The Right of Prayer (10th): Commentary on Imam Sajjad’s (AS) Treaties of Right by Mohammad Sobhanie.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
فَأَمَّا حَقُّ الصَّلاةِ فَأَنْ تَعْلَمَ أنّهَا وِفَادَةٌ إلَى اللهِ وَأَنَّكَ قَائِمٌ بهَا بَيْنَ يَدَيِ اللهِ، فَإذَا عَلِمْتَ ذَلِكَ كُنْتَ خَلِيقًا أَنْ تَقُومَ فِيهَا مَقَامَ الذَّلِيلِ الرَّاغِب الرَّاهِب الْخَائِفِ الرَّاجِي الْمِسْكِينِ الْمُتَضَرِّعِ الْمُعَظِّمِ مَنْ قَامَ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ بالسُّكُونِ وَالإطْرَاقِ وَخُشُوعِ الأَطْرَافِ وَلِينِ الْجَنَاحَ وَحُسْنِ الْمُنَاجَاةِ لَهُ فِي نَفْسِهِ وَالطَّلَب إلَيْهِ فِي فَكَاكِ رَقَبَتِكَ الَّتِي أَحَاطَتْ بهِ خَطِيئَتُكَ وَاسْتَهلَكَتْهَا ذُنُوبُكَ. وَلا قُوَّةَ إلا باللهِ.
The Right of Prayer
The right of daily prayer is to acknowledge that in prayer, you arrive before the presence of Allah (SWT) and stand before God. And when you realize that you will stand in the state of someone who is abased, eager, terrified, fearful, hopeful, destitute, beseecher.
In prayer, you will glorify God who is before you (Allah (SWT)) with serenity while bowing the head, humbling the limbs, and whispering the best supplication with the utmost attention. You would ask God to save (you from the burden) of mistakes and destructive sins on your shoulder. And there is no power but in God.
Commentary:
Following the enumeration of the rights of Allah (SWT) and parts of the human body, Imam Sajjad (AS) discussed the rights of obligatory deeds such as daily prayers and fasting. It appears that religious obligations demand their rights like living beings. The Imam (AS) began with the rights of daily prayers as follows:
In prayer, we arrive before Allah’s presence (SWT) and stand before Him. Therefore, we should pray like an abased destitute servant who is terrified of the consequences of his sins but hopeful to gain Allah’s (SWT) nearness, grace, and mercy.
Then Imam added that the etiquettes of prayer are to glorify Allah (SWT) with complete calm and serenity while bowing the head, humbling the limbs, and whispering the best supplication with the utmost attention. The Imam (AS) reminds us to seek divine pardon and forgiveness for mistakes and destructive sins that are on our shoulders in our daily prayer.
The Prayer of Imam Sajjad (AS [1]:
Tawoos-ibn-Yamani was in the era of Imam Sajjad (AS). He avoided acquaintance with the caliph of his time and the people who served him. The three famous people for keeping their distance from the caliphate were Abu Dhar Ghaffari, Tawoos-ibn-Yemeni, and Sufyan Thori.
He narrates: “I saw Imam Sajjad (AS) circumambulation the House of Kaaba and offering supplications after Isha prayer until dawn. When the crowd left the sacred Masjed and around the Kaaba became relative quiet, Imam Sajjad (AS) raised his hands and offered the following supplications:
“Lord! The stars of your sky have set, and the eyes of your servants have fallen asleep. The doors of Your mercy are open to the beggars, and I have come to you to forgive me and have mercy on me. On the Day of Judgment, please show me the face of my grandfather Mohammad (SAWA).” The Imam (AS) wept and said, “I swear by your honor and glory that I have never intended to oppose You with my sin. I have never sinned because I am sceptical about you, nor am I unaware of Your punishment, nor careless about Your discipline. Instead, my soul beautified sin to me; now I say who will save me from Your torment, and if You cut the rope of Your mercy, which rope will I cling to it? Woe to me, the longer I live, the more I sin, while I have not repented. Isn’t it time for me to be ashamed of my Lord?” Then the Imam (AS) cried and whispered these two poems:
“O’ You who are the peak of my desires, do You burn me with the Fire, then what happens to my hope, love, and affection? I have done terrible deeds, and no one among those who have done a wrong acted like me.”
أتُحرقني بالنّار يا غايةَ المنى *** فأين رجائي ثُم أين محبّتي
أتيت بأعمال قباح رزيّة *** وما في الورى خلق جنى كجنايتي
Then he cried and said: “You are pure, my God! You are disobeyed, but You show patience as I have not disobeyed you. You treat Your servants with friendship as if You need them, while O’ my Master, you are the Rich and do not need Your servants.”
Tawoos said: “then the Imam (AS) prostrated, and I went to him after a while. I raised his head, put it on my knee, and shed tears. My tears fell on his face. He got up and sat down and said: Who stopped me from remembering my God?”
Tawoos said: “I told the Imam (AS), O’ son of the Messenger of God! I am Tawoos. What are these moans for? Should we moan like this? Because we are also drowning in sin and disobedience. O’ Master of those who prostrate [2], your father is Hussain Ibn Ali (AS), your mother is Fatima Zahra (SA), and your grandfather is the Messenger of Allah (SWT). Then, what fear do you have of the Hereafter?”
The Imam (AS) turned and said to me: “O’ Tawoos! Leave my relationship with my father and mother and my grandfather aside. Allah (SWT) created Paradise for the obedient and the virtuous, even though they are Abyssinian enslaved people, and made the Fire for the sinners, even if they are from the tribe of Quraysh. Have you not heard the word of God who says: (Al-Mu’minun 23:101):
فَإِذَا نُفِخَ فِي الصُّورِ فَلاَ أَنْسَابَ بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذ وَلاَ يَتَسَاءَلُونَ
23:101 So when the Horn is blown, no relationship will there be among them that Day, nor will they ask about one another.
I swear by God, nothing will benefit you on the Day of Judgment unless you enter to the presence of God with righteous deeds.”
Benefits of Praying:
Performance of prayer with proper etiquette restrains man from participating in indecency and evil [3] and instils noble traits such as patience, perseverance, generosity, honesty, integrity, and chastity [4] in the personality of the worshipper.
The etiquette of salaat begins with prayer clothes, the water used for ablution, and the place of worship. These should be obtained through halal (permissible) means, and prayers should be performed calmly, on time, and with complete awe and reverence of Allah (SWT) [5].
The Prophet (PBUH) mentioned that the daily prayers wash sins away as water washes filth from bodies and clothing. Imam Ali (AS) stated daily prayers cleanse sins as the wind blows away dry leaves from trees [6].
The Qur’an warns those who neglect their prayer [7]. On the Day of Judgment, sinners will be asked what led them to the Hellfire, and they will reply that they were not devoted to their prayers [8].
Prayer is a pillar of all Abrahamic religions. After Prophet Ibrahim (AS) raised the walls of Kaaba, he stood next to it and said: “O my Lord! Make me and my offspring establish salaat.[9]” Allah (SWT) commanded Prophet Musa (AS) to perform Salaat [10]. Prophet Isa (AS) spoke miraculously in his cradle and said that Allah (SWT) had advised him to perform salaat and give charity [11]. Allah (SWT) commanded Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) to instruct his family to establish Salaat [12].
Acknowledgment:
The text is based on “Commentary on Imam Al-Sajjad’s (AS) Treaties of Right” by Grand Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani.
Notes:
[1] بحار الأنوار – العلامة المجلسي – ج ٤٦ – الصفحة ٨١ (shiaonlinelibrary.com)
[2] The title of Ima Sajjad (AS) (سید الساجدین)
[3] Al-Ankabut, 29:45
[4] Al-Ma’arij, 70:22-34
[5] Al-Mu’minun, 23:2 & 9
[6] Sermon-199 of Nahjol-Balgah
[7] Al-Ma’un, 107:4-5
[8] Al-Muddathir, 74:42
[9] Ibrahim, 14:40
[10] Ta-Ha, 20:14
[11] Maryam, 19:31
[12] Ta-Ha, 20:132
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