Short vowels are represented by:
_____
a for َ
_____
(like u in bud).
i for ِ
_____
(like i in bid).
u for ُ (like oo in wood).
xii Understanding SalAt
Long vowels by:
_____
a for ٰ or ‫( آ‬like a in father).
ِ ٖ
i for ‫ _____ ی‬or _____ (like ee in deep).
_
u for ‫( _____ و‬like oo in root).
ُ
Other vowels by:
_____
ai for ‫ی‬ َ (like i in site).
_____
au for ‫و‬ َ (resembling ou in sound).
The consonants not included in the above list have the same
phonetic value as in the principal languages of Europe. As
noted above, the single quotation mark ‘ is used for translit-
erating ‫ ع‬which is distinct from the apostrophe ’ used for ‫ ء‬.
We have not transliterated some Arabic words which
have become part of English language, e.g. Islam, Quran,
Hadith, Mahdi, jihad, Ramadan, and ummah. The Royal
Asiatic Society’s rules of transliteration for names of per-
sons, places, and other terms, are not followed throughout
the book as many of the names contain non-Arabic charac-
ters and carry a local transliteration and pronunciation style.
Foreword
We gain nearness to Allah the Almighty with Salat. Salat

allows us to find comfort and joy in our lives. It helps us
overcome difficulties and trials. It helps us stay away from
immodesty. Salat is the basis for our spiritual advancement.
I am thankful to Murabbi Rizwan Khan for writing this
book entitled Understanding Salat. I hope and pray that
readers may benefit from this. I am grateful to the publica-
tion team lead by Mohtamim Isha’at, Talha Saifi, and his team
including Faraz Hussain (book compilation) and Wajahat
Ali (cover) for producing this book.
Finally, I am thankful to Hadrat Khalifatul Masih V aba
for the continued prayers and guidance. I am immensely
grateful to Allah Ta‘ala for enabling us to publish this book.
Wasalaam,
Madeel Abdullah
Sadr Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya,
United States of America, April 2021
Understanding Salat

Qiyam
When a person stands, then he adopts a way of respect.

When a slave stands in front of his master, he always
stands with his hands folded. (Malfuzat (10 vol edi-
tion), vol. 9, pp. 110)
The Salat taught by Islam is only its reflection. The

standing of the spirit signifies that it shows readiness to
suffer every hardship and to obey every command for
the sake of God. (Lecture Sialkot, pp. 33)
When a person stands to praise and glorify God, this

posture is known as Qiyam or ‘the standing position.’
Now, everyone knows that the standing position is the
physical state best suited for praise and glorification.
After all, when eulogies are recited before kings, they
are done so whilst standing. And so, in the Prayer, the
apparent posture prescribed is the standing position,
4 Understanding SalAt
while the tongue is instructed to praise and glorify God

in this state. The purpose in this is so that man stands
before Allah the Exalted in the spiritual sense as well.
Praise is expressed by standing firm on one point. A
person who truthfully and sincerely praises someone,
stands firm on one view. Therefore, an individual who
says: ‘All praise belongs to Allah’ can only sincerely
proclaim these words when they develop a firm belief
in the fact that Allah Almighty is the Possessor of all
forms of praise in totality. When a person accepts this
fact with complete open-heartedness, this is known as
Qiyam or ‘standing’ in the spiritual sense, because the
heart begins to ‘stand’ firm in this belief, as though it
were upright, so to speak. Therefore, in the Prayer, a
person stands demonstrating an apparent state, so that
they may be blessed with the ability to ‘stand’ in the
spiritual sense. (Malfuzat (English), vol. 2, pp. 148)
Man is required to stand in the presence of God

Almighty and standing is also from among the eti-
quettes of servants. (Malfuzat (English), vol. 1, pp.
161)
The Prayer starts with Takbīr-i-Tahrīmah, i.e. the

Imam raises both hands to the level of his earlobes
and says Allāhu Akbar (God is the Greatest).…After
raising his hands to the lobes of his ears and reciting
Qiyam 5
Allāhu Akbar, the Imam lowers his hands and folds

them on his chest so that the right arm is over his left
arm. (Salat-The Muslim Prayer Book, pp. 32, 33)
ْ َ ُ ّٰ َ
‫لل ا ك َب ُر‬ ‫ا‬
Allah is the greatest
The word ‘greatest’ has to bring to our mind the other ‘Greatest’ is a
comparison
things that it is being compared to. For example, the state-
ment ‘Allah is great’ does not necessitate a comparison. In
the statement ‘Allah is great’, the greatness of Allah can be
expressed in and of itself. However, in the statement ‘Allah
is the greatest’, the greatness of Allah is expressed in direct
comparison to all other things.
When we stand before Allah presenting ourselves to
Him, but our mind is thinking about someone else, then in
that moment, that someone is greater to us than Allah.
Hadrat Musleh Mau‘ūdra said,
When Allāhu Akbar is called he is warned: Stand

with full attention because the One in Whose pres-
ence you are standing is the Greatest. (Remembrance
of Allah, pp. 43)
ْ َ ُ َّ َ
Saying ‘Allah is the greatest’ (‫لل ا ك َب ُر‬ ‫ )ا‬seems like a statement of
the obvious, but in practical application, it is not. Often, we
actually believe others are greater than Allah. For example,
when we stand before Allah Almighty in Salāt, sometimes
our mind is lost in thinking about someone else. We came to
Salāt with the purpose of reflecting on the beauties of Allah,
but in reality, we find someone else’s beauty more worthy
of attracting our attention than Allah Almighty. When we
ْ َ ُ َّ َ
say ‘Allah is the greatest’ (‫لل ا ك َب ُر‬ ‫)ا‬, it’s not because we need
a reminder of a concept, it’s because we need a reminder
ْ َ ُ َّ َ
of a reality. When we say ‘Allah is the greatest’ (‫لل ا ك َب ُر‬ ‫)ا‬, we
should think of what in our mind is competing with Allah
for greatness. What is so attractive about that distraction and
what is the cause of our boredom in Salāt? The statement of
ْ َ ُ َّ َ
‘Allah is the greatest’ (‫لل ا ك َب ُر‬ ‫ )ا‬is a comparison in application.
When we say it, we should remind ourselves that the distrac-
tion which seems more attractive than Allah is not greater;
rather, Allah is the greatest.
ْ َ ُ َّ َ
The repetition of ‘Allah is the greatest’ (‫لل ا ك َب ُر‬ ‫ )ا‬allows us
to break up Salat into segments where we renew our resolve
that Allah is greater than anything else on our mind.
Hadrat Musleh Mau‘ūd ra said,
A useful technique for them is to concentrate on one

posture at a time. When they stand for Qiyām they
should resolve not to let any thoughts disturb them
up to the end of Rukū‘. Going in to Rukū‘ they should
Qiyam 7
make the same resolution for the time up to the end

of Rukū‘. They should do the same at every change of
posture. This will give them great strength to over-
power any distracting thoughts. (Remembrance of
Allah, pp. 49)
At each change of posture, we can ask ourselves what in that

segment of Salat competed with Allah Almighty in our
mind for greatness. Then, we can renew our resolve with a
reminder that it is Allah, in fact, who is the greatest.
Raising our
hands symbol-
Body language is a universal human language. When we feel izes leaving
happy, the muscles in our face involuntarily express that hap- everything
behind
piness with a smile, we cannot resist it. Similarly, the muscles
of our face are involuntarily tied to our emotions of fear, or
anger, or sadness, etc. Our emotions are tied directly to spe-
cific facial expressions, and this language of the face is univer-
sal across cultures and centuries. This relationship between
our emotions and our face is not one way, rather it goes both
ways.
The Promised Messiahas said,
If you do not know how to weep, then make a weep-

ing face, and ultimately tears will follow themselves.
(Malfuzat (English), vol. 1, pp. 246)
Similarly, if we force ourselves to smile for long enough, a

feeling of happiness will start to rise within us. Our emotions

and our facial expressions are inseparable.
The rest of our body is also linked to our thoughts and
emotions. This language of the body is so universal that we
can even understand it in animals. We can immediately see
if a dog is feeling vulnerable and afraid, or when it is feeling
strong and aggressive. Similarly, we project confidence in our
stance when we feel strong. This relationship between our
emotions and our body also goes both ways. If someone is
feeling vulnerable, he feels like protecting his body and clos-
ing up, but if he forces himself as an exercise to hold a spread
posture that projects strength, then he will slowly start to
feel more confident.
Some expressions of body language are more obvious,
others are more subtle, but there is a universal language
behind it. Some cultures are more conscious and expressive
of body language than others. For example, among European
cultures, Italians are more expressive with their body when
they speak. Whether our culture is more expressive or not,
we are all familiar with the more obvious expressions of body
language, and we have an intuitive understanding of the
more subtle expressions as well.
Salat is a conversation between a worshipper and his
Creator. The meanings of Salat are not just conveyed
through words, but also through the universal language of
the body.
Qiyam 9
God Almighty has kept a reciprocal connection

between the soul and the body, and the body affects
the soul. For example, if a person tries to cry as a for-
mality, after all, he does start crying. Similarly, a per-
son who tries to laugh as a formality eventually starts
laughing. Similarly, the conditions that come upon
the body in Salat, like standing and prostrating, also
affect the soul. The extent to which he shows humil-
ity in his body is the extent to which it is created in
the soul. Although God does not accept prostrations
alone, but prostration has a connection with the
soul. That is why the last station in Salat is prostra-
tion. When a person reaches the furthest station of
humility, at that time, all he wants is to go into pros-
tration. This condition is witnessed even in animals.
When dogs love their master, they come and place
their head on his feet, and they express their connec-
tion of love with prostration. From this, we clearly
find that the body has a special connection with the
soul. Similarly, the effect of the conditions of the soul
becomes visible on the body. When the soul is sor-
rowful, its effects become apparent on the body as
well, and tears and dejection become visible. If the
soul and body do not have a reciprocal connection,
then why does this happen?
The physical and spiritual lines run parallel. When

humility is created in the soul, it is also created in the

body. When humility is truly in the soul, then its effects
automatically become visible in the body. Similarly,
when the body is affected, the soul is also affected.
That is why it is essential that when one stands before
God Almighty in Salat, he should express humility
and devotion with his being. Although, at that time,
it is a type of hypocrisy, but slowly its effect becomes
permanent, and that devotion and humility is truly
created in his soul. (Malfuzat (10 vol. edition), vol.
4, pp. 421-422)
Each posture in Salat conveys a certain sentiment and is a

two-way street. In one way, each posture is an expression of
the emotion that we are feeling. In another way, each posture
helps to create the emotion that we wish to feel. For example,
the posture of Sajdah can be an expression of the sentiments
of humility we are feeling, or it can help create the senti-
ments of humility that we want to feel but are not feeling.
When we raise our hands at the beginning of Salat, it car-
ries the symbolism of leaving everything behind and turning
to Allah Almighty.
Hadrat Musleh Mau‘ūdra said that when a believer raises
his hands before prayer,
He removes all other thoughts and becomes

engrossed in thoughts of worshipping God. Aside
Qiyam 11
from maintaining our attention, another wisdom in

raising our hands in this way is that this gesture is a
natural expression that is used for leaving everything
else behind. With this gesture, a Muslim expresses
that he has separated himself from all thoughts and
work of the world and has turned his attention to his
Lord. In a couplet, the poet Ghalib indicated to this
movement of our hands, “The courtiers place their
hands on their ears as they greet, by which they mean
that we are not acquainted.” Thus, by this movement,
a believer expresses that he cuts himself off from the
entire world and has turned his attention towards his
Lord. (Tafsīr-e-Kabīr, vol. 1, pp. 110)
When we raise our hands to begin Salat, we should con-

sciously express with our body the sentiment of leaving
everything behind, of turning our attention away from the
world. Combining this gesture with the statement of ‘Allah
ْ َ ُ َّ َ
is the greatest’ (‫لل ا ك َب ُر‬ ‫ )ا‬creates a complete intention. We
leave everything that is insignificant behind with our ges-
ture and we move forward towards the One who is Greatest
with our words. When our body, our words, and our heart
come together to turn our attention away from the world
and towards Allah, then we begin Salat with a solid Niyyah
[determination of the mind].
Niyyah
Expressing Niyyah in the following words is optional. We

can say Allahu Akbar and express our Niyyah in these words
if we like, or we can say Allahu Akbar and begin our Salat
with the Thana’.
َ‫ۡ أ‬
َ ‫ال ۡر َض َح ِن ًيفا َو َم ٓا َأ َنا ِم َن ۡال ُم ۡشر ِك‬
‫ين‬ َّ ‫َو َّج ۡه ُت َو ۡجه َي ِل َّل ِذ ْي َف َط َر‬
‫الس ٰم ٰو ِت َو‬
ِ ِ
I have turned my face toward Him Who created the
heavens and the earth, being ever inclined to God,
and I am not of those who associate gods with God.
‫َو َّج ْه ُت َو ْج ِه َي‬

I have turned my full attention
When reciting these words, we should ask ourselves what

we are turning our attention away from, because we cannot
turn our attention towards something without turning our
attention away from something else. What was our mind
occupied in before Salat? It is the thoughts of that work or
that conversation that are most likely to pick up from where
they left off as soon as our mind wanders in Salat. What
Qiyam 13
thoughts does our mind generally wander into when we

get distracted in Salat? Being aware of our daydreams is an
important self-analysis. Here, we preemptively make up our
minds to turn our attention away from them. The words ‘I
have turned my full attention’ (‫ َ)و َّج ْه ُت َو ْج ِه َي‬make us aware of
what we need to be turning our attention away from.
ً َ
This same point is also found in the word ‫ح ِن ۡیفا‬, which
means, ‘one who turns his attention away from one thing
and inclines towards something else’ (Tafsīr-e-Kabīr, vol. 2,
pp. 208). In the words ‘I have turned my full attention’ (‫َو َّج ۡه ُت‬
‫)و ۡج ِه َي‬,
َ the emphasis is on our mind turning to Allah, whereas
ً َ
in the words ‘being ever inclined’ (‫)ح ِن ۡیفا‬, the emphasis is on
our heart turning towards Allah.
The same sentiment is expressed when we raise our hands
at the beginning of Salat. Whether we choose to verbalize
our Niyyah with this verse of the Holy Quran or not, when
we raise our hands for prayer, we say with our body language
________O_________
that we turn our attention away from everything else.
َ َ َّ
‫ِلل ِذ ۡی فط َر‬
towards Him Who has created
Ibn Abbās says that he did not know the meaning of

Fātiris Samāwāt until two Arabs of the desert came

to him disputing respecting the mastery of a well,
and one of them said: Ana Fatartuhā, i.e. I originated
or began it. (Dictionary of the Holy Quran, pp. 657)
ََ َ َ
The words ‫( خل َق‬Khalaqa) and ‫( فط َر‬Fatara) are used in the
Holy Quran to refer to creation. The distinction of the word
َ َ
‫( فط َر‬Fatara) is its emphasis on creating from nothing.
When we recite the words ‘towards Him Who has cre-
َ َ َّ
ated’ (‫) ِلل ِذ ۡی فط َر‬, the thought of something being created from
nothing should cause us some disorientation. Our mind can
comprehend the concept of creating from something, but
the idea of creating from nothing is inherently beyond our
comprehension. The more we try to visualize the attribute of
creating from nothing, the more frustrating it is. We cannot
relate to it. When we recite the attribute of The Merciful
َ
(‫)ا َّلر ِح ۡی ُم‬, then our mind can immediately relate to how people
can be merciful to others. We can easily visualize this attrib-
َ
ute. With the attributes of Lord (‫)ر ّب‬, َ The Gracious (‫)ا َّلر ۡح ٰم ُن‬,
Master of the Day of Judgement (‫الد ۡی ِن‬ ِّ ‫)ملک َی ۡوم‬,
ِ ِ ِ ٰ each can eas-
ily be processed in our mind and visualized. However, when
َ َ َّ َ
we recite, ‘Him Who has created’ (‫)ال ِذ ۡی فط َر‬, our mind hits a
roadblock. How can anything be created from nothing? It
doesn’t seem to make sense, but we cannot dismiss it because,
logically, we know that there should be a cause of all causes.
We know that in this finite world, the chain of cause and
effect has to start somewhere.
Qiyam 15
َّ َ
The beauty of the words ‘Him Who has created’ (‫ال ِذ ۡی‬
َ َ
‫ )فط َر‬is how disorienting they are. We cannot recite them
with just our minds. We have to recite these words with a
heart that is filled with an awe of our Incomprehensible God.
Only with that awe in our hearts can we enjoy reciting these
words. Salat is an experience of the heart. It begins with an
exercise in humility.
َ َ َّ َ
This same attribute of ‘Him Who has created’ (‫)ال ِذ ۡی فط َر‬
reassures us that no matter how weak we are, Allah Almighty
has the power to accept our prayers.
Your God is One Who has suspended numberless

stars without any support and Who has created
heaven and earth from nothing. Then would you
think so ill of Him as to imagine that your objective
is beyond His power? (Essence of Islam, vol. 2, pp.
213)
When our heart is moved by the awe of how incomprehen-

َ َ َّ َ
sible ‘Him Who has created’ (‫ )ال ِذ ۡی فط َر‬is, the prayers we offer
after will be filled with a hope that was not there before. The
purpose of Salat is to move the heart, for us to reach out
to our Creator from the depths of our heart. If the words
َ َ َّ
‘towards Him Who has created’ (‫ ) ِلل ِذ ۡی فط َر‬succeeds in mov-
ing our heart, then the frame of mind needed for prayer is
________O_________
created.
َۡ
‫الس ٰم ٰو ِت َوال ۡر َض‬
َّ
the heavens and the earth

Grandeur of
the Creator
At times, Allah Almighty is described in the Holy Quran as
the Creator of everything, at other times as the Creator of
all creatures, and at other times as the Creator of mankind.
Each description evokes a different visualization and a dif-
ferent emotion. The most personalized way to describe the
attribute of the Creator is on the individual level. For exam-
ple, the Holy Quran says,
Why should I not worship Him who has created me

(36:23).
When we recite this verse and apply it to ourselves, it evokes

a personal and individual relationship we have with our
Creator. For someone to know that Allah is his individual
Creator is sufficient reason for him to worship Allah.
However, the words used at the beginning of Salat intro-
duce us to Allah Almighty in a broader sense that is filled
with grandeur. If we had said, ‘I turn my attention to Him
who has created me,’ it would have been personal, but it
would have been a very narrow description of the attribute
of The Creator. If we had said, ‘I turn my attention to Him
who has created everything,’ it would have been an encom-
passing description of the attribute of The Creator, but it
Qiyam 17
would not have carried the same grandeur that comes with
the words, ‘the heavens and the earth.’ When we recite the
َۡ َ
words ‘the heavens and the earth’ (‫)ا َّلس ٰم ٰو ِت َوال ۡر َض‬, the vastness
of the galaxies that Allah Almighty created comes to mind,
and our insignificance as just one tiny creation in all of it
evokes a unique feeling of smallness. The greatness of Allah
as The Creator is expressed here not only in concept but in a
way that inspires awe.
َۡ َ
With the words ‘the heavens and the earth’ (‫)ا َّلس ٰم ٰو ِت َوال ۡر َض‬, Link between
all of creation
everything that exists that could distract us away from Allah and its
Creator
is connected back to Allah Almighty. In fact, all of creation
is there to remind us of its Creator.
Explaining how insight is needed to see The Creator in
the creation, Hadrat Musleh Mau‘ūdra said,
In reality, knowledge of the being of God is an encom-

passing knowledge and comes after knowledge and
understanding of other things. Some things are vis-
ible in themselves, and by seeing them, we become
aware of them. For example, if we put our finger in
front of an infant, he will just think that an object has
come in front of him. He isn’t aware that the finger is
connected to a hand, and that hand is connected to
an arm, and that arm is connected to a shoulder. That
shoulder is connected to a head through a neck, and
in that head is a mind, and that mind instructed all
of these things to come into motion after which this

finger appeared in front of him.” (Tafsīr-e-Kabīr, vol.
2, pp. 316)
When we play with an infant, he sees our face and smiles

because he recognizes us. Then if we give him our finger to
play with, he gets distracted from us and starts playing with
our finger. He doesn’t yet have the understanding that we are
connected with our finger, that when he is playing with our
finger, he is playing with us. Similarly, when we are unable
to make the connection between the world and its Creator,
then the world distracts us away from our Creator rather
than reminding us of Him. As an infant gets a little older and
develops the motor skills to understand how his hands are
connected to his mind, then he starts to understand how our
hand is also connected with our mind. Then, when he sees
our finger, he recognizes it, and he looks for our face. When
he finds our face, then he smiles and recognizes us and then
plays with our finger. He connects the two. Now, when he
plays with our finger, it doesn’t turn his attention away from
us, it turns his attention towards us. He plays with our finger
knowing that he’s playing with us. Our finger reminds him of
us; it no longer distracts him away from us.
In our spiritual infancy, we also have to gradually develop
the insight to connect the creation with The Creator. When
we recite that Allah Almighty is The Creator of ‘the heavens
َۡ َ
and the earth’ (‫)ا َّلس ٰم ٰو ِت َوال ۡر َض‬, everything in existence we can
Qiyam 19
think of reminds us of its Creator. Anything that can be dis-

tracting us from Allah is ultimately connected to Allah. The
very things we worry about and that distract us from Salat
makes us more focused on our Salat. This realization har-
nesses those distractions into even more powerful prayers.
Rather than fighting a battle against our distractions, this
teaches us to work with our distractions to make our Salat
more focused. Repetition of this exercise in our daily prayers
makes it more intuitive. Eventually, what was a distraction
from Allah Almighty starts to become a reminder of Allah
Almighty.
The Holy Prophet sas said,
“There is none among you with whom is not an atta-

che from among the jinn [devil].” The Companions
said: “Allah’s Messenger, with you too?” Thereupon
hesas said: “Yes, but Allah helps me against him, so I
am safe from his hand and he does not command me
but for good.” (Sahīh Muslim, Book 52, Chapter 16)
Explaining this Hadith, Hadrat Musleh Mau‘ūdra said,
There is a general influence that satan has on all peo-

ple, and no one is safe from it. The Holy Prophetsas
said that when such an influence reaches me, it
changes into righteousness.…Thus, even satanic
influences can be used for righteousness. (Anwarul

‘Ulum, vol. 5, pp. 554, Malaikatullah)
For example, imagine our mind wanders during Salat into

thinking about what we need to put on our list of grocer-
ies we’re going to get. There is nothing wrong with think-
ing about groceries, but when the thought distracts us from
Salat, then it becomes wrong in that time and place. We
can instead take that thought and be grateful during Salat
to Allah The Provider who has provided us with food. Our
children never worry about how groceries get to the table.
They take it for granted because they never think about the
chain of events that ends with food appearing on their plate.
Similarly, we may never think about the long chain of events
that starts with Allah Almighty and ends with groceries
appearing on our local store shelves. We don’t think about
how fragile that chain is and how we could face food short-
ages if it is disturbed. Taking a distraction in Salat and mak-
ing it into a reminder of gratitude is how a satanic influence
can be used for righteousness. Thus, when we know that
Allah is The Creator, then everything in ‘the heavens and
َۡ َ
the earth’ (‫ )ا َّلس ٰم ٰو ِت َوال ۡر َض‬becomes a reminder of Him. When
we see a painting, we think of the painter. When we receive
a gift, we think of the sender. The gift does not distract us
from the sender; it reminds us of him.
Hadrat Abdul Qādir Jīlānīrta said,
Qiyam 21
The allotter is Allah and the executor is Allah and

the creator is Allah, so He is more deserving of
thanks than others. For example, one does not look
towards the slave who carries a present but towards
the master, the sender of the gift.…Whoever looks to
the outside and the cause, and his knowledge does
not go beyond these, is ignorant and defective in his
intelligence. The term ‘intelligent’ applies to a per-
son on account of his insight into the ultimate end of
________O_________
things. (Futuhul Ghaib, Discourse 59)
ً
‫َح ِن ۡیفا‬
being ever inclined
The Promised Messiah as said,
The very essence of Islam is that all of one’s facul-

ties—whether inner or external—must always lay
prostrate at the threshold of Allah Almighty, just as a
large engine fuels many other parts. In the same way,
until a person’s every action and movement is not
made to follow the overall power and control of the
engine, how can they believe in the divinity of Allah

Almighty? Until this is so, can such an individual call
themselves ‘one who is ever inclined to God,’ in the
true sense when reciting the words, “I have turned
my face towards Him Who created the heavens and
the earth.” If a person reinforces their words through
action and turns towards God, then undoubtedly
such a one is a Muslim; they are a believer and
Hanīf [one who is ever inclined to God]. (Malfuzat
(English), vol. 1, pp. 163)
In the words ‘I have turned my full attention’ (‫)و َّج ْه ُت َو ْج ِه َي‬,

َ the
emphasis is on turning our attention towards Allah. In the
ً
word ‫( َح ِن ۡیفا‬being ever inclined), the emphasis is on turning
our hearts towards Allah. Turning our attention to someone
simply requires control of our thoughts. We can change our
thoughts much more easily than we can change our hearts.
If we fall in love with someone, then nobody can change the
way we feel; even we can’t change it. There is something in
their beauty that has infatuated us. We can easily change our
thoughts and focus our minds on something, but we cannot
change our hearts. If someone is forced to marry someone
they don’t want to marry, they can’t force themselves to fall
in love with that person. We can force our mind to focus on
something, but we cannot force our heart to love someone
we don’t.
If our heart is inclined away from Allah Almighty, then
Qiyam 23
we will find no pleasure in Salat. We will force our thoughts

towards Allah, but the flow of our hearts in the opposite
direction will pull our minds back. If our hearts are inclined
to Allah Almighty, then our minds will automatically join
the flow of our hearts. There is naturally a pleasure in turn-
ing towards the one we are in love with, and we will effort-
lessly find pleasure in Salat. Even the weakest among us have
experienced at least one Salat in our lives where we felt a
pleasure in the remembrance of Allah that did not require
ً
any effort on our part. When we recite the word ‫( َح ِن ۡیفا‬being
ever inclined), our goal should be to make that experience a
regular part of our lives.
Continuing, the Promised Messiahas said,
Another cause which gives rise to the habit of aban-

doning Prayer and becoming indolent is that when
an individual inclines towards that which is besides
Allah, the faculties of the soul and heart forever
remain bent in that direction in the manner of a tree
(whose branches are bent in a certain direction and
then left to grow in that shape). The hearts of such
people become so rough and hard that they solidify,
like a rock, in the very manner of the branches I have
just described. After they harden, they cannot be bent
in any other direction. So too is the case with a per-
son’s heart and soul, which continue to move further
away from God with every passing day. Therefore, to
forsake Allah Almighty and ask of another is a very

dangerous thing and makes the heart tremble. This
is why it is absolutely necessary to regularly observe
the Prayer, so that first and foremost, it becomes a
deep-rooted habit and a person becomes inclined
to turn towards Allah. Then gradually a time comes
when one attains to a state in which they become
completely detached from all other relations to the
exclusion of Allah; and in this state, they become the
recipient of divine light and derive pleasure in Prayer.
(Malfuzat (English), vol. 1, pp. 163-164)
If our heart is not inclined to Allah, then it will incline to

the world. The more years we spend in materialistic desires,
the more we become irreversibly inclined to the world. Every
day spent neglecting our purpose is a day we move further
away from it. Knowing this should create a sense of urgency
in us. Some people say that they will start observing Salat
when they are more mature. They think spirituality is only
for when you’re older. They don’t realize that every day they
spend inclining away from Allah Almighty, their inclination
towards the world becomes reinforced. Their abstract ideals
will not decide who they will be when they are older; it will
be the reality of what they did every day up until that time
that will decide who they will be. We should imagine our
inclinations as branches of a tree that grow each day in the
direction of the light we shine on them. When we shine light
Qiyam 25
from one direction, its branches will grow crooked. After

decades of growing a tree like this, if we try to bend it in a
different direction, we will break it before we straighten it.
Similarly, a habit that we spent decades reinforcing can only
be changed with decades of work, except if Allah’s special
mercy saves us. If we think we will change when we get older,
we are setting ourselves up for a rude awakening. The only
way to counter a daily inclination towards the world is with
a daily commitment to detaching ourselves from the world.
Salat is an exercise in completely leaving the world behind
as if it is nothing. There is a euphoric feeling of pleasure in
the freedom of full detachment from the world during Salat.
However, an occasional pleasure and a passing incli-
nation towards Allah does not make a person ‫( َح ِن ۡیف‬ever
inclined). If we are mildly interested in someone, no one
would ever say we are in love with them. When our heart is
ever inclined to someone, our thoughts and actions are moti-
vated by that love as well.
Hanīf means true pleasure in obedience of Allah

and steadfastness therein. It does not just mean that
an inclination towards goodness is found in him.
Rather, it is also necessary that he be established on
goodness and the quality of consistency is found in
him. (Tafsīr-e-Kabīr, vol. 9, pp. 372)
The only way to become ‫( َح ِن ۡیف‬ever inclined) is through a

commitment to the habit of daily Salat. Then the inclinations
of our heart will grow in the direction of the love of Allah,

and our mind and actions will automatically follow.
In almost every instance where the word Hanīf is used
in the Holy Quran, it is immediately followed by an absolve-
________O_________
ۡ ُ
ment from those who are idolaters (‫)مش ِرك‬.
ۡ ۡ ََ ۤ
‫َّو َما انا ِم َن ال ُمش ِر ِک ۡی َن‬
and I am not among those who associate
partners with Allah
In the verses leading up to this verse of the Holy Quran,

which is the Niyyah of Salat, Hadrat Ibrāhīmas explains to
his people the different stages of leaving idolatry. The idola-
try mentioned in these verses does not just refer to physical
idols.
Remember, there are many types of idolatry, of

which one is called Shirk Jalī [apparent idolatry] and
another Shirk Khafī [hidden idolatry]. The general
example of apparent idolatry is how idolatrous peo-
ple consider idols, trees, or other things as objects
Qiyam 27
of worship. Hidden idolatry is that a man glorifies a

thing just as he does or should do to Allah, or that he
loves a thing as Allah should be loved or that he fears
it or places his trust in it. (Malfuzat (10 vol edition),
vol. 8, pp. 114).
The lessons in the story of Hadrat Ibrāhīmas are relevant to

us as well. First, when the stars set, heas explained the first
stage and said, ‘I like not those that disappear.’ (6:77) This
is the stage of disappointment in idolatry. Then when the
moon set, he explained the next stage and said, ‘Unless my
Lord guides me, I will surely be among the people gone
astray.’ (6:78) This is the stage of desperation in idolatry.
Then, when the sun set, he explained the next stage and said,
‘O my people, indeed I am free from what you associate with
Allah.’ (6:79) This is the stage of disgust with idolatry. In
the end, he said the words we say in Niyyah and ended with,
‘I am not among those who associate partners with Allah.’
(6:80) This is the stage where we not only absolve ourselves
of the action of idolatry, but we absolve ourselves of the peo-
ple who commit idolatry. The starting point of Salat is the
ending point of idolatry.
The stages in these verses describe the process of how
we leave hidden idolatry. Past commentators on the Holy
Quran have taken this story of Hadrat Ibrāhīmas literally and
mistakenly believed that he committed idolatry.
The literal interpretation of these events by com-

mentators is incorrect. However, commentators
have correctly concluded that when the human mind
gains guidance without revelation, it goes from low
to high. According to a child, in the beginning his
mother is everything. In other words, she is his god.
Rather, he is not even aware of his mother; he con-
siders her breast to be his god because he knows that
this is where he receives milk. If he does not find her
breast, then he cries. Then he recognizes his mother,
so he loves her. Then he recognizes his father, so he
loves him. Then he loves his brother; then he loves
the children he plays with, he loves his neighbors.
Then he starts to love other needs, like food and
drink and clothes. At each stage, he considers each of
these to be his purpose. However, slowly he leaves all
of these until these things lead him to God. (Tafsīr-e-
Kabīr, vol. 2, pp. 318-319)
Disappointment
The first stage of leaving idolatry starts with disappointment.
What makes us distinct in the animal kingdom is that we
are spiritual beings. Because of this spiritual nature, when-
ever we search for satisfaction in material pleasures, we ulti-
mately feel disappointed. We share our capacity for material
pursuits with animals as well, and animal pursuits can never
truly satisfy us. We may think that loving and sacrificing
for our fellow man is a noble and unique trait, but even in
Qiyam 29
animals, the love mothers have for their children puts some
humans to shame. Hens will stand in front of predators and
sacrifice their lives to protect their chicks. The accumulation
of wealth for status is not a concept foreign to animals either.
Some species of birds attract mates based on the beauty of
the nest they build. In most of our basic behaviors, we are no
different than animals. The only thing that makes us distinct
in principle is our capacity for spirituality. As humans, we
look for purpose in one material thing after another until
we have no choice but to come to terms with our distinct
spiritual nature. Our spiritual nature is what makes us dis-
tinct from animals, and as long as we live our lives like ani-
mals, we can never find true happiness.
For us to devote our lives to worldly pursuits is like a
human devoting all of his time to animal pursuits. It is like
an adult devoting all of his time to childish diversions. For
example, an infant can be pacified by dangling keys in front
of his face, and he cries when it is taken away. But when he
grows into a teenager, he can only be pacified by having a new
car to go with those keys. As a teenager, he becomes obsessed
with cars, but then he slowly grows out of it. As a man, his
obsession changes to women, and that is what he devotes his
time and energy to. The value of a nice car becomes its value
in courtship. As he grows old, he loses interest in lust, and his
new obsession is his position in society. The only value a car
has to him now is as a status symbol.
One by one, these things come in front of him, and

about each, he estimates that he cannot live without
it, as if it is his god. (Tafsīr-e-Kabīr, vol. 2, pp. 318)
If a six-month-old child could speak and under-
stand, and he was told that when he grows up, he will
leave his mother’s lap and that his attachment to his
mother would decrease, he would be shocked. If a
seven-year-old were told that when he grows up, he
will marry a woman and his attachment will be more
to her and he will leave his mother, then he will say,
‘I’m not insane, I wouldn’t leave my mother. Other
people would do this, I will never do this.’ Thus, it is a
part of nature that at different times man is inclined
to different things. When he is inclined to each of
those things, he cannot imagine that he will one day
leave it. When he gets older, he never thinks that at
one time he was inclined to those things, and he con-
sidered his life empty without them. (Tafsīr-e-Kabīr,
vol. 2, pp. 319)
Each time we grow out of an obsession, looking back it seems

like nothing more than child’s play. But we are so short-
sighted that we don’t realize that our current obsession is no
different. That is why Allah Almighty has described the life
of this world as child’s play.
Keep in mind that the life of this world is only sport

Qiyam 31
and pastime, and a display, and a subject of boasting

among yourselves, and rivalry in multiplying riches
and children. (57:21)
Whatever it is that we presently feel like we cannot live with-

out, after a while, we will become hopelessly bored with it
and we will need something more meaningful. No matter
how real it feels, that reality disappears. With each disap-
pointment, our heart says, ‘I like not those that disappear.’
(6:77) Our heart feels the sentiments with which Hadrat
Ibrāhīmas described the first stage.
As we start to recognize this pattern in our lives, those feel- Desperation

ings of disappointment change to feelings of desperation.
Desperation comes when we have a midlife crisis. It comes
when we realize that the disappointments in our lives have
wasted time we can never have back. For example, a person
thinks he’ll be happy when he achieves his career goals. After
years of schooling and climbing the ladder, when he finally
reaches the position he aspired to, he realizes it doesn’t give
him the happiness he was looking for. His coworkers aren’t
as happy with their positions as he thought they would be.
He realizes he spent half his life trying to get something that
isn’t enough, something that he doesn’t really want anymore.
When he finally achieves his ambitions, he finds the void is
still there, only greater than before.
If Adam’s son had a valley full of gold, he would like

to have two valleys, for nothing fills his mouth except
dust. (Sahīh Bukharī, Book 81, Chapter 10)
We all have to face an existential and midlife crisis at some

point or another. When we realize that life is passing us by,
we start to feel desperation. We have no choice but to look
beyond the physical and search for purpose in the spiritual.
Hadrat Abdul Qadir Jilani rta said,
So long as he finds resources in his own self, he does

not turn towards the people, and so long as he finds
resources in the people, he does not turn towards the
Creator. (Futuhul Ghaib, Discourse 3)
As we turn away from the world in disappointment and

search for our Creator, our helplessness brings feelings of
desperation, and our heart says, ‘Unless my Lord guides me,
I will surely be among the people gone astray.’ (6:78) Our
heart feels the sentiments with which Hadrat Ibrāhīmas
described the second stage.
Disgust
Desperation on its own is not enough to reach the stage of
disgust with idolatry. For this stage, we have to have experi-
enced heartbreak. For example, falling in love means mak-
ing ourselves vulnerable. When a person falls in love with
someone and builds their future around them, they make
Qiyam 33
themselves vulnerable. If their spouse suddenly dies, their

sense of security is shattered. For some time, they become
incapable of vulnerability. To imagine falling in love during
that time of heartbreak is inconceivable; if anything, it is
repulsive. To suggest to them during this time that they fall
in love with someone is offensive. This is a period of heart-
break. What we avoid thinking about is that every single
person we have attached happiness to and built our future
around is going to disappear from this world. Either they will
leave first or we will leave everything behind. We have no
control over whether it will happen today or not, but we will
have to face that heartbreak and it will turn our existence
upside down.
Disappointment threatens our sense of security but it
does not break it. Desperation shakes our sense of security but
it is not enough to break it. It is only heartbreak that bursts
the security bubble that we were so sure we were safe in. Our
heart is broken by the loss of what we thought belonged to
us. When our world is shattered, that is the moment of grief
when nobody in this world can make the pain go away. That
is the moment of vulnerability when the thought of turn-
ing back to trusting the world is inconceivable. That is the
moment of clarity when we see that no attachment in this
world is lasting. We see that any attachment to anything is
a time-bomb that could shatter our world again. The only
worldly attachments that are a source of peace are the ones
that we connect to our attachment with Allah Almighty. It is
in that moment of disgust that our heart says, ‘O my people,

indeed I am free from what you associate with Allah.’ (6:79)
Our heart feels the sentiments with which Hadrat Ibrāhīmas
described the third stage.
Purifying
our
The stage after this is where we not only absolve ourselves of
environment the action of idolatry, we also absolve ourselves of the people
who commit idolatry. When we try to leave a habit, we rid
ourselves more easily of the harmful action than the harmful
company that we keep. An alcoholic will have a hard time
leaving alcohol, but he will have an even harder time leav-
ing all of the friends he gets together to drink with. When
we abandon the harmful action, we purify only our internal
condition, but when we abandon the harmful company, we
purify our external condition as well. When we say ‘I am not
among those who associate partners with Allah’ (6:80), we
say that our affinity is only with those who love Allah. We
say that our love for Allah is so great that we only have close
love with those who love Allah.
‘I am not among those who associate partners with Allah’
is a strongly-worded statement. It is not something that can
be said passively. There is a forceful sentiment underlying
it. When we recite it, we should remind ourselves of that
heart-sinking feeling when our sense of security in attach-
ment to this world was suddenly shattered. Then, with a
feeling of disgust for idolatry, the words flow along with our
Qiyam 35
heart, ‘I am not among those who associate partners with

Allah.’
The more we refresh this epiphany, the more our capac-
ity to experience materialistic pleasures dies away on its
own. Heartbreak is a temporary feeling, and when it fades,
our heart inclines back to worldly attachments. This feeling
has to be refreshed again and again in our Salat; then our
moment of clarity will start to become a life of clarity. We
slowly find our hearts turning away from idolatry (shirk) and
becoming ever inclined to Allah.
Why
The verse of the Holy Quran that we say in Niyyah starts does
with the words innī wajjahtu. However, when the Holy Niyyah
not start
Prophetsas would start Salat with this verse, he would do so with the
without the words innī. Instead, he would begin with the words
“innī”?
words wajjahtu. (Sahīh Muslim, Book 6, Chapter 26)
The words wajjahtu mean, ‘I have turned.’ The words
innī mean ‘surely I’ and add strong emphasis on the ‘I’ in
‘I have turned.’ Literally, innī wajjahtu means ‘surely I, I
turned.’
In the context of the story of Hadrat Ibrāhīmas narrated
in the Holy Quran, the reason for the strong emphasis on the
‘I’ in ‘I have turned’ is to create a contrast between the idol-
aters and Hadrat Ibrāhīmas. When he refutes the idolaters,
he establishes himself in opposition to them. The idolaters
turned their attention to the worship of the sun, moon, and
stars, whereas Hadrat Ibrāhīmas turned his attention to the
worship of Allah. In this context, innī wajjahtu is as a juxta-

position and has the meaning of, ‘as for me, I have turned.’
The emphasis in the words innī [surely I] have an important
significance in this context.
However, when we recite this verse in Salat, we are not
contrasting ourselves against anyone. Rather, we are saying
this verse as an independent statement. To say ‘as for me, I
have turned’ does not have the same purpose in an independ-
ent statement. Placing extra emphasis on ‘I’ does not carry
the significance that it does in the context of contrasting
Hadrat Ibrāhīmas with the idolaters. For this reason, rather
than start with innī [surely I], we start with wajjahtu [I have
turned]. Since the words innī are at the beginning of the
verse, so starting from wajjahtu does not change any sen-
tence in the Holy Quran. Rather, this practice of the Holy
Prophetsas reveals another meaning of this verse.
Also, when the Holy Prophetsas would say this verse as
Niyyah for Salat, he would do so after saying Allāhu Akbar.
(Abu Dawud, Book 2, Chapter 272, Tirmidhī, Book 42,
Chapter 32, Nasaī, Book 11, Chapter 17)
Qiyam 37
Thana’
If we chose to express our Niyyah in the words of 6:80 of

the Holy Quran, then after completing Niyyah, we recite
Thana’. If not, then after beginning our prayer with Allāhu
Akbar, we recite Thana’, which is in the following words:
َ َ َ َ َ َ َ َ َ َ َ َّ َ َ
‫ُس ْب َحانك الل ُه َّم َو ِب َح ْم ِدك َوت َب َارك ْاس ُمك َوت َعالى َج ُّدك َوال ِإل َه غ ْي ُرك‬
Holy are You, O Allah, and all praise is Yours, and
blessed is Your name, and exalted is Your majesty,
and there is none worthy of worship except You.
َ َ
‫ُس ْب َحانك‬
Holy are You
Allah is
The difference between Tasbīh (saying Subhanallah) and pure of
Tahmīd (saying Alhamdulillah) is that in Tasbīh we say that imper-
fections
Allah is free of all imperfections and in Tahmīd we say that
Allah has all perfections. In one we negate, and in the other
we affirm.
Sabbahallah means, he declared God to be free from

all defects and weaknesses; he glorified God (Aqrab).

The word is used about God and conveys the sense of
glorifying Him and declaring Him to be free from all
defects- anything that may detract from, and adversely
affect, His attributes of Oneness, Knowledge, Power,
Purity, etc. (Taj & Mufradat). (The Holy Quran with
English Translation and Commentary, vol. 1, pp. 90)
In concept, Tasbīh may seem redundant. After all, if we

believe in Allah, then we already believe that He is free of
all defects. The definition of the word Allah is ‘the name of
the Supreme Being Who is the sole possessor of all perfect
attributes and is free from all defects.’ (Dictionary of the Holy
Quran, pp. 28) If we already believe in Allah and know that
He is free of all imperfections, then why emphasize that He
is free of imperfections?
The reason for this emphasis is that there is a differ-
ence in believing in something in concept and believing in
something in practice. There are many imperfections that
we unknowingly attribute to Allah Almighty. Doing Tasbīh
means we identify these and correct them. For example, in
concept, we believe that Allah Almighty is near. However,
we may not have experienced His nearness as a reality in a
long time, or ever. As a result, if we look within ourselves,
we will find that we feel that Allah is distant. This feeling of
distance naturally results in weakness in our prayers. When
we feel that Allah is distant, then we feel that He doesn’t
Qiyam 39
really hear us. As a result, our prayers lack certainty and our
words lack gravity. When we feel Allah is distant, then we
feel that He doesn’t really see us. As a result, our stance and
facial expression in Salat reflect carelessness. When we feel
that Allah is distant, we feel that he doesn’t really speak. As
a result, we don’t seek an answer, and our relationship dies.
If we feel that Allah is distant, then we feel that He doesn’t
really know everything. As a result, our mind easily wanders
into one embarrassing thought or another. If the person next
to us knew what we were thinking when we daydream in
Salat and why we were thinking it, it would be awkward.
َ َ ُ
If we do not recite ‘Holy are You’ (‫)س ْب َحانك‬ with atten-
tion, our concepts will contradict with our practices. Our
belief, in concept, will tell us that Allah is supposed to be
near, but our belief in practice will tell us that He is distant.
Our prayer will be spent in frustration because we are trying
to act on beliefs that contradict each other.
َ َ ُ
When we say ‘holy are You’ (‫)س ْب َحانك‬, we find these imper-
fections in our practice and then realize that they attribute
imperfections to our concept of Allah Almighty.
Subhanahū means, ‘I declare God to be far removed or
free from every imperfection, defect, impurity, and I mag-
nify, celebrate, glorify, and praise Him.’ (Dictionary of the
Holy Quran, pp. 376)
َ َ ُ
If we recite ‘holy are You’ (‫)س ْب َحانك‬ with attention, then
we begin prayer with our beliefs being consistent and in har-
mony with one another. Just realizing our wrong beliefs will
make those feelings of distance from Allah Almighty start

disappearing on their own. An awareness of Allah Almighty’s
presence comes over us that we did not feel the moment
َ َ ُ
before we said ‘holy are You’ (‫)س ْب َحانك‬. We suddenly realize
that He is not deaf, rather He has heard everything we have
said. We realize that He is not blind, rather He sees us in
this very place. We realize that He is not mute, rather He
can answer us at this very moment. When we say ‘holy are
َ َ ُ
You’ (‫)س ْب َحانك‬, we should ask ourselves, ‘Do I really believe
that Allah has the power to accept my prayer right now?’’
Never miss Salat. Observe it repeatedly and with this

thought that I am standing in front of a Being of such
power that if He wills, He can accept my prayer now,
in this very state, in fact, in this very moment, in fact,
in this very second. (Malfuzat (10 vol edition), vol.
4, pp. 401)
Vested
interest
We must also remember that our lower-self has a vested
in interest in attributing imperfections to Allah Almighty.
thinking
less of For example, when Muslim scholars lost their righteous-
Allah
ness and no longer received the favor of revelation, they had
two choices. They could either admit that they had become
misguided and were no longer worthy of receiving revela-
tion from Allah, or they could hide their misguidance by
claiming that Allah no longer speaks to anyone. They chose
Qiyam 41
to conceal their misguidance and attribute imperfections to

Allah instead. This created a vicious cycle; their weaknesses
changed their concept of God, and then their wrong concept
of God led to greater weaknesses. When they stopped believ-
ing that Allah would speak to them, they stopped seeking
interaction with Allah Almighty, and as a result, they ceased
being spoken to.
Hadrat Khalīfatul Masīh Ira used to relate about one

of his teachers that he saw a dream when he was in
Bhopal that he was standing near a bridge in the
outskirts of the town. There he found a leper whose
whole body had been infested with worms. Flies were
resting on his body. He asked him who he was. He
replied that he was God, his Lord. The teacher said
that he had read so many praiseworthy things about
God in the Holy Quran; that He is so beautiful and
there is none who is comparable to Him. What has
become of His condition? God replied to him, “My
appearance that you are seeing is not the one I possess
in reality. This is how I look through the eyes of the
people of Bhopal.”
Hadrat Musleh Mau‘ūdra advised,
Examine yourselves closely, and analyze your actions,

words, sayings, your movements and your rest.
Examine how you see God as compared to the things

that you love in this world, lest your view of God
be the same as the people of Bhopal, or similar to it.
Remember well that God is entirely free and pure
of all ugliness, vice, and disfigurement. (Anwarul
‘Ulum, vol. 2, pp. 236-237, Barakate Khilafat)
If our prayers are not being accepted, then the uncomforta-

ble truth is that we are doing something wrong. The difficult
path is to change ourselves so that we become worthy of the
acceptance of prayers. However, it is much easier to change
our concept of Allah rather than changing ourselves. It is eas-
ier to attribute imperfection to Allah and believe that He
no longer accepts prayers. With this excuse, we can say that
we tried our best but it’s not our fault that our worship pro-
duced no results. This creates a vicious cycle because when
we convince ourselves that Allah does not accept prayers,
then we have little reason to pray, and we gradually cease to
pray at all.
If we don’t practically believe that Allah can accept our
prayers, then we start to disbelieve in the attribute of The
Responder (‫يب‬ ُ ‫)ا ْل ُم ِج‬.
َ
That attribute ceases to exist for us and
we cease to seek blessings from that attribute. If we believe in
practice that Allah Almighty does not hear, or see, or speak,
then we will slowly stop praying to Him and obeying Him
and expecting a response from Him. The lack of correct doc-
trines will result in a lack of action on our part. The lack of
action will result in a lack of response from Allah Almighty.
Qiyam 43
Allah Almighty says,
I am to my slave as he thinks of Me (Bukharī, Book

97, Chapter 35).
To us, He will become a deaf, blind, and mute God. It does

not matter how much religious knowledge we have or how
much of a scholar we are. If we do not have a correct belief in
Allah Almighty in practice, we can never have a living rela-
tionship with Him.
In Tasbīh, we recognize that our lower-self has a vested
interest in attributing imperfections to Allah Almighty. We
realize that if there is any weakness, it is not a weakness in
Allah; Subhanallah, it is in fact a weakness in us. When we
َ َ ُ
say ‘holy are You’ (‫)س ْب َحانك‬, we reflect on the being of Allah
with emphasis on negating imperfections we attribute to
________O_________
Him.
َّ
‫الل ُه َّم‬
O Allah
Any name is meaningless to us if we don’t know someone

with that name. For example, if you don’t know anybody

named Zaid, Zaid is a meaningless word to you. However, if
someone close to you is named Zaid, then the person comes
to your mind when you hear their name. You picture his face
along with who he is. Think of the name of someone very
close to you. The mention of that word brings with it an
immediate recognition and a flow of thoughts and emotions.
It brings to mind the person you know.
With the word Allah, we are addressing Allah Almighty
personally.
In the Arabic language, this word is never used for

any other being or thing. No other language has a
distinctive name for the Supreme Being. The names
found in other languages are attributive or descrip-
tive. Allah is always used in the singular. (Dictionary
of the Holy Quran, pp. 28)
The name Allah can only be meaningful to us if we know

Him. When we say Allah, we think of the Being we know.
The degree to which we are familiar with Allah is the degree
to which this name will carry meaning for us.
There is, however, a distinction between how we recog-
nize people and how we recognize Allah Almighty.
We see people’s beauty first, and then we see their

Qiyam 45
characteristics after. The beauty of a person is visible

and his characteristics are hidden. For this reason,
character is higher than beauty. However, with the
Being of Allah Almighty, we see the characteristics of
Allah first and His beauty after. The beauty of Allah
is more hidden than the characteristics of Allah.
(Ta‘alluq Billah, pp. 79)
When we hear the name of someone we are barely acquainted

with, then only their face comes to mind, but when we hear
the name of someone we are close to, then their characteris-
tics come to mind. In the initial stages of spirituality, when
Allah is only an acquaintance, hearing His name brings to
mind the attributes we know or have interacted with. As we
experience His favors more and more, we start to understand
the Being behind those favors. The more we get to know
Allah Almighty through understanding and experiencing
His attributes, the more we see His beauty. Eventually, when
we hear the name of Allah, it is His beauty that now comes
to mind.
َّ َ
When we say ‘O Allah’ (‫)الل ُه َّم‬, we can ask ourselves how
familiar we are with Allah Almighty. The word should bring
with it a spontaneous recognition and a flow of thoughts and
emotions. It brings to mind a Being who we know. When we
have a presence of mind on who we are addressing, then the
َّ َ
words ‘O Allah’ (‫ )الل ُه َّم‬carry a feeling of intimacy.
True believers are only those whose hearts tremble
________O_________
when the name of Allah is mentioned (8:3)
َ
‫َو ِب َح ْم ِدك‬
and all praise is Yours
Difference
between
Tasbīh (saying Subhanallah) is a foundation for Tahmīd
Tasbīh (saying Alhamdulillah). It is important to remove any
and
Tahmīd imperfections from our minds before we can reflect on the
perfections of Allah Almighty. That is why the words ‘holy
َ َ ُ
are You’ (‫)س ْب َحانك‬ come before the words ‘and all praise is
َ َْ َ
Yours’ (‫)و ِبحم ِدك‬.
In extolling the holiness of God, only being free from

imperfection is mentioned. However, explaining the
attributes of God only up to this point is not suffi-
cient for a person who is at a higher stage of reflec-
tion. For a complete mind, it is necessary to express
the attributes that affirm His qualities. (Tafsīr-e-
Kabīr, vol. 1, p. 284)
The reality is that a complete connection with
Qiyam 47
Allah Almighty cannot be achieved without reflect-

ing on and benefitting from the affirming attributes
of God. A person who simply extols the holiness
of God, he only says that God Almighty is a supe-
rior being. However, a person who praises God, he
demonstrates Him to be a living God. He benefits
from the attributes of God, and he causes their ben-
efit to reach others. (Tafsīr-e-Kabīr, vol. 1, pp. 286)
Let’s use the example of distance and nearness. When we say

َ َ ُ
‘holy are You’ (‫)س ْب َحانك‬, we remove the misconception that
Allah is distant. The emphasis here is not on how near Allah
Almighty is, but on how He is not distant. When we say ‘and
َ
all praise is Yours’ (‫)و ِب َح ْم ِدك‬,
َ the emphasis here is on how near
He is. We say that Allah Almighty is praiseworthy and is
closer to us than we can imagine.
We don’t just say that Allah is not deaf, but we reflect
on His praiseworthy attribute of being the All-Hearing; ‘It
is He Who hears all things, and is ever-near.’ (34:51) We
don’t just say that he is not blind, but we reflect on His
praiseworthy attribute of being the All-Seeing; ‘And He is
with you wheresoever you may be. And Allah sees all that
you do.’ (57:5) We don’t just say that he is not mute, but we
reflect on His praiseworthy attribute of being the Answerer
of Prayers; ‘And when My servants ask you about Me, say: “I
am near. I answer the prayer of the supplicant when he prays
to Me.”’ (2:187) We don’t just say that Allah is not oblivious,
but we reflect on His praiseworthy attribute of being the All-

Knowing; ‘We know what his self whispers to him, and We
are nearer to him than even his jugular vein.’ (50:17)
When we do Tasbīh (saying Subhanallah), we look
inwards and find all of the imperfections that we ourselves
attribute to Allah Almighty. When we do Tahmīd (saying
Alhamdulillah), we look outwards and observe all of the per-
fections of Allah Almighty. The emphasis of Tasbīh is not
to affirm a reality that exists; it is to negate a falsehood that
does not exist. This is why there are very few ways of doing
Tasbīh, but there are a hundred ways of doing Tahmīd. In
almost all the places that we do Tasbīh, we express it with
only one word, which is Subhan. We don’t need a vast vocab-
ulary to negate the imperfections we invented ourselves, but
we do need a vast vocabulary to describe the countless beau-
ties of Allah Almighty. When we do Tahmīd, then we can say
‘Holy is my Lord, the Most Great,’ or ‘Holy is my Lord, the
Most High,’ or ‘Holy is Allah, Lord of the Throne,’ or ‘Holy
is Allah, Lord of all the worlds,’ or ‘Holy is Allah, and all
َ
praise is His.’ When we say ‘and all praise is Yours’ (‫َ)و ِب َح ْم ِدك‬
in Thana’, we look outward and observe all of the different
ways that Allah Almighty is praiseworthy.
What does
َ
‫َو ِب َح ْم ِدك‬ 1. ‘and praise be to You’
mean?
َ
One meaning of ‫ ِب َح ْم ِدك‬is, “praise be to You.” This makes
َ ّٰ َ َ
‫ ُس ْب َحانك ٱلل ُه َّم َو ِب َح ْم ِدك‬into two separate statements. Its translation
Qiyam 49
would be, “Holy are You, O Allah, and praise be to You.”

The ‫ َو‬is here interpreted as “and,” referring to consecutive
action.
َ َ َ
or by ‫ بحمدك‬is meant ‫الح ْم ُد لك‬ praise be to Thee: (Lane’s
Lexicon, Root: ‫ حمد‬- Entry: ‫)ح ْم ٌد‬َ
When we recite with this interpretation in mind, we first

reflect on how Allah Almighty is free of all weaknesses, we
pause, and then we reflect on how He possesses all perfect
attributes.
2. ‘while praising You’
َ
Another meaning of ‫ ِب َح ْم ِدك‬is, “praising You.” This makes the
َ ْ َ َ َّ ُ ّٰ َ َ َ ْ ُ
phrase ‫ سبحانك ٱللهم و ِبحم ِدك‬into one statement rather than two
statements. It’s translation would be, “I declare Your holi-
ness, O Allah, while praising You.” The ‫ َو‬is here interpreted
as “while,” referring to simultaneous action.
َ
Authors differ respecting the ‫ ب‬in the saying, ‫ف َس ِّب ْح‬
َ
‫ ِب َح ْم ِد َر ِّبك‬...some saying that it denotes concomitance,
and that ‫ حمد‬is prefixed to the objective complement,
َ
so that the meaning is, ‫[ َس ِّب ْح ٌه َح ِام ًدا ل ُه‬Declare thou his
(thy Lord’s) freedom from everything derogatory
from his glory, praising Him], i. e. declare thou his
freedom from that which is not suitable to Him, and
ascribe to Him that which is suitable to Him; (Lane’s

Lexicon, Root: ‫ ب‬- Entry: ‫)ب‬.
َ ُ َ َ
Also, “‫ن َس ِّب ُح ِب َح ْم ِدك‬, that by ‫ بحمدك‬is meant ‫ح ِام ِد َين لك‬.”
َ
(Lane’s Lexicon, Root: ‫ حمد‬- Entry: ‫)ح ْم ٌد‬ َ
When we recite with this interpretation in mind, we reflect

on how every weakness that we falsely attribute to Allah
Almighty is connected to a true attribute of His that refutes
it. For example, when we remind ourselves that Allah
Almighty is not oblivious to what we do, we are simulta-
neously reminded that He is All-Knowing and He sees
everything we do. Tasbīh and Tahmīd can be done separately
or, as in this case, simultaneously.
3. ‘and with Your praise’
َ
Another meaning of ‫ ِب َح ْم ِدك‬is, “with Your praise.” In this
interpretation, there would be an implied verb before or
after this phrase. This implied verb is also found in the use of
َّ
ِ ‫( ِب ۡس ِم‬with the name of Allah).
‫( ِب‬with) in ‫ٱلل‬
The compound word ‫ بسم‬therefore would mean

‘with the name of.’ According to the Arab usage, the
words iqra’ or aqra’u or naqra’u or ishra’ or ashra‘u
or nashra‘u would be taken to be understood before
ّٰ ّٰ
‫بسم الل‬. The expression ‫ بسم الل‬would thus mean ‘begin
Qiyam 51
with the name of Allah’ or ‘recite with the name of

Allah,’ or ‘I or we begin with the name of Allah.’ or
‘I or we recite with the name of Allah.’ (The Holy
Quran with English Translation and Commentary,
vol. 1, p. 5)
The words “with the name of Allah” are left open-ended so

that we can use them in every situation. If a person is going
to go for a walk, he can add this verb and say, “I walk with the
name of Allah.” If a person is going to cook, he can add this
verb and say, “I cook with the name of Allah.” Any verb can
be used to fit every situation in our daily lives. The meanings
of the words “with the name of Allah” are vast because they
can have so many verbs implied with it. Similarly, the words
“with Your praise” can also have many verbs implied with it.
The following are some possible verbs:
a. ‘and I begin with praising You’
Since we are beginning our prayer, the act of “beginning” can

be the implied verb. Thus, we mean to say, “Holy are You, O
َ َ
Allah, and I begin with praising You.” (‫َ)وأ ْب َت ِد ُئ ِب َح ْم ِدك‬
َ
and I begin with praising Thee; ‫ أ ْب َت ِد ُئ‬being under-
stood (Lane’s Lexicon, Root: ‫ حمد‬- Entry: ‫)ح ْم ٌد‬.
َ
When we recite with this interpretation, we bring to mind

the entire Salat we are about to observe, and then we make

the intention of beginning that Salat with the praise of Allah.
b. ‘and with Your praise I declare Your Holiness’
Since we are declaring the holiness of Allah, the implied verb

can continue this subject of “holiness.” Thus, we mean to say,
“Holy are You, O Allah, and by praising You I declare your
َ َ
holiness.” (‫َ)و ِب َح ْم ِدك َس َّب ْح ُتك‬
and by praising Thee I extol thy remoteness, or free-

َ
dom, from every impurity... ‫ َس َّب ْح ُتك‬being understood
(Lane’s Lexicon, Root: ‫ حمد‬- Entry: ‫)ح ْم ٌد‬. َ
َ ْ َ َ َّ ُ ّٰ َ َ َ ْ ُ َ
One says also, ‫سبحانك ٱللهم و ِبحم ِدك‬, meaning ‫َس َّب ْح ُتك‬
َ َ َ َ
‫[ ِب َج ِم ِيع آل ِئك َو ِب َح ْم ِدك َس َّب ْح ُتك‬i. e. I glorify Thee by enu-
merating all thy benefits, and by the praising of Thee
I glorify Thee]. (Lane’s Lexicon, Root: ‫ سبح‬- Entry:
ٌ ُ
‫)س ْب َحان‬
There are so many small weaknesses that we falsely attrib-

ute to Allah Almighty without noticing. Were it not for the
countless ways of praise that have been revealed to correct
our concept of God, we would have fallen into all types of
shirk. When we say, “Holy are You, O Allah, and by prais-
ing You I declare Your holiness,” it is a statement of humil-
ity. We say that we can only do true Tasbīh because of the
Tahmīd that we have been taught. It is by means of the praise
Qiyam 53
Allah Almighty taught us that we are able to do something

so basic as declaring His holiness.
Also, in some cases, the ‫ َو‬can be interpreted to add
emphasis to the phrase that follows.
or, accord. to Aboo-’Amr Ibn-El-’Alà, the ‫ و‬is cor-

َ َ َ َ
roborative, as in the phrase, ‫و ُه َو لك‬,َ for ‫ه َو لك‬.ُ (Lane’s
________O_________
Lexicon, Root: ‫ حمد‬- Entry: ‫)ح ْم ٌد‬َ
َ َ َ
‫َوت َب َارك ْاس ُمك‬
and blessed is Your name
The names of Allah Almighty are a source of blessings for Attributes

of Allah are
us because they are the only way we have of knowing Him. only way
For example, Allah Almighty is described as An-Nūr [The we can see
Him
Light]. Our eyes cannot see light, they can only see how light
reflects off of objects. We could be floating in outer space
and be surrounded by intense light, but if there were nothing
for it to reflect on, we would be unaware of it. Space seems
dark because of its emptiness, not necessarily because of an
absence of light. When we see an object reflecting light, that
is a sign for us that there is light present. In the world of our
eyesight, we live in a world of reflections. We are surrounded

by light and can never see it; we spend our lives observing
its reflections. Similarly, the reality is that we cannot see the
Being of Allah.
Hadrat Abū Dharrra, narrated, “I asked the Messenger

of Allahsas: “Did you see your Lord?” He said: “(He
is) Light; how could I see Him?” (Sahīh Muslim,
Book 1, Chapter 78)
It is only the reflection of the Light of Allah that we see; we

live in a world of reflections. Each name of Allah is a sign
for a different beauty of the Being of Allah. An Ism is ‘The
name of a thing; a sign conveying knowledge of a thing;’
(Dictionary of the Holy Quran, pp. 413) The names of Allah
are signs that convey knowledge of the Being of Allah. They
are the only way we have of knowing His reality. For exam-
ple, it is through the attribute of The Merciful that we inter-
act with Allah Almighty. That interaction is an object that
His light reflects off of. If it weren’t for that interaction, we
would never know that the Being of Allah was present. The
Being of Allah surrounds us, but we can never see Him. ‘Eyes
cannot reach Him but He reaches the eyes. And He is the
Imperceptible, the All-Aware’ (6:104). The names of Allah
are a source of blessings for us because they are how His
Beauty reaches our eyes.
Qiyam 55
Names
The names of Allah are always reflective of a greater reality of Allah
behind them. However, the names of people are often mean- reflect His
reality
ingless or misleading. There is usually little use in reflecting
on people’s names because they do not provide much insight
into the reality of that person.
The ism [name] of a thing is generally understood

by people as that by which it is recognized. (Tafsīr
Hadrat Masīh Mau‘ud, vol. 1, pp. 47, 1:1)
For example, the name Bakr does not have much significance
in its meaning. If we know someone named Bakr, the word
just reminds us of the person because of word association. It
is not descriptive of who they are. Also, the names we give
to people can be the opposite of who they turn out to be.
Someone could be named Sadiq but we may find him to be a
liar. However, the names given by Allah are never meaning-
less and always give true insight into His Being.
The Promised Messiah as goes on to explain,
In the view of people who are learned, the ism [name]

of a thing is a reflection of its reality. There is no
doubt that the names given by Allah to things signify
their properties. (Tafsīr Hadrat Masīh Mau‘ud,, vol.
1, pp. 47, 1:1)
The names of Allah signify His reality. The more we under-

stand those names, the more we will be able to see His beau-
ties. That is why they are tabarak, which means ‘blessed’ and
‘abundant in good’ (Lane’s Lexicon, Root: ‫برك‬, Entry: ‫)تبارك‬.
Each name of Allah conveys knowledge of a beauty of Allah
َ َ َ
Almighty. When we say ‘blessed is Your name’ (‫)ت َب َارك ْاس ُمك‬,
we say that each name of Allah is an abundant and everlast-
ing good that always continues increasing. We remind our-
selves that the names of Allah are the only way we can know
Him, and the more we understand them, the more of His
beauty we will be able to see.
Invoking Tabaraka also means that ‘one looks for a blessing by means
the name of
Allah of [uttering] his name’ (Lane’s Lexicon, Root: ‫برك‬, Entry:
‫)تبارك‬.
When we pray to Allah Almighty by looking for bless-
ings through the name of Allah that is relevant to that prayer,
then the prayer becomes filled with blessings.
Allah Almighty says in the Holy Quran,
Say, ‘Call upon Allah or call upon Rahman; by which-

ever name you call Him, His are the most beautiful
names.’ (17:110)
In commentary, Hadrat Musleh Mau‘ūdra explained that

every objective has a relevant name of Allah Almighty which
we should pray by means of. When we need something
Qiyam 57
related to the attribute of the grace of Allah Almighty, then

we should pray by means of the attribute of The Gracious
َ
(‫)ا َّلر ۡح ٰم ُن‬. When we are in need of mercy, or provisions, or
bestowal, we should pray by means of that attribute. All
beautiful names belong to Allah, and we should pray using
the name that is according to the situation. (Tafsīr-e-Kabīr,
vol. 4, pp. 401)
When we ask of Allah by means of the name that

is relevant to our purpose, then the prayer is more
blessed.…If someone does not have children, and he
prays, “O Creator, grant me a child,” this is a proper
way to pray. (Tafsīr-e-Kabīr, vol. 9, pp. 269)
This approach to prayer is taught to us right from the begin-

ning of the Holy Quran. Hadrat Musleh Mau‘ūdra explained
that in Sūratul Fātihah, each prayer has a corresponding
attribute. ‘All praise belongs to Allah’ correlates to ‘You
alone do we worship.’ When man comes to know that all
beauties are in Allah Almighty, he spontaneously says that
he worships Him alone. The name ‘Lord of all the worlds’
correlates to the prayer, ‘You alone do we implore for help’.
When man comes to know that Allah Almighty is the cre-
ator and benefactor of everyone and every particle, he says
that he only seeks help from Him. The name ‘The Gracious’
correlates to the prayer ‘guide us on the right path’. When he
sees that Allah Almighty has provided for all of man’s neces-
sities without any effort on his part, then he spontaneously
says that his greatest need is finding Allah, his spiritual neces-
sity, and he begs to be provided with the means to achieve
it. The name ‘The Merciful’ correlates to the prayer ‘The
path of those on whom You have bestowed Your blessings’.
The mercy of Allah does not allow any effort of man to go to
waste, and man prays to be guided along the right path until
he reaches the rewards that previous people have received.
The name ‘Master of the Day of Judgement’ correlates to the
prayer, ‘those who have not incurred displeasure, and those
who have not gone astray.’ When man knows that he will be
accountable for his actions, then the fear of failure arises in
his heart and he prays to be saved from the displeasure of
Allah Almighty. (Tafsīr-e-Kabīr, vol. 1, pp. 47)
One wisdom of this approach is that when we reflect on the

attribute relevant to our prayer, we will think of all of the
ways Allah Almighty has manifested His glory through that
attribute.
When the Holy Prophet sas would visit someone who was
sick, he would pray,
O Allah! The Lord of the people, the Remover of

trouble! (Please) cure (this patient), for You are the
Healer. None brings about healing but You; a healing
Qiyam 59
that will leave behind no ailment. (Sahīh Bukharī,

Book 76, Chapter 38)
When we are praying to be healed and appeal to Allah by

means of His attribute of The Healer, we will also think
of how Allah Almighty has healed countless people before
from far worse illnesses. If there were any doubt in our mind
about Allah’s power to heal us, it would be removed. The
power of Allah to accept our prayer would be present in our
mind with more clarity, and our prayer would be filled with
greater certainty.
If we are praying to be pardoned, then we appeal to Allah
by means of His attribute of The Pardoner.
The Holy Prophet sas taught that if we find Lailatul Qadr
[The Night of Decree], we should pray,
O Allah, You are the Pardoner and You love to par-

don, so pardon me. (Tirmidhī, Book 48, Chapter 84)
This approach fills our prayers with hope that motivates us

to never give up on that prayer until it is accepted. If the
thought arises in our mind that we may be too sinful to be
pardoned and this prayer is pointless, then reminding our-
selves that Allah Almighty is the Pardoner who loves to par-
don will motivate us to keep striving towards the door of
repentance.
َ َ َ
When we say ‘blessed is Your name’ (‫)ت َب َارك ْاس ُمك‬, we are
reminded to seek blessings through the names of Allah for

the acceptance of our prayers.
God being the source of all goodness, even the invok-

ing of His name proves a blessing. Says the Quran
(55:79), “Blessed be the name of thy Lord, the
Owner of Majesty and Honour.” (The Holy Quran
with English Translation and Commentary, vol. 1,
________O_________
pp. 8-9, 1:1)
َ َ َ
‫َوت َعالى َج ُّدك‬
and exalted is Your majesty
Unknown
names of
Hadrat Khalīfatul Masīh IVrta said,
Allah
Wa ta‘ālā jadduka - this is that Being Who is exalted

above every other being. No other being can com-
pare with Him. (Tadrīs Namaz, pp. 2)
َ َ َ
When ‘exalted is Your majesty’ (‫ )ت َعالى َج ُّدك‬is read in juxta-
َ َ َ
position with ‘blessed is Your name’ (‫)ت َب َارك ْاس ُمك‬, then the
emphasis in ‘exalted is Your Majesty’ is on the Being of
Qiyam 61
Allah. In contrast, the emphasis in ‘blessed is Your name’ is

on the attributes of Allah.
The Being of Allah Almighty is far more vast than the
names we know describe to us. We only know a finite num-
ber of the names of Allah according to our finite capacities.
For example, our eyes are capable of seeing only a limited
number of colors in the spectrum of light. What exists out-
side of that spectrum is beyond our capacity, so we do not
need to name those colors. All of the words we have for dif-
ferent colors only describe what exists within the very lim-
ited spectrum of light that we are able to see. Similarly, the
names of Allah that we are taught represent only the limited
knowledge that we are capable of understanding.
The Holy Prophet sas prayed,
I ask of You by every name with which You have

described Yourself, or which You have taught to
any of Your creation, or which You have revealed
in Your book, or which You have chosen to keep
in the knowledge of the unseen with You, (Musnad
Ahmad, narrated by Abdullāh ibn Mas‘ūd, 3704)
There are countless names of Allah that we are unaware of.

The Being of Allah is not confined to the number of names
our species is capable of understanding. The reality of Allah
is infinitely more vast than the finite spectrum of Allah that
we are capable of perceiving. When we say ‘blessed is Your
َ َ َ
name’ (‫)ت َب َارك ْاس ُمك‬, we remind ourselves that the names we
have been taught describe every color and beauty within the
spectrum of our sight. However, when we say ‘exalted is Your
َ َ َ
majesty’ (‫)ت َعالى َج ُّدك‬, we remind ourselves that the Majesty of
the Being of Allah is far more broad than our spectrum of
sight and far loftier than what any name can do true justice
to.
Names
cannot fully
The Being of Allah Almighty is far greater than what any
express name can express. However great a name of Allah may be, it
reality of
Allah is only a sign for a greater reality behind it. The Majesty of
Allah is far above what any name can describe. For example,
ُ
the name ‫( َم ِلك‬king) can apply to a person who is a king, and
this word can encompass in its meaning the full extent of
ُ َْ
his attributes as a king. However, the name ‫(ال َم ِلك‬The King)
has also been revealed as an attribute of Allah Almighty.
ُ
The difference between a person being ‫( َم ِلك‬king) and Allah
ُ َْ َْ
being ‫( ال َم ِلك‬The King) is only in the word al (‫)ال‬. The ‘al’
signifies perfection, but that ‘al’ can never do justice to the
ُ
infinite difference between a man being ‫( َم ِلك‬king) and Allah
ُ َْ
Almighty being ‫( ال َم ِلك‬The King). The word Al-Malik can-
not encompass in its meaning the full extent of His attrib-
ute as The King. In fact, no words can express or encompass
any revelation of Allah. This is why revelation from Allah,
in general, is referred to with the word wahī, which means
‘to convey one’s intention or wish by means of quick signs’
(Dictionary of the Holy Quran, pp. 820).
Qiyam 63
In my opinion, the word “wahī” was chosen for

referring to “revelation from God” because spiritual
realities cannot be fully expressed in words, they can
only be indicated to. Thus, in the word “wahī” is an
indication of how lofty revelation is. (Tafsīr-e-Kabīr,
vol. 3, pp. 14)
While every name of Allah is filled with eternal truths

and blessings, but the reality of Allah behind that name is
infinitely greater. The Majesty of Allah and the greatness of
His being are supremely exalted and far beyond what any
word or name can signify.
Jadd refers to the ‘Greatness, or majesty;’ of God. It also
refers to His ‘freedom from all wants or the like; syn. ghina’
(Lane’s Lexicon, Root: ‫جد‬, Entry: ‫)ج ٌّد‬. َ It refers to a Majesty
that is independent of us. No matter how great the majesty
of an ordinary king is, he is not free of want. It is only the
Majesty of Allah that includes the absence, or non-existence,
of wants. The Majesty of Allah is free of needing anything
from us. His Majesty is independent of our existence.
Ta‘ala means, ‘Exalted, or supremely exalted, is He] in his
essence and his attributes, above the created beings.’ (Lane’s
Lexicon, Root: ‫ علو‬- Entry: ‫)تعالى‬. When we say ‘exalted is
َ َ َ
Your majesty’ (‫)ت َعالى َج ُّدك‬, we should remember that no mat-
ter how much we advance in the knowledge of the attributes
of Allah Almighty, the Majesty of His Being is supremely
________O_________
exalted beyond our comprehension.
َ َ َ َ
‫َوال ِإل َه غ ْي ُرك‬
and there is none worthy of worship except You
Addressing
In Kalimah, we say ‘there is none worthy of worship except
Allah in ‫َآ‬
ُ ‫)ل اِ لٰ َه اِ َّل‬
the second Allah’ (‫هللا‬ and refer to Allah in the third person.
person
However, here we say ‘there is none worthy of worship
َ َ َ َ
except you’ (‫ )ال ِإل َه غ ْي ُرك‬and refer to Him in the second per-
son. In Thana’, we address Allah Almighty five times with
the word ‘you,’ as if He is in front of us. The purpose is to
create the state of ihsan, which is a prerequisite for true Salat.
The Holy Prophetsas was asked about ihsan, hesas said it is,
To worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you can-

not achieve this state of devotion, then you must
consider that He is looking at you. (Sahīh Bukharī,
Book 2, Chapter 37)
Allah Almighty has taught us to address Him directly to

make these words more personal. When our mind says the
Qiyam 65
word ‘you’, our heart will only say it along with us if we are in
a state of ihsan. Each time we say the word ‘you’ in Thana’,
it carries a personal feeling of closeness and of seeing Allah
Almighty.
The purpose of Thana’ is to ensure that we start our
prayer in the state of ihsan. We address Allah Almighty in
the second person tense because Thana’ is an interaction
with God. There is one moment when we realize that Allah
Almighty is not distant, rather He is present in the same
room as we are. There is another moment when we realize
that we are not speaking to ourselves, but we are speaking
directly to Allah Almighty. Allah ceases to be a distant con-
cept; He becomes a living God who is present. By the time
we finish Thanā’, we are in that state of ihsan which is neces-
sary for proper Salāt.
If we cannot achieve the state of seeing Allah, then the
repeated use of the word ‘you’ should at least remind us that
Allah Almighty is looking at us, that He is present. Whether
we can see Him or not, He is still there and we should wor-
ship as if we are aware that He is seeing us. This is also ihsān,
and a Salāt that meets this minimum prerequisite will surely
be fruitful.
Meaning of
The meaning of lā ilāha illa-llāh is, Kalimah
ْ َ َ َ َ َ ‫َل َم ْط ُل ْو َب ِل ْی َو َل َم ْح ُب‬
‫وب ِل ْی َو ل َم ْع ُب ْو َد ِل ْی َو ل ُمط َاع ِل ْی َو ل َمق ُص ْو َد‬
ُ ّٰ ‫ِل ْى اِ َّل‬
‫الل‬
I have no desire, and I have no beloved, and I have

none I worship, and I have none I obey, and I have no
purpose except Allah. (Ruhānī Khazāin, vol. 9, pp.
419 / vol. 15, pp. 618)
When we do not see the beauties of Allah in front of us, we

may struggle to sincerely say that, ‘in this moment, I have no
desire except Allah.’ Although we believe in the Kalimah in
concept, our practical reality may conflict with it. However,
after having observed Thanā’, we have now reached the state
of ihsān and we can see Allah in front of us. Having reflected
on His names, we now see reflections of Him around us.
Having seen His beauty, now hearing the name ‘Allah’ brings
a familiar Being to mind. Now, our heart no longer hesitates
to reaffirm that, ‘there is none I worship and obey except
Allah.’ When we say that, ‘in this moment, I have no desire,
no beloved, and no purpose except for Allah,’ our heart is
also saying these words because we are seeing Allah. When
we say, ‘there is none worthy of worship except you,’ it is now
a statement of the obvious. When we have seen the beauty
of Allah Almighty, the beauty of everything else becomes
meaningless.
The level of clarity we have in Salāt is hard to maintain
afterward, so what do we do when we go back into the world?
Our priorities can again become conflicted, but that is why
we observe Salāt daily. It is through repeated reminders that
Qiyam 67
we develop clarity in our priorities. That clarity gradually

becomes a part of our lives in between prayers.
(Since word by word commentaries of Surah al-Fatihah are

available in the English language, it will not be covered in this
book. The reader is encouraged to study the Promised Messiah’s as
commentary on Surah al-Fatihah, titled Commentary on the
Holy Quran, vol. 1—Surah Fatihah, and Hadrat Musleh
Mau’ud’s ra commentary on Surah al-Fatihah, available in
At-Tafsir-ul-Kabir: The Grand Exegesis. A brief introduction
________O_________
to Surah al-Fatihah is provided below.)
َّ ‫ٱلر ۡح َٰم ِن‬ َ ‫ل َر ِّب ۡٱل َٰع َل ِم‬ َّ ُ ۡ َّ ‫ٱلر ۡح َٰم ِن‬ َّ
‫ٱلر ِح ِيم ۝‬ َّ ‫ين ۝‬ ِ ِ ‫ٱلر ِح ِيم ۝ ٱل َح ۡمد‬ ِ ‫ِب ۡس ِم‬
َّ ‫ٱلل‬
ۡ َ ِّ ‫ين ۝ ۡٱه ِد َنا‬ َ َ َ
ُ ‫ٱلدين ۝ إيَّ اك َن ۡع ُب ُد َوإيَّ اك ن ۡس َت ِع‬ ِّ ۡ َ ‫َٰمل‬
‫ٱلص َٰرط ٱل ُم ۡس َت ِق َيم ۝‬ ِ َ َ ِ ِ ۡ َ ‫ك ي َّو ِم‬ ِ ِ
َ ِّ ٓ َّ َ َ ۡ ۡ َ َ ُ ۡ َ ۡ ۡ ۡ ۡ َ َ ۡ َ َ َ َٰ
‫وب علي ِهم ول ٱلضالين ۝‬ ِ ‫ِصرط ٱل ِذين أنعمت علي ِهم غي ِر ٱلمغض‬
In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.
All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all the worlds,
The Gracious, the Merciful, Master of the Day of
Judgment. Thee alone do we worship and Thee
alone do we implore for help. Guide us in the
right path—The path of those on whom Thou
hast bestowed Thy blessings, those who have not
incurred displeasure, and those who have not gone
astray.
Explaining the qualities of Sūrah al-Fātihah, the Promised

Messiah as said,
It should be clear that if a discourse fully resembles

something from among the things that have pro-
ceeded from God and are the handiwork of His
power of creation—that is to say, it combines in it
the external and internal wonders in the same way
that they exist in something that has been created
by God—it can then be said that such a discourse
possesses the rank that is beyond the human capa-
bilities to produce its like. For, if it is admitted and
approved by all and sundry—without any disagree-
ment or controversy—that something is incompa-
rable and has proceeded from God, then anything
that is proven to fully share its criteria of incom-
parability would also be considered incomparable.
For instance, if one object conforms in all aspects
to another object which measures ten yards, then
it would be established, with absolute certainty and
beyond any doubt, that it also measures ten yards.
Now, out of the things created by Allah, I shall,
for purpose of comparison, select one lovely crea-
tion—namely, the rose—and describe the external
and internal wonders which make it admittedly
of such excellent quality that human capacities fall
utterly short of reproducing its like. I shall then prove
Qiyam 69
that the wonders and excellences of Sūrah al-Fātihah

are in all respects of the same measure—and indeed,
far superior—as the wonders and excellences of the
rose.
The reason for selecting this illustration is that
on one occasion, in a state of vision, my humble self
saw that I was holding in my hand Sūrah al-Fātihah
inscribed on a leaf and it was so beautiful and attrac-
tive that it appeared as if the paper on which Sūrah
al-Fātihah was written was laden with soft red rose
petals to the extent that it was beyond count. As my
humble self recited any verse of this sūrah many of
these roses flew upwards, producing a sweet sound.
The flowers were very delicate, large, beautiful, fresh,
and full of fragrance. As they ascended, my heart and
mind were perfumed with their fragrance and they
created such a state of intoxication that, due to the
attraction of their incomparable pleasure, they cre-
ated a strong aversion from the world and all that is
in it.
This vision indicates that the rose has a spiritual
affinity with Sūrah al-Fātihah. Due to this affinity,
I chose it for the purpose of illustration. Therefore,
it seems pertinent to delineate first, for illustration,
the external and internal wonders found in the rose
and then set out the external and internal wonders of
Sūrah al-Fātihah, so that the honest readers should
know that the external and internal beauties of the

rose, which put reproduction of its like beyond
human reach, are present in Sūrah al-Fātihah in the
same way—indeed, with much greater beauty. And
also [I chose it] so that, through this illustration,
what was signified in the vision is carried out.
Therefore, bear in mind that every sensible per-
son would readily consider it to be a proven fact
beyond any doubt that a rose, like other creations of
God, has such excellent beauties within it, the like of
which man is unable to reproduce. These beauties are
of two types. First, those that are found in its exter-
nal form, namely, its colour is beautiful and lovely,
its fragrance is delightful and pleasing, and in its
visible form, it is characterized by extreme delicacy,
freshness, softness, tenderness, and purity. Second,
there are beauties that the All-Wise God has granted
it internally; namely, the qualities which are hidden
within its essence, and these are that it is refreshing,
strengthens the heart, alleviates the bile, and invig-
orates all faculties and spirits. It is a laxative for yel-
low bile and watery phlegm. Similarly, it strengthens
the stomach, liver, kidneys, intestines, womb, and
lungs. Moreover, it is very beneficial for severe palpi-
tation, fainting, and weakness of the heart. Similarly,
it is beneficial for a variety of other ailments of the
body. On account of these two types of qualities, it is
Qiyam 71
believed that it is at such a level of perfection that it

is utterly impossible for any human being to produce
such a flower by himself which is attractive in colour,
lovely in fragrance, and fresh, soft, delicate, and clear
like the rose in its texture, and, in addition, possesses
internally all of those qualities that are possessed by
the rose.
If it is asked why it is believed about the rose that
human powers are unable to create its match and
why it is impermissible for any man to be able to pro-
duce its like and create, in an artificial flower, all of
the external and internal qualities that are found in
the rose, then the answer to this question is: The pos-
sibility of producing such a flower has been refuted
in practice, and until today no physician or philos-
opher has been able to discover through the use of
any device, any kinds of medicines, which, by their
mixing or compounding, result in producing, exter-
nally and internally, the like of the rose in appearance
and essence.
It must be realized that the same aspects of incom-
parability are not only found in Sūrah al-Fātihah,
but also in every brief passage of the Noble Quran,
even one comprising less than four verses. First,
observe its external form to see the perfect manifes-
tation of elegance of diction, beautiful exposition,
excellent choice of words, perfectly smooth style,
softness and fluidity, glamour, loveliness, and other

qualities that are essential for a good composition—a
manifestation that cannot possibly be exceeded and
which is entirely secure and free from every kind
of crude expression and complicated composition.
Every phrase is the utmost in lucidity and eloquence,
every form of expression is employed at its proper
place, and everything that is necessary to enhance
the beauty and bring out the loveliness of its compo-
sition is found in it. The highest grade of eloquence
and beauty of articulation that can be imagined is
found and seen in perfection and all of the beauty of
expression that is needed to make its meaning clear
and pleasing is available and present therein. With
all of the qualities of clarity of expression and con-
formity with the perfect beauty of diction, it is filled
with the fragrance of truth and rectitude. In it there
is no exaggeration having the slightest adulteration
of falsehood, nor is there any figurative expression
which, like that of the poets, is aided by the filth
of falsehood, vain talk, or idle boasts. Whereas the
composition of poets is laden with the stench of
falsehood, idle boasts, and vain verbiage, this com-
position is full of the delicate fragrance of truth and
rectitude. Furthermore, this fragrance is accompa-
nied by a beauty of exposition, propriety of diction,
figurativeness, and clarity of expression; and, as in the
Qiyam 73
rose, its fragrance is accompanied by the beauty of its

colour and purity. These are its external qualities.
As for internal properties, it—that is, Sūrah
al-Fātihah—has the following qualities. It encom-
passes remedies for grave spiritual ailments and it
contains a vast provision for the perfection of the
faculties for theoretical and practical activities. It sets
straight many serious disorders. It sets forth vistas
of wisdom, deep subtleties, and fine points which
remained hidden from the eyes of sages and philoso-
phers. Its perusal fortifies the power of conviction in
the heart of a spiritual pilgrim, and heals the ailment
of doubts, misgivings, and misguidance. Its blessed
text is replete with countless supreme truths and
very subtle verities which are essential for the perfect
development of the human being. Obviously, these
excellences are such that—like the perfect qualities
of the rose—it is impossible for them to be combined
in the composition of any human being. This impos-
sibility is not mere speculation, but an established
fact, because God Almighty has expounded the
subtleties and splendid points of wisdom in His elo-
quent and lucid Word precisely in the hour of their
true need, displaying perfection in both external and
internal qualities, and, thus achieved perfection with
profound fine details in both external and internal
aspects.
In other words, it first lays down the essential,

lofty divine insights, the traces of which had been
lost and obliterated from earlier teachings, and
no sage or philosopher had so much as hinted at
them. Moreover, these divine insights have not been
expounded in an unnecessary and redundant man-
ner, but have been set forth at a time and in an age
when such remedial measures were direly needed
for the reformation of that time. Had they not been
stated, the ruin and destruction of the age was inevi-
table. Again, these lofty divine insights have not been
stated in a deficient and incomplete manner; rather,
they are situated at the point of perfection, both
quantitatively as well as qualitatively. The intellect of
no wise man can alight upon a religious verity that
has been left out of them, nor is there any doubt of a
follower of falsehood that has not been dispelled in
this Word.
To expound all of these truths and sublime veri-
ties, which nevertheless fully conform with the true
needs, and to do so with such unsurpassable excel-
lence of eloquence and elegance, is indeed a grand
task—evidently beyond the reach of human capacity.
But man is so inept that if he wants to describe even
the insignificant and trivial affairs—that have noth-
ing to do with sublime truths—in an elegant and elo-
quent composition, with strict regard to truthfulness
Qiyam 75
and veracity, it would not be possible for him. This

is very obvious to any wise person. For example, take
the case of a storekeeper who possesses great mastery
of language both in poetry and prose and wishes to
maintain in his converse—which he has to make
with all types of customers and clients—the high-
est standards of eloquence and figurative language,
adapting his conversation with due regard to each
occasion and situation, being brief when brevity is
appropriate, and speaking in detail when argumenta-
tion is required; and if a dispute arises between him
and a customer, adopting a way of speech that directs
the argument towards his own benefit. Take next the
case of a judge whose duty is to write most accurately
the statements of both parties and witnesses and then
to duly analyse and criticize each statement—limit-
ing himself to what is really needed—with reference
to the point at issue, as required for the examination
of the case and appropriate for the investigation
of the matters under dispute. It is expected that he
should raise appropriate questions and duly record
the answers and state the relevant facts. He should, as
needed, cite applicable legal provision in accordance
with the intent of the law. He should systematically
expound the events, where needed, in their proper
sequence and accuracy and then give his verdict
along with supporting arguments with the utmost
precision. With all this, his writings should be at

such a high degree of lucidity and elegance that they
are unsurpassable by any other man. Obviously, such
elegance is not achievable in the above cases.
This is the state of human eloquence; they can-
not even take the first step without all sorts of vain,
unnecessary, and trivial words and cannot even say a
word without restoring to lies and useless talk. Even
when they say something, it is incomplete; if the nose
is present, as it were, the ears are not and if the ears
are there the eyes are gone. Strict adherence to facts
impairs the elegance of expression, and concern for
elegance of expression may result in piles of false-
hood and irrelevance—like an onion, layer after layer
of shell, but nothing inside.
In short, when sane reason clearly dictates the
impossibility of stating even insignificant and unim-
portant matters and simple events in an elegant and
eloquent composition with strict adherence to a valid
need and truthfulness, then how much easier is it to
understand that stating lofty points of wisdom, per-
tinent to [addressing] true needs, couched in exceed-
ingly expressive and eloquent composition, which
no one can even imagine surpassing in elegance and
chasteness, is altogether supernormal and beyond the
range of human capacity?
Just as experience demonstrates that it is outside
Qiyam 77
the realm of possibility to manufacture a flower

similar to the rose externally and internally, so is
this impossible too. For, when authentic experience
stands as a witness in even minor and trivial matters,
and sane nature confirms that if a man wants to have
an essential and straightforward conversation—
whether it relates to some matter of buying and sell-
ing or judicial investigations—with the utmost accu-
racy in an appropriate manner, it becomes impossible
for him to turn his discourse—needlessly and on all
occasions—into an appropriate, balanced, lucid, and
eloquent expression, and much less, to take it to the
highest level of lucidity and eloquence. Then, how
can the discourse of any man combine all these fea-
tures to achieve the lucidity and unsurpassable elo-
quence in a composition that, in addition to truth-
fulness and rectitude, is filled with profound points
of wisdom and lofty truths, descends to meet a true
need, encompasses all divine verities, does not neglect
anything in fulfilling its obligation for the reforma-
tion of the prevailing situation, perfectly completes
the arguments, fully confutes the deniers, keeps in
view all aspects of argumentation and debate, and
includes all essential arguments, proofs, teachings,
and questions and their answers—despite these intri-
cate difficulties which far exceed the former case—in
a manner that is not only incomparably eloquent,
but also expresses the subject in a style that cannot

possibly be more fluent?
These are the properties possessed by Sūrah
al-Fātihah and the Holy Quran, in a manner that has
complete resemblance with the incomparable prop-
erties of the rose. In addition, Sūrah al-Fātihah and
the Holy Quran have a magnificent attribute that is
unique to this Holy Word, which is that studying it
with attention and sincerity purifies the heart, dis-
pels layers of darkness, and expands the mind, and,
drawing a seeker after truth towards the Holy One,
invests him with such light and manifest signs that
are characteristic of those who have attained nearness
to the Holy One, and which cannot be acquired by
man through any other device or plan. I have also
furnished evidence of this spiritual effect in this book
and, if there is a sincere seeker after truth, I can sat-
isfy him in person and I am ever prepared to furnish
fresh and new evidence.
Moreover, it needs to be well remembered that
the incomparable and unparalleled excellence of
the language of the Holy Quran is not confined to
rational arguments alone. Rather, valid experience
spanning over a lengthy period of time also con-
firms and substantiates it. For 1,300 years the Holy
Quran has been presenting its excellences by beat-
ing the drum of ‫‘[ هل من معارض‬Is there a challenger?’]
Qiyam 79
and proclaiming loudly to the whole world that it is

incomparable and unparalleled in its external form
and internal qualities, and that no man, small or great,
has the ability to compete with it or counter it, yet no
one has even dared to take up its challenge. Indeed,
no one has been able to compete with even one
sūrah, for example Sūrah al-Fātihah, in its external
and internal qualities. Look! What could be a more
self-evident and manifest miracle than this: Not only
does intellect prove that this Holy Word transcends
human capabilities, but experience extending over a
lengthy period of time also bears witness to its status
as a miracle?
Should anyone reject this twofold testimony,
proven by intellect and experience extending over a
lengthy period of time, and take pride in his knowl-
edge and skill, or have faith in someone’s writing
ability to produce the like of the Holy Quran, I am
setting out below... some of the verities and subtleties
comprised in Sūrah al-Fātihah by way of illustration,
so that such a one may put forward his own composi-
tion in an attempt to match the external and internal
qualities of Sūrah al-Fātihah. (Tafsīr Hadrat Masīh
Mau’ūd, vol. 1, pp. 7–12, Barāhīn-e-Ahmadiyya—
Part IV, pp. 168–175)
Giving a summary of Sūrah al-Fātihah’s subject matter, the

Promised Messiah as said,
The recitation of Surah Fatihah in Prayer is obliga-

tory and it is this prayer that clearly shows that true
prayer is made only in the course of the Prayer service
(Salat). Allah has taught this in this manner:
Before supplicating the Almighty one should
praise and glorify Him, so that one’s spirit may be
uplifted with love and adoration. The Fatihah, there-
fore, begins with: All worthiness of praise belongs to
Allah, the Creator and Sustainer of all, Who bestows
out of His pure grace, even before any action or prayer
proceeds from His creatures, and then rewards right-
eous action in this world and in the hereafter also. He
is the Master of Judgment. Every requital rests in His
hands. Good and evil are in His power. One becomes
a full and perfect believer in His Unity only when
one accepts Allah, the Most High, as the Master of
Judgment. Beware it is a sin to regard human author-
ities as all-powerful in their respective spheres of con-
trol or authority. This amounts to associating them
with Allah. As God has invested them with author-
ity, they should be obeyed. But do not set them up
as gods. Render unto man his due and render unto
God His due. The next stage is of supplication. Thee
alone do we worship and Thee alone do we implore
Qiyam 81
for help. Guide us along the right path - the path of

those whom Thou hast favoured. That is the party
of the Prophets, the Faithful Ones, the Martyrs and
the Righteous. In this prayer the grace and bounty
bestowed on all these groups is pleaded for. The sup-
plication proceeds: Save us from the way of those
who incurred Thy wrath and who went astray. (Tafsīr
Hadrat Masīh Mau’ūd, vol. 1, pp. 22, Commentary
on the Holy Quran, Vol.I—Surah Fatihah, pp. 22)
Giving a summary of Sūrah al-Fātihah’s subject matter,

Hadrat Musleh Mau’ūd ra said,
The topics mentioned in Sūrah al-Fātihah, as is

apparent from its name, serve as an introduction to
the Holy Qur’an. The subjects of the Holy Qur’an
have been covered in a concise manner within this
chapter. From the very outset of the Qur’an, the
reader is able to understand the summary of its top-
ics that are to be covered in the subsequent chapters.
The Holy Qur’an begins with bismillāh [in the name
of Allah], which clearly shows that a Muslim:
1. Possesses firm faith in God Almighty as the

words used are bismillāh
2. Possesses firm faith that God Almighty is
not only the First Cause of the universe, as is
believed by some philosophers, but He is also

the One through Whose command and orders
the universe continues to function. It is for this
reason that His help and succour is of immense
benefit to man. This is also inferred by the words
bismillāh.
3. Believes that God is not merely a subconscious
being; rather, He is eternal and has the everlast-
ing name Allah. He possesses various attributes
such as the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful.
4. Believes that Allah is the source of all progress,
and He controls all means through which the
world can make progress as manifested by the
attribute of the Most Gracious.
5. Believes that Allah has created man to attain
the highest stages of progress. When man cor-
rectly uses the means that Allah has created, his
efforts bring about the best results, which in turn
make him deserving of ever more divine boun-
ties. This is evident from the attribute of the
Ever-Merciful.
6. Believes that there is comprehensiveness and
perfection in all the works of Allah, and that He
possesses all forms of beauty. He also believes
that God alone is deserving of all praise as all
that exists besides Him is created by Him. This is
Qiyam 83
expressed through the words, ‘All praise belongs

to Allah alone, Lord of all the worlds’.
7. Believes that, besides Allah, everything which
has been created has continuously evolved. All
creation began from an inferior being and devel-
oped gradually to reach perfection. Thus, Allah
the Almighty is the Creator of all things, and
except Him, nothing else is self-existing. This
alludes in the words, ‘Lord of all the worlds’.
8. Believes that the world, which is diverse, has
thousands of species of varying dispositions.
Hence, to understand the individual species, one
must investigate that species alone as opposed
to comparing different species to one another.
Allah the Almighty deals with every species
according to their nature. Therefore, we should
not be misled if we find any difference in the
dealing of Allah between His creations, as such
difference is due to the diversity between species
and not due to injustice and lack of attention on
God’s part. This notion can be understood from
the words, ‘Lord of all the worlds’.
9. Believes that as Allah the Almighty is the Creator
of all means, He is also the creator of those that
utilise these means. Thus, all things at all times,
stand in need of His Help. This alludes to the
attribute of ‘The Most Gracious’.
10. Believes that just as God Almighty is the Creator

of all means, and is also the creator of all those
that utilise these means, similarly, He also gov-
erns the outcome of those means that have been
utilised. For example, He has created man and
also created the sustenance that is necessary
for his survival. Furthermore, the healthy and
unhealthy blood which is produced in man’s
body as a result of the sustenance is also owing to
His divine command. This is expressed through
God’s attribute of ‘The Ever Merciful’.
11. Moreover, God Almighty has also established
the system of reward and punishment. A day
comes when everything, in accordance with its
circumstances, witnesses the full consequences
of its good or evil actions. In other words, the
consequences of actions are of two types: firstly,
those intermediary consequences which fol-
low all actions to some extent, and secondly,
the final consequence which is the cumulative
effect of them all. Hence, Allah the Almighty
has not only ordained that every action should
have a reaction, which God’s attribute ‘The Ever
Merciful’ indicates, but He has also ordained
that all actions lead to a cumulative consequence.
This is why He is called ‘The Master of the Day
of Judgement’.
Qiyam 85
12. Hence, only such a Being is worthy to be wor-

shipped and deserving of one’s love. This is
expressed in the words ‘Thee alone do we wor-
ship and Thee alone do we implore for help’.
13. Further, it is mentioned that human progress
depends upon two factors: actions of the body
and actions of the heart (the latter signifying
contemplation, thought, belief and intention
etcetera). It is necessary to reform both the
actions of the body and the heart. However,
this reformation cannot come to be without the
guidance of Allah. Hence the words used are,
‘Thee alone do we worship and Thee alone do
we implore for help’.
14. Then, it is said that God Almighty Himself
desires that He should meet with His servants
and reform them. The only condition is that the
servant should incline towards Him, and beg to
have communion with Him. This is alluded to in
the words, ‘Guide us on the right path’.
15. Furthermore, it is said that there are many
apparent paths which lead to God. However,
it is not sufficient to merely have knowledge of
this path. Rather, it is also necessary that firstly,
the path ought to be the shortest, so that man
should not perish during his struggle to find
‘the right way’ [i.e., God]. Secondly, this path
should be well-known that the past servants that

had tread upon this could testify that they had
encountered God. As a result of this, the servant
may be apprised of the dangers that lay ahead on
their journey and be acquainted with the reme-
dies to these hurdles. In this manner, the heart
will remain content and will not lose hope, ben-
efiting from the company of these virtuous serv-
ants. Thus, such a path ought to be sought from
Allah Almighty in the following words, ‘The
path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy
blessings’.
16. When man progresses in any field, his heart can
be tainted with arrogance and egotism, resulting
in his downfall. Hence, one ought to safeguard
themselves against these evils. One’s progress
should not lead them to oppression and disor-
der, rather, it should be a means of establishing
peace and serving humanity. One should also
continuously supplicate to Allah the Almighty
for safeguarding against the evil of arrogance.
This is alluded to in the words, ‘Those who have
not incurred Thy displeasure’.
17. Just as man can use his position of higher author-
ity to commit injustices, so can he, on account of
sympathy and excessive love, unjustly attribute
greater status to inferior beings. This should not
Qiyam 87
just be avoided, instead one should supplicate to

Allah Almighty to achieve the exalted status of
those who He has rewarded. This is to be found
in the words, ‘Those who have not gone astray’.
(Tafsīr-e-Kabīr, vol. 1, pp. 9-10, English from
At-Tafsīr-ul-Kabīr: The Grand Exegesis)
At the end of Sūrah al-Fātihah, the worship-

pers say Amin which means ‘O Allah! Accept our
Supplications.’ ...Thereafter, the Imam recites a por-
tion of the Holy Quran.…The Imam may choose
any portion of the Quran to recite after the Sūrah
al-Fātihah. When the Imam is reciting a portion of
the Holy Quran, the worshippers are required to lis-
ten to it silently. (Salāt-The Muslim Prayer Book, pp.
37,40)
Ruku’
Then Ruku‘ is also respect, which is greater than the

standing posture. (Malfuzāt (10 vol edition), vol. 9,
pp. 110)
The bowing down of the spirit before God means that,

by renouncing all other love and relationships, it has
turned to God and belongs to Him alone. (Lecture
Sialkot, pp. 33)
It is a matter of principle that when someone accepts

the greatness of another, they bow in their presence.
A person must bow in the face of greatness. Hence,
with the tongue a person states: “Holy is my Lord
the most Great” and through their outwardly state,
they demonstrate this by bowing. This statement
is expressed visually through the bowing position.
(Malfuzāt (English), vol. 2, pp. 148)
The bowing position, which is the second posture in

Prayer, demonstrates that one submits themselves
by lowering their head in preparation to fulfil any
command that may be given to them, as it were.
At the end of the recitation, the Imam goes from the

Standing position to the Bowing position, Rukū‘, by
calling out Allāhu Akbar.…In this posture, the right
hand of the worshipper should press the right knee
and the left hand the left knee, and the upper half
of the body from the waist to the head is kept level
and horizontal to the ground. In the Bowing posture
the following Tasbīh is recited silently three times
or more in odd numbers: (Salāt-The Muslim Prayer
Book, pp. 41)
ْ َ
‫ُس ْب َحان َر ِّب َى ال َع ِظ ْي ِم‬
Holy is My Lord, the Most Great
َ
‫ُس ْب َحان َر ِّب َى‬
Holy is my Lord
Gradual
spiritual
progress
The word Rabb means “Lord” with a primary
Ruku’ 91
signification on “bringing a thing to a state of com-

pletion by degrees.” (Dictionary of the Holy Quran,
pp. 306)
The meaning of Rabb is especially relevant because many

failures related to Salāt are because of our own impatience
and going to extremes. Satan puts it in our mind that either
we advance quickly or it’s not worth it at all. Misguided
spiritual ambition is the cause of many failures. The anti-
dote to falling in these extremes is an appreciation of Allah
as Rabb. Allah causes us to progress gradually, and satan
does the opposite. We should examine our hearts to see if
our ambition for spiritual progress is according to the way of
Allah or according to the way of satan.
Hadrat Musleh Mau‘ūdra explained a difference between
how angels inspire us to do something good and how satan
inspires us to do something good.
When an angel inspires us, there is an order in it and

it advances stage by stage. For example, a mother first
carries her child, then holds his hand and helps him
walk, and then the child slowly learns to walk.…Or,
an example of the difference between an angelic and
satanic motivation is like a teacher who wishes well
for his student. First, he teaches him the basics, and
slowly he has the student advance. However, if the
teacher is the student’s enemy, then he will initially
teach such a difficult lesson that the student will tire

and won’t come back. An angelic motivation will be
progressive, stage by stage. It will not suddenly over-
burden him, and he will not be hurried in anything.
But when we find ourselves suddenly overburdened
and are motivated to hurry, we should understand
that this motivation is not angelic; rather, it is a
satanic motivation. For example, satan will motivate
us to become a saint today and to observe prayer all
day and to fast all year. However, if one acts on this
motivation, then the result will be that he will tire
and become frustrated and will completely leave
prayer and fasting. (Anwārul ‘Ulum, vol. 5, pp. 549,
Malāikatullāh)
The first obstacle that we face when improving our Salāt is

ignoring common sense. When we want to achieve anything
in the world, we use our common sense and understand that
we progress gradually. Many of us lose this common sense
when we approach spirituality. We start observing Salāt
with childish expectations of seeing immediate results after
a week. As a result, we fail to gather the resolve needed to see
this journey through the years of effort it will take. Then we
fall prey to impatience and become frustrated. Allah’s lord-
ship (‫ ُ)ر ُب ِوب َّية‬means that no one can become a saint without a
long stage by stage process.
Ruku’ 93
It is a pity, however, that many of those who pay

heed and wish to gain the nearness of God Almighty
seek immediate results. They know not the degree
of patience and ambition that is required in mat-
ters of religion. It is surprising that they wait years
on end for the acquisition of worldly objectives, for
which they strive day in and day out, and for which
they exert their best efforts. A farmer plants a seed
and waits for quite some time, yet when it comes to
matters of faith, they would like to be transformed
into saints in a heartbeat. On the very first day, they
expect to reach the throne of Allah, without under-
going any toil and hardship on this path, and with-
out being subjected to trial. Remember well, this is
not the law and practice of God Almighty. Even in
religious matters, every form of progress is gradual
(Ruhānī Khazāin, vol. 20, pp. 484, Advent of the
Promised Messiah, pp. 38-39).
The only result that can come of this impatience is despair.

Many of us fall into despair in improving our Salāt, and there
are two causes of it.
One is that when we set such unreasonable expectations
for what we expect to achieve, we will feel disappointed
when we fail to achieve it. Although our dream of com-
pletely changing ourselves within a week is a delusion, it feels
very real. If it feels real to us, then when we fail to achieve
that dream, the feeling of disappointment will also be very

real and crushing. For example, many people go into mar-
riage with unrealistically high expectations. Their infatu-
ation makes them blind to each other’s reality. When that
infatuation wears off, then their disappointment with each
other often ends up causing the deterioration of the rela-
tionship. Whether our expectation was a delusion or not
is irrelevant. When we set ourselves up in a delusion, then
we suffer the consequences of everything in our reality. The
more unreasonable our expectations about Salāt, the more
of a disappointment we set ourselves up for. That feeling
of disappointment can be so devastating that some people
never recover and spend the rest of their lives in despair of
trying to find Allah. Being mature in setting our expecta-
tions is critical. It may be surprising that satan uses Salāt to
misguide believers, but this is exactly what the Holy Quran
has described. It quotes satan as saying to Allah Almighty,
I will assuredly lie in wait for them on Your straight

path. (7:17)
The second cause of despair is that when we overextend our-

selves, we get tired of Salāt itself. For example, if someone
never exercises and then starts going to the gym every day
for two hours, everybody at the gym can see that he’s going
to begin to hate exercising, and then he’ll never be seen from
again. It is obvious to our common sense that this approach
Ruku’ 95
will end in failure, but sometimes we don’t use this common

sense in spirituality. We have to build a liking for physical
exercise gradually, and the same process is needed for the
spiritual exercise of Salāt. If we ignore this process, we won’t
just fail at Salāt, we may start hating it as well. It is Allah’s
lordship (‫ ُ)ر ُب ِوب َّية‬that brings things to a state of completion
by degrees. It is satan who acts opposite to lordship and
convinces us that we can change overnight.
Satan will motivate someone to think that he has to

find God today. Then, he will create despair in that
person’s heart when he fails. Many people observe
Salāt for a week and then say that they didn’t find
God. Many people observe Salāt for a few days and
desire that the Holy Prophetsas meet with them,
however, these are all satanic whispers. When man
becomes worthy of seeing God Almighty and the
Holy Prophetsas, then he can see them, otherwise,
how can he? This type of hastiness is from satan. Its
result is that when he fails to achieve what he desired,
he despairs and then leaves everything. (Anwārul
‘Ulum, vol. 5, pp. 550, Malāikatullāh)
So many failures in Salāt are because of falling into extremes.

The importance of managing our motivation cannot be
understated. Fluctuating from being overly motivated to

having no motivation is a recipe for disaster.
The bare minimum we can all start with is the obligatory
five daily Salāt. Some people say that five daily prayers is too
many to start with and that one prayer is an easier starting
point.
However, the Promised Messiah as said,
Some prayers take less than fifteen minutes to offer. It

is surprising that time in prayer is considered a waste
of time when it has so many benefits. (Malfuzāt (10
vol edition), vol. 2, pp. 153)
If we cannot even make the resolve to observe the five daily

prayers, then our own actions demonstrate that seeking
communion with Allah is not a priority for us. The disci-
pline and effort with which we pursue our worldly ambitions
stand as a testimony against us. Even if at first we have no
concentration in any Salāt, it is necessary to maintain this
minimum discipline of five prayers. For example, if we fall ill
and lose our appetite, we will keep taking medicine regularly
until we are restored to health. We don’t care how bitter that
medicine is; we won’t stop taking it until we have regained
our health and appetite.
As he derives pleasure from delicious food, he will

Ruku’ 97
begin to derive pleasure from his weeping and crying

in Salāt. Before he experiences that condition in his
Salāt, he must persist in Salāt as he swallows bitter
medicine to restore his health. In the same way, he
must persist in Salāt and in making his supplications
while he derives no pleasure from them. In such a
condition, seeking pleasure and delight in Salāt, he
should supplicate: “Allah! You know how blind and
sightless I am, and at the moment, I am like the dead.
I know that in a little while, I will be called and will
present myself before You and no one will be able to
stop me. But my heart is blind and unenlightened.
Do cause to descend upon it such a flame of light that
thereby it may be inspired with Your love and devo-
tion to You! Do bestow upon me such grace that I
will not be raised up sightless nor join the blind!”
When he supplicates in this manner and persists in
the supplication, he will see that a time will come
when something will descend upon him while he is
engaged in this type of prayer that will melt his heart.
(Malfuzāt (10 vol edition), vol. 4, pp. 321-322)
If we have no concentration in Salāt, then our Salāt becomes

a bitter medicine. Although it is bitter, it is a medicine that
has to be taken regularly. We cannot deviate from the min-
imum prescription of five daily prayers and still expect to
regain our health and appetite. We should resist the black
and white thinking that if our Salāt is not perfect, it is not

worth observing at all.
Observe moderation (in doing deeds), and if you fail

to observe it perfectly, try to do as much as you can
do and be happy for none would be able to get into
Paradise because of his deeds alone. (Sahīh Muslim,
We should analyze whether our motivation for Salāt comes

from the lordship (‫ ُ)ر ُب ِوب َّية‬of Allah Almighty or if it goes
against it. If we find ourselves overly motivated, we should
ask ourselves if we will be able to sustain this level of disci-
pline when our motivation goes down. We should remind
ourselves that no matter how much Salāt we observe in a
day, the lordship of Allah Almighty will only give us gradual
progress. If I do a thousand push-ups today, I’m not going
to become stronger, I’ll probably only hurt myself. Similarly,
if we do a thousand Nawāfil in one day, we will not make
a thousand times more spiritual progress; instead, we will
probably end up falling back. On the other hand, if we find
ourselves with no motivation, we should remind ourselves
that Allah Almighty is still just as present to accept our
prayers now as he was when we were feeling motivated. The
blessings of the lordship (‫ ُ)ر ُب ِوب َّية‬of Allah Almighty are there
Ruku’ 99
now more than ever for those who continue to strive when
they are faced with a trial.
The acts most pleasing to Allah are those which are

done continuously, even if they are small. (Sahīh
Muslim, Book 6, Chapter 30)
It is a sign of spiritual immaturity to get carried away by

extremes in pursuit of short term goals. It is a sign of spiritual
maturity to be able to manage our motivation according to
our long term goals.
Leaning on
The word Rabb means a lord, master or chief, ruler, fos- Allah
terer, and nourisher. (Dictionary of the Holy Quran, pp. 306)
Hadrat Khalīfatul Masīh IVrta explained that when we say
‘my Lord’ (‫)ر ِّبى‬,
َ everyone else disappears who we may have
believed to be our master, ruler, or nourisher. We remind
ourselves that our Lord is only Allah. (Tadrīs Namāz, pp.
34-35)
It takes a leap of faith to say that we will not rely on anyone
else as our nourisher, fosterer, and ruler. Some people would
worry about what they will do when they are desperate.
When worldly support is taken away from a person,

naturally he will need some other support because
man is extremely weak. If a person is weak and ill,

he needs crutches or a chair. At times of weakness
or illness, man needs support. In the spiritual world,
man is extremely weak, and thousands of hidden
obstacles arise that prevent his progress. That is why
in that world, he needs some support or another.
A worldly person saves himself by lying, cheating,
and fraud. However, Allah Almighty tells believers
never to lie, cheat, or resort to fraud. Now, when the
Sharī‘ah has taken all support away from a weak per-
son, what should he do?…Allah Almighty has replied
َۡ
in the words “bow down” (‫)ارک ُع ۡوا‬, meaning you should
lean on Us and find support in Us. This is similar
to someone taking away an older person’s cane but
giving him his shoulder to lean on. Similarly, when
Allah Almighty has forbidden us from using illegit-
imate supports, and since we need one support or
another, He tells us to lean on Him and take support
َۡ
in Him. Thus, the words “bow down” (‫)ار ک ُع ۡوا‬ speak
of trust in Allah. (Tafsīr-e-Kabīr, vol. 6, pp. 101-102)
When we go into the posture of Rukū‘ in Salāt, it is after

having seen through the glorification in Qiyām that there is
none worthy of worship except Allah. The Rukū‘ is a symbol
of breaking away from every reliance on worldly supports and
leaning on Allah alone. It is a symbol of Tauhīd and Tawakkul
َ َ
(trust). The words ‘ ِ‫ َ’رك َع اِ لى هللا‬mean, ‘he completely turned
Ruku’ 101
towards God and worshipped Him alone.’ (Dictionary of the

Holy Quran, pp. 341) When we take the posture of Rukū‘
and say that Allah is ‘My Lord’ (‫)ر ِّبى‬,
َ we remove every other
crutch or support we could lean on and take only Allah as
our Lord. With both our words and action, we take Allah as
our support. Once we are in Rukū‘, the glorification of Allah
becomes a reassurance that the Lord we have taken for sup-
port will never let us fall and is free of all imperfections.
Affinity
Hadrat Khalīfatul Masīh IVrta explained that when we refer with Allah
to Allah as ‘my’ Lord, then it means that we should have a
personal affinity with Allah; the attributes of Allah should
be found in us. When we say ‘Holy is my Lord the Most
Great/Lofty,’ we should ask ourselves if we are also trying
to become holy, and great, and lofty. If not, then we cannot
truly call Allah ‘my’ Lord because the word ‘my’ implies per-
sonal affinity. (Dhauqe ‘Ibādat, pp. 494, 498) (Tadrīs Namāz,
pp. 35)
When we say that Allah is holy and He is ‘my’ Lord, if
we are not holy ourselves, then we would be disgracing the
name of God by attributing ourselves to Him. To claim that
Allah is ‘my’ Lord is a great responsibility. For example, most
people would feel some shame in being caught lying. But
if someone knew us personally as an Ahmadi Muslim and
they had great respect for Ahmadi Muslims as honest peo-
ple, then we would feel a greater aversion to lying because
it could disgrace the Jamā‘at. Rather than being a sign that
brings people to Allah, our example could make people turn

away from Allah. If someone graduates from Harvard, he
feels responsible for being successful and living up to the
name of the institution he attributes himself to. If he suc-
ceeds in school only to end up failing in life, then every
mention of Harvard would make him feel ashamed rather
than proud. His academic accomplishments could be used
to mock him, and Harvard, rather than to praise him. When
we say that Allah is ‘my’ Lord, we attribute ourselves to Him.
A servant of Allah is an ambassador of Allah; it carries great
responsibility. If we then cheat someone out of their money,
he would not just mock us, in his anger, he could also mock
the God we claim to attribute ourselves to. Whenever we see
a weakness in ourselves, we should worry as to how it reflects
on Allah.
Expressing this sentiment, Hadrat Khalīfatul Masīh Ira
quoted a prayer found in poetry.
I fear that an enemy, seeing my needy and desperate

condition, may mock You, saying, “This is a servant
of the God who they claim is Benevolent!” (Hayāt-e-
Nur, pp. 37)
The words ‘Holy is my Lord’ also carry hope. While we are

burdened with the responsibility of creating within us the
attributes of Allah, we also seek help from the Lord who cre-
َ
ated us from nothing. By saying ‘holy is my Lord’ (‫)س ْب َحان َر ِّبى‬,
ُ
Ruku’ 103
we say that only He can remove our imperfections, only He

can make us worthy of being His servant.
When we say “my Lord,” it becomes a hope, not just

a responsibility. It is a prayer to a Being who helps
َ
us. Holy is my Lord (‫)س ْب َحان َر ِّبى‬,
ُ my Lord is free of
every imperfection, and thankfully He is my Lord,
and He is the one Who reforms me. (Tadrīs Namāz,
pp. 35-36)
With the words “my Lord” (‫)ر ِّبى‬, َ we address Allah Almighty From “our
Lord” to
in a uniquely personal way that we have not yet used in “my Lord”
Salāt. Hadrat Khalīfatul Masīh IVrta explained that when

we addressed Allah Almighty as “Lord of all the worlds” (‫َر ِّب‬
َ ۡ
‫ )ال ٰعل ِم ۡی َن‬in Sūratul Fātihah, we referred to Him in the third
person. We have not yet expressed a personal connection
with Him because so far, He is the Lord of not just “me”
but of all creation. In the words “you alone do we worship
and you alone do we implore for help,” we address Allah
Almighty in the second person, and a personal connection is
expressed. However, since we speak in the plural and say “we
worship,” the expression is collective and not as personal as
“me.” In the words of Thanā’ when we said “holy are you O
Allah,” we addressed Allah Almighty in the second person
as well, but we have not yet referred to Him as “my” Allah.
We are not worthy of calling Allah as “my” Allah so long as
we have praised Him with words alone. When we go into

the posture of Rukū‘, we put our praise of Allah into action
and we offer a symbol of obedience. When we act on our
words, only then we become worthy of referring to Allah
as “my” Lord. When we bow down and obey Allah, then
Allah becomes “my” Lord. (Dhauqe ‘Ibādat, pp. 493) (Tadrīs
Namāz, pp. 32)
Also, Hadrat Khalīfatul Masīh IVrta explained that we
only earn the right to refer to Allah as ‘my Lord’ after we
have accepted Allah as Lord of all the worlds. In Sūratul
Fātihah, we seek to become a representative of the Lord of
all the worlds by seeking mercy for the entire world. When
we say, ‘You alone do we worship and You alone do we
implore for help,’ we seek mercy with the word ‘we’ for the
whole world, or for everyone under our care. As a reward for
seeking mercy for everyone collectively, we are rewarded by
Allah Almighty manifesting Himself to us personally. Allah
Almighty can only become ‘my’ Lord after we have accepted
________O_________
Him as ‘our’ Lord. (Dhauqe ‘Ibādat, pp. 90-91)
Ruku’ 105
ْ
‫ال َع ِظ ْي ِم‬
The Most Great
Lane quotes, ‘‫ َع ِظ ٌيم‬signifies esteemed great…by another or Difference

َ between
others; differing from ‫ك ِب ٌير‬, which signifies “great…in itself:” Kabīr and
…or the former is the contr. of ‫;ح ِق ٌير‬ َ [i. e. it signifies of great ‘Azīm
َ so ‫َع ِظ ٌيم‬
account or estimation;] and as ‫ َح ِق ٌير‬is inferior to ‫ص ِغ ٌير‬,
َ َ
is superior to ‫( ’;ك ِب ٌير‬Lane’s Lexicon, Root: ‫عظم‬, Entry: ‫)ع ِظ ٌيم‬.
When compared with one another, the word Kabīr
describes the greatness of a thing objectively, whereas ‘Azīm
describes the greatness of a thing subjectively. This can more
easily be understood by knowing the antonym of each word.
The antonym of Kabīr is the word Saghīr [small], whereas
the antonym of ‘Azīm is the word Haqīr [despicable, worth-
less]. For example, if we say a Tafsīr [book of commentary]
is Kabīr, it means it is large in its size; this is a simple obser-
vation. If we say a Tafsīr is Saghīr [small], it means that it is
small in its size. We are not necessarily criticizing it; we are
just making an observation. If we say that a Tafsīr [commen-
tary] is ‘Azīm, now we are speaking from our experience and
we are praising its grandeur, we are saying that it is esteemed
as great. If we were to say that a Tafsīr is Haqīr, we would have
to be criticizing it. The word Haqīr is more sharp in its crit-
icism, whereas the word Saghīr is far more broad. Similarly,
the word ‘Azīm is more specific in its describing the manifes-
tation of greatness, whereas the word Kabīr is more broad.
ْ َ ُ َّ َ
When we say ‘Allah is the greatest’ (‫لل ا ك َب ُر‬ ‫)ا‬, we describe
how great Allah Almighty is in and of Himself, whether we
see that greatness or not. We speak in more of a matter of
fact way, saying that He is greater than everything in every
way. When we say that Allah Almighty is ‘My Lord, the Most
ْ
Great’ (‫)ر ِّب َى ال َع ِظ ْي ِم‬,
َ we speak more based on our experience of
the magnitude of that greatness. We describe how enormous
the manifestation His grandeur is.
When we compare Al-‘Azīm to the rest of the attributes
of Allah Almighty, a unique quality of this attribute appears.
Whenever we experience the manifestation of any attrib-
ute, we see its ‘Azmat [greatness]. The attribute of Al-‘Azīm
expresses our living experience with every name of Allah
Almighty.
Hadrat Khalīfatul Masīh IVrta explained that the attrib-
ute of Al-‘Azīm is unique in that it is the only attribute that
can be applied to all other attributes. We would generally
not say that Allah Almighty is the Gracious Avenger or the
Forgiving Avenger. But we can say that Allah is the ‘Azīm
Ghafūr [the Great Forgiver], or the ‘Azīm Muntaqim [the
Great Avenger], or the ‘Azīm Zāhir [the Great Manifest], or
the ‘Azīm Awwal [the Great First]. This cannot be done in
the same way with any other attribute. The word of ‘Azīm
manifests each attribute of Allah in a new glory. For example,
if a person is seeking the forgiveness of Allah Almighty for
His sins, then when he says ‘my Lord, the Most Great’ (‫َر ِّب َى‬
ْ
‫)ال َع ِظ ْي ِم‬, he can be reminded of the grandeur of the forgiveness
Ruku’ 107
of his Lord. We can link every attribute to ‘Azīm. (Khutbāt-

e-Tāhir, vol. 4, pp. 996-7, 20 Dec 1985)
Greatness is
Hadrat Khalīfatul Masīh IVrta said, felt from up
close
‘Azīm [great] has an awe and a manifestation in it.

Its manifestation of awe is seen from up close. When
you consider something as great (‘Azīm), one way to
know that it is great (‘Azīm) is by observing it from a
distance. Your ears hear of it, or your eyes see it from
a distance. However, its ‘Azmat cannot be felt with-
out coming close to it. Until you reach the foot of
a mountain, you cannot understand what it means
for a mountain to be great (‘Azīm). We heard about
the ‘Azmat of the Himalayan mountains, but when
we traveled, reached the foot of the mountain, and
saw the mountain tops from up close, we understood
what the ‘Azmat of a mountain is. (Dhauqe ‘Ibādat,
pp. 491)
The ‘Azmat of every attribute of Allah can be felt from up

close. For example, when we say that Allah is Master of the
Day of Judgement in Sūratul Fātihah, we think about the
concept of the day of judgment. We observe it comfortably
from a distance. We generally think about how deeds will be
weighed and how Allah will decide everyone’s fate. Thinking
about the day of judgment as a concept does not create awe
in our hearts; it merely fascinates the mind. However, when

we now picture ourselves standing before Allah Almighty
with all of our deeds in front of us, when we picture that
moment when there will be no turning back and nobody can
save us, now we see the Master of the Day of Judgement from
up close. Now the ‘Azmat of this attribute creates an awe
in our heart. There is a difference between understanding
Allah’s attributes as a concept and feeling their presence as a
reality. We ease into the remembrance of Allah by starting in
a world of concepts, of thinking about the day of judgment
as a concept. But then when our eyes refocus in Salāt and we
come back to the here and now, we realize we are standing
right in front of the Master of the Day of Judgement, similar
to how we will be standing in front of Him on the day of
judgment. This realization causes a sudden shift from see-
ing with our minds to seeing with our hearts. Reflecting on
Allah Almighty changes from creating a fascination in our
mind to now bringing an awe to our hearts. When we feel
the presence of Allah up close, that moment is the manifes-
tation of the ‘Azmat of Allah Almighty upon us.
When someone’s ‘Azmat is manifested by his nearness

and is felt, only then can changes happen in people as
a result. Thus, after understanding the meaning of
ْ َ
“holy is my Lord, the Most Great” (‫)س ْب َحان َر ِّب َى ال َع ِظ ْي ِم‬,
ُ
we understand the manifestation of the ‘Azmat of
Ruku’ 109
God that we saw in Sūratul Fātihah. We have come

very close to Him, so close that we have bowed down
to Him and have accepted obedience of Him. A dis-
tant God is not enough to inspire obedience. True
obedience of God can only happen when His ‘Azmat
is felt, and ‘Azmat requires nearness. Thus, Rukū‘ has
completed this subject. Rukū‘ is a state of obedience.
(Dhauqe ‘Ibādat aur Aadab-e-Dua, pp. 491-492)
Greatness
Our purpose in reflecting on Allah in our minds is to feel inspires
the awe of His presence in our hearts. The mind is not our action
destination; it is a necessary step in our journey towards our

heart. ‘Believers are only those whose hearts are smitten with
awe when Allah’s name is mentioned’ (8:3). The remem-
brance of Allah achieves its purpose if it reaches our hearts.
When it reaches our hearts, then it moves us to action.
The Holy Prophetsas said, ‘Remembrance of Allah has a
great reward.’ A Companion asked, ‘O Prophet of Allah, is it
higher in reward than striving in the cause of Allah?’ He said,
‘Yes, because it is the remembrance of Allah which encour-
ages you to undertake the striving.’ (Remembrance of Allah,
pp. 5)
True remembrance of Allah moves us to act. Moving to
the posture of Rukū‘ is a symbol of our heart moving us to
action. The awe of Allah Almighty makes us want to sponta-
neously go into the posture of Rukū‘. The purpose of Qiyām
is to create the desire for Rukū‘. If by the end of Qiyām, the
glorification of Allah has made us restless to go into Rukū‘,

then we have observed Qiyām correctly. If our dhikr [remem-
brance of Allah] remained confined only to our mind, then
it cannot move us to action or purify our lives. The Rukū‘ we
do would only be done out of habit; it would not be a result
of the remembrance of Allah.
As a result of seeing the ‘Azmat of God up close that

Sūratul Fātihah described to us, our soul sponta-
neously goes into Rukū‘. The Rukū‘ of the body is
subservient to the Rukū‘ of the soul. Our body does
Rukū‘ after the soul, not before it. Thus, when you
understand the subjects in Qiyām and recite them
well, your heart should enter a state that causes your
soul to bow down. As a result, your body should also
be restless to bow down along with it. This state is
called Rukū‘. After this, when you reflect on the sub-
ject of ‘Azmat in a state of Rukū‘, then to observe
َ
the words “holy is my Lord, the Most Great” (‫ُس ْب َحان‬
ْ
‫ َ)ر ِّب َى ال َع ِظ ْي ِم‬three times will seem very brief. (Dhauqe
‘Ibādat, pp. 492)
Before going into each posture of Salāt, we should create in

our hearts the sentiment that the posture expresses. We will
find pleasure in going to a posture only when the body fol-
lows the heart, not the other way around. If our heart follows
Ruku’ 111
our body, that pleasure won’t be there. For example, if we

go into Rukū‘ without thinking about the sentiment behind
Rukū‘, then we will only adopt the posture out of routine,
not out of enthusiasm. Once in Rukū‘, we will try to find the
sentiment that Rukū‘ symbolizes, but since we did not pre-
pare for it in Qiyām, we will likely feel frustrated. However,
when our heart feels the ‘Azmat of Allah Almighty in Qiyām,
we will be restless to bow down in obedience to Allah before
we go into Rukū‘. When the body follows the heart, we find
pleasure in going to each posture because our body is anxious
to express the sentiment that is in our heart. Then we find
pleasure without even having to say anything. Imagine doing
an entire Salāt where we do not recite any words, where we
express ourselves only with our body language, where our
heart expresses the sentiment of each posture. We stand
before Allah Almighty in Qiyām and express with our heart
all the sentiments this posture symbolizes. We prostrate to
our Allah and declare all of the sentiments of submission
with only our body. That Salāt may have no words, but it
would not be silent. That Salāt would be filled with eloquent
expressions of our body language. Just bowing down before
our Allah without any words is a worship and a pleasure in
and of itself.
Bear in mind that anything physical in nature that is

empty of spirit cannot prove beneficial. For example,
just as the meat of sacrifices does not reach God, your

bows and prostrations do not reach Him either, until
they are performed with a true spirit. God desires the
essence. (Malfuzāt (English), vol. 2, pp. 109)
Qaumah
My understanding is that as far as the appropriate-

ness of apparent actions goes, Sajdah is the next step
after Ruku‘. However, if we go directly from Ruku‘
into Sajdah, the clearness of the distinction between
standing and Sajdah is not created. The splendor of
humility in Sajdah cannot be created until a person
falls into prostration from the standing posture. Thus,
in reality, this (Qaumah) is an interlude. When we
stand for a second time after saying, “Allah hears
him who praises Him” (‫هللا ِل َم ْن َح ِم َد ُه‬
ُ ‫)س ِم َع‬,
َ it is a pause
between Ruku‘ and Sajdah. The purpose is to make
the splendor of Sajdah distinct. (Khutbāt-e-Tāhir,
vol. 4, pp. 994, 20 Sept 1985)
The Imam then straightens up and stands with his

arms by his sides. When he initiates this movement,
he recites Tasmī‘ loudly which is an indication for the
congregation to change the posture from Bowing to
Standing. The Tasmī‘ is recited as follows: (Salāt-The

Muslim Prayer Book, pp. 42)
‫هللا ِل َم ْن َح ِم َد ُه‬
ُ ‫َس ِم َع‬
Allah hears him who praises Him.
In response the congregation follows the Imam and

changes posture as well, and then recite the following
which is called Tahmīd: (Salāt-The Muslim Prayer
Book, pp. 42)
ً َ َ ْ َ َ
‫َر َّب َنا َولك ال َح ْم ُد َح ْم ًدا ك ِث ْي ًرا ط ِّي ًبا ُم َب َار كا ِف ْي ِه‬
Our Lord! and Yours is the praise, praise which is
plenty, pure, and blessed
ُ ‫َس ِم َع َا‬
‫هلل ِل َم ْن َح ِم َد ُه‬
Allah hears him who praises Him.
Allah
accepts our
Why have these words been placed after Rukū‘? The
praise of reason is that for praise to be heard, the praise of the
Him
tongue only is not enough. God does not hear praise
Qaumah 115
of the tongue until it creates the spirit of obedience,

until that obedience takes the form of action.
Thus, that praise, which does not rise from the
heart and does not carry deep truth, is not heard by
God. When praise results in our having started obey-
ing, when man has started offering sacrifices, when
he has started creating pure changes within himself,
then his praise is worthy of being heard. It is this sub-
ject that the Holy Quran describes when it says that
good words are exalted by righteous conduct. Until
good actions are combined with good words, those
words are not elevated and they do not reach the
throne of God; they do not reach their destination.
Thus, Rukū‘ has taught us that if we wish to praise
Allah in a way that is heard by Him, then we must
obey Him and bow down before Him. Then we will
hear these words, “Allah accepts that praise which is
true praise” (‫هللا ِل َم ْن َح ِم َد ُه‬
ُ ‫)س ِم َع‬.
َ Now God says, “Yes, I
hear that praise, I hear that person who praises me
with a true heart.” (Dhauqe ‘Ibādat, pp. 494, 495)
Allah Almighty has not placed the words ‘Allah hears’ (‫َس ِم َع‬
ُ at the end of Qiyām because we had not yet come under
‫)هللا‬
the full definition of ‘him who praises Him’ (‫)م ْن َح ِم َد ُه‬.
َ We
had spent Qiyām praising Allah with the most perfect of
praise in Sūratul Fātihah, but we still were not worthy of
being called ‘him who praises Him’ (‫)م ْن َح ِم َد ُه‬.
َ The reason is
that no matter how perfect our words may be, they are only
words. They do not carry weight until they are supported by
a spirit that moves us to action.
Allah hears all of our praise, but he does not accept all
of it. The words ‘Allah hears’ after Rukū‘ have the meaning
of acceptance. ‘‫ َس ِم َع ُه‬also means, he accepted it, answered it.
‫هللا ِل َم ْن َح ِم َد ُه‬
ُ ‫ َس ِم َع‬God has accepted the praise of him who has
praised Him.’ (Dictionary of the Holy Quran, pp. 410) It is a
great glad tiding to be told that Allah has accepted our praise,
but it has to be earned. When we put our praise into action
by bowing down before Allah in obedience, and when the
praise of Allah leads us to happily cut off every worldly sup-
port and lean on Allah alone, then is the praise of our Rukū‘
exalted to the point of acceptance. Now we rise from Rukū‘
having attained something we did not have before. Our
words are only exalted by the action of lowering ourselves
in Rukū‘.
In commentary of 35:11 of the Holy Quran, Hadrat
Khalīfatul Masīh IVrta said,
“Unto Him ascend good words, and righteous con-

duct exalts them.” (35:11) No matter how good and
pure our words appear, if righteous conduct is not
working behind it like a motor that keeps lifting it,
it is impossible that those words be acceptable to
Allah. In a very beautiful way, it has been explained
that mere words will not be of any use, it is righteous
Qaumah 117
conduct that will exalt it. The more a person does

righteous conduct, the more exaltation his words will
achieve. (Tarjumatul Quran Class, 4 Feb 98, 35:5-24,
@18:50)
One meaning of ‘Allah hears him who praises Him’ (‫هللا‬ ُ ‫َس ِم َع‬ Allah
‫ ) ِل َم ْن َح ِم َد ُه‬is in application to prayer, meaning Allah only hears

accepts our
prayers to
Him
our prayers when the praise of Allah precedes them.
Praise has a deep connection with the acceptance of

prayer. The words we say when rising from Rukū‘
describe this subject, “Allah hears him who praises
Him.” (Dhauqe ‘Ibādat, pp. 39)
To immediately go into our own personal prayer without

praising Allah first is against the etiquette of prayer. The
Holy Prophetsas taught that praise of Allah should precede
prayer.
“The Messenger of Allahsas heard a man supplicat-

ing during the prayer without glorifying Allah nor
sending Salah upon the Prophetsas. The Messenger
of Allahsas said: “You are in a hurry, O worship-
per.” Then the Messenger of Allahsas taught them.
And the Messenger of Allahsas heard a man pray-
ing; he glorified and praised Allah and sent Salah
upon the Prophetsas. The Messenger of Allahsas said:

“Supplicate, you will be answered; ask, you will be
given.” (Nasāī, Book 13, Chapter 48)
The wisdom of this etiquette is that the praise of Allah cor-

rects our priorities. For example, we may be praying for a
job because we desperately want to be rich and have status.
Our heart is filled with praise of the beauty of money, not
praise of the beauty of Allah. That prayer is not motivated
by spirituality; it is motivated by materialism. Allah is not
the objective of our prayer; He is just a means to an end. He
is a stepping stone that we step on to get money. When we go
directly into prayer without glorifying Allah, our prayer may
come from a heart that is filled with glorification of money.
When we weep in prayer with humility and beg Allah for
that job, our weeping is not out of a desperation to be near to
Allah Almighty. That weeping is out of our desperation for
money and status.
Praise is only attributed to God in words, whereas in

reality, it is other things in God’s world that are truly
worthy of praise in man’s eyes. When he cries before
God, he does not cry because of praise of God. He
cries because his desire is not being fulfilled. When a
sick person screams, he does so because of some pain.
His screams are not going to cure his illness; he will
Qaumah 119
be cured through the knowledge of medicine. There

is also a science in worship. There is a science to
prayer. Only those prayers are accepted that are wor-
thy of being accepted. (Dhauqe ‘Ibādat, pp. 11-12)
When our heart is filled with praise for the world, then as
soon as we get that job, we will forget about Allah because
we never really saw Him as praiseworthy or beautiful. Since
our heart is filled with the praise of money, then obviously
when we get that money we will be engrossed in it. The only
thing that may bring us back to God is a fear of loss of that
money. Sometimes we rationalize to ourselves that we will
be righteous after we get the money and status we want. We
are fooling ourselves similar to how the brothers of Hadrat
Yūsufas said, ‘you can thereafter become a righteous people.’
(12:10) If our heart does not praise the beauty of Allah, then
we will forget Him as soon as we have used Him to get what
we want. That job will take us away from Allah, not bring
us closer to Him. That prayer is not a blessing or a means of
nearness to God; that prayer may be a curse.
For prayer, man should examine his thoughts and

his heart as to whether his inclination is to the world
or to religion. Are the frequency of his prayers for
worldly comfort, or for service of religion? If he finds
that, whatever he is doing, it is worldly concerns that
occupy his mind and religion is not his objective,

then he should weep at his condition. (Malfuzāt (10
vol edition), vol. 7, pp. 117)
The purpose of praising Allah before our prayer is to remove

every materialistic priority from our mind and only make
Allah our objective. We reflect on how perfect and infinite
our Beloved is and how temporary and flawed everything is
that distracts us from Him. Such praise changes the priorities
in our prayer. After praising Allah, the prayer that seemed
urgent and important before now seems small. The object of
our prayer is no longer the thing we want; it is Allah. If we
pray for a job after praising Allah, we now only want the job
as a gift from Allah and as a sign of the acceptance of prayer
so that it brings us closer to Allah. The thought of that job
taking us away from Allah makes it repulsive in our eyes; we
want nothing to do with it. We now only want that job if
it increases us in the greater praise of Allah and nearness to
Him.
When Allah Almighty does a favor to a believer, then

he will say Alhamdulillāh, but he will also say, “All
praise belongs to Allah for this favor, but my desti-
nation is still far.” When he receives another favor, he
will say, “All praise belongs to Allah for this favor, but
I want to attain You, these small things are not my
Qaumah 121
purpose.” He continues advancing step by step, and

ultimately he attains God Almighty. (Ta‘luq Billāh,
pp. 54)
When a person’s heart is filled with praise for Allah, then his
prayers will never take him away from Allah. His prayers will
never be for an objective that opposes the laws of Allah. By
praising Allah in Qiyām and putting our praise into action
in Rukū‘, we have followed the etiquette of prayer. We have
acted according to the science of prayer. For such people,
Allah Almighty gives glad tidings that He accepts the prayers
of those who praise Him. This glad tiding is particularly rel-
evant at this portion of Salāt because here the worshipper is
about to go into Sajdah, which is a special opportunity for
prayer. We are given a glad tiding of the acceptance of the
prayers we have asked in Qiyām and Rukū‘, and the special
prayers we plan to ask in Sajdah.
Hadrat Zainul ‘Ābidīn Waliyullāh Shāhra said,
“Allah hears him who praises Him” (‫هللا ِل َم ْن‬ ُ ‫َس ِم َع‬
َ
‫)ح ِمد ُه‬.
َ These words of the Imam are a motivational
announcement for the followers that they should not
hold back in their prayers in Sajdah. This is what our
attention is drawn to with the words “Allah hears”
(‫هللا‬ َ In a state of Sajdah, there is greater oppor-
tunity for prayer, as the Holy Prophetsas said, “while
prostrating yourselves be earnest in supplication, for it
is fitting that your supplications should be answered.”

(Sahīh Muslim, Book 4, Chapter 41) (Commentary
________O_________
Sahīh Bukhārī, vol. 2, pp. 193-194)
ْ َ َ
‫َر َّب َنا َولك ال َح ْم ُد‬
Our Lord! and Yours is the Praise
“Our
Lord!” is
a complete
In reality, “Our Lord!” (‫ َ)ر َّب َنا‬in itself is a complete

prayer
prayer. When we say “Allah hears him who praises

Him” (‫هللا ِل َم ْن َح ِم َد ُه‬
ُ ‫)س ِم َع‬,
َ then we pray, “Our Lord! and
ْ َ َ َ
Yours is the Praise” (‫)ر َّب َنا َولك ال َح ْم ُد‬. Why does the “and”
(‫ )و‬come in between? If the “and” (‫ َ)و‬were not here,
َ
then the translation would be, “O our Lord, Yours
is the praise.” But the “and” (‫ َ)و‬has broken the con-
nection between “Our Lord!” (‫ َ)ر َّب َنا‬and the sentence
that comes after. The reason for this is that “Our
Lord!” (‫ َ)ر َّب َنا‬is a complete prayer in itself.…There
is a narration that Hasanra said that once the Holy
Prophetsas continuously recited only “Our Lord!”
Qaumah 123
(‫)ر َّب َنا‬,

َ repeating it again and again. (Darsul Quran,
Feb 28, 1995, @34:50)
The prayers we recite are only words that convey the senti-
ment of prayer behind them. It is the sentiment that is of real
value, not the words. A prayer can be a prayer even if it is not
a prayer in its words. Some prayers are only an expression of
a sentiment.
For example, the Holy Quran teaches us the prayer,
Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves; and if You

forgive us not and have not mercy on us, we will
surely be of the lost. (7:24)
This prayer, which we observe often, is not a prayer at all in

its wording. There is nothing that we ask for in its words.
However, we cannot say that it is not a prayer because its
sentiment conveys a powerful prayer. We express the reality
of our condition and the vulnerability of our position. That
expression itself is a prayer. Whether we ask for the mercy
and forgiveness of Allah with our words or not is irrelevant.
With the sentiment behind these words, the prayer is con-
veyed clearly without any words of prayer.
Similarly, there are times when we do not even say any
words; our circumstances and the state of our heart becomes
the most powerful prayer in and of itself.
For example, the Promised Messiahas said,
When the disbelievers threw Hadrat Ibrāhīmas into

the fire, the angels came to him and asked him if he
needed anything. He replied, “Yes I am in need, but I
am in no need of putting my needs before you.” The
angels said, “Then at least pray to God Almighty.”
Hadrat Ibrāhīmas replied, “He is so aware of my con-
dition that I am in no need of asking.” (Malfuzāt (10
volume edition), vol. 2, pp. 209-210)
The reality of every prayer is not in its words but in its sen-
timent. The words are optional; they are only an attempt to
convey the sentiment of that prayer. When we say the words
‘Our Lord!’ (‫ َ)ر َّب َنا‬after coming up from Rukū‘, we should ask
ourselves what our sentiment is. We stand before our Lord
and present our condition to Him. When we say ‘Our Lord!’
(‫)ر َّب َنا‬,
َ we use our condition as the words of our prayer. It is
our state that begs our Lord for His mercy, not our words.
Summarizing this sentiment, Hadrat Nawāb Mubārakah
Begumra wrote in a couplet, ‘What prayer can I ask, I am an
embodied prayer. I am not a person who prays, from head to
toe I am a prayer.’ (Durre ‘Adan, pp. 86)
The same use of ‘Our Lord!’ (‫ َ)ر َّب َنا‬is also found in one of
the prayers we offer at the end of Salāt,
My Lord, make me observe Prayer, and my children

too. Our Lord! and accept my prayer. (14:41)
Qaumah 125
The words ‘Our Lord’ (‫ َ)ر َّب َنا‬can be an expression of “Our

Lord!” as
repentance. an expres-
sion of
The Promised Messiah as said, repentance
and of
gratitude
The truth of the matter is that there is a subtle indi-
cation towards repentance in the word Rabbana [our
Lord]. The word Rabbana requires [and implies
that] a person has left other gods which he had
previously adopted, and turned towards this Lord.
Furthermore, this word can only be uttered from
the heart of a person with true anguish and fervour.
(Tafsīr Hadrat Masīh Mau’ūd, vol. 2, pp. 370, 2:202)
The fact of the matter is that a person creates multi-

ple gods for himself. He has the utmost faith in his
schemes and deceptions, as if those are his gods. If he
is proud of his knowledge or power, then that is his
god. If he is proud of his beauty or wealth, then that
is his god. In short, there are thousands of such gods
that are attached to him. Until he does not forsake
them all, bow his head before the One True Lord
and fall at His threshold, supplicating the words of
Rabbana with true heart-wrenching emotions, he
will not be able to understand the nature of the True
Lord. When one accepts his sins and supplicates with
true pain and fervour, then (he) addresses his Lord,
‘Rabbana i.e. O our Lord! You were in fact the True
God! Yet in my error, I wandered away from You,

but now I have abandoned those false gods and I sin-
cerely proclaim your Providence and I come to Your
threshold. (Tafsīr Hadrat Masīh Mau’ūd, vol. 2, pp.
371, 2:202)
The words ‘Our Lord!’ (‫ َ)ر َّب َنا‬can also be an expression of

gratitude.
When we hear the words, “Allah has accepted,”

then spontaneously, the words rise from our heart,
“Our Lord!”, saying, “how lovely is the Lord who has
accepted our praise.” Our Lord! is the reply; we say,
“How lovely it is, here we praised You and right away
you accepted it.”…Just now in Salāt we were saying,
“Holy is my Lord, the Most Great,” and we heard the
words, “Allah has accepted the praise of him who has
praised Him.” On receiving an immediate reward,
the heart spontaneously says, “Our Lord!” If we only
said “Our Lord!”, then everything we want to express
is included therein. But by saying “Our Lord!”, we
are told how great our Lord is, we say, “Our Lord!
and yours is the praise,” in reality praise is only for
You and for no one else. (Tadrīs Namāz, pp. 34)
When we say, “Our Lord! and Yours is the praise”,

Qaumah 127
then it becomes praise of gratitude. It is after Rukū‘

that the glad tidings of the acceptance of the first
praise we offered in Sūratul Fātihah are given.
(Dhauqe ‘Ibādat, pp. 495)
Spontaneous
The Holy Prophet sas said, praise of
Allah
When the Imam, during the prayer, says, “Allah hears

him who praises Him”, say: “O Allah! Our Lord! All
the praises are for You,” for if the saying of anyone
of you coincides with the saying of the angels, his
past sins will be forgiven. (Sahīh Bukhārī, Book 59,
Chapter 7)
In commentary of this Hadith, Hadrat Zainul ‘Ābidīn

Waliyullāh Shāhra said,
In his elementary stages of spirituality, a person’s

claim that he praises Allah does not carry any true
meaning. However, when the angels claim that,
“we glorify You with Your praise” (2:31), then it is
a true claim. When the Holy Prophetsas said, “if the
saying of anyone of you coincides with the saying
of the angels”, the meaning of this Hadith is that a
person gradually progresses to the stage of spiritual
understanding where his praise of Allah becomes
like the praise of the angels for Allah. The purpose
of the Creator becomes his purpose. His actions are

not from the desire of his lower self, rather he is as
the angels are described, “who disobey not Allah in
what He commands them and do as they are com-
manded” (66:7). Allah hears him who praises Him
(‫هللا ِل َم ْن َح ِم َد ُه‬
َ When a person reaches this stage
of praising Allah, Allah Almighty hears his call and
responds to him and speaks to him and says, “Fear
not; for I am with you both. I hear and I see. (20:47).
(Commentary Sahīh Bukhārī, vol. 2, pp. 193-194)
When a believer hears that Allah accepts him who praises

Him, he immediately seeks this acceptance from Allah. The
praise done at this point is out of a believer’s apprehension
of missing a window of opportunity. Any mention of the
acceptance of Allah moves a believer to try to achieve it.
When he praises Allah Almighty in this spirit of spontane-
ous action, his obedience coincides with the obedience of the
angels. The angels spontaneously obey without any delay or
disobedience. Such people are given glad tidings of accept-
________O_________
ance from Allah and forgiveness.
Qaumah 129
ً َ َ
‫َح ْم ًدا ك ِث ْي ًرا ط ِّي ًبا ُم َب َاركا ِف ْي ِه‬
Praise which is plenty, pure, and blessed
Three characteristics of praise (‫)ح ْمد‬َ of Allah are described:

its quantity, its quality, and the results it produces. We should
analyze our praise of Allah to see if it carries these qualities.
Quantity
The first characteristic is that it is numerous. Kathīr describes
something being of high quantity. When we love someone
and find their beauty to be praiseworthy, naturally we will
mention them frequently. When someone buys a new car,
he can’t stop thinking about it because its beauty is always
on his mind. The first and most basic quality of praise that
َ
is acceptable to Allah is that it is numerous (‫)ك ِث ْير‬. ‘O ye who
believe! remember Allah with much remembrance; And glo-
rify Him morning and evening.’ (33:42-43).
َ
Also, our praise being numerous (‫ )ك ِث ْير‬is the basic sus-
tenance for our relationship with our Creator. If we have a
friend who we never think about or see, then with each pass-
ing day and week, our connection with them weakens and
we lose touch. When they’re out of sight then they’re out of
mind. It doesn’t matter how much we claim we love them;
when we don’t think about them, our connection with them
withers away. If the beauties of the world are all that we
observe, Allah Almighty will disappear from our sight and
mind. If our praise of the beauties of Allah is not numerous
َ
(‫)ك ِث ْير‬, then it will automatically be replaced with numerous
praise of materialistic beauties.
Why are weَ told to recite “holy is my Lord, the Most

َ ‫ْأ‬ َ
High” (‫)س ْب َحان َر ِّب َى ال ْعلى‬
ُ and “holy is my Lord, the
ْ َ
Most Great” (‫)س ْب َحان َر ِّب َى ال َع ِظ ْي ِم‬
ُ repeatedly? Wasn’t
once sufficient? No. The secret is that numerous rep-
etition leaves an effect, creating alertness in even our
most neglected senses. That is why Allah Almighty
says, “and remember Allah much that you may pros-
per.” (8:46) As repetition is connected with the mind
and helps in memorization, similarly, it is connected
with the soul and is needed. Without repetition, that
spiritual connection cannot be sustained. (Malfuzāt
(10 vol edition), vol. 8, pp. 124)
Quality
The second characteristic is its quality. Praise that is accepted
by Allah is pure. If we know that Allah is praiseworthy
because He is All-Powerful, then when we feel weak, we
would never turn away from Allah Almighty, we would only
run towards Him. But if, when we suddenly feel vulnera-
ble and weak, we find that we are ready to disobey Allah to
save ourselves, then those words of praise of Allah were not
true, they were false. When a calamity suddenly shakes us,
if we find security in turning away from Allah and towards
Qaumah 131
someone else, our words of praise were not pure, but they
were flattery.
Those who praise Allah with empty words, it is as if

Allah did not hear them. People have similar experi-
ences daily. In some regions where people are in the
habit of giving false praise, they will always flatter you
when they meet you. Sometimes they praise to the
extremes of exaggeration. If you are not false within
yourself, rather than feeling love developing for them,
you will feel aversion. If you are false within yourself,
then you will always be pleased with false praise. Your
truthfulness within will tell you the extent to which
you are true. A person who is true within can never
be pleased with false praise; he does not even listen
to it. It is as if he never heard it. Rather, he hates it
and is irritated by it. He wishes that the conversation
would end quickly. Thus, that praise which does not
rise from the heart and does not carry deep truth is
not heard by God. (Dhauqe ‘Ibādat, pp. 494-495)
َ
When we recite the word ‘pure’ (‫ )ط ِّيب‬in Salāt, we should
َ of Allah. If our
try to analyze the purity of our praise (‫)ح ْمد‬
heart is at conflict with our words, then that praise is not
pure. We should find what our heart believes is worthy of
more praise than Allah because that is what taints the purity
of our praise. Our claim that all praise belongs to Allah may
end up being nothing more than flattery. If an ordinary per-
son would not like hearing flattery, Allah Almighty would
not be pleased with it either. If we know that a cup of milk
has a drop of urine mixed into it, we would never drink it
because we wouldn’t consider it pure. For our praise of Allah
َ
to be pure (‫)ط ِّيب‬, we should strive to remove every drop of
idolatry from our praise. Then our praise (‫)ح ْمد‬َ will be not
َ َ
only numerous (‫ )ك ِث ْير‬but also pure (‫)ط ِّيب‬.
Results
The third characteristic is the results it produces. Praise that
ً ُ
is blessed (‫)م َب َاركا ِف ْي ِه‬ is praise that continuously increases in
quantity and quality.
Barakah is, ‘A blessing; any good that is bestowed by
God; and particularly such as continues and increases and
ٌَ َ
abounds’ (Lane’s Lexicon, Root: ‫برك‬, Entry: ‫)ب َركة‬.
A Beloved whose beauties are deeper than your initial

impression is worthy of praise. When you see Him
from up close and praise Him, then you find greater
beauty and depth. Each time you express your love
to Him, you return with more love; you don’t come
back tired. Those people whose beloveds are empty
and shallow, their love ends very quickly because their
beauty does not have depth. Their praise remains
devoid of Barkat [blessings]. Thus, God Almighty
Qaumah 133
has taught us that true praise has Barkat and is always

increasing, and new aspects of praise continue com-
ing to mind. The truth is that there is no being other
than God whose praise has never-ending Barkat.
(Dhauqe ‘Ibādat, pp. 496)
When our praise of God has quantity, it is like many seeds

scattered across the ground. When our praise has quality, it is
those seeds that grow into plants. When our praise produces
results, it is those plants that produce fruits; they multiply
the number of seeds we had. If we find ourselves growing
bored and tired of praising Allah, then we can know that our
ً ُ
praise is not blessed (‫)م َب َاركا ِف ْي ِه‬ because our praise will even-
tually decrease in quantity and quality. However, if we see
that our pleasure in praising Allah is growing, our praise is
becoming more meaningful, and our desire to do so more
frequently is increasing, then we can know that our praise
َ is blessed (‫)م َب َار ًكا ِف ْي ِه‬.
(‫)ح ْمد‬ ُ Then we can know that our efforts
are bearing fruit and our seeds are multiplying.
The meaning of Barakah, as mentioned above, is, ‘A
blessing; any good that is bestowed by God.’ We are power-
less to attain this. There is nothing we can do to force Allah
ً ُ
to bestow blessings on us. When we say ‘blessed’ (‫)م َب َار كا ِف ْي ِه‬,
we reach the point at which we have no choice but to adopt
humility because we have lost control here. We do have a
َ
degree of control over making our praise numerous (‫)ك ِث ْير‬. If
we discipline ourselves, we can increase the quantity of our
praise (‫)ح ْمد‬ َ and make it more numerous. We also have some
َ
degree of control over making our praise pure (‫)ط ِّيب‬. By striv-
ing in self-purification and meditation, we can remove many
unwanted desires from our hearts. However, what action can
we possibly do that would directly result in Allah Almighty
ً
being compelled to bless our praise? ‘Blessed’ (‫ ُ)م َب َار كا ِف ْي ِه‬is a
response from Allah Almighty as an acceptance of our hum-
ble offerings.
ً ُ
When we say ‘blessed’ (‫)م َب َاركا ِف ْي ِه‬, it can be said as a prayer
where we beg Allah Almighty to bless our praise of Him.
This sentiment of prayer will gradually work its way back
َ
to the words of ‘pure’ (‫ )ط ِّيب‬where we will find ourselves
asking Allah Almighty to purify our praise of Him. Then
this sentiment will work its way back to the word ‘numer-
َ
ous’ (‫ )ك ِث ْير‬where we will find ourselves asking Allah to enable
us to praise Him more frequently. Thus, the words ‘plenty,
pure, and blessed’ describe the characteristics of true praise
of Allah, and it can also be a prayer where we ask Allah
Almighty to bring our praise (‫)ح ْمد‬ َ up to the standard of
quantity and quality that will produce results.
Sajdah
Prostration is the furthest stage of respect. When a

person places himself in the state of non-existence, then
he falls into prostration. (Malfuzāt (10 vol edition),
vol. 9, pp. 110)
Its prostration is that it falls on the threshold of God

and, forsaking all personal thoughts, loses the very
identity of its existence. (Lecture Sialkot, pp. 33)
The prostration expresses, through action, the great-

est possible reverence, utmost humility and lowli-
ness, which are the objectives of Prayer. (Malfuzāt
(English), vol. 1, pp. 161)
Then the Imam says Allāhu Akbar loudly again and

leads the congregation into the Prostration position
called Sajdah, knees on the ground, then the head. In
this posture, the knees, hands, nose and the forehead
of the worshipper should be touching the ground.

The head should be placed on the ground between
the two hands. The arms should be away from the
ground and away from one’s sides.…The fingers are
held together pointing towards the Ka‘bah. The feet
should be planted on the ground so that the toes are
bent in the direction of the Ka‘bah. In this posture
the Tasbīh given below should be recited silently
three times at least. (Salāt-The Muslim Prayer Book,
pp. 43, 44)
َ َ‫ْ أ‬ َ
‫ُس ْب َحان َر ِّب َى ال ْعلى‬
Holy is my Lord, the Most High
َ ْ َ‫ُ ْ َ َ َ ِّ َ ْ أ‬
‫سبحان ر بى العلى‬
Holy is my Lord, the Most High
Difference
between
Al-‘Azīm and
Al-A‘lā
What is the difference between ‘Azīm and A‘lā?
‘Azīm [Most Great] encompasses the entire universe,
‘Azīm is not distant from you, it is close to you. You
have come close to His ‘Azmat [Greatness], seen His
Sajdah 137
manifestation, and come in awe of it. However, A‘lā

[Most High] has such a loftiness that you feel you
cannot be on the same level despite coming close to
it. He is Most High, and however close you come,
your awareness of His loftiness increases.…When
you stand at the foot of a skyscraper, then you feel
how high it is. However, there are some heights who’s
foundation does not start from where you are; they
are most high. For example, the loftiness of the sky is
beyond your reach. (Dhauqe ‘Ibādat, pp. 497)
The starting point of the ‘Azmat [Greatness] of Allah

Almighty begins at our level. It is like a mountain, at the foot
of which we can stand. We can move towards His ‘Azmat
and see it from up close. That is why when we do Rukū‘, we
incline towards the ‘Azmat of Allah. We make a symbol of
moving towards Allah. However, we cannot incline towards
َ ْ َ‫َ ْ أ‬
‘the Most High’ (‫ )العلى‬because His loftiness does not start at
our level. If we wanted to admire a mountain from up close,
we would move towards it. But if we want to admire the sky’s
loftiness from up close, there is nowhere we can go. The more
we try to move towards it, the more distant it feels. With ‘the
Most High’ (‫)العلى‬, there is nowhere for us to go to, we are
completely helpless. The spontaneous reaction to ‘the Most
َْ
Great’ (‫ )ال َع ِظ ْي ُم‬is to incline towards it with Rukū‘. The sponta-
neous reaction to ‘the Most High’ (‫ )العلى‬is to fall helplessly
into Sajdah.
Holy is my Lord the most High. The word a‘lā (the

most high) is in the grammatical form that expresses
the superlative degree. This naturally calls for pros-
tration. Therefore, along with these words, the image
that one shows in practice is that of prostration.
َْ
‘The Most Great’ (‫ )ال َع ِظ ْي ُم‬refers to the power of Allah
Almighty that exists within the realm of our capacity of com-
prehension. As far as our eyes can see and as far as our mind
can take us, there we will find the awe-inspiring power of ‘the
َْ َ َ‫َ ْ أ‬
Most Great’ (‫)ال َع ِظ ْي ُم‬. But ‘the Most High’ (‫ )ال ْعلى‬refers to the
power of Allah that exists beyond the realm of our capac-
ity of comprehension. However far our mind is capable of
taking us, just beyond that point is where ‘the Most High’
َ ْ َ‫َ ْ أ‬ َْ
(‫ )العلى‬begins. It takes sight to see ‘the Most Great’ َ (‫)ال َع ِظ ْي ُم‬,
َ ‫َْ أ‬
but it takes insight to see ‘the Most High’ (‫)ال ْعلى‬. We recog-
َْ
nize ‘the Most Great’ (‫ )ال َع ِظ ْي ُم‬through what we know, but we
recognize ‘the Most High’ (‫ )العلى‬by realizing how much we
don’t know.
It takes a level of knowledge to know that we know noth-
ing, and that is the journey from Rukū‘ to Sajdah. In Rukū‘,
we reflect on everything we know about Allah Almighty,
and we incline to Him and then express gratitude for having
found Him. That knowledge leads us to realize how much we
Sajdah 139
do not know of the reality of Allah Almighty, and it moves

us towards Sajdah. For example, you and I may have a vague
idea of how vast the universe is, but our comprehension of
the unknown is very limited. On the other hand, an astron-
omer or an astronaut has a much better grasp of how vast
the unknown is. Their better understanding of everything
we know about the universe is directly proportional to how
better their awareness is of how much we do not know about
the universe. You and I look up at the sky and an astronomer
looks up at the same sky, but they feel a greater awe of how
much is unknown. This is because of their greater knowl-
edge of the known. Similarly, the more our knowledge about
Allah Almighty is, the greater our realization is of how much
is unknown to us. We go into Rukū‘ out of a realization of
how close our Lord is to us, and we go into Sajdah out of a
realization of how distant our Lord is from us. That feeling
of overwhelming distance creates the desire to express our
helplessness with prostration. Our heart goes into Sajdah
first, and then our body follows. We fall inَ humility, we feel
َ ‫َْ أ‬
awe at how beyond us ‘the Most High’ (‫ )ال ْعلى‬is, and we then
helplessly beg our Lord for His nearness.
That moment, when we feel helpless, is the perfect time
for prayer. Even without words, that moment of humility in
itself is a prayer. That is why we are encouraged to pray in
Sajdah.
Glorify your Lord in Rukū‘ and exert yourself in sup-

plication in Sajdah. Thus your supplications are lia-
ble to be accepted. (Sahīh Muslim, Book 4, Chapter
41)
How we rise
by lowering
ourselves
Make frequent prostrations before Allah, for every

prostration that you perform before Allah will raise
َ
(‫ َ)رف َع‬you one degree and will remit one of your sins.
(Sahīh Muslim, Book 4, Chapter 43)
َ
The concept of being raised (‫ َ)رف َع‬is connected directly with
lowering ourselves in prostration. This is why the prayer of
َْ
‘raise me up’ (‫)ارف ْع ِن ْي‬ comes right before we go into our sec-
َْ
ond prostration. When we say ‘raise me up’ (‫)ارف ْع ِن ْي‬, we beg
Allah Almighty to exalt us in acceptance of our having low-
ered ourselves before Him.
We experience one aspect of gaining heights by lowering
ourselves in the secular world. For example, when a person
thinks that he knows everything, then he feels less of a need
to learn. His arrogance becomes an obstacle in his ability to
reach the heights of learning. But when a person is aware
of how much he does not know, he feels more of a need to
learn. His humility opens his mind and enables him to reach
the heights of learning. That is why Socrates said that he was
wiser because he knew that he knew nothing. The higher we
Sajdah 141
think our ego can take us, the lower we end. The lower we
take ourselves in humility, the greater the heights we achieve
in wisdom.
An ignorant and unintelligent person thinks that

loftiness and vastness can be gained by raising his
head. However, a person who is familiar with and has
learned the secrets of human nature from the Holy
Quran is well aware that loftiness is in humility and
vastness is in humility. These two subjects are told
to us by every Rak‘at of the five daily prayers.…We
have bowed down towards loftiness because we have
bowed towards the Most Lofty Lord. (Khutbāt-e-
Tāhir, vol. 4, pp. 755, 6 Sept 1985)
The principle of exaltation through humility is very limited

in its secular application. It is nothing more than a mental
exercise entirely within ourselves. In spirituality, it takes on
the form of a living relationship between our Creator and us;
it is an interaction. We don’t just acknowledge our insignifi-
cance to ourselves, that is easy, and that is a mental exercise.
Rather, we acknowledge our insignificance to our Lord. That
acknowledgment is an interaction with Allah Almighty.
Narrating his first experience of this, Malcolm X said,
Picking a lock to rob someone’s house was the only

way my knees had ever been bent before. I had to

force myself to bend my knees. And waves of shame
and embarrassment would force me back up. For
evil to bend its knees, admitting its guilt, to implore
the forgiveness of God, is the hardest thing in the
world. It’s easy for me to see and to say that now.
But then, when I was the personification of evil,
I was going through it. Again, again, I would force
myself back down into the praying-to-Allah posture.
When finally I was able to make myself stay down -- I
didn’t know what to say to Allah. (Autobiography of
Malcolm X, Chapter 11)
Just lowering ourselves gives us an ability to rise that we did

not have before. Our ego always refuses to prostrate. We may
do Sajdah every day out of habit, but our ego will not let
us think about what we are doing because of its embarrass-
ment in that posture. When we truly prostrate before Allah,
it is only after having overcome our ego. That prostration in
itself is a glorification of Allah. The act of acknowledging our
insignificance to our Lord in itself raises us. We acknowledge
how low we are in front of the One who is the Most High.
When we reflect on the loftiness of Allah Almighty as
only a concept, it can be a passive and detached glorification.
But when we reflect on that loftiness while lowering our-
selves to our most humble state, that has to become an active
glorification of Allah.
Sajdah 143
There is no contradiction between humility and

exaltation (‫ ;)رفعت‬rather, they depend on one another.
That is why prostration is connected with exalta-
tion.…The exaltation (‫ )رفعت‬that is bestowed to man
is deeply connected with humility. In prostration, we
are taught the prayer of ‘my Lord is the Most High.’
This means that when you have bowed your head
before Him as far down as you can, now remember
the Most Lofty Lord. Then you will receive His
favor. A person who receives exaltation (‫ )رفعت‬con-
tinues to bow down further accordingly. These two
subjects are inseparable. (Khutbāt-e-Tāhir, vol. 15,
pp. 904, 22 Nov 1996)
The more we seek exaltation from Allah, the more we pros-

trate to Him. As a result, we are raised. However, when we
seek exaltation from the world, in reality, we prostrate to
the world. It is most disgraceful for a believer to do Sajdah
to anyone other than Allah Almighty. Prostration does not
have value if we prostrate to the world and to Allah, it has
value when we prostrate to Allah alone. When we fall before
Allah Almighty and say that our Lord is the Most High, it
means that we do not prostrate to anyone else, and we do not
seek exaltation from anyone else.
This is the Home of the Hereafter! We give it to

those who desire not self-exaltation in the earth
(28:84).
Our reality is
in prostration
When we place our face on the ground in prostration before
Allah, to understand its gravity, we must remember how
unparalleled this expression is. Our face has such dignity in
Islam that it is described as being like an image of God in
creation. Even in a fight, we are taught to respect the face of
our opponent.
When any one of you fights with his brother, he

should avoid his face for Allah created Adam in His
own image. (Sahīh Muslim, Book 45, Chapter 32)
A Muslim carries himself with great dignity. The dignity

with which he carries himself is what adds gravity to his act
of humbling himself before Allah Almighty. The significance
in the act of placing our face on the ground is immense. This
is the highest expression of humility, and it is the only way
we can express what our reality is before Allah Almighty.
Every Sajdah in our Salāt is a reminder. When we are

in a state that our head is on the ground and cannot
go any lower, we are commanded to say, ‘Holy is my
Sajdah 145
Lord the Most High.’ We are rubbing our forehead

on the ground, and we have made ourselves most dis-
honored and insignificant. However, our Lord is free
of all imperfections and is Most High, and we can
become lofty only by our connection with Him, not
without Him. However much a person humbly bows
down before God through remembrance of Allah,
that is how much exaltation (‫ )رفعت‬is bestowed on
him by Allah Almighty. This exaltation is the grace
of God. Otherwise, the true station of man is in his
state of prostration, in his being nothing more than
dirt in front of God. Outside of this, man has no sta-
tion or rank. Whatever exaltation (‫ )رفعت‬he receives
is by the grace of God. (Khutbāt-e-Tāhir, vol. 13, pp.
63, 28 Jan 1994)
The purpose of Sajdah is to come to terms with our real-

ity. As long as we think we are strong, we are not living in
reality because we think we are god; we won’t feel any need
to seek strength from God. We cannot pray to God if we
have no need for God. We’ll comfortably make plans for the
day without realizing that many of the people who died this
morning had every hour of today planned out. Before we can
start to pray, we have to accept the reality that we have no
power and Allah Almighty is All-Powerful. Then we realize
how fragile we are. Then we come to terms with how bru-
tal reality is. We now have a need for prayer, and now we
have no choice but to fall before Allah Almighty and beg for
His help. Sajdah is simply coming to terms with reality; its
beauty is in its simplicity.
The nearest a servant comes to his Lord is when he

is prostrating himself, so increase supplications while
prostrating. (Sahīh Muslim, Book 4, Chapter 42)
Prostration and prayer are inseparably linked to each other

because humility is a necessary prerequisite for any prayer.
Without it, there is no prayer. Any prayer offered without
humility is just a formality because it is not born of necessity.
With each progressive stage of understanding our fragil-
ity, we take a step down and come closer to our reality. With
each progressive stage of understanding Allah Almighty, we
take a step up and come closer to His reality. When we are
in the posture of our greatest lowliness, we are also at our
closest to the loftiness of Allah. On the surface, it seems like
َْ
a contradiction to pray ‘raise me up’ (‫)ارف ْع ِن ْي‬ right before we
go down into our second Sajdah. However, the lower we
go in humility, the nearer we come to the loftiness of Allah
Almighty. We bow towards loftiness because we have bowed
to the one who is the Most High.
Looking for
pleasure in
One difficulty many of us face is finding pleasure in Salāt.
prayer The mistake we make is that we directly look for pleasure in
Sajdah 147
prayer. If we think about every time we have found pleasure

in prayer, it was a result of pain. For example, we faced a cri-
sis where we thought we might lose a loved one. It was that
anxiety that made us turn to Allah Almighty so completely.
We prayed to Allah in desperation. We were not looking for
pleasure in prayer; pleasure was the last thing on our mind.
It would be a disrespect to our love for a loved one if they
were in a crisis and we were concerned with whether we were
finding pleasure in praying for them or not. At that time of
crisis, we were absorbed in the pain with which we were beg-
ging for the mercy of Allah Almighty. When we found the
mercy of our Lord, then we automatically experienced pleas-
ure. The mistake we make is how we try to recapture that
feeling of pleasure afterward. When we come back to Salāt
looking for pleasure, it is long after that pain has left us. We
come to Salāt and remember that pleasure we felt when we
prayed to Allah Almighty, but we have forgotten the pain we
went through to get there. We keep trying to find pleasure
in prayer directly without going down the necessary path of
pain. As a result, our search for pleasure will only end in frus-
tration because pleasure in prayer can only come from pain.
A similar principle applies to looking for pleasure in the
remembrance of Allah. When we reflect on the attributes
of Allah Almighty, we only think of the beauty of our Lord
and completely forget ourselves. When we find Him and
see Him, then our heart is filled with love and awe. At that
moment, thinking about finding pleasure is the last thing on
our mind. For example, when a mother gives birth and sees
her child and hears it cry, she doesn’t wonder whether she
is feeling pleasure yet or not, the way we sometimes wonder
in Salāt whether we are feeling pleasure yet or not. She is
overwhelmed by love from seeing her child for the first time.
The question of pleasure is the last thing on her mind; in
fact, she even forgets the pain she is in. It is an insult to the
beauty of motherhood to imagine that she would think in
this way. Similarly, to observe the beauty of Allah Almighty
is an experience in and of itself. The pleasure that results
from that experience is completely secondary.
Pleasure in Salāt can be experienced in two ways; the
first is the remembrance of Allah, and the second is prayer.
In both cases, the path to pleasure is through hardship.
As for pleasure in the remembrance of Allah, we can
only experience the pleasure of seeing Allah Almighty after
making ourselves blind to the world. We have to bear the
hardship of striving against our lower self to the point where
we cease to exist, and the only being left is Allah Almighty.
When we lose our selves, then we find our Allah.
As for pleasure in prayer, we can only experience pleasure
after facing our helplessness and embracing that pain. This
pain causes us to melt before our Creator, which automat-
ically brings a feeling of euphoria. Pleasure in prayer comes
only after we let go of any control we think we have in prayer.
There is no direct path to pleasure.
Our purpose in Salāt is not to find pleasure. That would
Sajdah 149
reduce Salāt to a spiritual pastime and amusement. The

purpose of Salāt is to find Allah Almighty, and the moment
we find Him, the question of pleasure disappears from our
mind. If we look directly for pleasure in Salāt, then we will
only find pain, but if we face our pain in Salāt, then pleasure
will inevitably find us.
It must also be remembered that this pleasure can-

not be likened to the pleasure that an impulsive evil-
doer feels in fornication, or to the enjoyment that
an admirer of good voices experiences on hearing a
melodious person sing —not in the least; one must
not be deceived. The soul experiences pleasure when
a human being melts and begins to flow towards God
in the likeness of water, due to fear and awe of Him.
(Malfūzāt (English), vol. 2, pp. 121)
The posture of Sajdah expresses the sentiment needed to cor-

rect our mistake of looking directly for pleasure. Sometimes,
Allah Almighty tires us out in our pursuit of pleasure in
Salāt until we finally break. Our frustration pushes us to the
point where we give up on doing things our way. Then we
fall before Allah Almighty and admit that we are lost and
have no idea how to observe Salāt. That moment of helpless-
ness is the first time we let go of pursuing pleasure, and we
finally embrace our pain. That is the first time that pleasure
finds us in Salāt. Ironically, our pursuit of pleasure ends up

causing us the pain needed to reach that point of pleasure
we were looking for. Whenever we find ourselves making the
mistake of looking directly for pleasure in Salāt, the posture
of Sajdah should remind us that success is only in letting go
of what we want and then submitting to Allah Almighty in
helplessness. Then, what we wanted will find its way back to
us in a better way.
Be not content with thinking that you pray every day

and that the whole of Salāt is prayer, for the prayer
which issues after understanding and through grace
is of a different type altogether. It is something that
destroys; it is a fire that melts; it is a magnetic power
that draws mercy and it is a death which in the end
revives. It is a raging flood which finally becomes an
ark. Every frustration is remedied by it and every
poison becomes an antidote through it. (Rūhānī
Khazāin, vol. 20, pp. 222, Lecture Sialkot, pp. 31)
Jilsah
The Imam then says Allāhu Akbar again, at which he

and the congregation raise their heads and then their
hands from the ground and go into the Sitting posi-
tion called Jilsah. When sitting in this position, the
worshipper spreads his left foot horizontally on the
ground and rests on it while his right foot is placed
on the ground in a perpendicular position, with the
toes facing the Ka‘bah. The hands are placed on the
thighs with the fingers pointing towards the Ka‘bah,
very close to the knees. In this position, the following
supplication is recited silently: (Salāt-The Muslim
Prayer Book, pp. 45)
َ ُْ ْ
‫َر ِّب اغ ِف ْرِل ْي َو ْار َح ْم ِن ْي َو ْاه ِد ِن ْي َو َع ِاف ِن ْي َو ْاج ُب ْرِن ْي َو ْارزق ِن ْي َو ْارف ْع ِن ْي‬
My Lord, forgive me, and have mercy on me, and
guide me, and grant me health, and make good for
me my shortcomings, and provide for me, and raise
me up.
After Jilsah, the Imam leads the congregation into

a second Prostration by saying Allāhu Akbar and,
again Subhāna Rabbiyal A‘lā is done three times or,
if more, in odd number. (Salāt-The Muslim Prayer
Book, pp. 46)
ْ
‫َر ِّب اغ ِف ْرِل ْي‬
My Lord, forgive me
The root of Istighfār is ghafara, which means to cover

up. Thus, the meaning of Istighfār is that God should
cover up the natural weakness of the supplicant with
His power. This meaning is then enlarged to include
the covering up of a sin that has been committed, but
the true meaning is that God should safeguard the
supplicant against his natural weakness and should
bestow upon him power from His power, and knowl-
edge from His knowledge, and light from His light.
(Essence of Islam, vol. 2, pp. 241-242)
One aspect of istighfār is to save us from loss, but its primary

Jilsah 153
application is to prevent us from missing what we can gain.

If someone earns $100, but because of a mistake he made,
he loses $50, then that loss is an example of a sin that causes
spiritual harm. In this context, istighfār is seeking forgiveness
for our sins. However, if a person earns $100, but he didn’t
realize that he missed the opportunity to earn $500, then
that loss is an example of a natural weakness that deprived
him of spiritual good. If he spends all of his time making sure
he doesn’t make the mistake that cost him $50, he’ll end up
missing hundreds of dollars in opportunities. If our istighfār
is only about seeking forgiveness for our past sins, then we
are missing the true meaning of istighfār. Our istighfār would
then be focussed on the past and on negativity. This can have
the effect of closing our minds; we would start dwelling on
the past. Our regret over past mistakes may motivate us not
to make the same mistakes again, but it won’t motivate us to
open our minds to the opportunities we are missing. When
ْ
we say ‘My Lord, forgive me’ [‫]ر ِّب اغ ِف ْرِل ْي‬,
َ we should primarily
pray that we not miss any opportunities for spiritual pro-
gress because of our natural weaknesses. Observing istighfār
with this intention will open our mind to seeing opportuni-
ties that are in front of us that we may not have noticed. It
will give us a more positive and forward-thinking mindset.
Rather than living in the past and having guilt as our driv-
ing force, we will instead focus on the future, and hope will
become our driving force.
ْ
When we say ‘My Lord, forgive me’ [‫]ر ِّب اغ ِف ْرِل ْي‬,
َ we should
primarily pray that future shortcomings be covered, and sec-

ondarily that the negative effects of our past mistakes be cov-
ered. For example, we can think of the Sajdah we just did and
realize its shortcomings. We say ‘My Lord, forgive me’ [‫َر ِّب‬
ْ
‫]اغ ِف ْرِل ْي‬, and pray that those shortcomings be covered. Then,
we can think of the Sajdah we are about to do, and realize
it can be the most blessed Sajdah we have ever done before;
all doors of progress are open to us if we would only walk
ْ
through them. We say ‘My Lord, forgive me’ [‫ َ]ر ِّب اغ ِف ْرِل ْي‬and
________O_________
pray that we not miss any opportunities in the next Sajdah.
‫َو ْار َح ْم ِن ْي‬

and have mercy on me
“Gracious” (‫ َ)ر ۡح ٰمن‬means one who helps in such a

vast way that there is no thought of sectarian differ-
ences.…However, the word “Merciful” (‫ َ)ر ِح ۡیم‬tells
us that this help will continue forever. Length is
َ whereas width is found
found in “Merciful” (‫)ر ِح ۡیم‬,
in “Gracious” (‫)ر ۡح ٰمن‬.
َ “Gracious” (‫ َ)ر ۡح ٰمن‬stands in the
Jilsah 155
َ
place of “holy is my Lord, the Most Great” (‫ُس ْب َحان َر ِّب َى‬
ْ
‫)ال َع ِظ ْي ُم‬, and “Merciful” (‫ َ)ر ِح ۡیم‬stands in َ the place of
َ ‫ْأ‬ َ
“holy is my Lord, the Most High” (‫)س ْب َحان َر ِّب َى ال ْعلى‬. ُ
(Khutbāte Mahmud, vol. 39, pp. 283, Dec 5, 1958)
َ
‘The Gracious’ (‫ )ا َّلر ۡح ٰم ُن‬embraces all forms of life, but it does
َ
not take them to spiritual heights. ‘The Merciful’ (‫)ا َّلر ِح ۡی ُم‬
applies to only one form of life and, within that, to a small
number of people. But it carries those few to limitless
spiritual heights. These are the two broad applications of
the mercy of Allah. These two applications of the mercy of
Allah are connected with the two applications of the power
َْ
of Allah mentioned َ in ‘the Most Great’ (‫ )ال َع ِظ ْي ُم‬and ‘the
َ ‫َْ أ‬
Most High’ (‫)ال ْعلى‬. When we think about how everything
in the world is a manifestation of the power of ‘the Most
َْ
Great’ (‫)ال َع ِظ ْي ُم‬, it is fitting to also reflect on how everything
in the world is a descent of His mercy through ‘the Gracious’
َ َ َ‫َ ْ أ‬
(‫)ا َّلر ۡح ٰم ُن‬. When we think about how ‘the Most High’ (‫)ال ْعلى‬
is lofty beyond our comprehension, it is fitting to also reflect
on the unimaginable spiritual heights that Allah’s mercy can
َ
take us to through ‘the Merciful’ (‫)ا َّلر ِح ۡی ُم‬. Our understanding
of the power of Allah gives us insight to the mercy of Allah,
and vice versa.
When we say ‘have mercy on me’ (‫)ار َح ْم ِن ْي‬ ْ between our
prostrations, we should have in our mind those heights of
‘the Merciful’ ( ‫م‬ُ ‫ َ)ا َّلر ِح ۡی‬that are shown to us through ‘the Most
َ َ‫َ ْ أ‬
High’ (‫)ال ْعلى‬. When we see the sky, a childlike curiosity in us
wants to fly toward its beauty and explore all those places we
feel we will never be able to go to. The mystery and curiosity
are in how impossibly distant it is.
Hadrat Maulawī ‘Abdul Karīmra narrates,
I happened to wake up once in the middle of the

night to hear Mahmūd crying and the Promised
Messiahas talking to him gently to divert his mind.
The Promised Messiahas seemed to be carrying him
in his arms, and pacing about to soothe him, but
the child continued to cry. After some time the
Promised Messiahas said: ‘Look how brightly that
star shines Mahmūd!’ This arrested the child’s atten-
tion evidently, for he quietened down for a moment
but started crying again with a new basis for his pet-
ulance. ‘I wish to go to that star!’ he now wailed over
and over again. (Fazl-e-Umar, pp. 17-18)
This is the same childlike curiosity that we should have.

The attribute of ‘the Most High’ (‫ )العلى‬shows us the stars,
َ
and the attribute of ‘the Merciful’ (‫ )ا َّلر ِح ۡی ُم‬takes us towards
them. In Sajdah, when we were told of the inconceivable
power of Allah Almighty that exists beyond our compre-
hension, then we naturally wanted to see it. We want to
see exactly that beauty of Allah Almighty which is beyond
our reach. Its mystery is in how impossibly distant َ it is.
َ ‫َْ أ‬
However, despite how distant ‘the Most High’ (‫ )ال ْعلى‬is,
Jilsah 157
Allah Almighty gives us hope and tells us that through His

َ
attribute of ‘the Merciful’ (‫)ا َّلر ِح ۡی ُم‬, He has taken people to
heights that we cannot imagine. While we may not be able to
َ َ‫َ ْ أ‬
reach ‘the Most High’ (‫)ال ْعلى‬, we can reach heights that we
never thought were possible. In this way, the attribute of ‘the
Most High’ (‫ )العلى‬raises our ambitions, and the attribute
َ
of ‘the Merciful’ (‫ )ا َّلر ِح ۡی ُم‬is how we can achieve those ambi-
tions. When we say ‘have mercy on me’ (‫)ار َح ْم ِن ْي‬ ْ between
our prostrations, we should beg our Lord to favor us with
those spiritual heights that are so lofty that they can never be
________O_________
reached except through His special mercy.
‫َو ْاه ِد ِن ْي‬

and guide me
If we have already been guided to Islam, then what

need is there to ask for guidance? We still need to ask
because guidance has three meanings, all of which are
relevant to us. It means to be shown the right path, to
be taken to the right path, and to be led on the right
path. (Tafsīr-e-Kabīr, vol. 1, pp. 32, 34)
Firstly, the fact that we have accepted Islam does not mean
that we no longer need to be shown the countless ways of
attaining nearness to Allah within Islam. Allah Almighty
says, ‘And as for those who strive in Our path—We will
surely guide them in Our ways.’ (29:70). We should do many
actions, but we fail to practice them because we are unaware
of them. We are also always in need of being shown what we
have forgotten. At times we re-learn something and it feels
like we are learning it for the first time. We are also always
in need of being shown the true wisdom behind a guidance
we already know. Allah Almighty says, ‘And remember your
Lord when you forget, and say, “I hope my Lord will guide me
to what is even nearer than this to the right path.”’ (18:25).
Take Salāt for example. Although we have memorized the
Salāt, we need to be shown its meanings to benefit from
ْ we can pray that Allah
it. When we say ‘guide me’ (‫)اه ِد ِن ْي‬,
Almighty show us all the ways of attaining His nearness that
ْ is to
we do not know. The first meaning of ‘guide me’ (‫)اه ِد ِن ْي‬
be shown the guidance.
Secondly, the fact that we have been shown a path does
not mean that we have reached it. Allah Almighty uses the
word ‘guide’ (‫)ه َدى‬
َ in the Holy Quran with the meaning of
leading people up to a path (37:24). At times, people know
where they have to go, but they have a reluctance to go
there. For example, someone may know that Islam has com-
manded the observance of Salāt, however, he fails to observe
Salāt and walk on that path because of his laziness or lack of
Jilsah 159
ْ we can pray that

discipline. When we say ‘guide me’ (‫)اه ِد ِن ْي‬,
after being shown the right path, that we be taken to it, and
ْ is to be
we act on it. The second meaning of ‘guide me’ (‫)اه ِد ِن ْي‬
taken to the guidance.
Thirdly, the fact that we have been taken to the right path
does not mean that we will stay on it. That is why we have
been taught the prayer, “Our Lord, let not our hearts become
perverse after You have guided (‫)ه َدى‬
َ us;” (3:9). Being shown
and taken to the right path does not guarantee that we will
stay on it and reach our destination. If we became observant
of Salāt but then ended up giving up on it, then we failed
to truly benefit from it and ended up falling off the path of
ْ we can pray that
guidance. When we say ‘guide me’ (‫)اه ِد ِن ْي‬,
Allah Almighty keep us on the right path and lead us to our
ْ is to be
destination. The third meaning of ‘guide me’ (‫)اه ِد ِن ْي‬
________O_________
led along the path of guidance.
‫َو َع ِاف ِن ْي‬

and grant me health
The word ‘Āfiyah means, ‘health, or soundness, and safety,

or security…[or, as it may be best rendered, health and safety,
considered as proceeding from God; i.e.] God’s defence of a

man…from diseases and from trial: …or freedom from evil.”
ٌ َ
(Lane’s Lexicon, Root: ‫عفو‬, Entry: ‫’)ع ِاف َية‬
The Holy Prophetsas would pray for health in the words
‘āfinī, specifying different parts of hissas body, saying,
O Allah! Grant me health (‫)ع ِاف ِن ْي‬ َ in my body. O

Allah! Grant me health (‫)ع ِاف ِن ْي‬ َ in my hearing. O
َ in my eyesight. (Abu
Allah! Grant me health (‫)ع ِاف ِن ْي‬
Dāwud, Book 43, Chapter 110)
َ our physical health is

When we say ‘grant me health’ (‫)ع ِاف ِن ْي‬,
not our purpose in and of itself. Rather, we seek health so
that we can use our capacities to achieve a greater purpose.
‘Afinī - Grant me health so that I can follow your

guidance. (Tadrīs Namāz, pp. 40)
To be able to benefit from the physical acts of worship Islam

has taught, we need to be healthy. For example, if a person
is unable to observe fasting, he can try to participate in
Ramadan as much as he can, but he will still be deprived of
many blessings. The only way to make up for this loss is to
pray with the pain of what he is deprived of.
Jilsah 161
If a person remains deprived of fasting, but his heart

is filled with pain and wishes that he were healthy so
that he could observe fasting, and his heart weeps
for this, then angels will observe fasts on his behalf.
(Fiqah Ahmadiyya, pp. 294)
We can only make up for the loss of fasting if we know what

we are being deprived of. Similarly, if our health does not
allow us to perform Sajdah, then we will be deprived of the
blessings in this posture. There is a unique blessing in placing
our head on the ground and prostrating our body for Allah
Almighty. The special experience of observing this posture
cannot be replaced. The feeling that it creates in the heart
cannot be found in any other posture. If a person observes
prayers while sitting in a chair, then he offers a symbol of
prostration while sitting, but he cannot benefit from per-
forming this posture. The only way to make up for this loss is
to pray with the awareness and pain of what he is deprived of.
َ we should pray that
When we say ‘grant me health’ (‫)ع ِاف ِن ْي‬,
Allah Almighty grant us health so that we are not deprived
of the blessings in the physical acts of worship that Islam has
________O_________
taught.
‫َو ْاج ُب ْرِن ْي‬

and make good for me my shortcomings
The word Jabara means, ‘he set a bone; reduced it from a frac-
tured state;’ (Lane’s Lexicon, Root: ‫جبر‬, Entry: ‫)جبر‬. When
we break a bone, the way it has to be forced back into place
is a unique metaphor on the way certain spiritual illnesses
have to be treated. There is a parallel between the categories
of physical illnesses and spiritual illnesses. Different spiritual
illnesses require treatment with different spiritual medicines.
An example of this is homeopathic and allopathic med-
icine. With homeopathic medicines, the body’s own capac-
ities are used to overcome an illness. With allopathic med-
icines, a new substance has to be introduced into the body
to combat the illness. However, if a person breaks a bone, no
quantity of medicine will fix his fracture. The bone has to
be physically forced back into place and then held there for
weeks until it heals. These same realities exist in spirituality.
For example, some people just need to be reminded to
observe Salāt and they will become regular in it. They had
the inclination within themselves and only needed a home-
opathic remedy to bring that inner quality out. Then there
are some who only observe Salāt if they do it in congregation
with people; otherwise, they miss their prayers. They need
an external influence to combat their own disinclination
to Salāt. The spiritual medicine they need is an allopathic
Jilsah 163
medicine. Then there are some people who have become so

stubborn that they never observe prayers, and no amount of
reminders or good company changes that. They are similar
to the one who breaks a bone and lets it heal on its own and
harden in a crooked position. The fracture would continu-
ously bother them, but they were too afraid of the pain of
having it rebroken and realigned, so they learned to live with
the discomfort. Only after a tragedy happens that turns their
lives upside down do they suddenly realize that they need to
become aligned. Since the awareness of their spiritual health
is still alive, the calamity makes them run towards Salāt.
Their illness could not have been cured with medicine. They
learned to live with the pain of being separated from Allah,
and they knew that only a life-changing experience could
bring them back, but they were afraid to face it.
Wajburnī - Do make me spiritually and physically

well, do reform me. If something becomes crooked,
like a broken bone, then jabara is done. Wajburnī
means, “Do straighten those bones that have become
crooked, whether spiritual or physical.” (Tadrīs
Namāz, pp. 40)
ْ
When we say ‘make good for me my shortcomings’ (‫)اج ُب ْرِن ْي‬,
we express a willingness to face whatever treatment is needed
for our spiritual health. If we care about our physical health,
we will readily undergo whatever treatment is needed, no

matter how painful it is. We don’t leave a broken bone as
it is, we brace ourselves for what we know needs to be done.
We don’t go to the doctor and say that we will only accept a
treatment that does not involve pain. We go with a willing-
ness to accept whatever he says. Similarly, when we go to our
Lord seeking to save our spiritual life, we have to summon
the courage to bear whatever treatment is needed. There is
a science to spiritual illnesses. When we say ‘make good for
ْ we accept that reality, and we
me my shortcomings’ (‫)اج ُب ْرِن ْي‬,
put ourselves in the hands of our Lord, ready for any pro-
cedure that is needed to preserve our spiritual life. To ask
this prayer requires great courage and trust. This prayer is
between two prostrations, which are symbols of submission
to Allah Almighty. It is fitting that the prayer of ‘make good
ْ also be said in that spirit of
for me my shortcomings’ (‫)اج ُب ْرِن ْي‬
complete submission to the wisdom of Allah Almighty.
There are two types of ordeals in the path of religion.

One type is the ordeal suffered as a result of following
the Sharī‘ah [religious law], such as the performance
of worship, fasting, the Pilgrimage, and Zakat...
These are all Sharī‘ah related ordeals, and they carry a
reward with them. They make a person move towards
God, but there is within them a freedom for the per-
son. In performing these duties, he can find a way
Jilsah 165
that is of greatest comfort to him. For instance, in

cold weather, he can heat water for his ablutions. If he
is ill and cannot offer his prayers standing upright, he
may offer them in a sitting position. In the month of
Ramadan, he can eat well before dawn. Some people
spend even more than usual on their food during the
month of fasting. In short, in these Sharī‘ah related
ordeals, a person seeks out a way of most comfort for
himself. For this reason, it does not achieve a com-
plete cleansing and initiation to the different stages
of spiritual development quickly. However, the trib-
ulations that come from the heavens have to be borne
as man has no discretion over them. It is for this rea-
son that through them a person attains nearness to
God. (Malfuzāt (10 vol edition), vol. 10, pp. 82-83)
The calamities that come upon a person by Divine

decree happen unexpectedly, and when they come,
one has to bear them one way or another. This
becomes a means of the purification of his soul. Look
at martyrs, when they are killed during battle, God
considers them deserving of great rewards. The status
of nearness to God is given to them by Divine decree.
Otherwise, if they were commanded to slit their own
throats by themselves, then perhaps very few people
would turn out to be martyrs. (Tafsīr Hadrat Masīh
Mau’ud, vol. 2, pp. 276-277, 2:156)
These stages of reformation do not just apply to removing

sins, but to progressing in goodness as well. For example,
many people enlist in the Marines because they want to
develop a military-like discipline in their lives. Technically,
they could achieve the same standard of discipline at home
that is enforced in boot camp. But they know that no amount
of medicine can create in them the willpower needed to
achieve that. What they need is a cast that will hold them in
place for weeks until they form the habits they want. They
put themselves into boot camp where a standard of discipline
is forced on them for a period of time. Their drill instructors
do not deprive them of their free will because they volun-
tarily chose to have their choices taken away. One meaning
of Jabara is, ‘He compelled him, against his will, to do the
thing…inducing, another to restore a thing to a sound, right,
or good, state’ (Lane’s Lexicon, Root: ‫جبر‬, Entry: ‫)جبر‬. When
ْ we beg
we say ‘make good for me my shortcomings’ (‫)اج ُب ْرِن ْي‬,
Allah Almighty to force those reforms onto us that we so
badly desire, but we haven’t been able to find the willpower
needed. We beg Allah Almighty to cure our illnesses by
whatever treatments are necessary.
No matter which level we find ourselves in, we can all
benefit from being pushed to higher levels of excellence.
My nature is so inclined that it desires hardships

Jilsah 167
so that perfection can be achieved. (Tafsīr Hadrat
________O_________
Masīh Mau’ud, vol. 2, pp. 274, 2:156)
ُْ
‫َو ْارزق ِن ْي‬
and provide for me
While most of the prayers in Jilsah apply to our spiritual

َ and ‘provide for
needs, the prayers of ‘grant me health’ (‫)ع ِاف ِن ْي‬
ُْْ
me’ (‫)ارزق ِن ْي‬ apply primarily to our worldly needs.
The Holy Prophetsas advised someone to pray,
ْ
“O Allah, forgive me (‫)اغ ِف ْرِلي‬, have mercy upon me
(‫)ار َح ْم ِني‬, َ and provide for me
ْ grant me health (‫)ع ِاف ِني‬,
ُْْ
(‫)ارزق ِني‬,” and he collected his fingers together except
his thumb and said: “It is in these words (that there
is supplication) which sums up for you (the good) of
this world and that of the Hereafter. (Sahīh Muslim,
Our prayers for our worldly good are always to achieve

a higher purpose. If our prayers are only confined to the
world, then that prayer will not be a source of blessings. Our
material blessings are only a source of goodness if they are a

source of good in the hereafter as well.
There are some who keep supplicating: Lord, grant

us of the bounties of this world; these have no por-
tion of the Hereafter. There are others who pray:
Lord, grant us the best in this world as well as the
best in the world to come and safeguard us against
the torment of the Fire. It is these for whom there
will be a goodly recompense because of that which
they have earned. (2:201-202)
In Jilsah, the two worldly needs we pray for are health and
provisions. These two are necessary for our ability to per-
form outward acts of worship. In Qa‘dah, we will say that
‘All verbal worship is due to Allah and all physical acts of
worship and financial sacrifices.’ To perform physical acts
of worship, like Sajdah, or fasting, or the rites of Hajj, we
need to be healthy. To make financial sacrifices, like Zakat or
Sadaqah, we need provisions.
If a person does not have health, he will be deprived of
certain physical acts of worship. Similarly, if a person does
not have provisions, he will be deprived of the opportunity to
offer certain sacrifices. It is narrated in the Holy Quran that
there were people who wished to go for Jihad along with the
Holy Prophetsas but could not because of poor health, and
Jilsah 169
others who were healthy, but they initially had to be turned

away because they could not provide their own transport.
No blame lies on the weak, nor on the sick, nor on

those who find nothing to spend, if they are sincere
to Allah and His Messenger.…Nor against those
to whom, when they came to you that you should
mount them, you did say, ‘I cannot find whereon I
can mount you;’ they turned back, their eyes over-
flowing with tears, out of grief that they could not
find what they might spend. (9:90-91)
If we do not have the material provisions for offering sacri-

fices during a time of need, then although there is no blame
on us, we will be deprived of an opportunity. It is a loss that
can only be made up for with sincere prayers offered in the
pain of that loss. In Jilsah, we preemptively pray that we not
suffer any loss and that we not be deprived of any opportu-
nity to offer sacrifices for Allah Almighty.
When we say ‘grant me health’ (‫)ع ِاف ِن ْي‬ َ and ‘provide for
ْ ُ ْ we pray for the ability by which we will be able to
me’ (‫)ارزق ِن ْي‬,
perform physical acts of worship and offer financial sacrifices.
It is wrong when people say that there is no need to

ask for good in this world and that we should only
ask for good in the world to come. Physical health
and other things are how a person finds relief in this

world, and it is by means of it that he can do some-
thing for the hereafter. That is why this world is
referred to as a farm for the hereafter. (Tafsīr Hadrat
________O_________
Masīh Mau’ūd, vol. 2, pp. 370, 2:202)
َ
‫َو ْارف ْع ِن ْي‬
and raise me up
(The connection of exaltation [‫ ]رفعت‬with prostration, and the

َْ
wisdom of observing the prayer ‘raise me up’ [‫]ارف ْع ِن ْي‬ just before
Sajdah, has been covered under the chapter on Sajdah. Please
refer to that chapter for commentary on this prayer.)
Qa‘dah
In the very end is the Qa‘dah, which is a state of

tranquility after the Sajdah, in which, after pass-
ing through the stages of devotion and humility, an
individual enters the content servants of God the
Almighty. (Sīrat Khātamun Nabiyyīn, pp. 211, Seal of
the Prophets, vol. 1, pp. 286)
After the second Prostration, he sits down in the

same manner as he sat in the position called Jilsah.
This Sitting Position, at the end of the second Rak‘at
is called Qa‘dah. During this position Tashahhud
is recited silently, which is as follows: (Salāt-The
Muslim Prayer Book, pp. 46)
ُ َّ ‫ات َا َّلس َال ُم َع َل ْي َك َا ُّي َه‬ َّ َ ُ َ َ َّ َ َّ ُ َّ َّ َ
ُ ‫الطي َب‬
ِ‫االن ِب ُّي َو َر ْح َمة هللا‬ ِ ‫ل والصلوات و‬ ِ ِ ‫الت ِحيات‬
ُ‫الصا ِل ِح ْي َن َا ْش َه ُد َا ْن َّال اِ َل َه اِ َّال هللا‬ َّ ِ‫َو َب َر َك ُات ُه َا َّلس َال ُم َع َل ْي َنا َو َع َلى ِع َب ِاد هللا‬
ُ َّ َ ْ َ
‫َواش َه ُد ان ُم َح َّم ًدا َع ْب ُد ُه َو َر ُس ْول ُه‬
All verbal worship is due to Allah and all physical
acts of worship and financial sacrifices, peace be

on you, O prophet, and the mercy of Allah and
His blessings, peace be on us, and on the righteous
servants of Allah.
I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship
except Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is
His servant and Messenger.
After reciting Tashahhud, the invocation of blessings

on the Holy Prophetsas called Durūd (Assalātu-‘alan-
nabī) and some other prayers are recited silently.
(Salāt-The Muslim Prayer Book, pp. 48)
َ َ َّ َ َ َ ِّ َّ َ
‫الل ُه َّم َصل َعلى ُم َح َّم ٍد َّو َعلى ِآل ُم َح َّم ٍد ك َمـا َصل ْي َت َعلى اِ ْب َر ِاه ْي َم َو َعلى ِآل‬
َ َ َ ْ َّ َ َ َّ
‫اِ ْب َر ِاه ْي َم اِ نك َح ِم ْي ٌد َّم ِج ْي ٌد الل ُه َّم َب ِـارك َعلى ُم َح َّم ٍد َّو َعلى ِآل ُم َح َّم ٍد ك َمـا‬
َ َّ َ َ ْ
‫َب َـار ك َت َعلى اِ ْب َر ِاه ْي َم َو َعلى ِآل اِ ْب َر ِاه ْي َم اِ نك َح ِم ْي ٌد َّم ِج ْي ٌد‬
O Allah, bless Muhammad and his people, as
You did bless Ibrāhīm and his people. You are
indeed the Praiseworthy, the Glorious. O Allah,
prosper Muhammad and his people, as You did
prosper Ibrāhīm and his people. You are indeed the
Praiseworthy, the Glorious.
After Durūd, we can observe any of several different prayers

that the Holy Prophetsas is narrated to have observed at the
end of Salāt, including 2:202 and 14:41-42 of the Holy
Quran.
Qa‘dah 173
َ ‫ال ِخ َر ِۃ َح َس َن ًۃ َّو ِق َنا َع َذ‬

َّ ‫اب‬
‫الن ِار‬
ٰۡ ً ۡ ُّ
‫الدن َیا َح َس َنۃ َّو ِفی‬
ٰ ۤ
‫َر َّب َنا ا ِت َنا ِفی‬
Our Lord, grant us good in this world as well as
good in the world to come, and protect us from the
torment of the Fire.
ۡ ٓ ۡ ََ ُ َ َّ َ ُ ۡ َ ۡ ِّ َ
‫ٱلصل ِوة َو ِمن ذ ِّر يَّ ِتي َر َّب َنا َوتق َّبل ُد َعا ِء ۝ َر َّب َنا ٱغ ِف ۡر ِلي‬ ‫رب ٱجعل ِني م ِقيم‬
ُ َ ۡ ُ ُ َ َ ۡ َ َ ۡ ُ ۡ َ َّ َ َٰ َ
‫وِلوِلدي و ِللمؤ ِم ِنين يوم يقوم ٱل ِحساب ۝‬
My Lord, make me observe Prayer, and my children
too. Our Lord! Do accept my prayer. Our Lord,
grant forgiveness to me and to my parents and to
the believers on the day when the reckoning will
take place.
After reciting one or more of these prayers, the Imam

turns his face towards the right and says Assalāmu
‘Alaikum wa Rahmatullāh, i.e. peace be upon you
and the mercy of Allah, and then turns his face
towards the left and repeats Assalāmu ‘Alaikum wa
Rahmatullāh, to mark the end of the Prayer. (Salāt-
The Muslim Prayer Book, pp. 52)
ُ ُ َ َ َ
ِ‫ا َّلسال ُم َعليك ْم َو َر ْح َمة هللا‬
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.
َّ َ ُ َ َ َّ َ َّ ُ َّ َّ َ
ُ ‫الطي َب‬
‫ات‬ ِ ‫ل والصلوات و‬ ِ ِ ‫الت ِحيات‬
All verbal worship is due to Allah and all physical
acts of worship and financial sacrifices
The word Tahiyyah means, “Continuance, or endurance; or

endless, or everlasting, existence.” (Lane’s Lexicon, Root: ‫حى‬,
ٌ َ
Entry: ‫)ت ِح َّية‬
Hadrat Khalīfatul Masīh IV rta explained that when we
say at-tahiyyātu lillāh in Salāt, we say, “O Allah, endless life
is yours, and we attain life from that life.” (Darsul Quran, Al
Nisā: 85-89, @ 1:01:15, 26 Dec 1998)
Also, at-tahiyyātu lillāh means that all worships and
pious intentions are exclusively for Allah and they are means
of establishing a relationship with Allah the Almighty.
Verbal,
Physical,
When the words at-tahiyyāt, as-salawāt and at-tayyibāt are
and read together, then in this context, the words take the mean-
Financial
ing of verbal and physical worship and financial sacrifice.
Hadrat Zainul ‘Ābidīn Waliyullāh Shāhra explained,
Tahiyyah are those words of reverence by which

kings used to be addressed. This tahiyyah did not just
have titles of praise, it also included prayers for the
protection of these kings. Because of this, the word
tahiyyah was adopted, which is derived from hayāt
(life). The meaning of at-tahiyyāt is that all of the
Qa‘dah 175
titles of reverence and words of praise and prayers

by which worldly kings and deities are addressed are
only the right of Allah, meaning all worship of the
tongue is only for Allah. (Bukhārī Commentary, vol.
2, pp. 231)
Very early on, the Companionsra used to pray for Allah in

the way that subjects pray for a king. However, the Holy
Prophetsas corrected them and taught that they cannot pray
for Allah the way they used to pray for kings. Also, he taught
them that only Allah is deserving of the type of praise that
subjects would wrongly give to their kings.
Hadrat Abdullāh ibn Masudra narrated,
When we prayed with the Prophetsas we used to say,

“Peace (as-Salām) be on Allah from His slaves and
peace be on so and so.” The Prophetsas said, “Don’t
say peace be on Allah, for He Himself is The Source
of Peace (As-Salām), but say, at-tahiyyātu lillāhi was-
salawātu wat-tayyibātu...” (Sahīh Bukhārī, Book 10,
Chapter 150)
Explaining these words, Hadrat Khalīfatul Masīh Ira said,
“At-tahiyyātu lillāh means that all praise and gratitude

that can be expressed by the tongue are only for God
and should be only for God.” Explaining as-salawāt,
hera said, “Gratitude expressed by the body and wor-

ship done by the body, like Sajdah, Hajj, fasting, and
Salāt, is also only for Allah.” Explaining at-tayyibāt,
hera said, “All worship through financial sacrifice is
also only for Allah.…Gratitude expressed by financial
sacrifice should only be for Allah.” (Khutbāt-e-Nur,
pp. 462)
All three of these expressions have an emphasis on gratitude.

Qa‘dah is a posture of tranquillity and contentment after
Sajdah; it is fitting that we express in it our gratitude. After
having experienced the favours of Allah Almighty in Sajdah,
we say that now everything should be an expression of grat-
itude for the favours Allah Almighty has given us. We say
that even if all our verbal and physical acts of worship and
financial sacrifice were expressions of gratitude, they would
be insufficient.
The order in these words describe the natural progres-
sion from faith expressed through words, then through
actions, and then through financial sacrifice. This process
is described in the Holy Quran as well, where it mentions,
‘those who recite the Book of Allah and observe Prayer and
spend out of what We have provided for them’ (35:30).
Hadrat Nūruddīnra, explaining Qa‘dah in a sermon
before Khilāfat, said,
By reflecting on the beauty and favours of God

Almighty, our heart and mind create an excitement
Qa‘dah 177
because of the greatness of God. Then, the effect of

that excitement shows itself on the tongue when it
starts expressing words of praise. Then, it affects our
limbs, and we stand in respect, bow down, prostrate,
and perform acts of reverence. This effect does not
remain confined here, rather, it affects a person’s
wealth, and he spends his beloved and pure wealth
without hesitation for the pleasure of God. He
includes his wealth in the worship of God done by his
mind, tongue, and body, and this is called at-tayyibāt,
which has been expressed with the words “financial
sacrifice,” and it is the right of only Allah Almighty.
(Khutbāt-e-Nur, pp. 300)
These three stages describe a progression in difficulty. Verbal

worship comes easiest, physical acts of worship require
greater sacrifice, and the most difficult is financial sacrifice.
We present our worship to Allah Almighty as a gift. All gifts are

for Allah
Firstly, our worship is not a tax, it is a gift. When we give
a tax, we do so because we are forced to. However, a gift is
given willingly and with happiness. (Khutbāt-e-Tāhir, vol. 4,
pp. 1003, 20 Dec 1985) Also, in a tax, people try to give as
little as possible. If they have to give part of their property
or possessions, they find the worst portion they can to give.
However, with a gift, we try to find the best thing we can
give. (Khutbāt-e-Tāhir, vol. 3, pp. 209, 13 April 1984) In the
initial stages of spirituality, we do have to force ourselves to

establish a basic discipline in worship. Sometimes, we try to
do the bare minimum in fulfilling our spiritual obligations.
In these stages, offering our worship as a tax is acceptable
because it is better than offering nothing at all. This kind of
behaviour is tolerable from someone in spiritual childhood
who is just learning the ways of expressing love, but it is not
acceptable from an adult. If a husband finds the cheapest
thing he can get away with, and he gives it to his wife like
an obligation he is trying to get rid of, we can call that a tax,
but we cannot call it a gift. When we present any sacrifice
to Allah Almighty, we should find in our heart a willingness
to offer the best that we can. For it to be a gift, we should
not feel regret that we could have given less, if anything, we
should feel regret that perhaps we could have given more.
Only then can it be considered a gift.
Secondly, our worship is not a sale, it is a gift. If a per-
son gives a gift as if he is buying something and expects a gift
in return, then this mentality is so disgraceful that it ruins
the concept of gifts. (Khutbāt-e-Tāhir, vol. 10, pp. 631-
633, 2 Aug 1991) In the initial stages of spirituality, some
are motivated when they hear stories of how people mirac-
ulously received financial rewards after their worship. Some
people need materialistic incentives to move towards spirit-
uality, but this approach is only tolerable as an initial stage
of spirituality. Sacrificing with that intention can be called
an attempt at a sale, but it cannot be called a gift. A gift is
Qa‘dah 179
given without any expectation; rather, it is given with hope.

When we buy something, we expect to receive something in
return. We can force someone to give us what we purchased
because that is our right. But we can never force someone to
give us a gift in response to our gift. We give a gift in the hope
that it will be accepted as a token of our love, hoping that
we will receive a reciprocation of love. Love is given volun-
tarily. If a person expresses his love and then feels entitled to
receive love in return, the idea of loving that person becomes
repugnant. A sale is a transaction with guarantees in it. A gift
can never be a sale because there are no guarantees in it. It is
________O_________
based on hope, not expectation.
ُ َ ُ َّ ‫َا َّلس َال ُم َع َل ْي َك َا ُّي َها‬

‫الن ِب ُّي َو َر ْح َمة هللاِ َو َب َركات ُه‬
Peace be on you, O prophet, and the mercy of Allah
and His blessings
Sacrificing
Three points were just recited, 1. verbal, 2. physical, and 3. our reward
financial. Three prayers now follow them, 1. peace, 2. mercy,
and 3. blessings. These three points and three prayers are
correlated.
1. Verbal worship (‫ات‬ ُ ‫ َ)ا َّلت ِح َّي‬correlates with peace

َ َ
(‫)ا َّلسال ُم‬.
2. Physical acts of worship (‫ات‬ َّ ‫ َ)ا‬correlate with
ُ ‫لص َل َو‬
ُ َ
mercy (‫)ر ْح َمة‬.
ُ ‫لطي َب‬ َّ َ
3. Financial sacrifices (‫ات‬ ِ ‫ )ا‬correlate with bless-
ُ َ ََ
ings (‫)بركات‬.
(Risālah Durud Sharīf by Hadrat Muhammad Ismaīl

Halālpurīra, pp. 219-220)
This style of correlation (‫ )لف و نشر‬is also found in many

places in the Holy Quran.
َ َ َ َ َ
When we say ‘peace be on you, O prophet’ (‫ا َّلسال ُم َعل ْيك ا ُّي َها‬
َّ we pray that any reward we receive for our verbal wor-
‫)الن ِب ُّي‬,
ship (‫ات‬ ُ ‫ َ)ا َّلت ِح َّي‬descend on the Holy Prophetsas in the form of
َ َ ُ َ
peace (‫)ا َّلسال ُم‬. When we say ‘and the mercy of Allah’ ( ِ‫)و َر ْح َمة هللا‬,
we pray that any reward we receive for our physical acts of
worship (‫ات‬ َّ ‫ َ)ا‬descend on the Holy Prophetsas in the form
ُ ‫لص َل َو‬
ُ َ ُ َ َ
of mercy (‫)ر ْح َمة‬. When we say ‘and His blessings’ (‫)و َب َركات ُه‬, we
pray that any reward we receive for our financial sacrifices
َّ َ
ُ ‫لطي َب‬
(‫ات‬ ِ ‫ )ا‬descend on the Holy Prophetsas in the form of bless-
ُ َ ََ
ings (‫)بركات‬. This sentiment of prayer is in line with a Durūd
of the Promised Messiahas where heas prayed,
My Lord, whatever you intend to give me of rewards,

give it to the Holy Prophetsas. Then, forgive me by
Your favour. (Ruhānī Khazāin, vol. 18, pp. 204)
Qa‘dah 181
At first, this prayer may seem difficult because of how great

a sacrifice it is. It is easier for us to sacrifice our time or our
wealth in the hope of reward from Allah, but the thought
of sacrificing the reward itself may have never crossed our
mind. However, the highest point of love is where we find
a willingness to sacrifice everything for someone we love.
For example, many times, when people make major financial
contributions, they want to make that sacrifice on behalf of
their late parents. They think of how they only have wealth
because of how much their parents sacrificed for their edu-
cation and upbringing. They think of all the hardships their
parents went through to raise them, and they wish their par-
ents could have enjoyed the same comforts they now can.
When they finally have the chance to make a major financial
contribution for the sake of Allah Almighty, the only desire
they have in their hearts is that the reward of that sacrifice
somehow go to their parents. They remember that it was
their parents who instilled the spirit of sacrifice in them, so
this sacrifice actually belongs to them. They remember that
it was their parents who raised them with the education
needed to earn wealth, so this wealth actually belongs to
them. Their desire to give their reward has no reservations in
it. Their greatest happiness would be in knowing their sacri-
fice was accepted, and all of the reward went to their parents.
A man said to Allah’s Messengersas, “My mother died,

will it benefit her if I give in charity on her behalf ?”
The Prophetsas replied in the affirmative. The man

said, “I have a garden, and I make you a witness that
I give it in charity on her behalf.” (Sahīh Bukhārī,
As our love for someone grows, so does our desire to sacrifice

for them. We are willing to sacrifice our time, our wealth,
even our life for someone we love. But the most valuable
thing we have is the reward we hope to receive from Allah
Almighty for our actions. We may find a willingness to sac-
rifice our life for many people because we hope for a reward
from Allah Almighty for that sacrifice. However, if we look
in our heart, we will not find a willingness to sacrifice our
reward for anyone. Only when our heart is filled with an
overwhelming anguish to somehow express our love for
someone, only in the most extreme expression of that love,
there we find a willingness, and in fact a desire, to sacrifice
our reward for them.
When we think of how much we have gained through
the Holy Prophetsas, we realize that it is only through himsas
that we have learned the ways of loving Allah Almighty.
Hadrat Musleh Mau‘ūdra explained that some people are
so exalted in their nearness to Allah Almighty that we can-
not truly recognize them until we have recognized Allah
Almighty. However, there is a stage higher than that. That
stage is where we cannot truly recognize Allah Almighty
unless we recognize that person. Rejection of that person
Qa‘dah 183
results in disbelief in God. (Anwārul ‘Ulūm, vol. 4, pp. 628-

629, Taqdīre Ilāhi)
That person is the Holy Prophetsas. We have recognized
our Allah by following the example of the Holy Prophetsas.
When we recognize the Holy Prophetsas as our spiritual
father and realize the blessings we have received through
himsas, then a love for himsas is born that is greater than we
could ever have for our parents. Every reward from Allah
Almighty is a reminder that He gave this to us through our
following the example of the Holy Prophetsas, and if we had
rejected himsas, we would never have received it.
When we recite the prayers in Qa‘dah, we should remem-
ber the stages of verbal worship, physical worship, and finan-
cial sacrifice that we have gone through. First, our heart is
moved to express itself through verbal worship. When we
say, ‘Peace be on you, O prophet,’ we think of the effort we
have made to make all of our verbal worship only for Allah,
and then we pray that any reward of that effort descend as
َ َ
peace (‫ )ا َّلسال ُم‬on the Holy Prophetsas. Second, our heart is
moved to express itself through physical acts of worship,
and this is more difficult. When we say, ‘and the mercy of
Allah,’ we think of the greater effort we have made to make
all of our physical worship only for Allah, and then we pray
ُ
that any reward of that effort descend as mercy (‫ َ)ر ْح َمة‬on the
Holy Prophetsas. Third, our heart is moved to express itself
through financial sacrifice, and this is more difficult. When
we say, ‘and His blessings,’ we think of the even greater
effort we have made to make all our financial sacrifices only

for Allah, and then we pray that any reward of that effort
ُ ‫ َ)ب َر َك‬on the Holy Prophetsas.
descend as blessings (‫ات‬
These prayers are not a sacrifice; they are a pleasure that
can only be felt by a person who loves the Holy Prophetsas
more than he loves himself.
Addressing When we say, ‘Peace be on you, O prophet,’ we speak in the

the Holy
Prophetsas second person, but that does not mean that we address the
directly? Holy Prophetsas directly. To understand the wisdom in this
style of expression, we can look at how we pray for people
when we visit the graveyard.
When the Holy Prophetsas visited a graveyard, he prayed,
Peace be upon you, O inhabitants of the grave!

(Tirmidhī, Book 10, Chapter 59)
For this reason, whenever we visit a graveyard, we also say,

‘Peace be upon you, O inhabitants of the grave!’ We say this
because the remains of the people buried there remind us of
them in such a way that we feel as if they are in front of us.
This feeling does not mean that they are really present or
that they can hear us. It is simply a natural expression of how
we feel at that time and place.
Salāt is also a reminder of the Holy Prophetsas. Every
word we say and every action we perform is in meticulous
following of the example of the Holy Prophetsas. We strive
Qa‘dah 185
to observe Salāt in the same spirit with which the Seal of the
Prophetssas would recite it. Our Salāt is blessed if it carries
the impression of hissas seal. We pray in the second person
because Salāt reminds us of himsas in such a way that we feel
as if hesas is in front of us. In Qa‘dah, when we sit in a posture
of tranquillity and contentment because of what we have
gained from Allah Almighty in prostration, we express our
happiness and gratitude to Allah. Then, we express our grat-
itude and love for the Holy Prophetsas by praying for him in
a uniquely personal way, in the second person.
In one way, the general Durūd [O Allah, bless Muhammad
and his people] is more personal because we refer to the Holy
Prophetsas by his name, but it is less personal because we refer
to him in the third person. This specific Durūd in Qa‘dah is
less personal because we refer to the Holy Prophetsas by his
status of Prophet, but it is more personal because we refer to
him in the second person.
Hadrat Ghulām Rasūl Rājīkīra explained that there is
a reason for using the words ‘O prophet’ rather than ‘O
Muhammad’, and for having it in the second person. When
a believer reaches the final part of Salāt, he has reached that
lofty status of spirituality for which prayer has been called
the ascension of the believer. Now he does not just see the
person of Muhammadsas, he sees Muhammadsas in the glory
of prophethood. Witnessing the light of prophethood, he
sees the truth of the secret of prophethood as if it is in front
of him, and he expresses this state by speaking in the second
person and saying, ‘Peace be on you, O prophet.’ (Hayāte
________O_________
Qudsī, pp. 614-615)
َ َ َ
‫ا َّلسال ُم َعل ْي َنا‬
Peace be on us
One of the etiquettes of prayer is to observe Durūd before we

pray for ourselves. Whether we pray for ourselves in Qiyām,
Rukū‘, Sajdah, or any other time, we should always follow
the pattern of prayer that Qa‘dah has taught us. That pattern
is that we should first glorify Allah Almighty, then we should
observe Durūd, then we should pray for ourselves.
The Messenger of Allahsas heard a person supplicating

during prayer. He did not mention the greatness of
Allah, nor did he invoke blessings on the Prophetsas.
The Messenger of Allahsas said: “He made haste.”
He then called him and said, “If any of you prays,
he should mention the exaltation of his Lord in the
beginning and praise Him; he should then invoke
blessings on the Prophetsas; thereafter he should sup-
plicate Allah for anything he wishes.” (Abu Dāwud,
Qa‘dah 187
It is a natural expression of submission to Allah Almighty

that if we find that Allah loves someone more than He loves
us, then we also love that person more than we love ourselves.
The purpose of worship is to lose ourselves in the Being of
Allah Almighty and become a reflection of Him. This is why
the Holy Prophetsas said,
None of you will have faith till he loves me more

than his father, his children and all mankind. (Sahīh
Bukhārī, Book 2, Chapter 8)
Since Allah Almighty loved the Holy Prophetsas most in all

mankind, we also do the same. Since Allah Almighty sends
blessings on the Holy Prophetsas, we also do the same.
Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet.

O ye who believe! you also should invoke blessings
on him and salute him with the salutation of peace.
(33:57)
The meaning of Islam is submission, and Salāt is an exercise

in submission. When we develop the quality of submission
to Allah Almighty, then preferring the Holy Prophetsas over
ourselves comes naturally. To act against this urge is to act
against submission to Allah. That is why prayers are only
truly accepted when they carry an expression of submission
by being accompanied by Durūd.
Hadrat ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattābra narrated, ‘Indeed the

supplication stops between the heavens and the earth.
Nothing of it is raised up until you send Salāt upon your
Prophet.’ (Tirmidhī, Book 3, Chapter 21)
When a prayer for ourselves is accompanied by an even
more fervent prayer for blessings on the Holy Prophetsas,
then that prayer becomes an expression of submission to
Allah Almighty.
‘Peace be on us’ or ‘peace be on you’ is a prayer that we com-
monly observe. However, in Qa‘dah, it becomes an extraor-
dinary prayer because of its placement. Earlier, the intensity
of our love had made us want to sacrifice our rewards for the
Holy Prophetsas. Here, we see that our love makes us want
to sacrifice our prayers for the Holy Prophetsas. We pray for
peace on ourselves only after we have prayed for peace on
the Holy Prophetsas. In fact, we offer a more comprehensive
prayer for the Holy Prophetsas than we do for ourselves by
not just praying for peace, but also that the mercy and the
blessings of Allah be upon himsas
This prayer teaches us to make all of our prayers extraor-
dinary. Whenever we need to pray for ourselves, no matter
how desperate we are, we should forget about ourselves for
a moment and pray first for the Holy Prophetsas with greater
fervency than the prayer we offer for ourselves. Imagine how
beautiful that prayer is in the sight of Allah Almighty. He
sees how anxious we are and how urgently we need some-
thing, but just out of our love for Allah, we forget about our
Qa‘dah 189
need for a moment and first pray with greater sincerity for
that person who was the most beloved to our Allah. This
approach makes our prayer an expression of love for Allah
________O_________
Almighty.
َّ ِ‫َو َع َلى ِع َب ِاد هللا‬

‫الصا ِل ِح ْي َن‬
and on the righteous servants of Allah
In a discourse before Khilāfat, Hadrat Nūruddīnra men-

tioned the following story from the poetry in the Masnavi
of Rūmīrta,
There (once) was a merchant. And he had a parrot,

imprisoned in a cage-- a beautiful parrot. (Now)
when the merchant prepared for a journey (and)
was about to travel to India, ...he said to the parrot,
“What present from the journey do you want, so
that I may bring it to you from the region of India.”
The parrot answered him, “When you see the par-
rots there, explain my situation (and) say, “The par-
rot so-and-so, who is yearning to see you, is in my
prison by the decree of the heavens. She sends you
greetings of peace and wants justice, and desires a

remedy and the path of right guidance. She said, “Is
it proper that I, in (such a state of ) yearning, should
give (up my) life here (and) die in separation? Is it
right that I (should be) in (such) strict bondage,
while you (are) sometimes on the green grass (and)
sometimes on the trees? Is the faithfulness of (true)
friends like this, (that) I (am) in prison and you (are)
in the rose garden?”...The man of trade accepted this
message (and agreed) that he would deliver the greet-
ing from her to (her own) kind. When he reached
the farthest regions of India, he saw some parrots in
a wilderness. ...he delivered the greeting and returned
that (which he had been given in) trust. Among
those parrots, one parrot trembled greatly, fell, died,
and stopped breathing… The merchant finished his
trading (and) returned to (his) home... The parrot
said, “Where is (this) slave’s present? Tell what you
saw and said!”...He replied, “I told your complaints
to a group of your fellow parrots. “That one parrot--
her heart broke from getting wind of your pain, and
she trembled and died”...When she heard about what
that parrot did, she then trembled, fell, and became
cold. When the master saw her fallen like this,…he
threw her out of the cage. The little parrot flew to a
high branch... The merchant ...said, “O nightingale,
share a portion (of wisdom) with us in explanation of
Qa‘dah 191
the situation. What did (that parrot) do so that you

learned (something), prepared a trick, and burned us
(with sorrow)?” The parrot answered, “She gave me
advice by her (very) action, meaning, “Escape from
(attachment to) elegance of voice and joyful expan-
sion [of your breast in song]. Because your voice is
keeping you in shackles.” She herself acted dead for
the sake of (sending me) this advice, Meaning, “O
(you who) have become a singer to (both) com-
moners and the elite: become ‘dead’ like me so that
you may find deliverance!” (Masnavi, Book 1, The
Merchant and the Parrot, translation from dar-al-
masnavi.org)
After mentioning this story, Hadrat Nūruddīnra said,
Similarly, when we send peace and salutations on the

prophets and on “the righteous servants of Allah”
(‫الصا ِل ِح ْي َن‬
َّ ِ‫)ع َب ِاد هللا‬,
ِ its purport is, “O souls that have
attained salvation! O holy and chosen people of God!
You have attained salvation and, having come in
accordance with the verse, “Allah is well pleased with
them, and they are well pleased with Him” (5:120),
you have attained the nearness of God. Please, some-
how tell us a way by which we can be saved from the
bitterness and sins of this world and, becoming cho-
sen, we can also come under the shade of the pleasure
of God. (Irshādāte Nur, vol. 1, pp. 377, Hayāt-e-Nur,

pp. 317)
When we pray for peace on the righteous servants of Allah,

we can picture ourselves as the bird in the cage sending greet-
________O_________
ings of peace to the birds in the garden.
ُ َّ َ ْ َ ُ َّ َ َ َّ ْ َ ُ َ ْ َ
‫هللا َواش َه ُد ان ُم َح َّم ًدا َع ْب ُد ُه َو َر ُس ْول ُه‬ ‫اشهد ان ال اِ له اِ ال‬
I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship
except Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is
His servant/worshipper and Messenger
Giving
testimony
Hadrat Khalīfatul Masīh IVrta explained that when we bear
witness, we should ask ourselves what personal knowledge
we have of Allah Almighty based on which we are in a posi-
tion to give testimony. What new knowledge have we gained
about Allah Almighty that we are justified to again give tes-
timony in Salāt that there is none worthy of worship except
Allah? (Khutbāt-e-Tāhir, vol. 15, pp. 577-581, 7/26/1996)
In Thanā’ , we said that ‘there is none worthy of worship
except You,’ but here we say that we ‘bear witness that there is
none worthy of worship except Allah.’ Our bearing witness
Qa‘dah 193
here means that we have seen something from that time up

until now. Thanā’ brought us to the point of ihsān, where we
worship Allah as if we are seeing Him. The testimony here
is a culmination of what we have witnessed in that state of
ihsān. When we say ‘I bear witness’, we can think of what
we saw of Allah Almighty in the glorifications of Qiyām. We
can think of the ‘Azmat [Greatness] of Allah Almighty that
we saw in Rukū‘. We can think of the heights of Al-A‘lā [the
Most High] that we saw in Sajdah. When we give testimony
based on what we witnessed in Salāt, that testimony carries
weight.
Similarly, we ‘bear witness that Muhammad is His wor-
shipper and Messenger.’ In Salāt, we experience so many
blessings of obedience of the Holy Prophetsas that when we
reach Qa‘dah, we pray for him as if hesas is in front of us. Just
before this Shahādah, we prayed for the Holy Prophetsas in
the second person. When we bear witness to hissas truth, our
testimony carries weight because it is based on what we have
witnessed in front of us. When we say, ‘I bear witness that
Muhammad is His worshipper and messenger,’ we declare
that we have experienced such blessings in the words of wor-
ship in Salāt that they could only have been taught to us by a
true worshipper of Allah.
Hadrat Khalīfatul Masīh IVrta said that this testimony in
Qa‘dah is not theoretical, it is based on experience. (Dhauqe
‘Ibādat, pp. 512)
Our experience of the blessings in Salāt bear witness to

the unity of Allah and the truth of His messenger.
This testimony can also serve as a self-analysis on the
quality of the Rak‘at we just completed. The statement ‘I bear
witness’ is subjective; it can only be as true as our experience
is. If our Salāt was a means of experiencing the presence of
Allah Almighty, then the words ‘I bear witness’ will be a true
and heartfelt testimony. If our Salāt went by in distraction,
then ‘I bear witness’ will be an empty testimony. The words
‘I bear witness’ are entirely a reflection on ourselves. In that
reflection, we can see with clarity the reality of our Salāt.
Raising
our index
When we say that ‘there is none worthy of worship except
finger Allah,’ we are saying that we are a worshipper of only Allah
Almighty. Immediately after this, we say that ‘Muhammad
is His worshipper [‫]ع ْب ُد‬.’
َ We say that we are a worshipper of
Allah, but then we are told what a true worshipper is, and we
are reminded that the greatest worshipper of Allah Almighty
was the Holy Prophetsas. Thus, the spirit with which the Holy
Prophetsas worshipped Allah Almighty is the standard of
excellence for our worship. So what is the difference between
our worship and the worship of the Holy Prophetsas?
The Holy Prophetsas did not say, “O Allah, besides

You and besides me, everyone else in the world is
nothing.” Generally when people say, “there is none
Qa‘dah 195
worthy of worship except Allah,” in reality, they are

saying, “O Allah, there is only Your Being and my
being, nothing else.” But the Holy Prophetsas showed
with hissas entire life that, “I am also nothing, there
nothing except Allah.” (Dhauqe ‘Ibādat, pp. 499)
When we bear witness that there is none worthy of worship

except Allah, then we negate everything other than Allah
Almighty. Not only should the world become nothing, but
we should also become nothing ourselves. It is easier to let
go of the world than it is to let go of ourselves. When we
say, ‘I bear witness that Muhammad is His worshipper [‫]ع ْب ُد‬,
َ ’
we should ask ourselves if our statement of Shahādah as a
worshipper [‫]ع ْب ُد‬
َ was like the Shahādah of the greatest wor-
shippersas of Allah.
We raise our index finger when giving testimony to
the unity of Allah. We thus give a physical symbol of that
unity along with our words. This symbol adds emphasis to
the expression and reminds us that everything except Allah
Almighty is nothing.
When only Allah is left, and His Unity is established in
our hearts, there is no room for love for anyone else. The
world disappears, and the desire to impress people also starts
to disappear. We disappear, and our arrogance also starts to
disappear. If we still see any importance in ourselves as we sit
in front of Allah Almighty, then we should have raised two
fingers instead of one: one for Allah Almighty and one for
ourselves. When we ‘bear witness that there is none worthy

of worship except Allah,’ we should look in our heart to see if
our existence has any importance in that moment. If it does
not, then our index finger gives true testimony that indeed
there is only The One and no one else.
The Holy Prophetsas said,
It (the index finger) is harder on Satan than (being

beaten with) iron. (Musnad Ahmad, narrated by
________O_________
‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Umar, 5964)
َ َّ َ َ َ ِّ َّ َ
‫الل ُه َّم َصل َعلى ُمَ َح َّم ٍد َّو َعلى ِآل ُ َّم ََح َّم ٍد ك َ ٌما َصل ْي ٌ َت َعلى‬
‫اِ ْب َر ِاه ْي َم َو َعلى ِآل اِ ْب َر ِاه ْي َم اِ نك َح ِم ْيد َّم ِج ْيد‬
َ ْ َ َ َ ْ َّ َ
‫الل ُه َّم َب ِـارك َعلى ُمَ َح َّم ٍد َّو َعلى ِآل ُ َّم ََح َّم ٍد ك َ ٌما َب َـارك ٌ َت َعلى‬
‫اِ ْب َر ِاه ْي َم َو َعلى ِآل اِ ْب َر ِاه ْي َم اِ نك َح ِم ْيد َّم ِج ْيد‬
O Allah, bless Muhammad and his people, as
You did bless Ibrāhīm and his people. You are
indeed the Praiseworthy, the Glorious. O Allah,
prosper Muhammad and his people, as You did
Qa‘dah 197
prosper Ibrāhīm and his people. You are indeed the

Praiseworthy, the Glorious.
Reading
If we don’t have a personal attachment with the Holy biography
Prophetsas, then the name Muhammad will not mean much of the Holy
Prophetsas
to us. Durūd will feel like a formality because we’re pray-
ing for someone we don’t really know. When we see people
become emotional at a Sīratun Nabī Jalsah or when they’re
talking about the Holy Prophetsas, we’ll feel awkward, like
we’re missing out on something. We want to develop this
attachment with the Holy Prophetsas, but sometimes we
don’t know how. The solution is simple; it is reading the
biography of the Holy Prophetsas. This method of develop-
ing an attachment is so simple that if we read the biography
of any historical figure, by the time we finish, we will feel like
we know them personally.
This method is so effective that it can be seen in the
lasting influence that even fictional characters have on us.
When we read a novel or watch a movie that immerses us in
its world, we feel like we live in that world. Sometimes when
we’re daydreaming, we imagine that world, or even ourselves
as being in that world. A good story follows a method for
taking us on its journey. We begin our journey by identifying
with the main character in the exposition. We live through
all of their struggles in the rising action. In the climax, we feel
their victory as if it is our victory. By the end of the story, we
feel as if we have been on an epic journey with people who
we now know. If the story is a tragedy and it is told well, then

we are so saddened when the main character dies that we cry.
We feel as if we lost someone we knew personally. We know
that this character does not exist, we know this is fiction and
that every character is imaginary, but knowing all of this, we
still cry. This is the power of narrative. When we follow a
character through the journey of their life, we develop such
a strong personal attachment with them that it can stay with
us for years.
If this is the effect that a fictional story can have on us,
a nonfiction story can have a far more significant impact.
When we read a well-written biography of any historical fig-
ure, it immerses us in their era, and we feel like we lived their
life with them. If we see the legacy of that person in the world
today, it takes on a more personal value. If, as a minimum, we
take this simple approach to our reading of the biography
of the Holy Prophetsas, it will be of immense spiritual bene-
fit. When we read about his birth and childhood, we should
immerse ourselves in the culture and society of Arabia in that
century. As we read about hissas youth, we should imagine
navigating the streets of Mecca. We should become an ordi-
nary person living day to day life in Arabia. As we read about
hissas prophethood and all of the trials hesas went through, we
should imagine that we were there at every step ready to offer
any sacrifice, that we experienced each event as if it were an
event in our own lives. When we read about hissas demise, we
should feel the loss personally and mourn hissas passing.
Qa‘dah 199
There are many people who are called Muslims

and who express faith in the Holy Prophetsas, their
entire lives go by, but they never realize that a very
great calamity came upon them with the demise of
the Holy Prophetsas. This is because they did not see
the era of the Holy Prophetsas. They do not see himsas
in the way that the Companionsra saw himsas. As far
as loss goes, those who came afterwards suffered the
same loss that the Companions suffered. However,
the Companions felt it because they saw with their
own eyes what was accomplished by the coming of
the Holy Prophetsas, and they saw with their own
eyes the danger that existed if hesas had not come.
Since those who came afterwards did not see this
with their own eyes, so although they believe in the
Holy Prophetsas and there is sincerity in them, but the
demise of the Holy Prophetsas does not seem to them
to be an occurrence in their life, except what Allah
wills. There are some servants of Allah Almighty who
did not see the Holy Prophetsas, but they consider
hissas demise to be an occurrence in their life. Hissas
demise seems to them to be an occurrence in their
life, just as it was felt by the Companions in whose
presence hesas was. This is what, in reality, is a sign
of perfect faith. I do not boast, but it is the favour of
Allah Almighty on me that, with regard to love for

the Holy Prophetsas, I have always felt hissas demise as
if hesas was alive in my lifetime and hesas passed away
in my lifetime. (Khutbāte Nikāh, pp. 611-612)
When we pray for a family member who has passed away, it

can make us emotional because the prayer itself reminds us
of the pain of loss that we suffered. Similarly, Durūd itself can
be emotional if it becomes a reminder of the loss we suffered
in our own lives. When we say the name Muhammadsas, it
reminds us of all the experiences that we had with himsas,
and the experience of his passing. Praying for himsas becomes
an expression of our mourning hissas loss. That becomes a
very personal Durūd. When we say the name Muhammad
in Durūd, it should remind us of a person who we know
personally.
Hadrat Mirzā Bashīr Ahmadra narrates that on one occa-
sion the Promised Messiahas was pacing in Masjid Mubārak
alone. He was quietly humming something while tears were
streaming from his eyes. A companion was able to hear that
heas was reading the couplet that Hadrat Hassān ibn Thābitra
wrote at the demise of the Holy Prophetsas. The couplet was:
‘You were the pupil of my eye, now that you have died my
eye has become blind. I care not who dies now, for I feared
only your death.’ When a person enquired as to why heas was
so perturbed, the Promised Messiahas said, ‘While reading
Qa‘dah 201
this couplet, I wished in my heart that it was I who had com-

posed this couplet.’ (Sīrate Tayyibah, pp. 22-23)
Meaning of
Allāhumma salli ‘alā Muhammad means, ‘O God, magnify Salli and
Mohammad in the present world by exalting his renown Bārik
and manifesting his invitation [to El-Islám] and rendering

permanent his law, and in the world to come by accepting
his intercession for his people and multiplying his reward’
ّ
(Lane’s Lexicon, Root: ‫صلو‬, Entry: ‫)صلى‬.
We pray that the Holy Prophetsas be magnified in this
world and the next. Magnification in this world is through
the people of the world accepting the truth of hissas prophet-
hood. Magnification in the hereafter is by hissas intercession
being accepted by Allah Almighty.
Allāhumma bārik ‘alā Muhammadin wa ‘alā āli
Muhammad means, ‘Continue Thou, or perpetuate Thou,
(O God,) to Mohammad and to the family of Mohammad
the eminence and honour which Thou hast given them: ...
or continue to bless or beatify’ (Lane’s Lexicon, Root: ‫برك‬,
Entry: ‫)بارك‬.
We pray that the blessings on the Holy Prophetsas never
decline, whether in this world or the next. We pray that they
continue forever and that they always continue increasing.
Hadrat Khalīfatul Masīh Vaba said,
In summary, in Allāhumma salli ‘alā Muhammad,

we pray for the prevalence of hissas Sharī‘ah, and that
it remain established forever, and that the ummat be

favoured by hissas intercession. In Allāhumma bārik,
we pray that hissas honour, greatness, splendour, and
eminence be established forever. (Friday Sermon, Jan
16 2015)
The emphasis of our prayers in Durūd is for the success of

the mission of the Holy Prophetsas. The objective of Durūd
is that our prayers be devoted to the purpose that the Holy
Prophetsas spent hissas life in prayer for. In this day and age,
when we observe how the mission and the honour of the
Holy Prophetsas are under attack from every direction, our
hearts should be filled with pain that people are attacking the
person who spent his life praying for their salvation; they are
reviling the person who is more beloved to us than our own
parents. Our Durūd should be filled with this restlessness,
and this should be our driving force to bring the world to
love the Holy Prophetsas.
I wish to ask a question of those people who have a

pain in their hearts for Islam, those in whose hearts
is its honour. Has any worse era passed in which
such abusive language and insults were used against
the Holy Prophetsas, and such defamation was done
against the Holy Quran? I am then filled with great
sorrow and heartfelt anguish at the condition of
Qa‘dah 203
Muslims, and sometimes I become restless in this

pain, that they do not even have the sense left to feel
this disgrace. Did Allah Almighty accept that there
be no honour for the Holy Prophetsas? In response to
this much abusive language, would He still not estab-
lish any heavenly movement by which the mouths
of opponents be closed and the grandeur and purity
of the Holy Prophetsas be established? When Allah
Almighty Himself, and His angels, send Durūd on
the Holy Prophetsas, then at the time of such defa-
mation, imagine how important the expression of
that blessing is. Allah Almighty has manifested that
blessing through this Movement. (Malfuzāt (10 vol
edition), vol. 5, pp. 13)
The Durūd of the Promised Messiahas during dark nights

created a clamour in the world which brought about a revival
among Muslims. He was granted the greatest status among
the followers of the Holy Prophetsas. His example taught us
that after the glorification of Allah, the best way of earning
the pleasure of Allah Almighty is through Durūd.
It was by means of Durūd, and because of observing

it abundantly, that God granted me these statuses.
(Al-Hakam, vol. 7, no. 8, pp. 7, 28 Feb 1903)
The Promised Messiahas devoted his life to the mission of

the Holy Prophetsas. When we observe Durūd, it should be
how the Promised Messiahas taught us to observe Durūd. It
should be out of our personal love for the Holy Prophetsas,
and to spread a love for himsas throughout the world. We
should pray that the Holy Prophetsas be magnified in this
world and the next, and that the blessings of Allah Almighty
on himsas continue to increase forever.
َ َ
As (‫)ك َما‬
You did
For insight into the use of the word as/like [‫]ك َما‬, we can see
bless how it has been used in another prayer we are familiar with.
Ibrāhīmas
and his The Holy Quran teaches us to pray for our parents in the
people
words,
َ
My Lord, have mercy on them both as [‫ ]ك َما‬they had
mercy on me in my childhood by raising me. (17:25,
translation from Rūhānī Khazāin, vol. 23, pp. 210)
In this prayer, we do not pray that Allah Almighty limit His

infinite mercy to only be equivalent to the mercy that a par-
ent has on their child. But then the question arises, why do
we make this comparison in the first place? Why do we pray
َ
that Allah Almighty have mercy on our parents as [‫ ]ك َما‬they
had mercy on us? The reason is so that we have a clear idea
in our own mind of what the concept of mercy is. Before we
pray for mercy, we have to know what mercy is. The best
example of mercy in this world is the love parents show to
Qa‘dah 205
their children. This is why the attributes of Allah Almighty

for mercy, Rahmān and Rahīm, come from the same root
َ By reminding
as the word for the womb of a mother [‫]ر ِح ٌم‬.
ourselves of the mercy our parents had on us in raising us,
our heart is moved by how great that mercy is. As a result, we
think of how much greater the mercy of Allah Almighty is.
Allah created one hundred units of mercy on the

Day He created the heavens and the earth. Each one
of them can contain all that is between the heaven
and the earth. Of them, he put one on earth, through
which a mother has compassion for her children and
animals and birds have compassion for one another.
On the Day of Resurrection, Allah would make full
use of mercy. (Sahīh Muslim, Book 50, Chapter 4)
If we hadn’t been reminded of the mercy that parents have in

their hearts for their children, we wouldn’t have had a point
of reference to visualize so clearly how much greater the
mercy of Allah Almighty is. When we pray for our parents,
all we need to say is ‘My Lord, have mercy on them both.’
With these words, the prayer is complete and we have asked
َ
for everything. The addition of ‘as [‫ ]ك َما‬they had mercy on
me in my childhood by raising me’ is for us; these words are
there to help us in our prayer.
In Durūd, all we need to say is ‘O Allah, bless Muhammad
and his people,’ and we have asked for everything. When we

say ‘as You did bless Ibrāhīm and his people,’ these words are
to help us in our prayer. Hadrat Ibrāhīmas is referred to by
ٌ ٌ ُ
Allah Almighty as an excellent model [‫]أ ۡس َوة َح َس َنة‬, and the
Holy Quran has honoured him and his people by mention-
ing them as examples of how the mercy of Allah Almighty
has descended in the past. Through our daily recitation of
the Holy Quran, these examples are always present in our
minds. The mention of Hadrat Ibrāhīmas and his people in
Durūd connects what we have gained from our daily recita-
tion of the Holy Quran to what we pray for in Durūd.
We do not pray that Allah Almighty limit His mercy to
only be equivalent to the mercy that He showed to Hadrat
Ibrāhīmas and his people. We are reminded of their blessings
as a point of reference for how much greater the blessings
of Allah Almighty will be on the Holy Prophetsas and hissas
people. The Holy Prophetsas is the greatest of all proph-
ets, and Allah Almighty has addressed hissas people with
the words, ‘You are the best people raised for the good of
mankind’ (3:111). The words ‘Ibrāhīmas and his people’ are
a point of reference for praying for far greater blessings on
‘Muhammadsas and his people’.
Relevance
As mentioned in commentary of ‘and blessed is Your name’
of
َ َ َ
attributes (‫ َ)وت َب َارك ْاس ُمك‬under the chapter on Thanā’ , one approach
of Hamīd
and Majīd to prayer is to mention the attribute of Allah Almighty
that is relevant to the acceptance of that prayer. At times,
Qa‘dah 207
the relevant attribute is mentioned at the beginning of the

prayer. In other cases, the relevant attribute is mentioned at
the end of the prayer. For example,
Our Lord, let not our hearts become perverse after

You have guided us; and bestow on us mercy from
Yourself; surely, You alone are the Bestower. (3:9)
My Lord, forgive and have mercy, and You are the

Best of those who show mercy. (23:119)
In Durūd, the attributes mentioned at the end are each

relevant to the prayers we offer. The attribute of Hamīd is
connected with our prayer for Hadrat Muhammadsas, and
the attribute of Majīd is connected with our prayer for hissas
people.
The name Muhammad (‫)م َح َّم ٌد‬ ُ and the attribute of ‘the
Praiseworthy’ (‫)ح ِم ٌيد‬
َ are connected, and they come from the
same root of hamd (‫)حمد‬, which means ‘praise’. The word
Muhammad means ‘A man praised much, or repeatedly, or
time after time: …endowed with many praiseworthy quali-
ties.’ (Lane’s Lexicon, Root: ‫حمد‬, Entry: ‫)م َح َّم ٌد‬
ُ The attribute of
Al-Hamīd means ‘He who is praised, or praiseworthy’ (Lane’s
Lexicon, Root: ‫حمد‬, Entry: ‫)ح ِم ٌيد‬.
َ It is Allah Almighty, as ‘the
Praiseworthy’ (‫)ح ِم ٌيد‬,
َ who endowed the Holy Prophetsas with
many praiseworthy qualities. In Durūd, when we pray that
Allah Almighty magnify those praiseworthy qualities for
the world and exalt the renown and honour of the Holy
Prophetsas, we seek blessing through the attribute of ‘the
Praiseworthy’ (‫)ح ِم ٌيد‬. َ
The ‘people of Muhammadsas’ (‫)آل ُم َح َّم ٍد‬
ِ and the attribute
ٌ َ
of ‘the Glorious’ (‫ )م ِجيد‬are connected. The meaning of the
word majd (‫)م ْج ٌد‬, َ when used about people, is, ‘glory, honour,
dignity, or nobility, transmitted by one’s ancestors’, ‘‫ َم ْجد‬and
َ َ
‫ ش َرف‬are [transmitted] by one’s ancestors; but ‫… َح َسب‬and ‫ك َرم‬
may belong to a man without ancestors who possessed these
qualities’ (Lane’s Lexicon, Root: ‫مجد‬, Entry: ‫)م ْج ٌد‬. َ Our hon-
our and nobility (‫)م ْجد‬ ٌ َ are transmitted to us by our spiritual
father, the Holy Prophet sas. The words āli Muhammad
indicate to this because our identity in this prayer is as the
‘people of Muhammad.’ We don’t have any identity separate
from our being hissas children. In Durūd, when we pray that
Allah Almighty exalt the renown and honour of the people
of Muhammad, we are only speaking of that honour that was
transmitted to us by our spiritual father. Any other honour
we have that is separate from himsas is not lasting and is not
worth being exalted. The words ‘people of Muhammad’ (‫ِآل‬
‫)م َح َّم ٍد‬ُ remind us that our honour is majd (‫)م ْج ٌد‬:َ it is transmit-
ted to us by our spiritual fathersas. Mention of the attribute
of ‘the Glorious’ (‫)م ِج ٌيد‬ َ reminds us that it is Allah Almighty
who is the true source of all honour and dignity. The attrib-
ute of Al-Majīd means, ‘The Glorious, or Great, or Great in
dignity, who gives liberally, or bountifully: or the Bountiful
and beneficent’ (Lane’s Lexicon, Root: ‫مجد‬, Entry: ‫)م ِج ٌيد‬. َ As
Qa‘dah 209
‘the Glorious’ (‫)م ِج ٌيد‬,َ Allah Almighty has given us the hon-
our and nobility (‫)م ْج ٌد‬ َ that comes with being the spiritual
children of the Holy Prophetsas. In Durūd, when we pray
that Allah Almighty exalt the renown and honour of the
‘people of Muhammad’ (‫)آل ُم َح َّم ٍد‬,
ِ we seek the exaltation
ٌ ْ َ
of only that honour (‫ )مجد‬which was transmitted to us by
Hadrat Muhammadsas. When we pray for the exaltation of
that honour (‫)م ْج ٌد‬,
َ we seek blessings through the attribute of
‘the Glorious’ (‫)م ِج ٌيد‬.
َ
(After Durūd, we can observe any of several different prayers

that the Holy Prophetsas is narrated to have observed at the end
________O_________
of Salāt, including 2:202 and 14:41-42 of the Holy Quran.)
ً ٰۡ ً ۡ ٰۤ
‫َر َّب َنا ا ِت َنا ِفی ُّالدن َیا َح َس َنۃ َّو ِفی ال ِخ َر ِۃ َح َس َنۃ‬
Our Lord, grant us good in this world as well as
good in the world to come
Such people, who solely rely on and trust their own

sources of earning a livelihood, what need do they
have to pray and seek help from God Almighty? One

only is in need of prayer when all other means are
not available except His alone; only such a person
supplicates from his heart. Thus, the prayer: “Our
Lord, grant us good in this world” is only recited
by those who consider God as their True Lord, and
they have firm belief that all other false gods are com-
pletely worthless before Him. (Tafsīr Hadrat Masīh
Mau’ūd, vol. 2, pp. 371, 2:202)
one must turn the world and all that belongs to it into
a means of serving the Faith. No one must think that
the aforementioned implies that an individual should
have no relation whatsoever with worldly affairs. This
is not what I mean, nor does Allah Almighty forbid a
man to engage in worldly matters. In fact, what Islam
does forbid, is asceticism. This is the way of cowards.
The more diverse a believer’s worldly associations,
the more they advance in higher ranks, because their
prime objective is religion, and the world along with
its wealth and honour serves the Faith.
Hence, the fundamental point is that the world
must not be one’s ultimate objective. As a matter of
fact, in pursuing worldly affairs, the primary purpose
must be religion, and the world ought to be pursued
Qa‘dah 211
in a manner that serves the Faith. For example, when

a person travels from one place to another, they will
take a mount and pack their provisions. They do this
because their actual purpose is to reach their final
destination, not because they seek the mount itself or
the provisions for the journey. In the same manner,
one ought to strive in the world, but only so that this
may serve the Faith.
Allah the Exalted has taught us the following
prayer:
“Our Lord, grant us good in this world as well as
good in the world to come, and protect us from the
torment of the Fire.”
In this prayer, the world has been given prece-
dence, but what ‘world’ exactly? It is the good of this
world (hasanatud-dunya) which becomes a means
by which to reap good in the hereafter. The fact that
we have been taught this prayer clearly demonstrates
that in attaining the world, a believer ought to have
in view the good of the hereafter. The words hasan-
atud-dunya as mentioned here encompass all the best
means by which a Muslim believer ought to pursue
the world. Pursue the world in every such way that
leads to benefit and goodness, not in a manner that
causes pain to another human being, nor in a man-
ner that is disgraceful or ignoble amongst the peo-
ple. Engaging in the world in such a manner would
definitely enable one to reap the good of the hereafter

(hasanatul-akhirah). (Tafsīr Hadrat Masīh Mau’ūd,
vol. 2, pp. 369, 2:202, Malfūzāt (English), vol. 2, pp.
________O_________
264-265)
َ ‫َو ِق َنا َع َذ‬

َّ ‫اب‬
‫ٱلن ِار‬
and protect us from the torment of the Fire
The hellfire does not only refer to the fire that will
burn on the Day of Judgment. Rather, one who lives
a long life is able to witness that there are thousands
of fires in this world. Those who have experienced
this will know that there are all kinds of different fires
that exist in this world. Various forms of calamities,
fear, sorrow, poverty, illnesses, failures, fear of humil-
iation and deprivation, numerous kinds of grief and
sorrows, afflictions relating to one’s wife, children,
etc. and ties turning sour with near relatives all con-
stitute as fire. Therefore, a believer prays to be saved
from every kind of fire. If one has attached himself to
Qa‘dah 213
God Almighty, they should pray to be saved from all

kinds of calamities which can cause one to experience
difficulty and hardship in their life and are in a like-
ness to fire. (Tafsīr Hadrat Masīh Mau’ūd, vol. 2, pp.
________O_________
371-372, 2:202)
َ َّ َ ُ ۡ َ ۡ ِّ َ
‫ٱلصل ِوة‬ ‫رب ٱجعل ِني م ِقيم‬
My Lord, make me observe Prayer
َ َّ َ ُ َ َ َّ َ ُ ُ َ
The words ‫ٱلصل ِوة‬ ‫ م ِقيم‬and ‫ٱلصلوة‬ ‫ وي ِقيمون‬mean setting our Salat
upright after it has fallen.
Explaining this meaning, the Promised Messiah as said,
َ َ َّ َ ُ ُ َ
Allah the Exalted states: ‫ٱلصلوة‬ ‫( وي ِقيمون‬al-Baqarah,
2:4). Meaning, he sets upright the Prayer. Here,
‘to set upright’ has been stated. This also alludes to
the forced effort that is specific to a righteous per-
son. When such a person begins the Prayer, he must
ward off countless evil whisperings, due to which
his Prayer falls repeatedly as it were, and he must
hold it up. When he says Allahu Akbar [Allah is
the Greatest] to begin the Prayer, a swarm of evil
temptations rush to dissipate his heart’s concentra-

tion. These thoughts lead a person to a far off place,
causing him distress, but he goes on fighting to the
death in order to acquire this concentration and con-
tentment in Prayer. With great anguish, such a per-
son forever remains concerned about keeping erect
his falling Prayer. (Malfūzāt (English), vol. 1, pp. 28)
There are some who in the Prayer desire to rid them-

َ
selves of evil distractions immediately, although ‫ُي ِق ُيمون‬
َ َ َّ
‫ٱلصلوة‬ [He establishes the Prayer], indicates something
quite the opposite. (Malfūzāt (English), vol. 1, pp.
29)
When we say ‫ٱلصل ِوة‬ ‫[ رب ٱجعل ِني م ِقيم‬My Lord, make me observe
Prayer], we reflect on how fallen our Salāt is, and we beg
Allah Almighty to set it upright. Praying that Allah Almighty
improve our Salāt right at the end of our Salāt carries a spe-
cial meaning. If our Salāt went by in distraction, then we
sometimes wait until after Salāt is finished to think about
how poorly it went. When we do that, those negative feel-
ings of regret are not channelled into a positive effort, and
we are left with an overall bad experience of Salāt. Instead,
we should do an analysis of the Salāt we just observed when
we say these words. If it went poorly, then now is the time to
allow ourselves to feel regret over the opportunity we lost.
Qa‘dah 215
We should embrace that feeling of regret and channel it into

prayers that Allah Almighty set our prayer upright.
The Promised Messiah as taught that we should pray,
O Allah the Exalted, the Omnipotent, the Possessor

of Majesty, I am a sinner, and the poison of sin has
affected my veins to such an extent that I am devoid
of emotion and attention in prayer. Forgive me my
sins with Your blessing and grace, and forgive me my
lapses, and soften my heart, and place Your great-
ness, Your fear, and Your love in my heart, so that my
hard-heartedness may be dispelled, and I am granted
attention in my prayer.
The Promised Messiah as continued,
However, he should be mindful of his death. He

should consider the remaining days of his life to
be few and see his death as near. This is the way of
attaining attention in prayer. (Fatāwā Hadrat Masīh
Mau’ūd, pp. 37, published in 1935)
If we make the prayer of ‫ٱلصل ِوة‬ ‫[ رب ٱجعل ِني م ِقيم‬My Lord, make
me observe Prayer] an opportunity for sincere repentance,
then our fallen Salāt can become a blessing in disguise.
However fallen the standard of our Salāt was, the greater the
helplessness with which we beg Allah Almighty to set our
prayer upright. If we take time to pause at these words, it is

possible to make up for everything we lost right at the very
end of Salāt.
Conversely, if our Salāt went well by the grace of Allah,
then this is a prayer that is said with pleasure, not with regret.
We pray that Allah Almighty make this standard of Salāt
into our constant reality and that we improve our Salāt even
more. We beg Allah Almighty never to let us lose this stand-
ard and fall back into distraction.
Hadrat Khalīfatul Masīh IV rta said about this prayer,
As long as one is alive, he should continue with this

prayer. Despite being established on worship, trials
come upon worshippers and situations arise where
they stumble. Some such worshippers have been
mentioned in Ahadith who worshipped their whole
lives, but at some point, for some reason, they stum-
bled and fell far away from God. (Khutbāt-e-Tāhir,
vol. 10, pp. 367, 26 Apr 1991)
Whether our Salāt went poorly or well, these words are an

opportunity to analyze the Salāt we just observed before we
________O_________
end.
Qa‘dah 217
ُ
‫َو ِمن ذ ِّر يَّ ِتي‬
and my children too
As parents, we are spiritually raising our children; this is

what makes us unique as believers.
The philosopher Plato has written that it is the father

who brings the soul from the heavens to the earth, but
it is the teacher who takes it from the earth and again
makes it reach the heavens. A father’s relationship
is only with the mortal body. But a spiritual guide,
especially that spiritual guide appointed by God to
give guidance, his relationship is with the soul that
does not die. So when he fosters that soul and is the
means of its spiritual birth, then if he is not called a
father, what will he be called? (Malfūzāt (10 volume
edition), vol. 2, pp. 364)
Anybody can be a biological parent, but not everyone is a

spiritual parent for their children. When we observe this
prayer of, “make me observe Prayer and my children too”,
we strive to foster their spirituality.
Ultimately, we have no power to make our children truly
established on Salāt. We can make our children regular in
the outward observance of Salāt, but the journey is their

own after that. We can bring them to the prayer mat, but
once they are there, they alone have to find their Creator.
They will only find value in Salāt if they choose to reach out
to Allah Almighty with all their heart and Allah Almighty
reaches them, “Eyes cannot reach Him but He reaches the
eyes.” (6:104). Their hearts will only be attached to Salāt if
they experience, at least once, the pleasure of communion
with their Creator.
All I wish to say is that one ought to fervently and

passionately pray to God Almighty that, just as He
has granted us diverse forms of pleasure in fruits
and other things, may He enable us to experience,
even once, the sweet taste of Prayer and worship.
One never forgets the taste of a thing. (Malfūzāt
(English), vol. 1, pp. 159-160)
When we say, ‘and my children too,’ we have to know that we

are helpless in giving them a taste of the pleasure of Salat. All
we can do is beg Allah Almighty to extend to them the same
and greater blessings that he has allowed us to experience.
The words ‘and my children too’ are an extension of the
prayer, ‘make me observe Prayer,’ they continue the same
sentiment. If our words, ‘make me observe Prayer,’ were filled
with pleasure over how blessed our Salāt was, then with that
Qa‘dah 219
same feeling, we beg Allah Almighty to give our children the

experience of that bliss as well.
If our words, ‘make me observe Prayer,’ were filled with
regret over how poorly our Salāt went, that same pain is the
fire behind the words, ‘and my children too.’ When we think
of how great our own struggle is against our lower self and
how many obstacles satan places on this path, then our paren-
tal instinct is to want to carry our children in our arms along
this path and protect them from every trial, but we cannot.
Only Allah Almighty can take them into His arms, and with
the words “and my children too,” we beg Allah Almighty to
take them into His arms.
This prayer extends to our wife as well, because the word
ٌ ُ
‫ ذ ِّر يَّ ة‬can signify ‘Women; [because they are the sources of off-
ٌ ُ
spring;]’ (Lane’s Lexicon, Root: ‫ذرأ‬, Entry: ‫)ذ ِّر يَّ ة‬
ُ َ
Allah Almighty has taught the prayer, ‫ا ۡص ِل ۡح ِل ۡی ِف ۡی ذ ِّر َّی ِت ۡی‬
“Make my wife and children righteous.” Along with
making a pure change in ourselves and praying, we
should continuously pray for our children and wife
as well. (Tafsīr Hadrat Masīh Mau’ūd, vol. 7, pp. 215,
________O_________
46:16)
ٓ ۡ ََ
‫َر َّب َنا َوتق َّبل ُد َعا ِء‬
Our Lord! Do accept my prayer
(The meaning of the expression ‫( َر َّب َنا‬Our Lord), when followed

ْ َ َ
by ‫( َو‬and), has been covered under the chapter on ‫َر َّب َنا َولك ال َح ْم ُد‬
(Our Lord! and Yours is the Praise). Please refer to that chap-
ter for commentary on these words.)
ۡ ََ
The word ‫( تق َّبل‬accept) carries an expression of humility. With
this word, we acknowledge that our prayers and sacrifices are
not worthy of being accepted in and of themselves. Rather, if
they are accepted, it is by the grace of Allah Almighty.
Hadrat Musleh Mau'ūd ra said,
Taqabbal is from the verbal form of Tafa‘‘al, and

Tafa‘‘al carries the meaning of forced effort. Thus,
ۡ ََ
they say, (‫‘ )تق َّبل ِم َّنا‬Do have mercy on us Yourself by
accepting this sacrifice.’ (Tafsīr-e-Kabīr, vol. 2, pp.
180)
We sometimes comfort ourselves with the assumption that

our prayers are accomplishing something in and of them-
selves. We imagine that each time we say, ‘my Lord forgive
me,’ a few of our sins are forgiven. We imagine that the
more prayers we offer for forgiveness, the more of our sins
are forgiven, as if prayer is a system of action and reaction.
Qa‘dah 221
This assumption is false because prayers don’t do anything in

and of themselves; they are nothing more than a plea. Allah
Almighty accepts or rejects as He wills. This assumption sti-
fles our relationship with the living God because such prayer
ceases to be an interaction; such prayer is nothing more than
inputting formulas into a machine. To attribute automatic
reaction to our prayers assumes that they are an independ-
ent means to an end, not the desperate plea that they are.
We have to let go of the misconception that our prayers will
save us; we have to give up on everything except the grace of
Allah. When we stop thinking we are in control and submit
to Allah Almighty, then we will be able to observe prayer
with true desperation.
ٓ ۡ ََ
When we pray, ‫( َوتق َّبل ُد َعا ِء‬Do accept my prayer), we
acknowledge that our prayer is worthless in and of itself; it
only has worth if it is accepted by Allah Almighty. At the
end of Salāt, we reflect on the effort that we made in offering
Salāt, and then we pray that Allah Almighty give it worth by
blessing it with His acceptance.
Also, our Salāt is not a favour that we do to Allah
Almighty; it is Allah Almighty who has favoured us by
teaching us Salāt. ‘They think they have done you a favour
by their embracing Islam. Say, “Deem not your embracing
Islam a favour unto me. On the contrary, Allah has bestowed
a favour upon you in that He has guided you to the true
Faith, if you are truthful.”’ (49:18). When we observe Salāt,
we do not offer Allah Almighty a favour; we offer Him a gift.
The difference between a favour and a gift is that in a favour,

the receiver is humbled. But in a gift, the giver is humbled.
For example, when someone does us a favour, he can remind
us of that favour to hurt our feelings if he later gets angry at
us. When we accept a favour from someone, we make our-
selves vulnerable by accepting it. However, in a gift, it is the
opposite. It is the giver who is humbled. The giver of a gift
is vulnerable because he offers a token of those feelings that
he ordinarily does not reveal. The value of his gift is only in
how effectively it conveys the love behind it. When we give
a gift to someone, we offer a token of our love in the hope
that it will not be rejected. A person who does not reject our
gift does us a favour. Our happiness is in the happiness with
which they accept it, and our sadness is in the thought that
they may reject it. When we offer our prayers and our sacri-
fices to Allah Almighty as a gift, we don’t do so with a sense
of confidence in how great our gift is; anyone who offers a
gift with such sentiments does not understand the etiquettes
of expressing love. Rather, we do so with a sense of humility
and vulnerability. If it is accepted, we are filled with happi-
ness and a sense of gratitude because we are the one who has
been favoured with acceptance.
ٓ ۡ ََ
The words ‫( َوتق َّبل ُد َعا ِء‬Do accept my prayer) carry an
expression of humility wherein we acknowledge that our
Salāt and our submission is not any favour that we do to
Allah. Rather, it is nothing more than a token of our love
Qa‘dah 223
that we humbly offer to Him in the hope that it is worthy of
________O_________
being accepted.
َ ‫َر َّب َنا ۡٱغ ِف ۡر ِلي َوِل َٰوِل َد َّي َو ِل ۡل ُم ۡؤ ِم ِن‬

‫ين‬
Our Lord, forgive me and my parents and the
believers on the day when the reckoning will
take place
Hadrat Khalīfatul Masīh IV rta said,
Here, a balance has been created. Where we prayed

for our children, we have been reminded to pray for
our parents as well. In ‫( َوِل َٰوِل َد َّي‬and my parents), we
don’t pray for the establishment of Salāt because
in many cases they have passed away. This is why
we won’t find prayers for the establishment of their
Salāt, but we will find prayers for their forgiveness.
(Khutbāt-e-Tāhir, vol. 10, pp. 369, 26 Apr 1991)
In both the previous and in this prayer, we first pray for our-
selves, then we extend to others the prayers we offer for our-
selves. The words “and my parents and the believers” are an
extension of the prayer, “forgive me,” they continue the same

sentiment.
The Holy Quran has described it as a sign of maturity that we

broaden our prayers and remember the generation ahead of
us and behind us.
“And We have enjoined on man to be good to his

parents. His mother bears him with pain, and brings
him forth with pain, and the bearing of him and his
weaning takes thirty months, till, when he attains his
full maturity and reaches the age of forty years, he
says, ‘My Lord, grant me that I may be grateful for
Your favour which You have bestowed upon me and
upon my parents, and I may do such good works as
may please You. And establish righteousness among
my progeny for me. I do turn to You; and, truly, I am
________O_________
of those who submit to You.’” (46:16)
ُ ‫َي ۡو َم َي ُق ُوم ۡٱل ِح َس‬

‫اب‬
on the day when the reckoning will take place
Qa‘dah 225
Hadrat ‘Ā’ishah narrated that the Holy Prophet sas said,
“None will be called to account on the Day of

Resurrection, but will be ruined.” I said “O Allah’s
Messenger sas! Hasn’t Allah said: ‘Then as for him
who will be given his record in his right hand, he
surely will receive an easy reckoning?’ (84:8-9) Allah’s
Messenger sas said, “That (verse) means only the pres-
entation of the accounts, but anybody whose account
is questioned on the Day of Resurrection will surely
be punished.” (Sahīh Bukhārī, Book 81, Chapter 49)
Allah Almighty has repeatedly said in the Holy Quran that

َ َ
ٍ ‫)بغ ۡی ِر ِحس‬.
the believers will be given without reckoning (‫اب‬ ِ
Explaining the verse, ‘Allah bestows His gifts on whom-
soever He pleases without reckoning,’ Hadrat Musleh
Mau’ūd ra said,
The disbelievers have been told, ‘Whatever you have

been given, you will be questioned as to how you
spent it. However, the believers will be given in a way
that they will not be asked for any reckoning. Thus,
whatever you have been given is the way employees
are given, and by misappropriating it, you become the
object of punishment. However, whatever the believ-
ers will be given will be as a gift is given, and it will be
completely at their disposal.’ In reality, there are two
types of treatment, one is as friends and the other is

as employees. In friendship, the feeling of being an
outsider no longer remains, so Allah Almighty says,
“We will give to the believers without reckoning and
we will treat them the way a friend treats a friend.”
(Tafsīr-e-Kabīr, vol. 2, pp. 461, 2:213)
If we offer our prayers and sacrifices to Allah Almighty as

a transaction rather than a gift, we think like an employee
and feel entitled to a reward for everything we give. We keep
an account of everything we give, and on the day of reckon-
ing, we can expect to be treated as an employee and required
to account for everything we were given. However, if we
offer our prayers and sacrifices to Allah Almighty as a gift,
َ
we become like a friend and we give without reckoning (‫ِبغ ۡی ِر‬
‫اب‬ َ ِ We can then hope that no accounting will be taken
ٍ ‫)حس‬.
from us on the day of reckoning.
When parents give to their children and children give to
their parents, they give as a natural expression of love. They
would consider it an insult to keep account of what they
give because accounting has no place in pure expressions
of love. When parents or children start keeping account of
everything they give, it is a sign of some dysfunction in the
relationship. The only way we can pass “on the day when the
reckoning will take place” is if we pass “without reckoning.”
Salvation can only happen through love. This is what we
seek when we offer this prayer at the end of Salāt, we beg to
Qa‘dah 227
be brought under the category of love. If we wish to receive

َ َ
from Allah Almighty without reckoning (‫اب‬ ٍ ‫ ِ)بغ ۡی ِر ِحس‬in the
hereafter, we have to learn to give with love and without
________O_________
reckoning in this world.
ُ ُ َ َ َ
ِ‫ا َّلسال ُم َعليك ْم َو َر ْح َمة هللا‬
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah
‘Peace be on you’ is a prayer that we commonly observe.

However, when it is said here, it takes on a special symbolism
because of its placement at the end of Salāt.
For connection with Allah Almighty, it is neces-

sary that there be an immersion. I repeatedly tell
my Jamā‘at to be established on this. People must
cut themselves off from the world, and their hearts
must turn cold to its love. An innate passion for
Allah Almighty and an immersion must be born in
their nature. Until this happens, they cannot achieve
firmness. Some mystics have written that when the
Companionsra would observe Salāt, they would be
so immersed that when they finished, they could not

recognize one another. When one comes from some
other place, the Sharī‘ah has commanded that he say
Assalāmu ‘alaikum. This is the reality behind saying
Assalāmu ‘alaikum when we finish Salāt. When a per-
son starts prayer and says Allāhu Akbar, it is as if he
has left this world and has entered a new world. He
has reached a stage of immersion. When he returns
from it, then he meets the world with Assalāmu ‘alai-
kum wa rahmatullāh. (Malfūzāt (10 vol edition), vol.
7, pp. 42-43)
At the beginning of prayer, we raised our hands to symbol-

ize that we were leaving the world behind. Our greetings
of Salām on returning to the world at the end of prayer are
true if we had really left at the beginning. To understand the
spiritual exercise of leaving this world, we can use the seclu-
sion that is observed at the end of Ramadan as an example.
In the same way that we leave our family and possessions
behind and go into seclusion for ten days in Ramadan, we
also leave the world behind each time we raise our hands and
begin Salāt.
Ibn Qayyimrta explained that one purpose of i‘tikāf [seclu-
sion] is to prepare ourselves for the loneliness of the grave; it
is to make our hearts find peace in Allah Almighty rather
than in people. (Provisions for the Hereafter, Mukhtasar Zad
al-Ma’ad, pp. 125) The solitude of the grave is not literal; it
Qa‘dah 229
is a metaphor for leaving the world and being alone with

Allah Almighty. When we enter our tent of seclusion in the
Masjid, it is empty and there is nothing we can distract our-
selves with. Our only preoccupation is the worship of Allah
Almighty. There is no friend whose company can comfort
us and no activity that can entertain us. When we observe
i‘tikāf [seclusion], we imagine the loneliness of our tent to be
like the loneliness of our grave. If we find that seclusion to be
hopelessly boring and miserable, it is because all of our com-
fort and peace is in the distractions of the world. When we
left the world behind, we left our peace behind. We can then
imagine how we will feel when we leave the world behind
forever and enter the solitude of the grave.
So increase in remembrance of death, the severer of

pleasures. For indeed no day comes upon the grave
except that it speaks, saying: “I am the house of the
estranged, I am the house of solitude” (Tirmidhī,
Book 37).
To achieve immersion in Salāt, we should imagine that the

rectangle of our prayer mat is the rectangle of our grave.
Once we have entered it, everything outside ceases to exist.
If the solitude of our Salāt is miserable, the solitude of i‘tikāf
[seclusion] will also be miserable, and the solitude of the
grave will be even more miserable. During Salāt, we should
search for Allah Almighty with a sense of urgency, knowing

that if we fail to find Him in this grave, we will be lost in that
grave.
The mystics have often said, ‘die before you die’ (‫موتوا قبل أن‬
‫)تموتوا‬. We all eventually enter the solitude of the grave where
we will have left everyone in the world behind forever. If we
never experienced communion with Allah Almighty, then
our grave will be filled with unbearable loneliness, and the
punishment of hell begins there. Our time in our grave will
be miserable, similar to how our time on our prayer mat in
this life was miserable. The misery we experience in Salāt is
a taste of the misery that likely awaits us in the punishments
of the hereafter. One of the purposes of Salāt is to prepare us
for that solitude of the grave. When we raise our hands and
begin our prayer, we should imagine that moment of death
and we should leave this world. Everything outside the rec-
tangle of our prayer mat should be left behind, and now there
is only Allah. If we can die before we die, we can achieve
immersion in Salāt. When we find our Allah in the solitude
of our prayer mat, we can look forward to communion with
our Allah in the solitude of the grave. The pleasure we expe-
rience in communion with Allah Almighty in Salāt will be a
taste of the pleasure that likely awaits us in the rewards of the
hereafter. At the end of Salāt, when we say ‘peace be upon
ُ ُ َ َ َ
you and the mercy of Allah’ ( ِ‫)ا َّلسال ُم َعليك ْم َو َر ْح َمة هللا‬, we should
ask ourselves if we are now coming back to a world that we
had left, or if we were here the whole time.
Qa‘dah 231
When a Muslim says “Assalāmu ‘Alaikum wa

Rahmatullāh” at the conclusion of his Prayer, he is
stating that he had gone to express his obedience and
servitude to God and has now returned. He is saying
that he is bringing the message of peace and blessings
for his fellow Muslims. Since he was always physically
present at that place, the only meaning can be that
his spirit was prostrating in the presence of God—he
was so busy in worship that he was cut off and absent
from the world. Saying “Assalāmu ‘Alaikum…” at
the conclusion of Prayer indicates that it is essential
for a Muslim to be alert in safeguarding his Prayer,
because he is, at that time, present in the court of God
Almighty, Who says about Muslims that: “...and they
keep a watch over their Prayer.” (6:93) Satan wants to
disrupt their Prayers but vigilant Muslims safeguard
their Prayers from his attacks.
Everybody should, therefore, guard his Prayers.
When you offer Prayer, keep in mind that you have
entered in the presence of God. When you return
you should give glad tidings to those to the right and
those to the left that you have brought peace and
blessings for them. But if someone has never gone to
God’s presence, and has always remained engrossed
in his own thoughts, he will be telling a big lie when
he says “Assalāmu ‘Alaikum wa Rahmatullāh.” He is

trying to tell people that he is returning from God,
whereas he never went there.
Make every effort to safeguard your Prayers. Put
up a strong resistance to Satan for he is trying to keep
you away from God. Remember that even if your
entire Prayer is spent in a constant struggle and you
do not yield to Satan, Allah will consider you present
in His audience. But if you yield, He will let you go.
Continue your struggle; you will succeed in the end.
(Remembrance of Allah, pp. 53)
Glossary
Ahmadi–A Muslim who believes Prophet Muhammad sas . The

in Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ah- plural is ahadith.
mad as as that Promised Messiah
and Mahdi who was prophecied Hadrat - A term of respect used to
by the Prophet Muhammad sas. show honour and reverence for
a person of established right-
‘Azim–Great, big, or large, es- eousness and piety. The literal
teemed great by others. meaning is: His/Her Holiness,
Worship, Eminence, etc. It is
‘Azmat–Greatness also used for God in the super-
lative sense.
Dhikr–Dhikr is an Arabic word
meaning remembrance. Dhikr- Hamīd–Praised, praiseworthy.
i-Ilahi means the remembrance
of Allah. I‘tikāf–to isolate oneself or re-
main attached to something. In
Durud–Invocation of blessings Islamic terminology, I‘tikaf pri-
upon the Holy Prophet Mu- marily means to seclude oneself
hammad sas. in the mosque in the last ten
days of Ramadhan and is de-
Ghafur–Forgiving. An attribute voted to silent meditation, rec-
of God referring to God’s cov- itation of the Holy Quran and
ering and forgiving of His serv- study of religious books, prayers
ants. and supplication.
Hadith - A saying of the Holy Ihsan–a favour, but in the con-
text of worship, the Holy
Prophet sas has expounded that referred to as His Khalifah. In

ihsan means to worship God as Islamic terminology, the title
though one can see Him, and if ‘Khalifa-e-Rashid’ [righteous
this is not possible, then at least Khalifah] is applied to each
to stand before Him in worship of the first four Khulafa’ who
knowing that He can see you. continued the mission of the
Holy Prophet Muhammad sas.
Jalsah–A sitting, a gathering. Ahmadi Muslims refer to each
successor of the Promised Mes-
Jamā‘at–Community. Although siah as as Khalifatul Masih.
the word Jama‘at may refer to
any community, in this book Khilafat–The institution of suc-
Jama‘at generally refers to the cessorship in Islam.
Worldwide Ahmadiyya Mus-
lim Jama‘at. Lailatul Qadr–Literally, ‘Night of
Destiny’. Generally understood
Jilsah–The Sitting position which to mean a blessed night during
occurs in between two prostra- the last ten days of the Islamic
tions during Prayer. month of Ramadan. It also de-
notes another time period,
Kabir–Great in body, or in age, or when the spread of darkness de-
in knowledge, or in rank or dig- mands that a light should de-
nity. scend from heaven. Then God
Almighty sends down to earth
Kalimah–The declaration of the
His angels of light and Rūhul-
Islamic faith: La ilaha illallah
Qudus [the Holy Spirit] in a
Muhammadur-Rasulullah,
manner that befits the dignity
‘There is no one worthy of wor-
of angels.
ship except Allah; Muhammad
is the Messenger of Allah.’ Masjid–A mosque, A place where
Muslims assembles to perform
Khalifatul Masih–Caliph is de-
congregational prayers.
rived from the Arabic word
khalifah, which herein means Nafs–A term in Arabic that liter-
‘successor’. Khulafa’ is the plu- ally means ‘self ’.
ral of Khalifah. In many di-
vine revelations someone com- Nawafil–Optional or
missioned by God Almighty is
Glossary 235
supererogatory as applied to as well as two prostrations. Pl.

types or categories of Prayer. Raka‘āt.
Niyyah–The formal intention Ruku’–The bowing down posi-

which one makes in one’s mind tion in Prayer.
before starting a Prayer.
Sadaqah–Alms given to the poor
Qa‘dah–Sitting position adopted for the sake of God.
towards the end of the second
Rak‘at in Prayer. Sadiq–Truthful
Qaumah–The posture of stand- Saghir–Small in body, or in age, or

ing after Ruku‘. in rank or dignity.
Qiyam–The standing position in Sajdah–The posture of prostra-

Prayer. tion in Prayer.
Rabb–Lord, Master, Creator; Salat/Salah–Prayer. A blessing or

One who sustains and develops; an invocation of God’s blessing
One who brings to perfection upon anyone. Prayer in the pre-
by degrees. scribed form; also known as the
second pillar of Islam.
Rahim–Merciful. An attribute
of God as mentioned in Surah Shahādah–The testimony of the
al-Fatihah and throughout the Islamic faith: Ash-hadu al-La
Holy Quran. The verbal noun ilaha illallah wa ash-hadu anna
of this attribute is Rahimiyyat. Muhammadan ‘Abduhu wa Ra-
sulullah, ‘I bear witness that
Rahman–Gracious. An attribute there is no one worthy of wor-
of God as mentioned in Surah ship except Allah; and I bear
al-Fatihah and throughout the witness that Muhammad is the
Holy Quran. The verbal noun Servant and Messenger of Al-
of this attribute is Rahmani- lah.’
yyat.
Sharī‘ah–Religious law of Islam.
Rak‘at–a single unit in the formal The term is also used in the gen-
Islamic Prayer, consisting of the eral sense of any revealed law.
standing and bowing positions,
Surah–A chapter of the Holy Tauhid–The Oneness of God—

Quran. the fundamental Islamic belief
that there is none worthy of
Takbīr-i-Tahrīmah - The Arabic worship except Allah.
expression Allahu Akbar (God
is the Greatest), proclaimed Tawakkul–Relying upon and
loudly by the Imam while he trusting in God alone to the en-
raises his two hands to his ear- tire exclusion of worldly means.
lobes at the very beginning of a
congregational Prayer service. Thana’–The glorification and
praise of God Almighty that is
Tasbih–Glorification of Allah by recited the beginning of formal
reciting SubhanAllah (Holy is Prayer.
Allah), or other phrases.
Ummat–Ummat-e-Muhammadi-
Tashahhud–A set prayer recited yyah The community or follow-
silently at the beginning of the ers of the Holy Prophet Mu-
Qa‘dah, or second Sitting posi- hammad sas .
tion, in Prayer.
Wahi–Divine revelation from
Tasmi‘–The statement of “Allah God, used interchangeably with
hears him who praises Him” ilhām in Islamic terminology.
when rising from Ruku’.

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Understanding Salat

A Word by Word Commentary on Salat

Murabbi Rizwan Khan

First published in USA, 2021

© MKA USA Publications Ltd.

Cover design: Wajahat Ali

For further information please visit www.alislam.org.

About The Author..............................................vii

Murabbi Rizwan Khan is a graduate from Jami‘ah Ahmadiyya

References to the Holy Quran contain the name of the surah

sas sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, meaning ‘peace and bless-

as ‘alaihis-salam, meaning ‘peace be on him’, is written

ra radiyallahu ‘anhu/‘anha/‘anhum, meaning ‘may

the names of the Companions of the Holy Prophet

rta rahmatullah ‘alaihi/‘alaiha/‘alaihim, meaning ‘may

aba ayyadahullahu Ta‘ala binasrihil-‘Aziz, meaning

Readers are urged to recite the full salutations when read-

‫ ا‬at the beginning of a word, pronounced as a, i, u

‫ذ‬ dh – pronounced like the English th in that.

Short vowels are represented by:

Long vowels by:

We gain nearness to Allah the Almighty with Salat. Salat

A Word by Word Commentary on Salat

When a person stands, then he adopts a way of respect.

The Salat taught by Islam is only its reflection. The

When a person stands to praise and glorify God, this

while the tongue is instructed to praise and glorify God

Man is required to stand in the presence of God

The Prayer starts with Takbīr-i-Tahrīmah, i.e. the

Allāhu Akbar, the Imam lowers his hands and folds

When Allāhu Akbar is called he is warned: Stand

A useful technique for them is to concentrate on one

make the same resolution for the time up to the end

At each change of posture, we can ask ourselves what in that

If you do not know how to weep, then make a weep-

Similarly, if we force ourselves to smile for long enough, a

feeling of happiness will start to rise within us. Our emotions

God Almighty has kept a reciprocal connection

The physical and spiritual lines run parallel. When

humility is created in the soul, it is also created in the

Each posture in Salat conveys a certain sentiment and is a

He removes all other thoughts and becomes

from maintaining our attention, another wisdom in

When we raise our hands to begin Salat, we should con-

Expressing Niyyah in the following words is optional. We

‫َو َّج ْه ُت َو ْج ِه َي‬

When reciting these words, we should ask ourselves what

thoughts does our mind generally wander into when we

Ibn Abbās says that he did not know the meaning of

Fātiris Samāwāt until two Arabs of the desert came

Your God is One Who has suspended numberless

When our heart is moved by the awe of how incomprehen-

the heavens and the earth

Why should I not worship Him who has created me

When we recite this verse and apply it to ourselves, it evokes

In reality, knowledge of the being of God is an encom-

of these things to come into motion after which this

When we play with an infant, he sees our face and smiles

think of reminds us of its Creator. Anything that can be dis-

“There is none among you with whom is not an atta-