It is illogical to be busy with life..
then suddenly, you stand for Salat, and you want to have; [Khushu'a]!
This is hard!!
You cannot have [Khushu'a] with a push of a button!
So, how can we do it?
Make an introduction for the Salat..
Allah has taught us how to make a separate interval between our lives, and our Salat..
to prevent the effect of life..
and not to have life issues interfering with our Salat..
For example.
Begin the preparations for Salat, with Adhan..
Do not wait till Iqamah, then you go for the Salat.
Make ablution, for each Salat..
even if you were already pure.
This has its own advantages;
the glowing of the face, the lightness, as more sins will be eliminated.
Then, make yourself ready, with two Kak'aat..
and if there was time, read some verses from the Book of Allah, Almighty..
to be ready to read the great recitation.. during Salat..
Which is a pillar of Salat.
And inside the Masjid; Arrange the rows in order..
and try to be on the first row..
And remember, The [Khushu'a] of a person praying on the first row in not like that of a person praying on the second row..
And, the [Khushu'a] of a person praying on the second row in not like that of a person praying on the third row.. etc.
Even when the row is only one..
the [Khushu'a] is different;
a person closer to Imam, is better than a person away from him on the row.
Before starting Salat..
ask yourself..
there are questions, think about them..
Say: What am I doing now?
Who will I meet?
I did ablution, put on my clothes and stood facing Qiblah..
next, what will happen to me?
Who will I meet.. Who will I talk to?
Be prepared for Salat, with such questions..
There is Ibadah, which is before Wudu..
very few people notice this Ibadah..
It is [As-Sewak= cleaning teeth.]
many people has deserted this Ibadah.
The prophet, (ﷺ), said:
'Had I not thought it difficult for my Ummah, I would have commanded them to use the Miswak (tooth-stick) before every Salat.'
Notice this word: Commanded!!
But, If it was not because of the difficulty!
And, the prophet, (ﷺ), said:
'I have said much to you about the tooth-stick.'
Ibn Rajab said: i.e. The Prophet (ﷺ) has put emphasis on the use of the Siwak, and encouraged people to do it by mentioning its advantages.
A person might say: I have the Miswak stick, when can I use it?
You can use it during Wudu..
you can use it before Salat..
before reading Quran..
whenever the odour of the mouth changes.
for example, when a person was silent for a long time.
before going to bed..
after awakening..
when he enters his home and meeting his family..
As-Sewak cleans the mouth..
and you are about to meet, Allah, Almighty..
you must make your mouth clean for this meeting with Allah, Almighty.
The prophet, (ﷺ)..
He made his mouth clean before his death, before going to Allah, Almight
Narrated by Aisha.. may Allah be pleased of her, she said:
At that day, the messenger of Allah, (ﷺ), came from the masjid, he was ill..
so, he put his head on my lap..
then a man from the family of Abu Bakr entered..
he was holding a fresh Siwak..
she said:
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) looked at it..
and I knew that he loved the Siwak..
I said: ' O messenger of Allah, Shall I take it for you?
He, (ﷺ), nodded in agreement..
So I took it and it was too stiff for him to use, so I said, "Shall I soften it for you ?" He nodded his approval. So I softened it (chewed it with my teeth)..
and then gave it to the Prophet (ﷺ) who cleaned his teeth with it. I had never seen Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) cleaning his teeth in a better way..
Then, he put it down..
may Salat and Salam from my Lord, be upon him.
then, I felt his head getting heavy on my lap..
I looked at his face..
He was gazing..
and saying:
'Rather, with the highest companions, in Jannah.'
till he expired and his hand dropped down.
may Salat and Salam from my Lord, be upon him.
It is not recommended to just stand in front of the Hands of Allah, all of a sudden!
You need to pass by steps of preparations..
before meeting the Glory of Allah.
And this Great Lord..
He Himself, has taught us how to prepare ourselves.
We do not prepare ourselves as we like, No!
Ablution; many people do not experience the taste of Wudu!
for them, it is a mean to enter Salat..
nothing more, nothing less.
i.e. I won't be able to do Salat without Wudu..
so, I must do Wudu.
No, by Allah, you are missing a lot.
everyday we do Wudu, without feelings!!
We need to know the purpose of Wudu, and its secrets.
The first thing that you can increase while doing Wudu..
is to increase your rewards and bounties by Wudu.
You might say, what else can I do?
I do all the pillars of Wudu..
and recite all dhikr after Wudu..
I even try to use less water..
what else can I do, more than this?
We say; Good.. but..
All of these are physical actions..
there is another very important matter.
which is the intention..
the feelings of the heart..
Ibn Al-Qayyim said:
A person who is having a directed intention, when he does a small good deed..
he will be way ahead of..
a person lacking a specific intention..
even if he was a striving person.
Ibn Al-Mubarak said a beautiful statement:
'Intentions might; abounding a small deed..
or minimise a great deed.'
So, what should we do?
First of all.. ask yourself..
when you go to do Wudu..
what do you have in mind.. your intention..?
I'm thinking of making Wudu, to be able to pray Salat!
Okay, most of people think like this!
they want to be able to pray Salat.
But, you can have more varied intentions..
and hence, get more rewards..
The people of knowledge have told us so.
If the intention of a person was to be able to pray Salat..
in addition, to obeying Allah, Almighty....
because, He commanded him to do Wudu, in Sura Al-Maidah..
When He said to him:
"O you who have believed, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows.. " 5:6 etc.
A person keeping this intention..
Allah will give him more rewards..
he had an additional point; of obeying Allah.
And, if he could add more to his intention;
That he is doing this Wudu with the intention of following the prophet, (ﷺ)..
[Be able to do Salat, obeying Allah, following the prophet, (ﷺ).]
The rewards of this person will be more..
and, so forth..
Brothers and sisters..
a smart person can increase the number of his rewards with his intentions.
The process of Wudu..
is a step in the preparation for meeting Allah, Almighty.
and, a person shouldn't go to meet Allah, Almighty..
unless his is pure from all that which Allah doesn't like.
So, when the slave is pure, from all the things the King hates..
then it is right for him to meet the King.
If a person is wanting to meet Allah, Almighty..
he must purify his body.. from his sins..
before he begins Salat!
before entering to meet his Lord.
and, Wudu can help on this.
Yes, with Wudu a person can do this..
even to a level of..
not leaving one mistake on him.
Once..
Uthman, may Allah be pleased of him, did Wudu then he said:
'I saw the prophet, (ﷺ), doing like this Wudu of mine..
then he said: ' A person who would do Wudu like this..
his previous sins will be forgiven.'. '
Ibn Al-Qayyim said:
'A servant upon meeting his Lord at Resurrection Day..
he will not be allowed to enter, not before purification from sins.
same situation happens at Dunya, a person is not allowed to enter Salat to meet Allah..
not before purifying himself.'
This was the end of the saying of Ibn Al-Qayyim, may Allah grant him mercy.
If you like ponder the Du'aa after Wudu:
The Du'aa says:
'Allahumma, make me from the penitents and from those who purify themselves.
So, Wudu leads to purification..
and Salat leads to goodness.
For this reason..
In Jannah, the believer will have adornments of gold and so..
on the sites which were made pure with Wudu.
the prophet, (ﷺ), said:
'The adornment of the believer (in Jannah) will reach..
the places where the water of Wudu' reaches (his body).'
These intentions.. these feelings..
they will make your Wudu a different thing..
Good..
it will not be like of others.. you will have more rewards..
The rewards given by Allah, Almighty, will vary, according to the deeds of hearts..
So, they are not confined to the body actions.
When you begin your Wudu..
imagine, as if the sins are being washed out with the water!
as if you are seeing the blackness of sins runs out of you.. in water..
leaving you, for good!
and you are expecting the best from your Lord, Almighty..
He will forgive these sins..
hoping for having His mercy.
So, as the servant is clean from all things the King hates..
then, he will be entitled to meet the King.
During Wudu a person can just wipe, over what he is wearing on his feet..
This is by permission from Allah, Almighty.. for easiness..
For example, over the socks, Khuff..
even over the shoe, if it was made surrounding the foot.
It is not mandatory that the sock should cover the heel completely..
and, to be unripped.. intransparent..
So, even if the sock wasn't covering the heel..
like in case of the short sport socks..
or there was a hole in it, from frequent use..
or transparent, like the summer socks..
It is allowed to wipe over.. any of them..
Sufyan Ath-Thawri said: Wipe over that, which was hanging on your foot..
Weren't the Khuffs of Muhajireen and Ansar, full of holes, torn and patched?
But we have preconditions for this;
The first is..
The khuffs were initially put after purification.
The prophet, (ﷺ), said..
to Al-Mughirah Ibn Shu'abah..
'Leave them for I had put them on after performing ablution.'
[Agreed Upon, in the book of Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Also, there is an interval of time, during which wiping will be allowed..
which is; one day and a night [about 24 hours], for a person, who is not in travel..
And, 3 consequent days and 3 nights [about 72 hours], for a person, who is in travel..
In Hadith, of Ali Ibn Abi-Talib, he said:
'The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'For one who is not travelling, one day and night..
and for the traveller, three days and nights.'
Which is better, to wipe over Khuff, or to wash the feet?
people might ask, which is better?
If the person was already wearing Khuff..
it is better to wipe over it.. rather than taking it off.
It is not important to do the original method.. No..
do as the permission: 'Allah the Most High loves that His permissions be practiced.'
But, if a person wasn't wearing Khuff..
the best is to wash the feet.
When the prophet, (ﷺ), was wearing Khuff.. he wiped over it..
otherwise, he washes.. and we should do the same.
This is a favor from Allah, Almighty..
so, we should feel like wiping for obeying Him..
as we wash for obeying Him too.
Allah, Almity, gives us permissions, so, let's practice them..
'Allah the Most High loves that His permissions be practiced.'
as in the Hadith, from the prophet, (ﷺ).
with the intention of following the practice of the messenger of Allah, (ﷺ), too..
The Wudu of the prophet, (ﷺ), himself, was the best..
and, he practiced this permission..
But..
there is a question..
how do we count the timing of the period of wiping?
starting from Wudu.. or..
from wearing Khuff?
the period begins with the wiping for the first time during the next Wudu.
For example, I had to do Wudu again..
and I was wearing the Khuff after Wudu.. on clean feet..
for this second time of Wudu..
I did my first wiping over Khuff at 5 PM..
on Saturday..
then, I can do wiping anytime I do Wudu..
till 5 PM of the next day.. on Sunday.
Some people do the timing with Salats.. No!
the correct is with time.
irrespective of Salats.
What if he removed his socks and he has just wiped on them in Wudu..
will this invalidate his Wudu?
For example, he did Wudu and wiped over his socks.. then he entered masjid..
and It was hot..
so he removed his socks.. can he pray Salat?
is his Wudu, still valid?
Yes, his Wudu is good, and he can pray Salat.
Ali Ibn Abi Talib did the same.. may Allah be pleased of him..
he removed that which he had wiped over, during Wudu, and prayed Salat..
he didn't wash his feet, nothing!
Same like a person did Wudu, and wiped his hair..
then he shaved his hair..
does he have to repeat Wudu?
Same case is here.
Okay..
If the period ended..
and the person has done Wudu before this..
e.g. the 24 h came to an end.. for a non traveling person.. is his previously done Wudu is valid..
can he do Salat..
or, should he repeat Wudu?
and wash his feet, because the period of permission has ended.
The correct answer is that; he doesn't need to repeat his Wudu..
his Wudu is still valid, and he can pray Salat, even if the period has ended.
as long as his Wudu was good.
because the prophet, (ﷺ), had set the timing according to the time of wiping..
not according to the timing of having pureness.
Okay, there is an issue;
Because of cold weather, or so, a person had put two socks..
So, he was wiping on one..
then, he put on another one..
or Khuffs or a shoes
Can he wipe over the second one?
The answer is; Yes.
He can wipe over the added second one..
under one condition..
the timing should be..
according the the wiping over the first socks..
irrespective of when he has worn, after that.
another condition is;
The second socks..
should be worn after Wudu, on pure feet.
Brothers and sisters..
Allah, Almighty, said:
".. Allah will raise those who have believed among you and those who were given knowledge, by degrees.. " 58:11
These informations are Shar'ai knowledge..
and man should learn them..
to know how to worship Allah, with knowledge..
and, a person who knows more..
Allah, Almighty, loves him more.
So, a person should ponder..
should know how to do his Ibadah..
Is he doing the right thing to be close to his Lord? or he is just doing it, anyway!! without knowledge!!
These were some points.. some issues..
and, I ask Allah, the Great.. the Lord of the honored Throne..
with His Husna Names and with His High Attributes..
to make us knowledgeable about the matters of our Deen..
and to accept all our efforts doing so, by the will of Allah.