Wednesday, September 17, 2008

The Virtues Of Sitting In The Masjid

The Prophet (saas) Said:“… Then when he enters the Masjid, he is in (the state of) prayer as long as it is the only thing keeping him from leaving (i.e., the only reason why he is staying in the Masjid is to wait for the next prayer). And the Angels send prayers upon one of you as long as he is in the seat (spot) that he prayed in; they say, ‘O Allah, have mercy on him; O Allah, forgive him; Allah, accept his repentance,’ as long as he does not harm anyone (with speech or deed) while he is in it , and as long as he does not nullify his state of purity (i.e., by passing wind, etc..)..”” 1

From Allah’s vast mercy to His slaves, He (swt) gives them a reward similar to the person who is praying, just for sitting in the Masjid and waiting for the next congregational prayer; furthermore, He (swt) makes His angels supplicate for them.

We must keep in mind that, as the Hadeeth informs us, certain conditions must be fulfilled if you are to achieve the aforesaid reward and honor. First, nothing other than the prayer should be preventing you from going back to your home or work or elsewhere. Second, for the angels to supplicate for both those who wait for the prayer anywhere in the Masjid and those who remain seated in the spot they prayed in. If you harm Muslim worshippers with speech or deed, or if you do something to nullify your state of purity (i.e., pass wind,etc.), you will not gain the reward of a person who waits for prayer, and the angels will not make the aforementioned supplication for you.

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1) Related by Bukhaaree (176), Muslim (649), Ahmad (7382), An-Nassaaee (733), Abu Daawood (559), and Maalik (382). And the wording mentioned above is from Muslim’s narration of the Hadeeth

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