Saturday, December 20, 2008

BIGGEST THIEF

One day, asking his Sahaba [1], our Prophet ‘sallallahu alaihi wa sallam’ stated, “Do you know who the biggest thief is?” “Allah and his Prophet know better,” they replied. Upon this he stated, “The biggest thief is the one who steals from his own namaz [2], because he does not carry out the rules of namaz precisely!” One must avoid this theft, too, thus securing oneself against becoming a big thief. One must intend to perform namaz without having anything in one’s heart. If the intention is not correct the worship will not be accepted. One must recite the qiraat correctly, do the ruku’ [3], the sajdas (prostration), the qawma [4] and jalsa [5] in due itminan. In other words, after the ruku’ one must stand upright and remain so as long as the duration in which one could say, “Subhanallah,” and must sit upright and remain so as long as the same duration between the two sajdas. Thus, itminan [tumaninat] will be fulfilled in the qawma and jalsa. Those who do not do so become thieves and will be tormented bitterly.
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GLOSSARY
[1] Sahaba: if a Muslim has seen the Prophet, or talked to him, at least once when the Prophet was alive, he is called Sahabi. Plural form of Sahabi is Sahaba or As’hab.
[2] namaz: prayer that is performed five times per day in Islam.
[3] ruku’: bowing during the prayer of namaz.
[4] qawma: standing upright and motionless after ruku.
[5] jalsa: sitting upright and motionless for a moment between the two sajdas.

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