So I never liked the denigrating of the Masjid uncle or the auntie,
for several reasons. But one of the things that I think we really
really need to take into consideration is that if you go to the Masjid,
who are the people that are usually in the front row and who are the people that
are usually staying behind to clean up after everyone has left.
And it's usually that uncle that's being denigrated on some online commentators
platform or that auntie that's being modeled
And particularly when it comes to those that love the Massajid,
which is one of the things that causes a person to be shaded by the throne of
Allah (swt). And the prophet
(pbuh) in though the narration of 'abu saeid (RAE) is not the strongest,
but it has, you know, correct.
Meaning that if you see a person consistent with the Masjid
"fashhaduu lah bial'iiman"
that if you see someone consistent with the Masjid,
then bear witness that that is a person with faith.
And of course Allah confirms that there are people that go to the masjid,
that want to, "yatataharuu" that seek to be purified.
What then of a person who makes it a point to always be in the first row.
That person that's in the front row "'ashab alsafi al'awal" and the prophet
(pbuh) said "'iina allah wamalayikatah yusaluwn ealaa alsafi al'awal" that be Allah and his angels
send their prayers upon the first row.
Now the first row is not actually about physically being in the first row.
It's about how early you're coming to the masjid and the way that you adjusted
yourself to make it a point to always be that person that's there first.
That's always there before the Imam says "Allah 'akbar". And if you think about it,
it's a mindset because if you generally went to most Massajid,
you would see that the people that are usually in the first row are the same
people all the time. And the people that usually catch the second, third,
fourth "rqeah" are usually the same people every time. Right?
Because just like you have some people that set their watches to five minutes in
advance that they're not late,
or people that are very punctual with things that are important to them.
There are people that have the mindset of always being in the first row,
and the angels recognize those people and the angels always send their prayers
upon them. And it's a category of people.
When you read the books of the "Salaf" of the pious predecessors,
one of the ways that you talked about someone who repented and changed their
life was that they became from "'ashab alsafi al'awal"
They became from the people that were always in the first row.
So that's one of the ways that you knew that a person's repentance was sincere
and that they'd really turned back to Allah, and they'd left behind another way
of life.
And it's not just that the angels love to send their prayers upon the people in
the first row, the prophet
(pbuh) said that one of the blessings of this "'umih" is that Allah has
established our prayer in the same way that the angels lineup for their prayer.
So the way that we make our row rows and form our Rose is the,
that the angels formed their Rose be-for Allah (swt) as well.
So when the angels see those people that are coming early to the Masjid and
that are lining up in the same way that they line up be-for their Lord,
then they love to see those people.
And there's also the Hadith where the prophet (pbuh) said that the
angel sent their prayers upon those that are on the right side of the road.
Now, that's not someone who just prays on the rights.
what this is referring to is when the,
when the row is imbalanced,
it should be imbalanced slightly to the right if it's going to be imbalanced.
So you want to have the Imam as centered as possible,
but a person who's even thinking about where the angels line up.
And so the angels filled the right side before the left side and it all fills in
together.
That doesn't mean second row right is better than a first row left.
First row is always better. This isn't a sporting event, okay?
It's the people that are there first in front of Allah (swt), and
the prophet (pbuh) said, the angels Pray upon those who fill the gaps as well.
Okay? So when we line up like the angels for prayer,
then they pray upon us and when we come to our worship punctually on time,
longing for it,
the way that the angels long to worship their Lord and the way that they line
up, then they particularly take note of those individuals and Allah (swt)
particularly takes note of those individually.