Hadith Lesson: The Proper Prayer

As-Salāmu ‘Alaykum wa RaḥmatuLlāhi wa Barakātuh. A‘ūdhu BiLlāhi Minash-shayṭāni r-rajīm. BismiLlāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm. Wa ṣ-Salātu wa s-Salāmu ‘alá Rasūlinā Muḥammadin Sayyidi l-Awwalīna wa l-Akhirīn. Madad yā RasūlAllāh, Madad yā Sādāti Aṣḥābi RasūliLlāh, Madad yā Mashāyikhinā, Dastūr Mawlana Sheikh Abdullāh al-Fā’iz ad-Dāghistāni, Sheikh Muḥammad Nāẓim al-Ḥaqqānī. Madad.

1Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “O Saad, One by one.” You should do one by one.

2Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “One by one.” Everything should be done in odd number, not in even numbers. You make three Shahadah. When you drink water, you take three sips. It should be an odd number, says our Holy Prophet ﷺ.

3Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “When you sit for Tashahhud during the prayer, never leave giving Salam to me, because it is Zakah of the prayer.” It is not complete without making Salawat to our Holy Prophet ﷺ. That is the order of our Holy Prophet ﷺ. It is Zakah of the prayer. It is not done without it.

4Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “When Imam makes Salam, return his Salam.” When he says as-salamu ‘alaykum, you should say as-salamu ‘alaykum too. Not only he says it, you should also make Salam to finish the prayer.

5Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “When someone among you finishes his prayer, he should start by praising Allah Almighty and then make Salat and Salam to our Holy Prophet ﷺ and then make Du’a as he likes.” You should say after the prayer, “Allahumma Anta s-Salam Wa Minka s-salam”, then make Salawat to our Holy Prophet ﷺ “‘Ala Rasulina s-Salawat”, and then make Du’a, says our Holy Prophet ﷺ.

6Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “There is Tahiyyat between every two Rakat.” You sit for Tashahhud after every two Rakat, that is called Tahiyyat. You cannot make three or four Rakat. You must surely sit after two Rakat and make Tashahhud.

7Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Moving your index finger during the prayer is to frighten away shaytan.” When you make Tashahhud, many people don’t do it here by some wisdom. We couldn’t understand it. When you make Tashahhud, you raise your finger when you say Ashhadu an la iLlaha illa Allah and then put it down. It frightens shaytan, says our Holy Prophet ﷺ. It is not done without a reason.

8Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Make Salawat to me and say as much as you can, “Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammadin wa 'ala aali Muhammadin wa barik 'ala Muhammadin wa 'ala aali Muhammad, kama barakta 'ala Ibrahima wa 'ala aali Ibrahim innaka Hamidun Majeed.” Certainly, everyone does it after the prayer. Some people say “Allahumma salli'ala Sayyidina Muhammad”. In fact, it is fine as praising our Holy Prophet ﷺ. But it is more accepted to keep the order of our Holy Prophet ﷺ. Therefore, it is better to say “Allahumma salli'ala Muhammadin wa 'ala aali Muhammad…” We know they say to show honor. But in compliance to the order of our Holy Prophet ﷺ, we will say it as such.

9Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “There are ten Thawab because of every sign in Tashahhud in the prayer.” When you make this sign in Tashahhud, there are ten Thawab for it. Hanbalis move their fingers continuously. We don’t have that in Hanafi Madhhab; you raise it once in Tashahhud and that’s it. Of course, every Madhhab is different. But the four Madhhabs are Haqq Madhhabs. But everyone must follow his own Madhhab. It is wrong to move your finger longer according to another Madhhab. It is ok if you are in that Madhhab. If you are in another Madhhab, there is no need. There is no excuse for imitation. Sometimes there is necessity and you may imitate another Madhhab. But you don’t need to move your finger and imitate another Madhhab. That is unnecessary.

10-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “In Nafl prayers, you make Salam after every two Rakat.” There are Sunnah al-Muakkadah and Nafl prayers. Sunnah alMuakkadah is two Rakat Sunnah of Fajr prayer and the first four Rakat Sunnah of Dhuhr prayer. You don’t make Salam after two Rakat then. But it is permissible in other Madhhabs. We don’t do so in our Hanafi Madhhab. After Dhuhr prayer, you may pray two or four Rakat. There are four Rakat Sunnah in ‘Asr prayer as well which are done altogether. It is two Rakat in Maghrib prayer anyway. In ‘Isha, it is four Rakat and then four Rakat Sunnah. But the rest such as night prayers, you may pray two by two Rakat. Tarawih prayer is also done two by two. Nowadays, they pray four Rakat to make it easy. Sometimes they pray eight Rakat all at once. But it is better to pray two by two Rakat.

11-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “There is Tahiyyat after every two Rakat in Nafl prayers.” You must sit in Tashahhud and do it.

12-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “There is Tashahhud and Salam to Prophets and the righteous servants after them in every two Rakat of Nafl prayers.”

13-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Cleanliness is the key of the prayer.” If you are not clean, if you have some dirt on you, or if you don’t have Wudu’ or Ghusl, it is not valid. Without cleanliness, you can’t enter it. It is the key. “And the second thing; what makes it forbidden to do something is Takbir.” When you make Takbir, you can’t eat and drink, you can’t talk. They become forbidden. “And then what makes them permissible is making Salam.” Everything is free after you make Salam.

14-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “The sitting of a person by leaning on his left arm during the prayer is forbidden.” Leaning on the left arm while sitting is forbidden, says our Holy Prophet ﷺ. Because that is the prayer of the Jews. When they pray, they sit leaning on their lefts.

15-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Making Salam short and quickly leaving the prayer is Sunnah.” The quicker you do it, the more your prayer is accepted.

16-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Sitting of a person in an uncomfortable (unsteady) position during the prayer is forbidden.” Our Holy Prophet ﷺ has forbidden not sitting comfortably and not according to the Sunnah. If a person

wants to sit in prayer, everyone knows how it should be done, so he should do like that.

17-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “It is forbidden for a person to sit on his buttocks with his legs up during the prayer.” Our Holy Prophet ﷺ has forbidden sitting not according to the prayer.

18-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “It is forbidden for a person to sit on his buttocks with his hips straight up, or cross-legged.” Sitting cross-legged or with hips up is forbidden. They should pray the way it is shown. If there is need, that is different. But without need, it is forbidden.

19-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “It is wrong to do the prayers and Salam incomplete.” You must do everything completely. Sometimes they finish the prayer without making Salam outside the four Madhhabs. The prayer is over after Tashahhud. Even if you break that prayer, your prayer is right in all Madhhabs then. But we couldn’t understand their purpose in not giving Salam. They don’t make Salam but make these 4-5 tapping movements with their hands to finish the prayer and then leave. That is not permissible. It is ok, but they make a very big mistake. We say that may Allah ﷻ accept their prayers and improve them.

Sadaqa RasuluLlah fi ma qal, aw kama qal. The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ says the truth in what he ﷺ said or as he ﷺ said.

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Ihda’ – Dedication:

Ziyadatan ila sharafi’ ‘n-Nabi, sallaLlahu `alayhi wa sallam wa Alihi wa Asahabihi l-kiram, wa ila arwahi jamee’i al Anbiya’i wa l-Mursalin wa Khudama’i sharai’ihim wa ila arwahi al ‘Aimmati al arba’a, wa ila arwahi Mashayyikhina fi tTariqati n-Naqshbandiyyati l-Aliyyah, khassatan Imamu t-Tariqah wa Ghawthu lKhaliqah Khwaja Bahauddin Muhammad al-Uwaisiyi l-Bukhari, Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al Ghujduwani, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddin al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Abdullah al Faiz al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al Haqqani, wa sai’ri Sadatina wa s-Siddiqiyun, wa man nahnu fi hadratihim wa jiwarihim, for the souls of all our passed ones, for the souls of all Shaheeds. LiLlahi Ta’ala, Al-Fatiha.

(Translation) To the honor of the Prophet, Prayers and Peace be upon Him, and his family, and his companions, and the souls of all the prophets as well as of His messengers and of those who served their Sharia, and to the souls of the four Imams. And to the souls of our Mashayikh of the Most Distinguished Naqshbandi Tariqa, in particular to the soul of the Imam of the Tariqa Ghawth al-Khaliqa (the Help of Creation), Khwaja Bahauddin Muhammad al-Uwaisiyi l-Bukhari, Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al Ghujduwani, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddin al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Abdullah al Faiz al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al Haqqani, and the rest of our masters and Siddiqiyun, and to whom we are in their presence and near them, for the souls of all our passed ones, for the souls of all Shaheeds. To Allah Almighty, Al-Fatiha.

Al Fatiha.

Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 03 December 2024/ 02 Jumada al-Akhir 1446 Beylerbeyi Dergah, Istanbul