Captions provided by Muhsen.org
- Imam Hasan al-Basri Rahimahullah he says that,
" The salah is the Miraj of the believer.
It is the ascent of the believer."
To say that when you pray, you are connecting directly
with Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala
and you are ascending in a way that resembles
the ascending of the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
when he received the command for the prayer,
as he was in the heavens on the night of Isra' wal-Mi'raj
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
So prayer is very intimate.
It's very powerful, but we know having not had the ability
to pray normally in the masajid,
the way that we used to.
It's different when you pray behind an Imam
with a beautiful voice,
when you pray in a congregation.
What was it then, to go and pray every single salah,
behind the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
who received that command himself?
(nostalgic music)
So the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
would come out to lead the salah.
And he had a very unique way of reciting the Quran
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
And of course, he was the one who received the Quran,
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
Of course, you can expect that
the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
would take care of every position of the salah
and each raqqah, meant something special to him
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
And praying behind him, the motions were perfected by him
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
But what was his recitation like?
The Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
he had a beautiful voice, a special voice.
Remember Qatad Rahimahullah said,
that every prophet had beautiful face and a beautiful voice.
And when he would recite the Quran
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
Qana yaq ta'uu qirat atahu.
He used to pause between the verses and he used to draw out
his recitation crisply, and clearly.
So just like the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
used to speak slowly Alayhi Salatu Wasallam
and articulate properly, the recitation
of the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
was slow and every verse was recited separately.
He also had a beautiful, natural melody to his voice
and his voice was described as not being too loud.
So it was loud enough to where you could hear him
and if you were praying, or if you were near his house,
while he was praying Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
then you could hear him from his courtyard
as he was reciting Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
Now the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
would frequently get emotional as he was reciting the Quran,
but the way that the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
would cry when he would recite the Quran, was also unique.
They described the crying
of the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam in his recitation
as if there was a wheezing from his chest
and a humming from his chest like a boiling kettle pot.
Subhan Allah, it's just like how his laughter
wasn't really audible, but it was just a wider smile
than his usual smile.
Likewise, the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam weeping,
was also dignified.
It wasn't very loud Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
but it was so sincere and you could tell that it was coming
from a place deep within his chest,
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
And his eyes used to shed tears profusely.
The tears would be coming down
from the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam's eyes,
even if he was not making the sound of loud weeping.
Abdullah ibn Mas'ud RadiAllahu ta'ala anhu
Of course has this famous incident,
where he says that the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
told him to read Quran to him and...
Abdullah ibn Mas'ud RadiAllahu ta'ala anhu said,
Ya Rasulillah, aqra wa alaik wa alaika unzil
"Do you want me to read to you and it was revealed to you?"
And the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam said,
"I love to hear it from other than me."
So he said, "I read Surah An-Nisa and when I got
to a particular verse
Fakayfa itha ji'na min kulliommatin bishaheedin
how will it be when we bring upon every ummah a witness
and we bring you, oh Mohammad Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
upon all of them, a witness?"
The Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam put his hands
on my knee and he said, "hasbuk, enough."
And I looked up and he said the
Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam's eyes
were like faucets.
He was flowing with tears Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
but he didn't notice RadiAllahu ta'ala anhu,
because the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
would not weep loudly alayhi salatu wa Salam.
But a deep sincere crying from the heart
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
that led to his eyes always being moist
alayhi salatu wa Salam.
Now, the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
of course would connect with Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala
in his salah.
Whether it was an obligatory prayer or a voluntary prayer,
but the messenger Allah, Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
did not torture those that were behind him,
by getting lost in his salah, Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
and prolonging it, when others were praying behind him.
And no one loved his prayer like the messenger
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
But he said that when you lead the salat,
when you lead the obligatory prayer,
then keep it short because you have behind you
the elderly, the sick,
the women that come with their children
and those who have to run errands.
So, the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam's salah,
was not long, when he was leading the fardh,
when he was leading the obligatory prayer.
And in fact, if the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
heard children cry in the salah,
he would not you know, reprimand the parents
after the salah.
The Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
would atually speed up his prayer alayhi salatu wa Salam
and not reprimand the parents,
but the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam himself
understood what it was like to be a parent or a grandparent
with children in salah.
There were times that Al-Hasan wal Husayn...
May Allah, be pleased with him.
Particularly Al-Hasan RadiAllahu ta'ala anhu,
would come and jump
on the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
Yes, in the fardh
as he was in sujud
and the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
would wait for him on his back,
so that he would not harm him.
Umamah RadiAllahu ta'ala anha
She came to the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
as a baby girl and Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
held her in his arms, as he led the salah.
And then he put her down,
when he would do the sajda,
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
So his fardh prayer, was a beautiful prayer
to follow him in and you heard his sincerity even though
he would not recite long Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
and you enjoyed his beautiful recitation.
But what about the voluntary prayer?
Now it's Ramadan, and we can understand you know,
how much we'd long for salat-ul taraweeh
in its full function.
And even the Sahaba
of the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
when the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
used to lead the prayers in the first few nights of Ramadan,
the masjid got so full, that it could not even hold
the people in there.
So, even in the time of the companions,
the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam had that response
from the Sahaba, who wanted to come
and listen to him read all night.
And of course the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
he stopped doing so, because he didn't want
Taraweeh to become a fardh on the people.
He didn't want it to become an obligation on the people.
Now Zain ibn Thabit RadiAllahu ta'ala anhu,
has this interesting narration.
He says, the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam had set up
this chamber in the masjid and he would come out at night
and he would pray there, in this particular location
in the masjid and the people started to hear.
And that's what would happen, they'd hear
that the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
was praying qiyaam,
the would call the others and they'd start praying
behind him Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
So on the nights that
the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam would not come,
what would they do?
He said they would cough,
they would you know, go out of his door
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam, they raised their voices a bit.
He even says that they would throw some pebbles
in the direction of the door
of the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
hoping that he would hear their voices
and he would come out and lead them in salah
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
So the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
came out to them one night and he was upset.
And he said Ayyuhan nas,
"Oh, people, you kept on doing this until I thought
that it was going to be prescribed for you.
So offer your prayers in your houses,
because a man's prayer is better in his house,
except for al-maktoobah,
except for the obligatory prayer."
But if you were blessed enough to pray behind him,
in the voluntary prayers, you might actually regret it.
Ibn Mas'ud RadiAllahu ta'ala anhu
The same man, Subhan Allah, who took so many surahs
fresh from the mouth of the
Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
He said, "One time I prayed behind him
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
I saw him praying qiyaam and I prayed behind him."
And he said, ham amtu bi amrin suhm,
" You know, I thought to do something bad."
And they said, "What was that?"
He said, "I thought to actually leave
the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam midway,
like while he was in sujud,
I'd run away from the salah, because of how long it was."
Huzaifah ibn al-Yamman RadiAllahu Anhu
I know he has a famous story.
He says, "One time the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
was praying qiyaam"
I thought, "Let me join him.
I joined him and he started reading Al-Baqarah,
in the first raqqah."
He said, "I thought he'd stopped at a hundred versus
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam, but then he kept going."
Then he said, "I thought he stopped at 200."
The Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam finished 200.
Then he said, "I thought he stopped at Al-Baqarah."
The Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam finished Al-Baqarah
and he started Surah An-Nisa.
Same thing, "I thought a hundred verses.
He finished Surah An-Nisa altogether.
Then he finished Ali'Imran, all of it
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
And then he went into his rukuu
and Huzaifah ibn al-Yamman says
Rasullulah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam's rukuu
Was as long as his standing up.
and his sujud, each sajda,
was as long as the standing up,
in the rukuu.
And the second raqqah, he continued to read
Al-Ma'ida, Al-An'am, He kept on going with the long surahs.
Umm Salama RadiAllahu ta'ala Anh
Says that one time the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
read al Sab' al-Tiwal.
The long surahs, the seven long surahs in one raqqah
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
So in the fardh prayer you enjoyed it,
but he kept it short.
If you prayed qiyaam behind the messenger
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
he was connected to his Lord Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
and he would take his time alayhi salatu wa Salam,
enjoying his recitation.
The beautiful recitation that we long to hear.
(nostalgic music)