O my friend!

“Wa iza salaka ibadi anni fainni kharibun ujeebu daawat addaaee iza da aan”

O my friend! My creatures ask you questions about me; tell them I am near them I accept the prayer of one who prays

Then Allah says,” Don’t lose hope in Allah’s Mercies.” And said,” Allah promises you of great rewards and lots of bounties” It is imperative for you that you trust in Allah more than you can trust anyone else. When you have good thoughts in your heart, don’t give way to other doubts. Thus your sins will be pardoned.”

Imam Jafar e Sadiq (a.s.) has said, “Many a time Allah accepts people’s prayers but the benefits take time in reaching the supplicant. Allah instructs the two angels guardian over the person that the supplication has been accepted but he should not be given the benefits immediately that he continues to be suppliant for some more time. Allah will also mention to the angels that he likes the way the person supplicates.”

In another tradition the Imam (a.s.) has said,” Man is always in a good state and rightly keeps expecting Allah’s bounties unless he loses faith in the Munificence of Allah and stop praying for His mercy. He should not be in a hurry to get his prayers answered!“ The narrator asked, “ O Imam (a.s.)! What do you mean by the supplicant making hurry?" ”The Imam (a.s.) replied, " “When a supplicant complains that lot of time has elapsed ever since he initiated his supplication and the wish remains unfulfilled, then he is trying to hurry in the matter..”

Imam Jafar e Sadiq (a.s.) has narrated that one day Hazrat Ibrahim (a.s.) was surveying the environs of Mount Bait al Muqdis for a pasture. He heard the voice of a person calling. He proceeded in the direction of the sound. He found a person in the process of offering his prayers. The height of the person was about twelve yards. When the person was through with the prayer, Hazrat Ibrahim (a.s.) asked him,” To whom were you offering the prayers?”

- The man replied,” I was offering my prayers to the Creator of the land and the skies.

- Hazrat Ibrahim (a.s.) asked, “ Where be your dwelling?

- The man pointed to a hill in reply.

- Hazrat Ibrahim(a.s. ) said, "I too wish to visit your abode."

- He replied, "There is a river enroute that you cannot cross."

- Hazrat Ibrahim (a.s.) asked, “ Then how do you go across?”

- He said,” I can walk on the water.”

- Hazrat Ibrahim (a.s.) said, “ Perhaps Allah might endow to me the capability to walk on the water.”

- Consequently both of them walked across the girth of the river.

- Hazrat Ibrahim (a.s.) asked,” Tell me which is the greatest of all days?

- The man said,” The Day of Reckoning!”

- Hazrat Ibrahim (a.s.) said,” Come! Let us both pray to Allah for Deliverance on that fateful day.”

- The pious man said,” Why do you make me a partner in your prayer? I have been supplicating for the last three years and my wish has not been granted so far!”

- Hazrat Ibrahim (a.s.) asked,” What is your wish?”

- The man said,” On day I found a handsome lad grazing a flock. I asked him who owned the flock. The lad replied that the owner was Ibrahim Khalil ar Rehman. I prayed to Allah that if He had a Khalil (friend) on the earth, then He must give me the honor of setting eye on that revered personality. .But my prayer has remained unanswered.”

- Hazrat Ibrahim (a.s.) said,” Your wish has been fulfilled. I am Ibrahim Khalil Allah! The reason for the delay in answering your prayers was that Allah appreciated the way you modulated your supplication and He wanted to hear you making the call again and again. .Your repeated supplication enhanced your status in the consideration of Allah.”

The fourth reason for Allah not answering the prayers of a supplicant is that the wish that granting the wish might be against the person’s own interest. Allah has the intention of rewarding him with something more useful. As, for example, someone approaches a generous person for a pecuniary help of a certain amount. The generous person, after due consideration, which might take some time, helps him with an amount ten times more than the man expected! Therefore it is not the rejection of the prayer but, in fact, it is an enhancement in the generosity.

THE ADVANTAGES OF PRAYER

There are several benefits accruing from prayer. All the time spent in preparing for the nearness to Allah and supplication is a part of one’s prayer.

Dear reader! You must have observed that Allah attracts the ignorant creatures towards Himself by making innumerable promises. This can be explained by the simile of a king making the hawk sit on his arm with affection to train it to hunt. He gives a variety of food to the bird to befriend it. When the hawk is fully trained, he lets it go hunting and to return and perch on his arm. Another example is of parents training and educating their children and, in the process, informing them the myriad uses of learning and skills. When the child is not attentive, they give him pretty dresses and other goodies to attract him towards learning. When the child gets motivated, he himself tries to excel in the skills that the parents wanted him to acquire. Then, whatever comes in the way, the child continues making progress. Similar is the disposition of man.

Man doesn’t understand the pleasures and the successes of the Hereafter. Therefore, the Almighty, with His kindness and indulgence invites men towards Himself thus:

“O my creatures! Come. Whatever you ask for, I shall give you! I have everything that can bring you closer to Me! They can thus accomplish their wants in the world and also in the Hereafter. What degree of Munificence that, notwithstanding the Omnipotence, I have, I am calling you closer to Me.. But the ignorant creatures are worrying futilely that their prayers have remained unanswered.!”

Therefore Allah says:

Innal insaana lerabbehi lakanoor

"Truly man manifests ungratefulness to his Creator"

Man wonders why his prayer remained unanswered. He doesn’t think that supplication is a part of the prayer required of him. When he made entreaty to Allah, he came closer to Him! He communicated his feelings and wishes to the Creator and the Sustainer! He heard Allah's ’labbaek (thy beck and call)! O supplicant! If you realize the true happiness of prayer and supplication, and the eyes of your heart fathom the mysteries of the attention Allah gives to your lamentations, you would sacrifice your own self not to talk of your mundane wishes! Imagine, a person gets the opportunity with a man in authority, say, a king! And that monarch looks with some attention at the visitor. In his wonderment the man might forget to make his submission to the worthy!

What a pity that when people supplicate before the Almighty Allah, they forget that they have an opportunity to address Allah who has the control of everything in the Universe.

Allah says,” O My creature! Pray and trust Me for your welfare!” And man in his ignorance behaves stubbornly. If he hadn’t a screen of negligence over his mind, he could understand the truth. Allah says,” O angels! Delay fulfilling his wishes! I like the voice in which he is supplicating. If man realizes this, he will submit himself totally to the wish of Allah and shun praying for mundane wishes.

THOSE WHOSE PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED

Authentic sources quote that Imam Jafar e Sadiq (a.s.) has said,” There are three types of persons whose prayers are answered:

1. Those who go on the holy pilgrame of Haj, their prayers are answered. It is advisable that people at home are taken good care of...

2. Those who do Jehad in the way of Allah. His family and children must be provided support in his absence.

3. The prayers of the sick are also answered. People should, therefore take care of the sick and should not upset them in any way.

Imam Mohammed Baqir (a.s.) said that five prayers are such that Allah will certainly accept them:

1. Prayer by the Just Imam.

2. Prayer of the oppressed (mazloom).

3. The prayer of a pious son for his parents.

4. The prayer of pious parents for their son.

5. The prayer of a momin for his brothe momin in his absence.

- Imam Jafar e Sadiq (a.s.) has said,” Allah shall definitely accept six types of prayer:

1. Prayer of a pious father for his son.

2. Curse of a father for his disinherited (Aaq-shuda) son.

3. Curse of an oppressed person against a tyrant..

4. The prayer of one momin for another..

5. The prayer of an oppressed when he recieves a consideration from a cruel person..

6. Prayer for the pleasure of the Ahl al Bayt.

BEWARE OF THE CURSE OF THE OPPRESSED

The Prophet of Allah (a.s.) says,” Beware of the curse of the oppressed.that it goes beyond the skies and Allah looks at him with kindness and says,’ Raise his prayer, I shall accept it!’”

The Prophet (a.s.) also said,” Prevent yourself from your father’s curse. It is sharper than the spear!”

It has come in the traditions that four types of prayer are not rejected by Allah::1. A father’s prayer.for his son. 2. Prayer of the oppressed against the oppressor. 3. Prayer of the person who is on the minor pilgrimage (Umrah). 4. The prayer of a person who is fasting. 

It is said that the prayers of five types of persons are not answered: 1. A husband, despite being capable of divorcing a nagging spouse by giving her the mehr (alimony), bears with her and doesn’t divorce her, but prays against her.. 2. A person whose slave had escaped from his custody thrice but he doesn’t sell him and just curses him. 3. A person who doesn’t walk hurriedly away from a wall precariously about to fall and prays,’ O Allah! May the wall not fall on my head!’ 4. A person who advances a loan to someone without taking any witnesses and then prays, ‘ O Allah! Get back my money to me!’ 5. An able bodied person capable of earning his livelihood, but doesn’t exert himself to earn, prays’ O Allah! Give me livelihood!’ 

The Prophet of Allah (a.s.) has said, O Abu Dhar! If in a town only disobendient sinners are there with only three pious persons, Allah will not send curse to that place.

O Abu Dhar! Allah is proud and appreciatve of three persons. The first: One who says the Adhan (call for prayer) and Iqamah (the call to rise for prayer) while alone in a forest and offers his mandatory prayer. Allah asks the angels with pride to look at his sincere creature who has not forgotten the Creator even in the loneliness of the jungle. The second: One who does the Namaz e Shab (the night prayers) and prostrates in the loneliness of the night despite being overwhelmed by sleep. Allah tells to the angels that the spirit of the sincere creature is with Him while he is in prostration. The third: A person on the battlefield steadfast fighting the enemies while his own comrades have fled with fear in their hearts!: . 

Imam Jafar e Sadiq (a.s.) narrates that offering mandatory prayers in the view of the people is preferable. Praying in the mosque is preferable to praying in the loneliness of the home. Similarly giving Zakat in the precincts of the mosque is better as it would encourage others to follow suit. The non-mandatory prayers and charity and alms to poor and needy is better given in privacy. This will preclude the chance of giving a feeling to the people that the person is proud of his status and the recepients of the help might also feel embarrassed if the help is proferred in public.

Then the Imam (a.s.) said,” Offering namaz e shab was the practice of the Prophet (a.s.) and the pious persons followed suit. It removes pains and makes the faces radiant. One who offers these nightly prayers becomes good-natured and presentable. It boosts the means of livelihood of the person. The eight rakaat (genuflections) of namaz e shab are the adornment of the Hereafter for one who offers these prayers. It gives light to the eyes and expels sadness.”

It is mentioned in the traditions that namaz e shab enhances the radiance of the face and the fragrance of the body. It gives boost to the person’s livelihood. The person who offers these prayers finds means of discharging his debts.

In another tradition it is said that a household where the Quran is recited and the namaz e shab is offered, the house appears to the people of the Firmament as if it is a shining star.

It is recorded that the Prophet of Allah (a.s.) said while making a commentary on the verse:

“Innal hasanate yuzhibnal sayyiaat”

No doubt virtues obliterate the sins

Said “that the verse means that when a momin offers the namaz e shab, his sins committed during the day are obliterated.”

The Prophet of Islam (a.s.) has said,” Whosoever is given the privilege of offering namaz e shab by Allah, remains awake in the nights and with total dedication offers the prayer duly purifying himself with ablution, Allah will arrange nine rows of angels to join the prayer behind him. Only Allah will know the number of angels in each of the nine rows. One end of each row of the angels will be in the North and the other in the South. When the person completes the prayer, virtues will be added to his list (Nama e Aamaal) according to the number of angels who had offered prayers behind him. “

It is narrated also from the Prophet that Allah will infuse light in the heart of the pious person who stands in prayer during the late hours of the night. When the person utters, “Ya Rab, Ya Rab!”, Allah responds with “ Labbaek, Labbaek!” and says,” O My creature! Ask for what you want from Me! Depend on Me that I am sufficient for the solution of your problems!” Then Allah tells to the angels, “ Look! How My creature stands in My Presence in the dead of the night! That is the time when the thoughtless persons will be in their slumbers. You must bear witness that I have obliterated the record of all his sins!”

It is narrated in the traditions that the Prophet of Allah (a.s.) has said,” Jibraeel always exhorts me about the Namaz e Shab so much that I worried perhaps the people in my Ummah might not get any sleep in the thought of this prayer.”

It is narrated from Imam Mohammed Baqir (a.s.) that one who has faith in the Day of Reckoning and Allah will not let a night go when he has not performed the Namaz e Shab.”

It is narrated that a person approached Ameer al Momineen (a.s.) and said, “ O Imam! I am unable to offer the Namaz e Shab!” Hazrat Ali (a.s) said, “ Your sins are preventing you from doing so.” And added,” Hazrat Sulaiman (a.s.)’s mother advised him,’ O son! Don’t sleep much in the nights! Such a habit will render a person a beggar (faqir) on the Day of Reckoning!’”

It is also narrated from Hazrat Ali (a.s.) that a person asked him to tell about the superiority and significance of the Namaz e Shab. The Imam (a.s.) replied, “ Be informed that when a person spends a tenth of the night in sincere supplication Allah would tell to the angels, “ Write virtues in the name of My creature equivalent to the leaves and flowers in the trees that grow on the banks of the Nile.” In another tradition it is mentioned that Allah orders the angels to write virtues in the record of a supplicant equal to the leaves in all the trees in the universe. The Imam (a.s.) said,” One who spends a ninth part of the night in prayer, his Nama e Aamaal will be placed in his right hand on the Day of Judgement!” “A person who spends an eighth part of the night in supplication, Allah will give him the status of a martyr who fought valiantly in the way of Allah and met with death.” “ One who spends a seventh pary of the night in prayer, would rise from his grave with the face as radiant as the full moon and will cross the Bridge of Siraat with grteat ease!” “ One who spends a sixth of the night in supplication will get pardon of his sins from Allah and would be counted in the group of repentent people.” “One who spends a fifth of the night in prayer will find a place in the neighborhood of Hazrat Ibraheem (a.s.) in the Heaven.” “ One who spends a fourth of the night in supplication will will rise with the group of successful people on the Day of Judgement and will cross the Bridge of Siraat like a breeze and enter the precincts of the Heaven.” “ One who spends a third of the night in prayer Allah will endow him with such a status that every angel wishes to attain it. On the Day of Reckoning there will be Orders that he should have freedom to enter the Heaven through any of the gates he wished to use!” “ One who spent half the night in prayer will get so much reward that if the entire surface of the earth is made of gold and offered to that momin in place of the Reward, he would refuse to accept it. This act of the person will be more valuable in the consideration of Allah than freeing seventy slaves from the progeny of Hazrat Ismail (a.s.).” “ One who supplicates two thirds of the night, Allah will write virtues in his name equal to the grains of sand in a desert. The lowest number of virtues for such a person would be equal to ten times the size of the Mount Ohad.” “ One who supplicates the whole night, sometimes in prostration and at other in genuflection, sometimes reciting the Holy Quran and then uttering Allah’s names, Allah will reward him so much that all his sins would be pardoned and would be as innocent as a just born baby. The virtues written in the name of such a person will be equal to the creatures in the world. The grave of the person would be filled with light. Jealousy and greed would be obliterated from his heart. He will be freed from the prosecution that takes place in the grave after death. He will be exempt from the Hellfire. He will be raised from the grave on the Day of Judgement who will be free of any fear of Retribution. Allah would say to the angels,’ Look at my creature who spent the full night in My Remembrance. Give him a place in the Jannat al Firdous and give him a hundred thousand cities in the Heaven and every city should be adorned with what he wishes to have! Give him much more than what has already been endowed on him!”

O Abu Dharr! Every spot of land where one puts his head down in prostration will bear witness on the Day of Judgement. There is no resting place where travelers tarry for rest that will not pray for their safety if they had offered their prayers in that place. The place will curse a person if he had committed any act contrary to the dictates of Allah while tarrying there.

O Abu Dharr! There is no dawn or dusk when places don’t call each other: “ O my neighbor! Did any passerby talk of Allah while staying with you !? Did any traveler put his forehead down in prostration?” Some places would affirm that the travelers did prostrate in prayer and the others would own that they just rested and went their way. The place confirming about the visitors offering prayers while visiting it would proudly feel that it had the privilege of people offering prayers to Allah while being its guests.

Remember! Forgetfulness has so much engulfed the human race that the inanimate things are more adept at praying to Allah. The inanimate things, although in possession of very feeble senses, busy themselves in prayer.

Someone asked Imam Jafar e Sadiq (a.s) whether one should offer optional (Naafila) prayers at one place or at different places. The Imam (a.s.) replied that it is better to offer these prayers at different places that these places will bear witness to the act on the Day of Reckoning. 

It is narrated that when people assemble at a place and don’t praise the Prophet and his Holy Progeny (a.s.), such assembly will be the harbinger of retribution of the concourse on the Day of Reckoning 

O Abu Dharr! When Allah created the land and trees grew on it, there was no tree from which the progeny of Adam had not derived benefit. The land and its flora kept providing benefits to man that he praised Allah for His Bounties. But the misguided said, “ God has a son!” When this happened, the earth had a cataclysm and the benefits that the trees provided to man faded away. The Qureish believed that the angels are God’s daughters. The Jews thought that Aziz ( of Egypt) was God’s son. The Christians said, “ Jesus is the son of God”. 

It is narrated from authentic sources that Imam Jafar e Sadiq (a.s.) has said, “ Allah has not created any tree that did not give fruits. But when people started saying that God has a son, half the flora went barren of fruits. And when people started being polytheist, many a tree grew thorns.

allah