Seven Qualities that Allah Subhana Waa taala Loves

1. Tawbah (Repentance)... "For Allah loves those who turn to Him constantly (in repentance)" [Surah Al Baqarah 2:222]

2. Taharah (Purification)... "Allah loves those who keep themselves pure and clean." [Surah Al Baqarah 2:222]

3. Taqwa (Piety)... "For Allah loves the righteous (the pious)." [Surah Al Tawbah 9:4]

4. Ihsan (Goodness & Perfection)... "For Allah loves those who do good" [Surah Ali 'Imran 3:134]

5. Tawakkul (Trust in Allah)... "For Allah loves those who put their trust (in Him)." [Surah Ali 'Imran 3:159]

6. Adl (Justice)... "For Allah loves those who judge in equity." [Surah Al Ma'idah 5:42] "For Allah loves those who are fair (and just)." [Surah Al Hujurat 49:9]

7. Sabr (Patience)... "And Allah Loves those who are firm and steadfast (As-Sabirin (the patient))." [Surah Ali 'Imran 3:146]

Tauba

God sent down His Apostles into the world and revealed His Books through them so that men may learn to distinguish good from evil, virtue from vice, and earn for themselves Divine approbation and deliverance in the life to come by abstaining from the wicked and the unlawful and adopting what was good and virtuous. Thus, those who reject the faith and refuse to believe in the Prophets and the Divine guidance with which they had been raised up, their whole existence, so to speak, is one of defiance and transgression. They are totally indifferent to the message sent down by Allah. They will have nothing to do with it. Unless they believe in the Messengers and Apostles raised up by God and in the holy Scriptures revealed by Him, and, particularly, in the Last of the Prophets, Prophet Mohammad, and the Divine Book he brought, i.e., the holy Quran, and accept his guidance they can never hope to attain the good pleasure of God and success and salvation in the Hereafter. The denial of God, His Apostles and His Books is not pardonable. It cannot be condoned. This fact has been made abundantly clear by every Prophet of God during his time. In any case, it is essential for the salvation of the Apostates and Polytheists that they first of all renounced Apostasy and Polytheism and took to the path of Faith and Monotheism. Without it salvation is not possible. Those who believe in the Prophets and affirm their intention to live according to their teachings also sometimes fall into error. They are misled by the Devil or by their own baser instincts and impulses into committing a sin. For such defaulters God has kept the door of Tauba (Repentance) open. Tauba means that if a person many slip into folly and be guilty of a sin or an act of transgression against the law of God he should feel genuinely sorry and ashamed over it, and resolve sincerely not to do so again, and seek the forgiveness of God with all his heart. It is stated in the Quran and the Traditions that by doing only this much a man's sin is forgiven and he succeeds in winning the pleasure of the Almighty. It is essential to know that Tauba is not vocal penitence. It is not at all a matter of uttering so many words of repentance. The sorrow must be sincere, the shame must be felt in the heart and the resolution not to repeat the folly and be guilty of the sin again must be totally genuine. It is like this. Suppose in a fit of temper or in a moment of acute depression a person swallows poison with the intention of killing himself. But when the poison begins to work and a thousand knives begin to tear his intestines into pieces and he knows that death is near, he repents his folly and cries out in desperation for medical relief. Now, at that time, his first thought will be that if he survived he would never touch the poison again or think of committing suicide. This exactly should be the state of the man who repents after sin. His heart should be seized by the fear of Divine Chastisement, the resolution not to do the thing again should be an honest resolution and so also his entreaties to God for forgiveness. If such a state of feeling is realized by a person in any degree he should be sure that the stain of sin has been washed away and the gates of mercy have opened for him. After such a Tauba the sinner is completely absolved of his sin, he is thoroughly sanctified and becomes even dearer in the sight of God than he was before, so much so that sometimes a person succeeds in attaining, through Tauba, a place which would be hard to reach even after a hundred years of prayer and fasting. All this that we have said on the subject of Tauba was derived entirely from the twin sources of the Quran and the Traditions. We are going now to consider some of the relevant verses of the Quran: O ye who believe! Turn to God with sincere repentance: In the hope that your Lord will remove from you your ills and admit you to Gardens beneath which rivers flow. (LXVI: 8) Why turn they not to God, and seek His forgiveness? For God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (V: 77) When those come to thee who believe in Our Signs, say: “Peace be on you! Your Lord hath inscribed for Himself (the rule of) Mercy: Verily, if any of you did evil in ignorance, and thereafter repented, and amended (his conduct); lo, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (VI: 54) Also, look at the following Traditions: “God says, ‘O My Creatures! You commit follies day and night and I can forgive them all. So, seek My forgiveness. I will forgive'.” “God extends the arm of Mercy and Forgiveness every night so that the sinners of the day may repent and seek His pardon and every day so that the sinners of the night may repent and seek His pardon and it shall be like this with God till the sun rises from the West near the Doomsday.” “A man committed a sin and then he prayed to God, ‘O Lord, I have sinned. Forgive me'. Upon this, the Lord observed, ‘My servant knows that there is a God who can punish him for his sin as well as forgive. I have forgiven the sin of My servant. The person abstained from sin as long as the Lord wished after which he again went astray and fell into transgression. He once again prayed to God, ‘O Lord, I have sinned. Forgive me.' The Lord observed. ‘My servant knows that there is a God who can chastise him for sinning as well as forgive. I have forgiven the sin of My servant'. He remained free from sin as long as the Lord wished and then was again guilty of it. Once again he prayed to God, ‘O Lord, I have sinned. Forgive me'. The Lord observed, ‘My servant knows for certain that there is a God who can punish as well as forgive him for his sin. I have forgiven the sin of My servant'.” “One who seeks Divine forgiveness after sin becomes like one who has never been guilty of a sin”. These Traditions show how Merciful and Oft-Forgiving is the Lord. To get emboldened by them and to start indulging freely in sinful activities on the strength of Tauba is not worthy of a Muslim. Such verses and Traditions should, on the contrary, lend greater strength to the love of God. They should make one feel that it really was the height of meanness to act against the wishes of such a Compassionate and Benevolent Lord. If a master be of a most kind and affectionate nature, would it become his servants to pay back his kindness and affection by violating his wishes and disobeying his commands? What these verses and Traditions seek to convey is that should a person succumb to the temptations of the Devil or to his own ignoble desires and inclinations and commit a sin he must not despair of the mercy of the Lord and lose all hope of salvation. He should, on the other hand, turn his back immediately on the lapse and try earnestly to remove its stain through Tauba, by begging God, in all sincerity, His forgiveness. The Almighty, in His Infinite Mercy, will forgive and instead of being angry with him, He will become even more pleased for regretting sincerely what he had done and turning to Him hopefully for remission. A Tradition states: “When a man turns to God after sin and repents sincerely for his folly it makes God even happier than a rider whose mount may have thrown him down in a vast desert and fled away with all the journey's provisions laden on its back, and, when the rider may have resigned himself to his fate and sat down under a tree to wait for his death, the animal may return, all of a sudden, with the provisions intact and the rider may catch hold of it and blurt our (stupidly) in sheer joy, ‘O God, Thou, indeed, art may slave and me thy Master;.” If, after knowing these verses and Traditions, someone still fails to seek Divine forgiveness and approbation by offering repentance for his sins through Tauba and resolving not to fall into error again he, emphatically, is most unfortunate. Many people are inclined to take a most complacent attitude towards Tauba. They say, “We are healthy and strong, so what's the hurry? We will do Tauba before dying.” Brothers, this is an extremely dangerous deception, which the Devil practices on us. Deprived as he has himself of Divine Mercy and Beneficence and earned a permanent adobe in the Hell, he wants us also to go his way. No one knows when death may strike. Thus, we should consider every day to be the last day of our lives and lose no time in begging the forgiveness of God if and when we have been guilty of an evil. This, alone, is the path of wisdom. It is stated candidly in the Quran that. God accepts the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and repent soon afterwards; to them will God turn in mercy; for God is full of knowledge and wisdom. Of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil, until death faces one of them, and he says, “Nor of those who die rejecting faith: for them have We prepared a punishment most grievous. (V: 17-18) We should catch time by the forelock and realize the value of life that is left to us. We should not put off Tauba by a moment; we must not procrastinate. We ought to set about, at once, reforming our ways. God alone knows when death is going to make its call on us, and, then, it may be too late. Who can tell whether, at that time, we will get the opportunity to offer Tauba or not? Brother, we all have seen people dying. The general experience is that a person dies in the same state in which he has led his life. It does not happen that a person may have spent all his days in folly and negligence and, he, suddenly repented and turned into a saint a day or two before his death. Hence, a man who wants to die in a state of piety, for him it is necessary to become pious in his lifetime. Then alone can he hope to die as a good Muslim, by the grace of God, and to be raised up with the faithful and the righteous in the Hereafter. If after offering repentance for a sin a person may be guilty of the same sin again there is no need for him to feel so frustrated over it as to lose faith in Divine Mercifulness. He should offer Tauba quickly again, and if again he may break it he should not hesitate in offering it once more even if it be a thousand times. Whenever he will repent with a sincere heart it is the promise of God that He will accept his repentance and forgive him. The Benevolence of the Lord, lie His Paradise, is Infinite. Words of Tauba Form the forgoing it would have been clear that in whatever words or language a person may offer Tauba God will listen and accept his penitence. But the holy Prophet has laid down certain specific phrases or prayers in this regard which he used to recite himself. These prayers, surely, are most pleasing to Him. We are reproducing some of these here for you to learn by heart and recite for seeking divine forgiveness. I beg the forgiveness of the Lord save Whom there is no God, the living, the Eternal. Unto Him do I turn penitent. The Prophet has said, “Whoever will offer penitence to God and implore His forgiveness through this Kalima God will forgive him even if he has fled from the field of Jehad which is a most mortal sin in the sight of God.” And again: “Whoever will recite this Kalima thrice before going to sleep God will forgive his sins even though they may be as profuse as the foam of the sea,” Sometimes the sacred Prophet used to recite only (I implore the forgiveness of the Lord). It is a very brief phrase and we should try to cultivate the habit of repeating it every now and then. Saiyyid-el-Istighfar It is related that the holy Prophet once remarked that the following prayer was Saiyyid-el-Istighfar (the leader of all the prayer formulas of Istighfar). O God! Thou art my Lord, There is no God save Thee. Thou art my Creator and I am Thy slave. I abide by Thy covenant and promise as best as I can. I seek refuge in Thee from the mischief of what I have wrought. I acknowledge unto Thee Thy favour which Thou hast bestowed upon me, I also confess mine inequity; so forgive me for none forgiveth sins save Thee. Says the Prophet: “He who will offer repentance and beg the forgiveness of God reciting this prayer with faith and sincerity during day-time then if he died on that day, before nightfall, he shall go to Heaven, and he who will recite it at night, with faith and sincerity, and then if he died on that night, before day-break, he shall go to Heaven.” The three Kalimas of Tauba we have mentioned above are quite easy to remember. As a Tradition reads: “Blessed, indeed, is the man in whose record the profusion of Tauba is written.”

Namaz

The first and most important duty in Islam after one has brought faith in God and in Prophet Mohammad and borne witness to Divine Oneness and the Apostleship of the holy Prophet is Namaz. It is a most special act of Divine worship, which a Muslim is called upon to perform five times a day. There are numerous verses of the Quran and the Traditions of the Prophet enjoining the Namaz on us. It has been described as the pillar and the foundation of the faith. Namaz, if it is offered with a sincere heart and proper devotion and mental concentration, is particularly vested with the property of cleansing the heart and reforming one's life and ridding it of sins and impurities. It generates love for piety and truth and promotes fear of God in man. Thus it is that Islam has laid greater emphasis on it than on all other religious obligations. When anyone came to the Prophet to embrace Islam, the first promise the sacred prophet took from him, after instructing him in Divine Oneness, was that he will offer the Namaz regularly. In fine, after the Kalima, Namaz is the bedrock of Islam. Traditions We know from the Traditions that the holy Prophet used to equate neglect of the Namaz with infidelity. He denounced it as the way of the unbelievers. He would say that those who did not offer the Namaz had not share in the faith. A Tradition of the Prophet reads, “What separates a believer from infidelity is simply the Namaz”. This Tradition clearly warns that if a Muslim will give up the Namaz he will get associated with infidelity; his conduct will become the conduct of an infidel. In another Tradition the Prophet has said, “He has no share in Islam who does not offer the Namaz”. And here is another Tradition from which we can imagine what a great act of virtue and felicity is it to offer the Namaz regularly and how utterly fatal and ruinous is it to neglect it. Once while urging upon the Muslims to be most particular about the Namaz the sacred Prophet is reported to have observed: “Whoever will offer the Namaz properly and regularly it will be for him on the Last Day a source of light. A proof of his faith and a mean to salvation. (On the other hand) whoever will not offer it carefully and regularly it will be for him neither a source of light, and the end of such a person will be with Karun, Fir'aun, Haman and Ubai-bin-Khalaf. Brother, let us now imagine what our end is going to be if we fail to cultivate the habit of offering the Namaz correctly and regularly. THE IGNOMINY AND DISGRACE OF THE DEFAULTERS ON THE LAST DAY. The ignominy and disgrace the defaulters of Namaz will have to suffer at the very outset on the Day of Judgment has been spoken of in these words in the Quran: The day that the shin shall be laid bare, and they shall be summoned to bow in adoration, but they shall not be able, their eyes will be cast down, ignominy will cover them, seeing that they had been summoned aforetime to bow in adoration while they were whole (and had refused). (XI: 42) The verse tells that on the Last Day when the hour of Judgment will arrive (when all mystery will vanish and reality will be fully manifest) and gathered together, God will reveal Himself to them in full glory and splendor. Everyone will then be called upon to bow in adoration before Allah. The fortunate and the faithful among them who had been regular in their Namaz in the world and were, thus, accustomed to kneeling down before God will, at once, bow down in adoration, but those who in spite of being healthy and strong had not observed the Namaz in their lifetime will find that their backs had suddenly grown stiff like a board and they will remain standing with the infidels, unable to bend down and carry out the prostration. They will be covered with ignominy, their eyes will be downcast, they will not be able even to look up. Before the chastisement of hell, they will have to bear this chastisement of humiliation and disgrace. May Allah, by His Grace, save us all from it! In truth, a habitual defaulter of the Namaz is a sort of a rebel against God and deserves all the humiliation and punishment that may be meted out to him. According to some legists of Islam, a Muslim who rejects the Namaz is liable to be punished with death like an apostate. Brothers – We must realize it thoroughly and well that without the Namaz the claim to Islam is altogether meaningless. Namaz alone is the Islamic act that joins us with God and makes us deserving of His grace. Blessings of Namaz When a person stands before the Almighty with his arms folded, five times a day, and celebrates His praises and kneels down before Him and touches the ground with his forehead and makes earnest supplications to Him, he becomes worthy of His love and beneficence, his sins are forgiven with every Namaz he offers, his heart attains enlightenment and his life becomes pure. The Prophet once gave an excellent example to illustrate this truth. He asked his Companions, “Tell me, if a stream flows at the door of anyone of you and he takes a dip in it five times a day will there be left any grime on his body?” The Companions replied, “No, Sir. No grime will be left on his body”. The Prophet said, “It is exactly the same with the five daily prayers. God removes all impurities and sins because of their auspiciousness:” Superiority of Congregation It appears from the Prophet's Traditions that Namaz should be offered in congregation if one wants to derive full benefit from it. The Prophet was so very particular about it that once while condemning the conduct of those who avoided coming to the mosque to say their prayers in congregation due to laziness or indifference he observed with anger that he felt like burning down their homes. This one Tradition is enough to show how repugnant it is to God and the Prophet that anyone should not offer his prayers in congregation. Another Tradition says: - “The reward on saying the Namaz in congregation is twenty times as much as on saying it alone.” Apart from the reward in the Hereafter, there are many other advantages in offering up the Namaz in congregation. For instance, one acquires the habit of punctuality by attending the mosque regularly to say his prayers in congregation, it enables Muslim brethren of the locality to assemble at one place five times every day and this can be turned to great benefit, the practice of saying the Namaz regularly in the mosque congregationally makes a man thoroughly regular in his prayers for it has been seen that those who offer their prayers individually at home are often inclined to be neglectful. Yet another notable advantage in saying the prayers in congregation is that the Namaz of each participant becomes a part of the Namaz of the whole congregation in which, along with others, there are also generally present some venerable and virtuous servants of God whose Namaz is of a very high order. Their Namaz finds acceptance with Allah and the expectation from his Benevolent Grace is that when He will grant acceptance to the prayers of some members of the congregation He will, along with them, accept the prayers of the rest of the congregation too. Now, imagine what rich rewards and blessings do we deprive ourselves of when we do not go to the mosque to offer our prayers in congregation without a valid excuse. Meekness and Humility The offering up of the Namaz with meekness and humility means that, believing God to be Omni present and All-Seeing, the Namaz should be offered is such a way that the heart is filled with His love and stricken with awe by the thought of His Greatness and Magnificence as if a criminal was standing in front of a great judge or a mighty ruler. As a devotee stands up for Namaz he should visualize that he is standing in the presence of the Almighty – that he is standing out of reverence to Him. When he bows his head in Ruku or kneels down to perform the Sajda he should imagine that it was all being carried out in front of Allah and in expression of his own utter worthlessness and humility. Better still, whatever is recited during Namaz, whether while standing or in Ruku or Sajda, should be done with a proper understanding of its meaning, The real joy and beauty of Namaz is experienced only when it is offered with an intelligent appreciation of its contents. It is not, at all, difficult to learn the meaning of the Suras that are generally recited in Namaz. The devotion of the heart and the sentiments of awe and humility, indeed, are the very soul of the Namaz. The ultimate success and deliverance of believers who offer up such a kind of Namaz is assured. Declares the Quran: - The believers must (eventually) win through-those who humble themselves in their prayers. (XXIII-I) Says the Prophet, “God has made the five daily prayers obligatory. Whoever did the Wazu properly and offered them up at the right time and carried out the Ruku and Sajda as they ought to be, humbly and reverentially, for him the promise of God is that he will be pardoned; and whoever did not do so (i.e., did not say his prayers in this manner), for him there is no such promise. God will pardon or punish him as He will please.” Method When the time for prayers comes we should perform the Wazu carefully, believing that this washing and cleansing was necessary before we presented ourselves before the Lord and worshipped Him. The Almighty, in His benevolence, has invested the Wazu with great auspiciousness. The sins and transgressions of the parts of the body that are washed during it are forgiven because of it. The unholy effects of sins are, so to speak, washed away by the water used in the Wazu. After the Wazu, as we stand up for the Namaz, the predominant thought in our minds should be that we, the sinning and defaulting slaves were going to stand before a Lord and Master from whom nothing was concealed, who knew all about us, the hidden as well as the manifest, and before whom we would have to appear on the Day of Judgment. We should then formulate precisely the intention to offer the particular prayer and raising the hands up to our ears pronounce not only with the tongue but with our hearts, too, the formula. (Transcription Allah-o-Akbar) God is Great After it, with arms folded across the chest and a full awareness of the fact of our presence before the Almighty we should recite: (Transcription: Sub haana kal-laahumman wa bihamdika wa tabara kasm-uka wa taa alajado ka wa laa ilaaha ghairuka). O God, with Thy glorification and Thy praise; blessed is Thy name, great is Thy glory, and there is no God except Thee. (Transcription: ‘Aaoozu Billah-I-Min-ash – shaitanir rajeem: bismil laahir rahmaa nir raheem). I seek refuge in God from the wicked Devil and begin with the name of God, the Most Benevolent, the All-Merciful. (Transcription: Alhamdu lil-laahi rab-bil ‘Aalameen, ar rahmaa nir raheem, maaliki yaumid deen, iyyaaka na'budu wa iyyaaka nas-ta'een, ihdinas siraatal mustaqeem, siraatal ladheenaanamta ‘alaihim, ghairil maghdoobi'alaihim, wa lad daal leen. Aameen). Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds the Compassionate, Thee alone do we worship, and to Thee alone do we beg for help. Show us the straight path: the path of those whom Thou hast favoured; not (the path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray. Amen! Then some other Sura of the Quran, or a part thereof, should be recited. Here we give four brief Suras along with their translations. (Transcription: Wal'asr, in-nal insaana lafee khusr, il-lal ladheena aamanu wa aamilus saali-haati wa tawaasau,bil haqqi wa tawaasau bis sabr). By the Time! Lo, man is in a state of great loss, save those who believe and do good deeds, and exhort one another to truth, and exhort one another to patient perseverance. (Transcription: Qul huwal laahu ahad, al-laahus-samad. Lam yalid, wa lam yoolad, walam yakul laahoo kufu an ahad). Say: “It is God, the Unique! God, the eternally besought of all! He begetteth not nor was begotten. And there is none comparable unto Him!” (Transcription: Qul'aoozu be rabbil falaq, min shar re ma khalaq, wa min shar re ghasiqin iza waqab, wa min shar rin naffasat-I-fil ‘aqad, wa min shar re hassidin iza hasad). Say: “I seek refuge in the Lord of the Dawn from the mischief of created things; from the mischief of those who practice secret arts; and from the mischief of the envious' one as he practices envy”. (Transcription: Qul'aaoozu be rabbil naas, malikin naas, ilaahin naas, min shar ril was wasil khannaas, al lazi yo was wiso fi sudoorin naas, min al jinaat-I-wan nas). Say: “I seek refuge in the Lord and Cherisher of mankind, the King (of Ruler) of mankind, the God (or Judge) of mankind, from the mischief of the sneaking whisperer, who withdraws (after his whisper), (the same) who whispers into the hearts of mankind among jinns and among men”. Anyhow, after the Sura of Al-Hamd-o-Sharif some other Sura of the Quran, or a part of it, is to be recited. Only this much of the Quran is recited during each Rak'at of the Namaz, When the recitation has been completed, with the thought of the Majesty and Glory of God embedded in our hearts, we should say Allah-o-Akbar and perform the Ruku by placing our hands on our knees without bending them and pronounce a number of times the phrase: (Transcription: Subhaana rabbiyal ‘azeem). Glory be to my Lord, the most Elevated While reciting the above formula in the Ruku we should also meditate on its meaning, on the Glory and Magnificence of the Lord. Then the head be raised, from the Ruku, saying: (Transcription: Sami'al laahu liman hamidah) God has heard the servant who has praised Him (Transcription: Rab banaa lakal Hamd) Our Lord! Praise be to Thee Then, again, we should say Allah-o-Akbar from the depth of our hearts and prostrate ourselves before the Lord and perform two Sajdas simultaneously. During the Sajda the under-mentioned formula should be repeated a number of times imagining inwardly that God was present right there, seeing and hearing everything, and we were addressing the words directly to him. (Transcription: Subhaana rab-biya a'laa) Glory be to my Lord, the Most High While reciting these words in the Sajda, also, we should try sincerely to call forth within ourselves the realization of our abject helplessness and humility and the Supreme Might and Magnificence of the Lord. The deeper and stronger the realization, the better and truer will be the Namaz for this sentiment constitutes the very, life and soul of worship. This completes one Rak'at. All the remaining Rak'ats are to be offered similarly except that (sub-haana kal-laahumaa) is recited only in the first Rak'at. When we sit during a Namaz, or at the end of it, we recite (at-tahiuyaat) which, indeed, is its essence and substance: (Transcription: Atthiyaatu lilaahi was salawaatu wal taiyyabaatu, as salaamu ‘alaika ayyuhan nabeeyu wa rehmatul laahi wa bara kaatuh, as salaamu ‘alainaa wa'alaa ibaad laahis saliheen, ash-ha al-laa ilaaha il-lal-laah, wa ash-hadu an-na Muhammadan ‘abduhu wa rasoluh). The most blessed greetings, the purest and most sincere inclinations unto Got. Peace be with thee, O Prophet, as well as the mercy of God and His blessings. Peace be with us also, and the pious servants of the Lord. I attest that there is no God if not God himself, and I attest that Mohammad is His servant and Apostle. If a Namaz consists of three or four Rak'ats, when we sit after the second Rak'at only the above invocation is recited, and, at the end of the last Rak'at, the Durood Sharif and a prayer are also added to it. The Durood Sharif runs as follows: (Transcription: Allaahnmaa sal-li ‘alaa Muham-madin wa ‘alaa aal-I-Muhammadin kamaa sal-laita ‘alaa Ibraa-heema wa ‘alaa all-I-Ibraa-heema innaka hameedum majeed). O God, bless Mohammad and his posterity (or followers) as Thou hast blest Abraham and his posterity (or followers); Verily, Thou art the Praiseworthy, the Majestic. (Transcription: Allaahumma baarik ‘alla Muhammadin wa ‘alaa aal-I-Muhammadin kamaa baarak ta ‘alaa Ibraaheema wa ‘alaa all-i-Ibraa-heem in-naka hameedum majeed). O God, magnify Mohammad and his posterity (or followers) as Thou hast magnified Abraham and his posterity (or followers); Verily, Thou art the Praiseworthy), the Majestic. Though the Durood Sharif we invoke the favours and blessings of the Lord on the Prophet and his family and all those who bear a special association with him. It is, after all, through the agency of the Prophet that the Divine boon of Islam and Namaz has reached us. God has, therefore, charged us with the duty of praying for him, his family and his descendants at the end of each Namaz as an expression of our gratitude to him. After the Durood Sharif it is required of us to recite the under-mentioned prayer for ourselves and with it the Namaz is brought to an end by turning the head, first to the right and then to the left, and wishing everyone peace and blessings of the Lord. (Transcription: Al-laahumma in-nee zalamtu nafsee zulman katheeran, wa laa yaghfirudh dhunooba il-laa anta, faghfir lee maghfiratum min indika warhmanee in-nika antal ghafoorur raheem). O God, I have done my soul a great harm and no one can forgive sins if not Thee; so grant me forgiveness with Thy pleasure and have pity on me. Thou art Most Forgiving; Most Merciful. By means of this prayer we make an open confession of our sins and misdeeds and beseech God for His Mercy and Forgiveness. It is best for us always to consider ourselves defaulters and transgressors and make an open hearted admission of our faults and lapses even after performing an act of worship of the class of Namaz, and to repose all our hopes in Divine Compassion and Mercy. We must not allow pride or vanity to come near us because of our devoutness or worship-fullness for, whatever we may do, we can never hope to acquit ourselves fully of the duty of worshipping God and adoring Him and of rendering to Him what is His due. All that is necessary to know about Namaz has been described in this lesson. Once again, we assert that Namaz is that elixir among the various modes of worship which can transform a man into an angel, in the sphere of his deeds and morals, provided that it is offered with due concentration and the feelings of reverence and humility. Brothers, we just cannot afford to take lightly the significance, worth and value of the Namaz. So overpowering was the Prophet's anxiety for his followers to remain steadfast in the matter of Namaz and offer it regularly and unfailingly that he took pains to exhort them about it even during the last moments of his life when it had become extremely difficult for him to speak. Muslims who neglect the Namaz and do nothing to establish it and to keep it alive in their midst should imagine, for the sake of God, how are they going to face the Prophet on the Day of Reckoning, how are they going to look towards him, after disregarding so shamelessly his last will and testament during their life. Come, let us all pray now in the words of Prophet Abraham: (Transcription: Rab-bij ‘alnee muqeem-us-salaat-I-wa min zurriyatee, rab-bana taqabaal duaae, rabbanaghfirlee wa le waalidaiyya wa lil momineena yauma yaqoomul Hissab). Oh my Lord! Make me one who establishes regular Prayer, and also (raise such) among my offspring; Oh my Lord! And accept Thou my Prayer. Oh our Lord! Cover (us) with Thy Forgiveness me, my parents (and all Believers) on the Day that Reckoning will be established.

Durood Sharif

Durood Sharif is an invocation we make to God to bestow His choicest favours and blessings on the Prophet. It is a kind of prayer. The truth is that, after God, the greatest obligation on us is that of the sacred Prophet (Peace and Blessings of God be upon whom). He underwent tremendous hardship and endured the bitterest of persecutions in order to convey the divine guidance to us had he not borne these trials and sufferings the light of faith would never have reached us. We would be dwelling in the gloom of apostasy and making our home in hell after death. Since faith is the greatest blessing on the earth and we have attained it solely through the merciful agency of the Prophet, our greatest benefactor, next to God, is Prophet Mohammad. There is nothing we can do to pay back the enormous debt of gratitude we owe him. We can only pray for him to God as a token of our loyalty and gratefulness. But what prayer can we make that may be worthy of the Prophet? Naturally, none besides that God may magnify him and bless him with His choicest favours. This is just what Durood is. The Quran clearly enjoins on us to offer the Durood, and in what a wonderful manner does it do so: God and His Angels send blessings on the Prophet: O Ye that believe! Send ye blessings on him and salute him with all respect. (XXXIII: 56) In this verse we are first told that God Himself honours the Prophet and holds him in strongest affection and that His Angels also do the same-they pay reverence to him and beseech God to bless him with His most marvelous favours. The verse then goes on to command us also, i.e., the believers to send blessings on him and salute him with all respect. Thus, before the command is given care is taken to explain to us that the thing we are being required to do is something which is particularly pleasing to God and which the angels also fondly do. After knowing it, what Muslim is there worth his name who will not make it a religious duty to offer the Durood? Below we give a few Traditions of the Prophet extolling the virtue and merit of Durood Sharif. The Prophet is reported to have said: “He who will send blessings on me once God will confer ten favours on him.” (In another Tradition it has also been said that, “God will forgive his ten sins and raise him higher in rank by ten degrees)”. “There are many angels of God whose special duty is that they keep on moving in the world and whichever follower of mine sends blessings on me they carry it to me at-once.” Gracious is the Lord! Our Durood is communicated to the Prophet by the angels and through it we get a chance of being mentioned in his presence. What greater honour could there by for us, really. The Prophet says: “Closest to me on the Day of Requital will be he who sends blessings on me oftener.” “That man is a big miser in whose presence my name is taken and he does not offer the Durood.” “May he be disgraced in whose presence my name is taken and he fails to offer the Durood.” In sum, to send blessings on the Prophet is a foremost duty we owe to him a source of stupendous virtue and blessedness and the fountainhead of prodigious blessings in this world and the next. Words of Durood Once the companions asked the Prophet, “How are we to offer Durood and salutation.” The Prophet advised them about Durood-I-Ibrahimi which is recited in the Namaz. We have already reproduced it in Lesson II. Very much similar to Durood-I-Ibrahimi, but a little shorter, is another Durood, which was also taught by the Prophet. It reads: “O Allah! Magnify Prophet Mohammad, the Unlettered, his wives, the mothers of the faithful, his posterity (followers), and his family as Thou hast magnified the family of Ibrahim. Verily, Thou art the Praiseworthy, the Majestic. Whenever we take the name of the Prophet or talk about him or hear about him from anyone we should at once send blessings on him. On such occasions it is enough to say only or . Daily Routine Some determined persons with a natural flair and fondness for Durood-I-Sharif make it a regular habit to recite it thousands of times daily. But if weak-willed men like ourselves can manage to recite it a hundred times morning and evening with proper devotion and reverence they will profit so much by it and there will be such exquisite favours of the Prophet on him that it is not possible even to imagine them in this world. The following Durood Sharif is suggested to those who may be wanting to know a brief one: "O Allah! Magnify Mohammad, the Unlettered Prophet, and his family"