Worship is understanding by the slave his weakness, poverty and need and taking refuge in his Creator.
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. Hajj is, after entering ihram, to stand on Arafat, to circumambulate Kaaba and to carry out other tasks at certain months.
5.2. THE MEANING AND WISDOM OF HAJJ
Hajj is a worship carried out through both the body and money. Hajj is performed only for the sake of Allah, like the other worships, and its reward is expected from Allah. However hajj has wisdoms involving the material and spiritual life of a person.
Hajj is a worship in which prayers are answered, sins are forgiven, every act is regarded as worship, no discrimination is made between the rich and the poor, the scholars and the ignorant people, the chief and the official, and the brotherhood of Islam is lived.
Believers meet Muslims whose languages, colors, attitudes are different in the crowd that reminds the Day of Gathering and consolidate their feelings of brotherhood with them. They share the same feelings, and pray Allah together. They live the honor of being a slave of Allah in the consciousness of slavery and brotherhood together. They repent of their sins and clean their spirits. They circumambulate together, stand on Arafat and attain the consciousness of being a slave. They make use of one anothers prayers and say amen to one anothers prayers.
The historical events from Hazrat Adam, the first man and prophet, to Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) and his Sahaba enliven in front of the eyes a person who visits the holy places during hajj worship.
Hajj worship is actually a hard task for man. To attain Allahs contentment is only possible by carrying out that hard task. That is a trial. By performing hajj worship, we pay our gratitude to Allah, who created us out of nothing and who made us live through his bounties, and crown this happiness with Eid al-Fitr.
The worships like takbeer, tahleel, talbiyah, circumambulation, say (running or walking from Safa to Marwa four times and the other way three times) and standing believers are supposed to make during hajj have symbolic values and a lot of spiritual and psychological influences and wisdoms. Each individual directs himself towards Allah, in that special season when all of the slaves are invited and in that special place. Everybody presents Him his worship and needs, asks His forgiveness and attains a comprehensive slavery.
5.3. FIRST CALL TO HAJJ
Allah ordered Hazrat Ibrahim and Hazrat Ismael to build the Kaaba in about BC 2000. However, the place of the Kaaba which was demolished completely during Hazrat Noohs flood (the deluge) had not been known. Hazrat Jibril showed them the place of the Kaaba. Hazrat Ibrahim and Hazrat Ismael started to carry out the order of Allah. One of them chiseled stones and the other mixed the mortar. The place of the stone that was used as scaffolding in the building is called the Station of Ibrahim. Hazrat Ismael brought a black stone, which is reported to have been brought from Paradise from Abu Qubays Mountain. They placed that stone as a sign for the beginning of circumambulation in the wall of the Kaaba where it is now. It is stated that the Black Stone (Hajar al-Aswad) functions like a computer disc that records all of the shahadahs, greetings and kissing. The Kaaba is a structure made of four walls, empty inside.
After the building of the Kaaba finished completely, Allah said to Hazrat Ibrahim: This is my house. I showed you its place. I allowed you to construct a building there and ordered you the following: Do not associate anything with Me in worship. Clean My house for those who circumambulate it, those who perform prayers, bow or prostrate themselves. Proclaim hajj among men. Let them come on foot and mounted from distant places. Then Hazrat Jibril showed how the perform circumambulation and hajj. He said to Hazrat Ibrahim, Proclaim hajj among men Hazrat Ibrahim asked How should I proclaim? Hazrat Jibril said Proclaim, O men! Answer the call of your Lord! and repeated it three times. Hazrat Ibrahim asked: O my Lord! How can my voice reach men? Allah stated, You proclaim! It is my duty to make men hear it. Hazrat Ibrahim mounted on the scaffolding stone called the Station of Ibrahim; he put his hands on his ears and turned to four directions shouting: O men! Allah has made me build a house for Him and He orders you to perform hajj of it. O men! It was prescribed for you to perform hajj of the Kaaba. O slaves of Allah! Obey Allah! Answer the call of your Lord! Everything that heard that call said, Labbayk Allahumma labbayk! (O my Lord, Here I am at Your service, Here I am). Hazrat Ismael taught it to the people of Hijaz. (Hajj, 26).
After Hazrat Ibrahim, the polytheists made some changes on the form of performance and time of hajj. Our Prophet showed people how to perform hajj in practice, corrected the mistakes and said, Learn the rituals of hajj from me, perform hajj as I do. (Muslim, Hajj, 310)
5.4. OUR QIBLAH, THE KAABA
Some of the verses about the Kaaba in the Quran are as follows:
Certainly We have seen you (O Messenger) often turning your face to heaven (in expectation of a Revelation. Do not worry, for) We will surely turn you towards a direction that will please and satisfy you. (Now the time has come, so) turn your face towards the Sacred Mosque. (And you, O believers,) turn your faces towards it wherever you are. Surely those who were given the Book (before, no matter if the hypocrites or the foolish among them deny or object to it) do know (the coming of this Prophet and this change of qiblah) to be true (commandments) from their Lord. God is not aware and unmindful of whatever they do. (al-Baqara, 144)
"Behold, the first House (of Prayer) established for humankind is the one at Makkah, a blessed place and a (center or focus of) guidance for all peoples. (Aal-e-Imran, 96)
The Kaaba is in the city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia. It is the house of Allah in the world; it is a holy place that Muslims circumambulate. We turn to the Kaaba when we perform prayers. Turning to the Kaaba is also called qiblah.
5.5. HOW HAJJ BECAME FARDH AND HOW TO PERFORM IT
Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, became fardh in the ninth year of Hijrah (the Emigration) and this event was mentioned in the Quran as follows:
. فِيهِ آيَاتٌ بَيِّـنَاتٌ مَّقَامُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمَن دَخَلَهُ كَانَ آمِنًا وَلِلّهِ عَلَى النَّاسِ حِجُّ الْبَيْتِ مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ إِلَيْهِسَبِيلاً وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ الله غَنِيٌّ عَنِ الْعَالَمِينَ
In it, there are clear signs (demonstrating that it is a blessed sanctuary, chosen by God as the center of guidance), and the Station of Abraham. Whoever enters it is in security (against attack and fear). Pilgrimage to the House is a duty owed to God by all who can afford a way to it. And whoever refuses or is ungrateful to God (by not fulfilling this command), God is absolutely independent of all creatures. (Aal-e-Imran, 97)
Our prophet Hazrat Muhammad stated the following in a hadith:
Islam is based on five principles: to testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is Allah's Prophet, to perform prayers, to pay Zakat (alms), to perform Hajj, to observe fast during the month of Ramadan. (Bukhari, Eeman, 2)
To perform hajj or umrah more than once are extra worships. However the Prophet (PBUH) states the following;
Perform hajj and umrah one after the other. These two eliminate poverty and sins as bellows eliminate the rust of the iron, gold and silver. The reward of an accepted hajj is but Paradise." (Tirmizi, Hajj, 2; Nasai, Hajj, 6; Ibn Majah Manasik, 3.)
5.6. WHEN IS HAJJ PERFORMED?
The time of hajj is expressed as follows in a verse:
الْحَجُّ أَشْهُرٌ مَّعْلُومَاتٌ فَمَن فَرَضَ فِيهِنَّ الْحَجَّ فَلاَ رَفَثَ وَلاَ فُسُوقَ وَلاجِدَالَ فِي الْحَجِّ وَمَا تَفْعَلُواْمِنْ خَيْرٍ يَعْلَمْهُ اللّهُ وَتَزَوَّدُواْ فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الزَّادِ التَّقْوَى وَاتَّقُونِ يَا أُوْلِي الأَلْبَابِ
Hajj is in the months well-known. Whoever undertakes the duty of hajj in them, there is no sensual indulgence, nor wicked conduct, nor disputing during hajj. Whatever good you do (all that you are commanded and more than that, especially to help others), God knows it. Take your provisions for hajj (and do not be a burden upon others). In truth, the best provision is righteousness and piety, so be provided with righteousness and piety to guard against My punishment, O people of discernment! (al-Baqara, 197).
What is meant by Hajj is in the months well-known is the months Shawwal and Zul-Qaadah, and the first ten days of Zul-Hijjah. The rituals of hajj can only be performed in those months. The last day is the eve of Eid al-Adha and the first day of Eid al-Adha. Therefore someone who stands at Arafat at the specified time that is, in afternoon on the eve of Eid al-Adha and who circumambulates Kaaba on the first day of Eid al-Adha is regarded to have completed the fardh of hajj.
5.7. WHO IS HAJJ FARDH FOR?
The following are necessary for hajj to be fardh for a person: To be a Muslim, to be free and to be pubescent. In addition, it is necessary to know that hajj is fardh, to have enough money for his sustenance and for the sustenance of people he is obliged to care during the period when he goes to and comes back from hajj apart from his essential needs, to have enough money and means to go to and to come back from hajj and to have enough time to perform hajj.
5.8. THE CONDITIONS FOR CORRECT HAJJ
The following conditions are necessary for hajj to be valid.
1- To be a Muslim,
2- To be sane,
3- To perform hajj during the specified period,
4- To perform hajj at the specified places, that is, Arafat and the Kaaba.
5.9. ESSENTIALS OF HAJJ AND HOW TO PERFORM IT
1-Ihram,
2- To stand at Arafat,
3- To circumambulate Kaaba,
4- To perform say (running or walking from Safa to Marwa four times and the other way three times),
5- To have ones hair cut,
6- To observe the order of the essentials.
5.9.1. Entering ihram
Entering ihram is one of the essentials of hajj and umrah. A person who is to perform hajj or umrah takes a bath (ghusl) and covers himself with a two-piece garment called izar and rida. He makes a niyyah and recites talbiyah. Thus a person enters the state of ihram and prohibitions start. A person cannot perform hajj or umrah, or pass the Miqat region without entering the state of ihram.
Prohibitions of Ihram
Some actions and behaviors are prohibited for a person in the state of ihram. Those prohibitions start with intention and talbiyah. They go on until the person exits ihram. The following acts are forbidden for a person in the state of ihram:
1. Cut ones hair, or shave, cut or shave ones mustache
2. Remove any hair from ones body, trim nails; wear perfume or scents, put on lipstick, nail polish, use scented soap,
3. Put on clothes while in the state of ihram,
4. (For men) Cover ones head, feet and face, put on gloves, socks, heeled shoes or shoes with covered heels,
5. To have sexual intercourse, to say sensual words,
6. To commit a haram,
7. To argue with others, to say bad words, to do bad deeds, to hunt on the land, to help a hunter; however it is not forbidden to slaughter domestic animals like goats and sheep.
After exiting ihram, normal course of life goes on. Ihram prohibitions end.
5.9.2. Standing at Arafat
Arafat means a place defined, confessed, repented, or turned towards Allah. Hajjis (people who perform hajj) have to stand at Arafat even if it is for a moment. This is the first fardh of hajj.
The obligation of standing at Arafat is stated as follows in the verse:
Press on in multitude from where all the (other) people press on, and implore Gods forgiveness. Surely God is All-Forgiving and All Compassionate. (al-Baqara, 199)
Waqfah means standing, or halting for supplication. The prophet (PBUH) said, Hajj is Arafat. underlining the importance of standing at Arafat.
In order to stand at Arafat, which is one of the fardhs of hajj, people go to Arafat on the 9th of Zul-hijja before noon and stand on any place of Arafat at any time beginning from noon till dawn the next morning. Waqfah can be performed at any place at Arafat except the valley of Urana. To perform the fardh of waqfah it is enough to be in any time during that period at Arafat. However to stay there for a period during the day and the night is sunnah (something the prophet did). The Prophet says the following: There are some sins; only standing at Arafat can eliminate them. (Gazzali, Ihyau Ulumid-din, v.1. p.688.)
5.9.3. Muzdalifah
It is a place between Arafat and Mina where Hazrat Adam and Hazrat Eve met after they saw each other at Arafat. Therefore it is also called jam (coming together).
After standing at Arafat people go to Muzdalifah on the same day. It is wajib to spend the night in Muzdalifah. People can stand in any place in Muzdalifah. If the time for night prayer has entered, that days evening and night prayers are performed together.
5.9.4. Mina and Stoning the Devil
The stones that are collected in Muzdalifah for stoning the devil, which is one of the wajibs of hajj, are thrown at the specified places in Mina for the small, medium and large devils.
5.9.5. (Animal) Sacrifice, cutting hair and exiting ihram
After stoning the devil, sacrificial slaughter is performed. Then, the person has his hair cut and exits ihram. After that, he circumambulates the Kaaba, which is fardh and called tawaf ziyarah. So that person becomes a hajji.
Before leaving Makkah, he circumambulates the Kaaba, which is wajib and called tawaf al-wada.
5.9.6. Performing circumambulation
When people reach the Kaaba, they stop talbiyah at the gate. They recite takbeer, tahleel and salawat. When they start circumambulation they say niyyah (intention). They stand opposite Hajar al-Aswad (the Black Stone) and greet it and say,Bismillahi Allahu Akbar; then they start circumambulation left arm Facing the Kaaba. Each circle is called a shawt. 7 shawts make a tawaf. After tawaf is completed a prayer of two rakats for tawaf is performed at the Station of Ibrahim or near it. Then people go to the hill of Safa for say.
5.9.7. What does Say mean? How is it performed?
Say means going and coming back between the hills of Safa and Marwa seven times.
It is stated in the 158th verse of Chapter al-Baqara that say is wajib.
Say starts at the hill of Safa and ends at the hill of Marwa. The intention for say is expressed as follows: O Allah! I want to perform say of hajj or umrah, accept it from me, and make it easy for me. It is going to Marwa from Safa four times and coming to Safa from Marwa three times. The seventh coming to Marwa hill ends say. After say is completed, men exit ihram by having their hair cut, and women have a piece of their hair cut.
5.10. Violation of Hajj and umrah prohibitions
Violation by mistake, forgetting, deliberately or erroneously or any other reason necessitates punishment.
Reading
Hz. Muhammad (PBUH) recited the following sermon addressing more than one hundred thousand sahabas. The fundamentals of Islam are stated in the sermon, and it guides people in their relations with one another. This sermon forms the nucleus of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
FAREWELL SERMON
" O People,
Lend me an attentive ear, for I know not whether after this year, I shall ever be amongst you again.
Just as you regard this month, this day, this city as sacred, so regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred trust.
Remember that you will indeed meet your Lord, and that He will indeed reckon your deeds. So beware, do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone. All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others, and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me directly.
Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful owners. Truly, the usury of the Era of Ignorance has been laid aside forever, and the first usury I begin with is that which is due to my fathers brother Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib.. Your capital, however, is yours to keep. You will neither inflict nor suffer inequity.
Every right arising out of homicide in pre-Islamic days is henceforth waived, and the first such right I waive is that arising from the murder of Rabi`ah ibn Al-Harith [a relative of the Prophet>.
O people, beware of Satan, for the safety of your religion. He has lost all hope that he will ever be able to lead you astray in big things, so beware of following him in small things.
O people, it is true that you have certain rights with regard to your women, but they also have rights over you. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Treat your women well and be kind to them, for they are your partners and committed helpers. And it is your right that they do not make friends with anyone of whom you do not approve.
"O Believers! I leave behind me two things, the Quran and my example, the Sunnah, and if you follow these you will never go astray.
Learn that every Muslim is the brother of another Muslim and that Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim that belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly.
O people:, Allah has apportioned to every deserving heir his share of the estate, and no deserving heir may accept a special bequest, and no special bequest may exceed a third of the estate.
A childs lineage is that of the [husband who owns the> bed, and adulterers shall be stoned. Whoever claims to be the son of someone besides his father or a bondsman who claims to belong to other than his masters shall bear the curse of Allah and the angels and all men: no deflecting of it or ransom for it shall be accepted from him.
O people, your Lord is One, and your father is one: all of you are from Adam, and Adam was from the soil. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor does a non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black, nor does a black have any superiority over a white except by piety and good action.. The noblest of you in Allahs sight is the most god-fearing.
O People. Listen and obey, though a mangled Abyssinian slave is appointed your ruler, provided he executes the book of Allah among you. "A person cannot be accused of somebody elses crime. Father cannot be accused of his sons crime; and son cannot be accused of his fathers crime. "Beware! Never commit the following four deeds :
1-Do not attribute any partners to Allah.
2-Take not life, which Allah hath made haram and untouchable, except by way of justice.
3-Do not commit adultery.
4-Do not commit theft.
"I was ordered to fight people until they say La ilaha illallah (there is no god but Allah). When they say it they protect their bloods and goods. Their reckoning belongs to Allah..
"O people! "Tomorrow they will ask you about me, what will you say?"
All of the sahaba said: "We witness that you carried out the duty of being the messenger of Allah, You carried out your task faithfully, and you advised us."
Then the Prophet (PBUH) raised his index finger up and then down pointing to the people listening to him and said:
O Allah, be my witness! O Allah, be my witness! O Allah, be my witness!"
As a result the Farewell Sermon of our Prophet has become a guide for people to follow as long as the world exists..
5.11. PLACES TO SEE AND VISIT DURING HAJJ
5.11.1. Places to see in Makkah
Makkah
It is the town where Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH), who was sent as a mercy for all the worlds, who is the sun of the two worlds, was born on April 20, 571. This town entertains millions of hajjis in the lunar month of Zul-hijja every year.
1. Tanim Mosque
Tanim Mosque is on Makkah Madinah road. Those who live within the predetermined miqats (places) enter ihram for hajj and umrah there.
Tanim Mosque is also called Hazrat Aisha Mosque because Hazrat Aisha entered ihram there.
2. Jannat al-Mualla
It is the oldest cemetery in Makkah. Those who die during hajj are buried there. A lot of sahaba including Hazrat Khadija are buried there.
3. Mount Hira
Mount Hira is located in the north of Makkah. There is a cave on the top of that mountain. It is the place where Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) worshipped and supplicated Allah before he received prophethood. There he worshipped in the religion of Hazrat Ibrahim. He received the first revelation through Hazrat Jıbril there.
READING TEXT
FIRST REVELATION
Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) spent days in the cave of Hira worshipping and contemplating. He had some dreams and the dreams came true. One day while he was worshipping, the angel came to him with a tablet and said: "Recite! Since he was ignorant and could not read and write he said he could not recite. Then the angel of revelation took him and squeezed him vehemently repeated the order 'Recite.' He received the same answer. The angel squeezed him again and repeated it three times. After the third squeeze he suddenly felt that he could recite what is on the tablet in the angels hand. He recited the following verses that are the introduction to the happiness book of the mankind:
اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَق خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَم الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ ُ
"Read in and with the name of your Lord, Who has created human from a clot clinging (to the wall of the womb). Read, and your Lord is the All-Munificent, Who has taught (human) by the pen" (al-Alaq 1-4)
Hazrat Jibril carried out his duty, and after the revelation the Prophet (PBUH) went down Mount Hira and reached the house of Hazrat Khadija.
The above-mentioned verses actually outlined the program of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH). They declared clearly that the religion he brought was based on using the pen, reading and having knowledge.
4. Arafat
It is a region 21 km away from Makkah. Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) recited the Farewell Sermon there. Waqfah, standing, which is one of the constituents of hajj is performed there.
5. Mina
It is a place between Makkah and Arafat on the way connecting them. It is the place where the Prophet (PBUH) negotiated with people from Madinah in the first and second Aqaba Oaths. Sabir Mountain lies in the north of it. The place located between Aqaba Jamra and Muhassir Valley is named as Mina. Hazrat Ibrahim takes his son to Mina to sacrifice him, then a ram is sent to Hazrat Ibrahim by Allah to sacrifice.
6. Muzdalifa
It is a place in Makkah between Arafat and Mina, and where waqfah is performed after Arafat during hajj. It is also called jam, which means gathering, coming together. Hazrat Adam met Hazrat Eve there. It is the place where stones are collected for stoning the devil.
7. Mount Thawr
It is the mountain in which the cave which the Prophet and Hazrat Abu Bakr took refuge in and hid during their hijra (migration) from
5.11.2. Places to see in Madinah
1. Visiting the Prophets Grave
The most superior and honorable place in the world is the place where our Prophet is buried in Madinah. Therefore it is mandub (recommended) to visit his grave. There are hadith about the merits of visiting our Prophets grave. One of them is as follows: Ibn Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated that our Prophet said:
My shafaa (intercession) will be certain for whoever visits my grave. (Kashf-ul Khafa, 2/250)
Our Prophet said the following about performing prayers in his mosque:
A prayer performed in this mosque of mine is more virtuous than one thousand prayers performed in other mosques except Masjid Haram (Kaaba) in Makkah. (Bukhari, Hajj, 94)
2. Jannat al-Baqi
It is the cemetery where people from the family of our Prophet and his sahaba are buried. Our Prophets son Ibrahim, who died while the Prophet was alive, and a lot of people from his family are buried there.
3. Quba Mosque
People from Madinah met the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) at the village of Quba, an hour away from Madinah, during his hijra from Makkah to Madinah. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) stayed as a guest for fourteen nights in the house of Banu Amr bin Awf. Meanwhile he built Quba Mosque that was stated in the Quran as the mosque founded on piety and devoutness and performed prayers there.
5.11.3. Other Places
During the staying period in Madinah the following places can be visited;
Masjid al-Qiblatayn (Mosque of the two Qiblas),
Uhud Cemetery (where the martyrs of Uhud are buried),
Seven Mosques, located in the place where Handaq battle took place.
5.12. ANIMAL SACRIFICE
5.12.1. The nature and importance of animal sacrifice
Animal sacrifice is pointed to both by verses and hadiths. The following is stated in a verse regarding it:
لَن يَنَالَ اللَّهَ لُحُومُهَا وَلَا دِمَاؤُهَا وَلَكِن يَنَالُهُ التَّقْوَى مِنكُمْ كَذَلِكَ سَخَّرَهَا لَكُمْ لِتُكَبِّرُوا اللَّهَ عَلَىمَا هَدَاكُمْ وَبَشِّرِ الْمُحْسِنِينَ
(Bear in mind that) neither their flesh nor their blood reaches God, but only piety and consciousness of God reach Him from you. We have put them in your service, so that you must exalt God because He has guided you. Give glad tidings to those devoted to doing good, aware that God is seeing them. (al-Hajj, 37).
Our Prophet (PBUH) states the following in a hadith:
No one can do something better than flowing blood for Allah on the day of Eid al-Adha. The slaughtered animal will come with its horns, hairs and pieces on the Day of Judgment. It reaches a high rank near Allah before its blood falls down to the ground. So do it in a pleasant way. (Canan, İbrahim, v.5.p.289)
5.12.2. What is sacrifice?
Sacrifice is slaughtering an animal with certain qualities at a certain time with the intention of worship. Sacrifice is slaughtering definite faultless animals in order to approach Allah, on the days of Eid al-Adha. A person shows with this worship that he can sacrifice the life Allah has given him for the sake of Allah. As a compensation for his life symbolically a person slaughters one of the animals defined by Allah. This worship, which is performed once a year, needs to be felt and lived at each moment of the life, in terms of spirit, brain, feelings and attitudes. As a matter of fact, sacrifice is the symbol of continuous effort made in the way to approach Allah.
5.12.3. By whom was the first sacrifice presented to Allah?
Allah states that sacrifice is existent in all of the divine religions:
For every believing community We have laid down sacrifice as an act of worship to be performed at a certain time and place. So they must pronounce Gods Name over what We have provided for them of cattle (while offering it). And (bear in mind that) your God is the One and Only God, to Him alone submit yourselves wholly. And give glad tidings to the deeply devoted, humble servants. (al-Hajj, 34)
The act of sacrifice that came to our Prophet through Hazrat Ibrahim and that was ordered to his ummah is slaughtering certain animals at a certain time by those who are rich enough.
5.12.4. The material and spiritual aspects of sacrifice
Sacrifice is a debt of gratitude, worship for the sake of Allah that approaches the rich and the poor to each other and eliminates the feeling of enmity between them. The country benefits from the material aspect of the sacrifice. The flesh, skin and parts of the sacrificed animals are used greatly. Thus people become happy both materially and spiritually.
Sacrifice is a financial worship that has many benefits in terms of both the individual and the community. A person shows that he obeys the order of Allah by sacrificing an animal. Approaching Allah spiritually, making sacrifices for Him, symbolizing the surrender to Allah are all present in the worship of sacrifice, like the other kinds of worship. According to our exalted religion Islam, there are numerous ways for men to establish closeness with the Creator. Sacrifice, which is present in all divine religions and which means something making closeness to Allah possible, is one of those ways. Besides, it is emphasized that what will reach Allah is not the blood and flesh of the sacrificed animal but the taqwa (piety) of people who sacrifice animals. Thus attention is drawn to the importance of essence and sincerity not the form.
Sacrifice keeps the spirit of brotherhood, mutual assistance and solidarity alive. It contributes to the realization of social justice. It is possible to see its role more clearly especially in the areas where poor people who has no or little money to buy meat live. Sacrifice makes the rich gain the pleasure and habit of spending money in solidarity and sharing with others for the sake of Allah; it liberates them from the illness of stinginess. It makes the poor thank Allah through the rich and liberates them from the pessimism and enmity about the distribution of the bounties in the world and makes them feel as members of the community.
What is important in the worship of animal sacrifice is not only to flow blood, eat meat or carry out a religious tradition but to sacrifice an animal for the sake of Allah in accordance with its wisdom.
5.12.5. What is the place of animal sacrifice in Islam?
فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ Pray to your Lord, and sacrifice. (Aa-Kawthar, 2 )
And the cattle (including especially the camels) – We have appointed their sacrifice as among the public symbols and rituals set up by God for you, in which there is much good for you. When they (the camels) are lined up in standing position for sacrifice, pronounce Gods Name over them. When they fall down on their sides and fully die ready to be eaten, eat of their meat and feed the poor such as (beg not but) live in contentment and such as beg with due humility. We have put the sacrificial animals in your service, so that you may give thanks to God. (al-Hajj, 36).
The Prophet states the following in a hadith :
If a person who is rich enough does not sacrifice an animal should not come to our mosque.
Animal sacrifice starts on the first day of Eid al-Adha after the sunrise following the Eid Prayer and goes on till sunset on the third day of Eid al-Adha.
Almsgiving is giving, by the rich, a certain percentage of their wealth after a certain period of time upon the order of Allah to the poor for the sake of Allah..
Man is civilized by nature. Therefore every individual is supposed to join a community in order to continue his individual existence. This living together imposes the individual some responsibilities. It is necessary to eliminate the economical, social and emotional conflicts among the individuals in order to maintain the existence of the community in a secure, peaceful and healthy way.
If the distance between the individuals and the layers especially in terms of social and economical ranks is not decreased through natural ways, the disintegration, conflict and deterioration in the community cannot be prevented. The most appropriate way to do it is to motivate and set into motion the feeling of assistance and solidarity in human beings through strong motives like worship. The Quran attracts the attention to that feeling in human beings as follows:
Those in whose wealth there is a right acknowledged (by them) for such as have no means other than begging, and such as are denied help (because, having self-respect, they cannot beg and are thought to be well-off) (al-Maarij, 24-25)
The Quran brings some arrangements to prevent the possible negative situations that economic imbalance can cause. The religion of Islam solves this problem by handling it not only in terms of economic aspect but also in terms of sociological and psychological dimensions. The following is stated in a verse regarding that issue:
A kind word and forgiving (peoples faults) are better than almsgiving followed by taunting. God is All-wealthy and Self-Sufficient, (absolutely independent of the charity of people), All-Clement (Who shows no haste in punishing.) O you who believe! Render not vain your almsgiving by putting (the receiver) under an obligation and taunting – like him who spends his wealth to show off people and be praised by them, and believes not in God and the Last Day. (al-Baqara, 263-264)
Almsgiving is a duty prescribed for the individual as a kind of worship. This worship, which is carried out just because Allah ordered it, has a mission like eliminating the tension and conflict in the community. What is more important than that is that a person is liberated from the conflict in his inner world by paying alms and has a personality with a peace of mind. In a person who is liberated from the feeling of selfishness, feelings like thinking of others, thinking about their problems, sacrificing some of his wealth to meet their needs develop. All of those are carried out not to be known and gaining respect but because Allah orders, that is, because it is worship. That shows that this responsibility, which is directed towards the peace and stability of the community, is based on stronger foundations.
Almsgiving is one of the most important institutions based on worship directed towards establishing social justice and balance. It is a model that can be applied easily and practically in any period and community. If this system works healthily, a precipice between the rich and the poor will not form.
Islam orders people to help the poor materially and spiritually. Men are created differently in terms of subsistence. Allah calls the rich to help the poor due to this difference. Thus, compassion for ones fellow men is an essential of true thankfulness. Whoever a person is, there will always be someone poorer than himself in some respect. He is enjoined to be compassionate towards that person. This solidarity is generally carried out through alms in Islam.
The prophet (PBUH) says the following in a hadith: اْلاِسْلاَمِ قَنْطَرَةُ اَلزَّكَوةُ. That is, Muslims help each other only by passing the bridge of almsgiving. The means of assistance is almsgiving. The bridge that ensures the order and security in the social life of human beings is almsgiving. The community life depends on mutual assistance in the realm of human beings. The cure for the revolts, revolutions and conflicts that prevent communities from developing materially and spiritually is that mutual assistance.
When the history of mankind is studied, it will be seen that all of the revolutions and immorality proceed from two words:
The First: "Once my stomach is full, what do I care if others die of hunger"
The Second: "You work, and I'll eat."
It is almsgiving that eliminates the bad effects of the first word that shakes humanity and makes it face demolition. It is the abolition of interest that eradicates the second word that drives mankind to general disasters and devastates development and security. Thus Islam showed the way to settle those problems decisively by prescribing almsgiving and abolishing interest.
To ensure the peace among the layers of the community and to establish relations among them is only possible by making almsgiving, which is a pillar of Islam, an essential principle in the community life.
4.2. FOR WHICH GOODS ARE ALMS GIVEN?
Land crops
Gold, silver and money,
Trade goods,
Domestic animals.
4.3. THE REQUIREMENTS OF GIVING ALMS:
To be a Muslim,
To be free,
To have the full possession,
To have the Nisab (a certain amount of goods or money),
The owner of the goods or money should be definite,
One year should pass for certain types of goods.
4.4. TO WHOM ARE ALMS GIVEN?
Alms are given to the eight group of people defined in 60th verse of Chapter at-Tawbah:
The poor,
The needy,
Officials employed to collect alms,
Those whose hearts will be reconciled to Islam,
Those in bondage,
Those in debt,
Those in the cause of Allah; and for the wayfarer,
The alms given before Eid al-Fitr is called alms of fitr. Fitr is a gift given in return for being created. It is wajib for the head of the family to pay fitr for himself and for the other members of the family that he is supposed to sustain.
Please note!
The conditions which make alms- giving acceptable:
When the characteristics of believers are mentioned in the Quran, the following is stated: (و مما رزقناهم ينفقون)
And spend [in God's way> out of what We have bestowed on them as sustenance.(al-Baqara, 3). This verse also points point out five of the conditions which make alms- giving acceptable:
First condition: This is to give only so much alms as will not cause the giver to be in need of receiving alms himself.
Second condition: It is not to take from Ali and give to Wali, but to give out of a person's own property. It says: "Give out of the sustenance that is yours.
Third condition: This is not to place an obligation on the recipient. The word We in We have bestowed on them as sustenance states this condition. That is to say: "I give you the sustenance. When you give some of My property to My servant, you cannot place them under an obligation.
Fourth condition: You should give it to a person who will spend it on his livelihood, for alms given to those who will squander it idly is not acceptable. The word spend points to this condition.
Fifth condition: This is to give in God's name. The words We bestow on them as sustenance states this. That is to say: "The property is Mine; you should give it in My name."
These conditions may be extended. That is, what form should almsgiving take, with what goods. It may be given as learning and knowledge. It may be given as words, or as acts, or as advice. The word what in out of what indicates to these various sorts through its generality. Furthermore, it indicates to them itself in this sentence, because it is absolute, it expresses universality
Fasting means abstaining from foods drinks, and sexual intercourse during a whole day (before the break of dawn till sunset) with the intention of worship.
3.2. THE HISTORY OF FASTING
Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam. As it is understood from the following verse in the QuranO you who believe! Prescribed for you is the Fast, as it was prescribed for those before you. (al-Baqara, 183), it had been prescribed for previous nations. The Prophet says the following in a hadith:
Hazrat Nooh (Noah) fasted the whole year except the first day of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. (Ibn Majah, Siyam, 32, I, 547)
It is stated in that hadith that fasting dates back to the time of Hazrat Nooh. It is also understood from narrations that fasting was present in the Shariahs of Hazrat Dawud (David) and Hazrat Musa (Moses).
3.3. THE REASONS AND BENEFITS OF FASTING IN
RAMADAN
Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam. Fasting is observed because Allah prescribed it. There cannot be any other reasons for fasting. If fasting is observed for another reason other than Allahs prescription, then it is not regarded as worship. Like all other worships fasting has a lot of wisdoms too.
We will mention only a few of the numerous benefits and wisdoms of fasting here:
3.3.1. Fasting in Ramadan reminds the Lordship of Allah
Allah created the earth in the form of a table equipped with various foods and bounties. He placed all kinds of bounties on that table in an unexpected way. So He showed his perfect Lordship, Beneficence and Mercy.
Human beings are unable to discern clearly the reality of this situation under the veil of heedlessness, and they sometimes forget it. However, during the month of Ramadan, believers suddenly become like a well drawn-up army. As sunset approaches, they display a worshipful attitude as though, having been invited to the Pre-Eternal Monarchs banquet, they are awaiting the command of Help yourselves! They are responding to that compassionate, illustrious, and universal mercy with comprehensive, exalted, and orderly worship.
3.3.2. Fasting in Ramadan opens the way for thanking Allah
Allah placed his numerous bounties on the earth in the form of a table for human beings and wants them to thank Him in return for their price. We can thank him by knowing that those bounties are directly from Him and by appreciating them and by feeling that we need them.
Fasting in Ramadan, then, is the key to a true, sincere, extensive, and universal thankfulness. At other times of the year, most of those who are not in difficult circumstances do not realize the value of many bounties since they do not experience real hunger. Those whose stomachs are full and especially if they are rich, do not understand the degree of bounty there is in a piece of dry bread. But when it is time to break the fast, the sense of taste testifies that the dry bread is a most valuable Divine bounty in the eyes of a believer. During Ramadan, everyone from the richest to the poorest person manifests a sort of gratitude through understanding the value of those bounties.
Furthermore, since eating is prohibited during the day, he will gain the following consciousness by saying: Those bounties do not belong to me. I am not free to eat them, for they are anothers property and gift. I await his command. He will recognize the bounty to be bounty with that consciousness and so will be giving thanks.
Thus, fasting in this way is in many respects like a key to gratitude; gratitude being mans fundamental duty.
3.3.3. People perceives the situation of the poor thanks to fasting
Men were created in various types in terms of income level. Allah calls the rich to help the poor due to that difference. As a matter of fact, the rich can only realize their miserable situation and hunger fully by the hunger in fasting. So they carry out the grants and assistance they are bound to do.
3.3.4. Fasting diminishes the feeling of pride in the soul and reminds it its slavery
The soul wants to be free and independent, and considers itself to be so. According to the dictates of its nature, it even desires an imaginary lordship and to act as it pleases. It does not want to admit that it is being sustained and trained through innumerable bounties. Especially if it possesses wealth and power in this world, and if heedlessness also encourages it, it will devour divine bounties like a usurping, thieving animal.
Thus, in the month of Ramadan, the soul of everyone, from the richest to the poorest, understands that it does not own itself, but is totally owned; that it is not free, but a slave. It understands that if it receives no command, it is unable to do the simplest and easiest thing, it cannot even stretch out its hand towards water, and its pride is shattered; it performs its worship and begins to offer thanks, its true duty.
3.3.5. Fasting disciplines soul by purifying it from immorality
The human soul forgets itself through heedlessness. It does not think of just how weak it is, and how subject to transience and to disasters, nor of the fact that it consists merely of flesh and bones, which quickly decline and are dispersed. It imagines itself to be undying and eternal as if he has a body made of steel. Moreover, it forgets its Creator who sustains it with perfect compassion. It does not think of the results of its life and its life in the hereafter; it wallows in misconduct.
Thus fasting in the month of Ramadan awakens even the most heedless and obstinate to their weakness, impotence, and want. By means of hunger, they think of their stomachs; they understand the need therein. They realize how unsound are their weak bodies, and perceive how needy they are for kindness and compassion.
3.3.6. Ramadan is the month of the Quran
It is as if the world of Islam becomes a mosque during the month of Ramadan. In every corner of that mighty mosque millions of those who know the whole Quran by heart cause the dwellers on the earth to hear the heavenly address. Some of the members of the vast congregation listen to the reciters with reverence, while others read it themselves. Each Ramadan displays the decree of the verse The month of Ramadan (is the month) in which the Quran was sent down as guidance for people, and as clear truths of the guidance and the Criterion (between truth and falsehood). (al-Baqara, 185) in a luminous way and proves that Ramadan is the month of the Quran.
Thanks to fasting, believers feel the honor of belonging to such a nice congregation in the mosque of the universe. They think that it will be a great disrespect to the congregation in the mosque to follow the appetites of the soul in that sacred mosque by quitting that luminous condition through eating and drinking.
3.3.7. Ramadan is a month of trade for the hereafter
The month of Ramadan is like an extremely profitable display and market for the trade of the hereafter. It is an extremely fertile piece of land for the crops of the hereafter. The merit of good deeds in the month of Ramadan is one thousand merits for one deed. In the Night of Power (Qadr) it is thirty thousand.
Indeed, the month of Ramadan comprises and gains a permanent and eternal life in this fleeting world and brief transient life. Certainly, a single Ramadan can produce fruits equal to that of a lifetime of eighty years. The fact that, according to the Quran, the Night of Power is more auspicious than a thousand months is a decisive proof of this.
3.3.8. Fasting is a diet for the health of man
Fasting is a healing physical and spiritual diet of the most important kind. When mans soul eats and drinks just as it pleases, it is both harmful for mans physical life from the medical point of view, and when it hurls itself on everything it encounters without considering whether it is licit or illicit, it quite simply poisons his spiritual life.
By means of fasting in Ramadan, the soul becomes accustomed to a sort of diet and learns to listen to commands. Furthermore, it will not be attracting illness to that miserable, weak stomach by cramming it with food before the previous consignment has been digested. And by abandoning even licit actions as it is commanded, it will acquire the ability to listen to the commands of the Sharia and the reason, and so to avoid illicit actions.
3.3.9. Fasting reminds man that he is a slave
The soul does not want to recognize its Lord; it wants its own lordship, like Pharaoh. However much torment it suffers, that character remains in it. It is however destroyed through hunger. And so, fasting in Ramadan strikes direct blows at the souls pharaoh-like front, shattering it. It demonstrates its impotence, weakness, and want.
3.4. FOR WHOM IS FASTING IN
RAMADAN OBLIGATORY (FARDH)?
For the obligation of fasting a person is supposed to have the following traits:
1. Being a Muslim.
2. Pubescence.
3. Being sane.
4. Having the capability to fast.
5. Being clean: A woman who is in menstrual or post-natal bleeding period cannot fast. She has to observe fasting later.
6. Being muqim (not traveling).
3.5. THE OBLIGATORY ACTS (FARDHS) OF FASTING:
1. Intention.
2. Avoid the following which invalidate fasting:
Feeding oneself through mouth, nose, etc and taking medicine knowing that one is fasting.
Having sexual intercourse knowing that one is fasting.
Vomiting mouthful.
Being unconscious or drunk whole day.
Begin to have menstrual or post-natal bleeding during any time of the day.
Having abandoned Islam due to a blasphemous act or word.
3.6. PERMISSIBLE EXCUSES FOR BREAKING FASTING:
3.6.1. Travel
A person who is regarded as a traveler (musafir) does not have to fast as long as he fasts later.
3.6.2. Illness
An ill person does not have to fast if a reliable Muslim doctor says that he does not have to.
3.6.3. Being pregnant or breast-feeding:
If a pregnant or breast-feeding woman fears that her or her childs health will deteriorate, she does not have to fast; she can fast later.
3.6.4. Being very old:
A person who is too old to fast does not fast. He pays fidyah (a certain amount of money to the poor) for each day he does not fast.
Islam is to surrender to Allah, to bow down to Him and to obey Him.
Islam is a universal religion, to take human beings to happiness in the world and in the hereafter, which was conveyed to human beings by Allah through the last prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH). The source of this religion is the last heavenly book, the Quran.
Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) defined Islam as follows in a hadith: Islam is based on five principles. To witness that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammad (PBUH) is Allah's Prophet, to perform prayers, to pay Zakat (alms), to perform Hajj (Pilgrimage to Makkah), to fast during the month of Ramadan. (Bukhari, Eeman 1; Muslim, Eeman, 22.)
1.2. KALIMA SHAHADAH AND ITS MEANING
اَشْهَدُ اَنْ لاَ اِلهَ اِلاَّ اللهُ وَاَشْهَدُ اَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
It means I witness that there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is His Messenger."
The most important principle of Islam is the belief in the oneness of Allah. Allah is a being that does not resemble any of the creatures. He is pre-eternal and post-eternal, He is self-existent. He does not beget, nor was he begotten. He is free of all defects. He has ultimate power, He knows everything, He hears and sees. These principles explained in Chapter al-Ikhlas constitute the Tawhid (Oneness of Allah) concept of Islam. Tawhid means to accept Allah as one. It is to believe in the existence and oneness of Allah and that there is no god but Him. We express and confirm this by saying There is no god but Allah, that is, Kalima at-Tawhid.
The first call of all of the prophets is oneness. It is the beginning of the right way and first step of the belief in Allah. Allah ordered all of the prophets that He sent to call their ummahs to oneness. We never sent any Messenger before you except that We revealed to him that there is no deity but Me, so worship Me alone. (al-Anbiya, 25).
It is necessary for a person who will embrace Islam to surrender to all of the principles conveyed by Allah without any conditions. Kalima Shahadah is a key sentence expressing the acceptance and approval of all of those.
1.3. THE AIM OF THE RELIGION OF ISLAM
The Religion of Islam is a divine light that illuminates both this world and the hereafter. The real happiness of human beings depends on the correct understanding and living in accordance with the universal message of Islam, which is the last religion. The correct answers to all of the questions regarding the meaning and aim of life and issues concerning death and after death are given by Islam.
The principles brought by Islam are universal. That is, they aim the happiness of individuals, family and the community hence the whole humanity. What is more, Islam accepts the beings other than human beings as constituents of a whole and includes their protection and observation of their rights among its principles.
Those acting in accordance with those principles will gain the happiness both in this world and in the hereafter. Islam takes a person to happiness by improving and developing his heart, thoughts and deeds.
Fundamental dynamics of a community that comes together with the bond of belief and that does not discriminate between races, colors, nations and classes are present in Islam. Those dynamics are concepts like brotherhood, mutual assistance, equality, justice, and mutual advice of the truth and patience, spreading goodness and struggling against evil. However, Islam imposed principles to eliminate bad and evil deeds like adultery, prostitution, theft, injustice, and interest. To constitute a righteous and virtuous community by spreading the good deeds and eliminating the bad deeds is one of the fundamental aims of Islam. A community consisting of people who, with the Quranic expression, command the good and forbid the evil is aimed. Thus Islam has established the principles that will make people live a life of paradise even in the world.
1.4. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RELIGION OF ISLAM
The general characteristics of Islam are as follows:
1.4.1. Islam is a heavenly religion.
The following verses show us that the Quran is a heavenly book:
Say: Surely, if humankind and the jinn were to come together to produce the like of this Quran, they would never be able to produce the like of it, though they backed one another up with help and support. (al-Isra, 88)
If you are in doubt about the Divine authorship of what We have been sending down on Our servant (Muhammad, and claim that it is the work of a human being like Muhammad who can neither read nor write), then produce just a surah like it and call for help to all your supporters, all those (to whom you apply for help apart from God), if you are truthful in your doubt and claim. If you fail to do that – and you will most certainly fail – then guard yourselves against the Fire whose fuel is human beings and stones (that you have shaped into idols to adore) prepared for the unbelievers. (al-Baqara, 23-24)
Nobody has been able to stand against this challenge of the Quran for fourteen hundred years, and nobody will in the future. So, the Quran is a heavenly book, that is, it is the word of Allah; and the religion conveyed by the Quran is definitely a heavenly religion.
1.4.2. Islam is a religion of Tawhid (Oneness)
Islam is a religion of oneness. That is, it puts forward the existence and oneness of Allah. It teaches the belief of Allah in the perfect way.
The following is stated in the Quran:
Say: He – (He is) God, (Who is) the Unique One of Absolute Oneness. God – (God is He Who is) the Eternally-Besought-of-All (Himself in no need of anything) He begets not, nor is He begotten. And comparable to Him there is none. (al-Ikhlas, 1-4)
Allah has no partners in His divinity and sultanate. Allah is one, cannot be more than one. Thus, he has no partners in his divinity, actions and creation.
Islam calls Christians and Jewish people to come together in oneness. The following is stated in the Quran:
Say (to them, O Messenger): O People of the Book, come to a word common between us and you, that we worship none but God, and associate none as partner with Him, and that none of us take others for Lords, apart from God. If they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are Muslims (submitted to Him exclusively). (Aal-e-Imran, 64)
1.4.3. Islam is a religion of fitrah (creation)
Islam is the most suitable religion for the talents and capabilities, thoughts and feelings, desires and wishes of man aiming eternity.
Every person was created in the fitrah of Islam. The following is stated in a hadith:
Every child is born with a true faith of Islam but his parents convert him to Judaism or to Christianity or to Magainism (Bukhari, Janaiz, 80). The Quran explains it through the following verse:
So set your whole being upon the Religion (of Islam) as one of pure faith (free from unbelief, polytheism, and hypocrisy). This is the original pattern belonging to God on which He has originated humankind. No change can there be in Gods creation. This is the upright, ever-true Religion, but most of the people do not know. (ar-Room, 30)
Islam gives importance especially to human beings and human mind and imposed rules in accordance with their fitrah. According to Islam, man was created in the best way and as a caliph on the earth.
The following verse informs men about that reality: Surely We have created human of the best stature as the perfect pattern of creation. (at-Tin, 4)
Man was given enough talent and capability to make use of the world and the hereafter, and he was sent to the world for test and trial. In front of him a great area of progress and recession the lowest of the low to the highest of the high, that is, an area of rise and fall has been opened. He was promised the happiness in the world and in the hereafter to the extent that he improves and develops those talents and capabilities in accordance with their creation.
Islam ordered worship in order to orientate those feelings, thoughts, talents and capabilities towards goodness, truth and beauty. Worship consists of carrying out the orders of Allah and avoiding His prohibitions.
Man is civilized by nature
Man is a social being by nature. He has to live together with his fellow creatures in order to meet his certain needs. However, the feelings and talents of man were not put under restriction, they were left free. For instance, if the mind loses the strength, the wisdom, that is, the useful and straight way that means knowing the truth as truth and abiding by it and knowing the wrong as wrong and avoiding it and goes to the extremes either by overdoing or understating, it falls down to a harmful gab and a troublesome foolishness.
Similarly the feeling of fury and rage makes all kinds of sacrifice through the moderate way, that is, heroism, for the honor, nation and religion but does not commit any illegal acts. He fears nothing material or spiritual with the excessiveness of this feeling. All of the oppression, despotism and tyranny are the products of that degree. He fears the things that are not to be feared through the other extreme, negligence.
The feeling of lust in man becomes content with halal (permissible things) and avoids haram (forbidden things) through the moderate degree, chastity. The excess of this feeling leads to troublesome disgrace and the negligence of this feeling leads to deprivation from the tastes and pleasures of the bounties.
Another feeling of man is the desire to live eternally. This feeling, which interests him very much, should be directed in an appropriate and straight way. Thus, Islam satisfies this feeling through a belief in Allah, who is the Almighty and who has two residential places, the world and the hereafter, and who promises His slaves an eternal happiness. Then such a state changes the realm of man and makes him happy. It makes him love the world and the hereafter, and turns the world into Paradise.
It is the religion of Islam that develops those feelings and other feelings of man in a way that is appropriate for his nature and that ensures the happiness of both the individuals and the community and that is appropriate for his creation.
1.4.4. Islam is a universal religion
Islam is not a religion that came for certain periods of time or certain nations. Its decrees and principles that are valid till the Day of Judgment address all human beings. Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH), the prophet of the religion of Islam, is a source of guidance and mercy sent to all human beings. Since there will be no other prophets after him, the decrees of the religion of Islam brought by him will be valid till the Day of Judgment.
The following verse informs us about it: He (Muhammad) is the Messenger of God and the Seal of the Prophets. (al-Ahzab, 40).
1.4.5. Islam is the last religion
The true religion that started with Hazrat Adam, the first man, reached its most developed phase with the revelation conveyed by Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH). There will be no other religion after that. The religion that is valid till the Day of Judgment is Islam. The following is stated in the Quran regarding this issue:
This day I have perfected for you your Religion (with all its rules, commandments, and universality), completed My favor upon you, and have been pleased to assign for you Islam as Religion. (al-Maedah, 3)
The protection of Islam is also carried out by the power of Allah. Allah states the following in the Quran and informs us that this religion will by no means be changed till the Day of Judgment;
Indeed it is We, We Who send down the Reminder in parts, and it is indeed We Who are its Guardian. (Al Hijr, 9).
1.4.6. Islam is a religion of ease
There is no compulsion and hardship in religion. Our Prophet said, Make things easy and do not make them difficult, give people good news and do not repulse (them). and informed us that Islam was a religion of ease. A man can be a Muslim only on his own accord.
Islam regards everybody who recites Kalima Shahadah and lives accordingly as Muslim no matter what his language, religion, race and past is. Islam depends on the principles of equality and justice. It addresses the hearts. There is a lot of easiness in worship in accordance with our strength. The things that we cannot do are not ordered.
The following is stated in the Quran regarding this issue:
God burdens no soul except within its capacity (al-Baqara, 286).
Similarly, to be able to pray anywhere as long as it is clean is easiness. There is easiness in worship for those who have excuses.
1.4.7. Islam disciplines social life
In order to understand the discipline Islam gives the community it will be useful to compare the discipline philosophy that is far away from the true religion gives and the discipline Islam gives.
Philosophy that does not depend on the true religion is based on strength in social life. It regards the target as an interest. It considers life as a struggle. It regards a tribe or his ancestors as more honorable, and despises others.
It regards the wishes and desires of the soul as the aim of life. It tries to calm its ambition and pride by seeking its own interests under the cover of charity and sacrifice. It does not love anything seriously except its own soul. It sacrifices everything for its own soul.
However, the discipline Islam gives is based on the truth instead of strength. It says, The truth is not in the strength, the strength is in the truth. Islam is based on the principle The right is strong. This paves the way for the establishment of justice in the community, hence the peace and security.
It is based on the contentment of Allah instead of interest. A person who accepts Allahs contentment as a principle works for his nation. So he becomes like a nation though he is an individual. That is, he does not only think of his own soul but also the interest of others.
Islam does not regard life as a struggle but as mutual assistance. It is based on the unity of religion and country between the individual and the community.
It takes man to the highest rank of humanity when man restrains the desires of his soul and satisfies his spiritual and lofty feelings as the aim of his life. Thus, he achieves the happiness both in this world and in the hereafter.
1.4.8. In Islam, there is a balance between this world and the hereafter
Man is a whole consisting of the soul and the body; similarly the world and the hereafter is an indivisible whole. Therefore Islam does not make a definite differentiation between the world and the hereafter. One complements the other. In Islam, the world is not neglected for the hereafter; and the hereafter is not neglected for the world. Islam wants people to be interested in the world for the hereafter. The world has three faces.
The first face: looks to Allahs names. It shows their embroidery. For instance, when a person looks at an apple, he sees the manifestation of Allahs name, the Provider, since He provides it, the Beauty since it is beautiful, the Preserver due to its seeds, the Fashioner of Forms due to its shape. This face of the world is quite nice.
The second face: looks to the hereafter. As it is stated in the hadith, it is the field of the hereafter. This face is also nice like the first one and worthy of love. The place to deserve the hereafter is this world.
The third face: looks to mans desires and it makes man forget the hereafter and why he was created. Therefore this face of the world is seen as deceitful, transient and ugly and it was despised in Islam. The fact that Islam highlights the universe and the beings in it is related to the first two faces.
Islam regards all of the good deeds relating to this world that men do as extra worship as long as they make the obligatory worships, encouraging them to work for the world too. The following is stated in a verse: But seek, by means of what God has granted you, the abode of the Hereafter (by spending in alms and other good causes), without forgetting your share (which God has appointed) in this world. (al-Qasas, 77).
1.5. WORSHIP IN
ISLAM
1.5.1. The Meaning and Importance of Worship
Worship means to show respect to the exalted Creator and to thank Him for the numerous bounties He granted us.
Worship is all kinds of deeds done in order to be close to Allah and to achieve His contentment.
Worship, in its wide sense, is mans understanding his weakness and poverty before Allah and his prostration to Allah with wonder and love. That is, to obey His orders and to avoid His prohibitions. Worship is the reason for mans happiness in both worlds, a means of individual and social maturity, a cure for the spiritual problems of man. It is a means of organizing the tasks of this world and the hereafter. It is a high relation and an honorable bond between Allah and His slave.
Worship is made only to gain the contentment of Allah. The essence of worship is sincerity. Sincerity is making the worship because it is ordered. If a person worships for the sake of a wisdom or benefit other than the contentment of Allah, that worship is in vain, it is not valid. Worship that is made for the sake of Allah is the best means of becoming close to Allah.
Worship is the thanking and praise by the slave in return for Allahs limitless bounties that He grants out of His grace, aid, mercy and generosity. It is his glorification of Allah. Worship is the slaves supplication, begging and prayer. This supplication makes mans heart and spirit free of all kinds of suffering and despair and makes them happy and relieved. Worship is an extremely necessary element for the personal maturity and virtue of man, the peace of his spirit, the satisfaction and exaltation of his lofty feelings, training of his soul, purification of his heart, beautification of his ethic, harmony of his family life and the formation of a medium of confidence in social life.
A believer ascends spiritually by getting rid of material desires, becomes mature ethically by being free of bad thoughts and negative behaviors and becomes a beloved slave of Allah thanks to worship. The following is stated in the Quran;
Now O humankind! Worship your Lord Who has created you as well as those before you (and brought you up in your human nature and identity), so that you may attain reverent piety towards Him and His protection (against any kind of straying and its consequent punishment in this world and the Hereafter). (al-Baqara, 21).
1.5.2. The relationship between worship and cleanliness
There is a close relationship between worship and cleanliness. Cleanliness has two aspects: material and spiritual. Our Prophet (PBUH) highlights the importance of this issue by saying, Cleanliness is of belief. Worship and cleanliness complement each other, cleanliness is also worship in a way.
Spiritual cleanliness: It is keeping away from evil feelings like superstitions, backbiting, envy and gossiping. It is being equipped with nice traits that will seek the truth with fine feelings.
Material cleanliness: It is the cleanliness of our body and clothes. It is obligatory for worship. It is essential that the places to be used for worshipping and the environment a Muslim lives be clean.
1.5.3. The relationship between worship and faith
It will be sufficient to look at the following verse to understand the relationship between worship and faith:
By time (especially the last part of it, heavy with events), most certainly, human is in loss, except those who believe and do good righteous deeds, and exhort one another to truth, and exhort one another to steadfast patience (in the face of misfortunes, and suffering in Gods way, and in doing good deeds, and not committing sins) (al-Asr, 1-3).
The decrees about belief which are related to the conscience and mind will be weak in terms of impressions and effects if they are not educated and strengthened by worship. So, belief should not be without worship. Belief can be likened to a candle and worship to the lantern around it. The preservation and continuation of belief is possible through worship and good deeds.
Fasting, hajj, almsgiving, charity and all of the other kinds of worship strengthen the belief of man, purify the soul from evil and relate the slave to his Lord. For instance, fasting necessitates preferring the love of Allah to the wishes of the body. It has the traits of making a Muslim get used to sincerity, will and patience. Almsgiving (zakat) is a financial worship that makes a Muslim free from the disease of meanness and stinginess. He understands it better through almsgiving that the real owner of the estate is Allah and that he is only a trustee. Almsgiving is the preference of the contentment and love of Allah to the love of estate. This thought is a nice indication of the belief, which is a bond between the slave and Allah. For instance hajj is a financial and bodily worship. That is, to spend your estate and body in the way Allah wants is a result of belief and surrender. These conditions that are present in all kinds of worship show that belief and worship is an indivisible whole.
1.5.4. The concepts about worship
People who are supposed to carry out the orders of Allah and to avoid His prohibitions are called mukallaf (accountable) people. In order to be mukallaf a person needs to be sane and pubescent.
Every behavior is not worship and all of the worships are not of the same degree. There are differences among worships. However, no matter what the degree of certainty of an order is, all of the worships should be made as sincerely.
The acts of a mukallaf are divided into eight classes. They are fardh (obligatory), wajib (compulsory), sunnah (done or recommended by the prophet), mustahab (recommended), mubah (permissible), makruh (reprehensible), haram (forbidden) and mufsid (invalidator).
a. Fardh: They are the worships and deeds definitely demanded by Allah from the mukallaf. Fardh is divided into two: Fardh ayn: Fardh that every mukallaf has to carry out; like five prayers, fasting, almsgiving, hajj, showing respect to parents. Fardh kifayah: Fardh that when performed by some mukallafs, the rest do not have to perform; like janazah (death) prayer. If no mukallaf carries out that fardh then all of the mukallafs will be responsible.
b. Wajib: The secondary orders of Allah that are not as obligatory as fardh; like eid prayer and witr prayer.
c. Sunnah: The worships and deeds that our Prophet always did and advised us to do; for instance, sunnah prayers before and after fardh prayers, reciting azan, reciting iqamah, circumcision, greeting people.
d. Mustahab: They are deeds that are regarded as good by the religion. All of the deeds that are not ordered but are good are mustahab.
e. Mubah: They are the deeds that the mukallaf is free to do or not to do. All of the deeds other than obligatory ones are regarded in this category; like drinking tea, sleeping, sitting.
f. Mufsid: It is something that invalidates a worship that is started. For instance, to laugh as loudly as other people will hear during the prayer is mufsid. Such a laugh invalidates the prayer. Eating or drinking something deliberately while fasting is mufsid and invalidates fasting.
g. Makruh: They are the deeds that are not suitable to do. One should avoid such kind of deeds as much as possible.
h. Haram: They are the deeds that were definitely forbidden by Allah; like worshipping a being other than Allah, drinking alcohol, gambling, telling lies and slandering.
Prayer is the pillar of the religion and a divine principle that preserves the religion.
Prayer is a call to divine presence by the Creator, Lord of Majesty, at pre-determined times during every twenty-four hours.
Prayer is glorifying, honoring and thanking Allah.
Prayer is a high bond, lofty relationship and a decent service between man and Allah.
Prayer comforts the heart, spirit and mind. It summons and attracts the love of every conscience and spirit.
Prayer emplaces the magnificence and greatness of Allah into the hearts and maintains it. It orientates minds towards Allah and ensures their obedience to divine laws and the system of Allah.
Prayer is the food and spiritual richness of the heart in the guesthouse of the world.
Prayer is a kind of food and light in the grave that man is bound to enter.
Prayer is salvation and a bond in the gathering place in the hereafter where man is definitely going to be questioned.
Prayer is a kind of light and something to ride on over Sirat bridge.
Prayer is the ascension (miraj) of the believer.
Prayer is a holy worship that contains all kinds of worship and the various kinds of worship of all the creatures.
2.2. THE NATURE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER
Prayer is an obligatory duty to be carried out at certain times for every sane and pubescent Muslim, man or woman. Allah promises that those who carry out this important fardh will receive a lot of bounties and grants in the hereafter. Those who neglect it deliberately are threatened with severe torment by Allah. Our affectionate Prophet (PBUH), who always thinks of the benefit of his ummah, utters the following as his last words lest his ummah should make a loss: Never skip praying! Never skip praying! .! (Abu Dawud,).
2.2.1. Prayer is a call to the spiritual presence of Allah
This call is by Allah, who created us out of nothing and who educated us. Allah is the owner of the earth, the sky, all of the universe. We are His property and we work in His property. Everything is in need of Him. He is the one that gives life; all of the bounties that are necessary for life belong to Him. The air that we breathe in order to continue our life, the water we drink, the sun whose light we make use of, the land out of which various kinds of food emerges belong to Allah. We are always at His table. He is the one who created us, He is the one who feeds us and He is the one that makes us live too. In short, all of the good deeds, beauties, graces, mercies and bounties belong to Allah.
Allah shows that He loves human beings with so many bounties and grants. Man should show that he loves Allah with worships that are kinds of thanks. Thus a person who performs five prayers during twenty-four hours will have accepted Allahs call.
2.2.2. Prayer includes the samples of all kinds of worship
Prayer includes all kinds of worship. One of the five pillars of Islam, kalima shahadah, is uttered in all prayers. Eating and drinking invalidates prayer. So while praying a person also fasts. A person who prays will have given the alms of his body. Thus the worship of almsgiving will have been carried out. Turning towards Kaaba is necessary in hajj. It is also necessary in prayer.
2.2.3. Prayer includes all of the worship of all of the creatures
Prayer includes symbolically forms of worship made by all kinds of creatures. For instance, there are angels that always stand, bow, prostrate and sit. A person who prays represents all of those worship forms in prayer. Similarly, trees always stand and glorify Allah with the language of state. On the other hand, animals are always in a state of bowing, worshipping Allah. Reptiles worship Allah by kind of prostrating. The situation of mountains expresses the sitting position in prayer. So the prayer of man includes various kinds of worship of all creatures symbolically.
2.3. WHAT PRAYER MAKES MAN GAIN
2.3.1. Prayer is a lofty duty connecting the slave to Allah
Prayer is an exalted relationship and a lofty connection between the slave and Allah. It is a clean and pure service that has secrets attracting every spirit. So it means a person who does not perform prayers weakens his connection to Allah. There cannot be a greater loss than that for man. Man is always in need of Allah for everything. He has come from Allah and he will return to Him.
Man, who cannot kill the death, who cannot close the grave, who cannot stop partings should think about it seriously. Therefore the most necessary thing, the most important duty for man should be increasing his relationship with Allah. One of the best ways to do it is to perform the five prayers, which paves the way to renew the love of Allah. It is a very important issue to make the dignity of Allah stable in the hearts and maintain it; because the heart is the center of spiritual life. The material heart pumps blood to the whole body to make life continue; similarly in order to make spirituality continue a strong belief in the spiritual heart of man is necessary. The most important worship that strengthens belief in the heart and revives the feelings is five prayers.
To perform prayers is an occasion for turning minds to Allah and making them obey divine laws. Thus man tries to obey the orders and prohibitions defined by Allah.
Man needs to obey the wishes of Allah that are defined as orders and prohibitions very much. Man is bound to live in a community because of his nature. Peace and ease in the individual and social life is only possible by the observance of the rules in the community by individuals. It is the Creator who knows best the system to obey. He who makes knows; he who knows talks is an unchanging rule.
Allah, who created man out of nothing and equipped him with various feelings, informed us about the principles of the system and order of the life in the Quran. One of the most beautiful and important ways of obeying those principles is the prayers ordered to be performed at certain times.
A person who does not follow that way and skips prayers because of laziness or who does not realize the value of it understands how much he loses later, but then it becomes too late. So since we have the opportunity, lets follow that way. Lets look for the ways to be free from loss.
2.3.2. Prayer relieves the heart and soul
Our Lord, who created us, equipped us with material and spiritual feelings. He created bounties like air, water and bread to feed our material feelings. He made the continuation and ease of our lives dependent on them. We cannot live without them.
Similarly, Allah ordered the worships for our spiritual feelings. The most important of them is the prayer. Our spirit, heart and mind find the real peace in the bounty of prayer. If this bounty is not received, that is, if prayer is not performed, the spirit, heart and mind become disturbed. Nothing can provide the peace that prayer, which is a kind of natural bounty, provides. Those who try to find ease and peace through games deceive only themselves. Therefore, just as it is necessary to take certain foods in order to continue our material lives, so is prayer necessary for the continuation of our spiritual lives.
For instance, someone who dies of hunger will lose a temporary life of fifty or sixty years. A person who does not perform prayers and who disobeys Allah will lose his eternal life. Therefore a clever man will not risk his eternal life intentionally. As he thinks about his worldly tasks, he will also think about the tasks that will be necessary in the hereafter. He will use the daily twenty-four hour capital in a planned way to gain both the life in this world and in the hereafter. He will comfort his mind, spirit and heart and he will attain the contentment of Allah by allocating one hour of the twenty-four hours to prayers.
As a matter of fact our Prophet states the following regarding this issue: Every useful thing that reminds Allah and religion is useful and relieves man. The words other than those harden the heart and increase the stress and crises. (Abdullah Parlıyan, Açıklamalı Tam Riyazus-Salihin Tercümesi, Konya, t.y ).
2.3.3. Prayer is a reason for the forgiveness of minor sins
Prayer is a reason for the forgiveness of minor sins. The minor mistakes and faults between the prayers, if any, of a person who performs prayers continuously are cleared. Our Prophet states the following regarding this issue:
Five prayers and the Friday prayers clear the minor sins – unless major sins are committed - committed between. (Muslim, Tahara, 5..) That is, a reason for them to be forgiven.
A correctly performed prayer whose reality is known keeps man away from ugly and indecent behaviors between two prayers. As a person continues to perform prayers correctly, his good deeds increase. Allah states the following regarding this issue: Recite and convey to them what is revealed to you of the Book, and establish the Prayer in conformity with its conditions. Surely, the prayer restraints from all that is indecent and shameful, and all that is evil. Surely Gods remembrance is the greatest (of all types of worship, and not restricted to the Prayer) God knows all that you do. (al-Ankaboot, 45)
2.3.4. Prayer cures spiritual diseases
Allah does not need anything; He does not need our worships either. We need worships. Allah is Samad. That is, everything needs Him; He does not need anything. For instance, suppose that an ill person goes to see the doctor and the doctor prescribes him some useful medicine and wants him and demands him to use them; if the ill person says:
- What do you need? Why do you insist so much?
It is clear that this question is meaningless. Allah, whose mercy is endless, created the food that the stomach needs; similarly he ordered the worships so that the spirit would attain peace.
Worship consists of Allahs orders and prohibitions. Whatever Allah orders is nice and useful. The primary worship ordered by Allah is prayer. In the prayer, the peace of the spirit, heart and mind is present. It has no expenses or hardships. One hour of the twenty-four hours every day is sufficient for five prayers.
Prayer is very valuable since it is the pillar of the religion. A building without pillars is bound to collapse; similarly the religion of a man who does not perform prayers is in danger.
2.3.5. The worldly works of a person who performs prayers are regarded as worship
To perform prayers turns the worldly works of a person into worship. For instance, a person who works as a driver can work as a driver when he does his military service. When he finishes his military service and returns and he is asked What did you do?, he answers I did my military service. He does not say I worked as a driver. Why? because he had the uniform on him. That uniform painted the job of driving with the color of military and driving became military service. As a result he was a soldier.
If he says You make me work as a driver. I worked a lot as a driver when I was a civilian. Regard them as military service. when he is a soldier, they will say, No. The reason is that he had no uniform on then.
Similarly prayer is the uniform of slavery. All of the worldly, legal deeds of a person who wears that uniform, that is, a person who performs prayers are regarded as worship. If he drives, it becomes worship; if he eats, it becomes worship; in short no matter what he does, it becomes worship. Even if a thorn pricks on his thorn, he is regarded to have done a good deed. The result is a life full of worships and consequently eternal happiness.
If a person does not perform prayers, it means he takes off the uniform of slavery; then the result of all of his worldly works is a worldly, minor and infertile benefit. It gives no benefit in the hereafter. On the contrary it imposes responsibility.
2.4. How old should one start to perform prayers?
Islam advises that a child should be made used to praying when he is seven and should be made pray when he is ten. In order to have a career or job, a person starts school at the age of six or seven. He faces all kinds of troubles in order to obtain knowledge, attain worldly ranks, and to earn money. Since all of these are done in order to live comfortably in this world, isnt it necessary to work harder for the eternal life? Isnt it necessary to endeavor to obtain the high ranks, eternal tastes and pleasures of Paradise?
The way to do it is to know Allah, which is the aim of the creation of man, to believe in Him and to worship him. To this end, man should try to learn the fundamentals of belief, the pillars of Islam, the sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH), who was sent as the unchangeable guide, before pubescence. When he enters the pubescent age, he should carry out the orders of Allah and avoid His prohibitions and apply what he learnt. To learn and apply them is not something that man cannot do; Allah burdens no man beyond his capacity. (al-Baqara, 286)
A person who obeys Allah will attain the eternal Paradise, a person who disobeys Him, will suffer punishment and will feel the discomfort and uneasiness in the world.
You can't teach an old dog new tricks is a famous proverb. Therefore a person who does not learn the orders of the religion and who does not get used to applying them when he is young will have great difficulty in learning them when he is old. He will find them very hard to do. He will have difficulty in reciting. Therefore it is necessary to say to the children, Come to prayer and make them get used to praying before they reach pubescence.
If a person does not receive a strong belief lesson when he is a child, later he can embrace the principles of Islam and belief with great difficulty. It will be as difficult as a non-Muslims embracing Islam; he becomes somewhat wild. Especially if he does not see anything about religion from his parents and if he is educated only through worldly sciences, he will get wilder (Nursi, Emirdağ Lahikası, rnk Neşriyat, İstanbul, 2005).
2.5. THE IMPORTANCE OF CORRECT PERFORMANCE OF PRAYERS
Allah points to the correct performance of prayers in 72nd verse of Chapter al-Anam as follows:
Say: (We have been commanded) to establish the Prayer in conformity with its conditions, and keep from disobedience to Him in reverence for Him and piety. He it is to Whom you will be gathered. (al-Anam, 72)
Allah states the following in another verse:
Those who believe in the Unseen, establish the Prayer in conformity with its conditions, and out of what We have provided for them (of wealth, knowledge, power, etc.), they spend (to provide sustenance for the needy and in Gods cause, purely for the good pleasure of God and without placing others under obligation. (al-Baqara, 3).
Those verses underline the importance of conformity to the conditions when praying.
What is meant by correct performance of prayers is to carry out the prayer in accordance with its principles and conditions and observe the order and the organization. For instance, to carry out the prostration (sajdah) calmly, to sit still between the two prostrations long enough to say Subhanallah. It is also to remain still and calm in the standing (qiyam) and the standing after the bowing (ruku) and to recite or read silently all of the verses and supplications carefully; and to carry out each constituent of the prayer without haste.
Those who feel a spiritual enjoyment in prayers observe the conditions of the prayer and do not haste. They regard hasting as contrary to respect and good manners. The most useful and valuable times of life are those spent worshipping. It is a pity that some people who spend their time in vain or for a short-lived benefit do not work not to be deprived of a high worship like prayer, the way of a continuous happiness and the pleasure of divine presence.
2.6. THE IMPORTANCE OF GLORIFICATION OF ALLAH AFTER PRAYERS
Prayer is the glorification of Allah, honoring him and thanking him. That is, to say Subhanallah (glory be to Allah) and honoring Him using words and actions towards His beauty. It is also saying Allahu Akbar (Allah is greatest) and honoring Him using words and actions towards His perfection. It is also saying Alhamdulillah (praise be to Allah) and thanking him using the heart, the tongue and the body towards his glory.
So glorifying, honoring and thanking are like the seeds of prayers. Therefore those three things are present in all acts and mentioning of Allah in prayers. Therefore, after prayer, each of those three words is uttered thirty-three times in order to strengthen the meaning of the prayer. That shows how important the glorification of Allah after the prayer is. Therefore one should not be lazy and skip the glorification of Allah after prayers!
The glorification of Allah after prayers is something that our Prophet (PBUH) always did. Therefore it is of great importance.
A person whose heart is alert can imagine himself after prayer as glorifying Allah in a big circle led by the prophet (PBUH). Those illuminated millions of people who glorify Allah can feel it spiritually. He says Subhanallah, Subhanallah with that dignity and loftiness. Then, when he says, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah by obeying the spiritual order of that being, he thinks of the praise of millions of people in that circle. He joins that congregation by saying Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar with the same meaning. After the supplication, he says There is no god but Allah, There is no god but Allah and turns towards the personality of the Prophet (PBUH) by looking at his Muslim brothers in the Islamic world. That is the importance of glorification of Allah.
2.7. THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYING ON TIME AND IN
CONGREGATION
Prayer shows the obedience to Allah. Obedience is more virtuous and virtuous in congregation. Praying on time is also important.
It is advisable to imagine Kaaba and pray when the prayer time starts. That is, it is something nice and virtuous. So he sees the ranks that form like overlapping circles around Kaaba. He imagines that the nearer ranks surround Kaaba and the farther ranks surround the Islamic world. He himself joins that magnificent, great congregation. So the repetition and approval of each word he utters in the prayer by this congregation becomes a great evidence for his belief and creed.
For instance: When the person who performs a prayer says اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ (Praise be to Allah) it looks as if the believers who form that great and magnificent congregation say, yes, you are right and approve his word. These approvals become like a shield against the attacking doubts and anxieties. All of his faculties and feelings take their pleasures and shares from that prayer.
Man is addressed by Allah on behalf of all creatures and he presents the glorification and worships of them to Allah on behalf of them since he is the most honorable creature and the caliph on the earth. For instance, when the believer says, اِيّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَاِيّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ (You alone do we worship, and from You alone do we seek help) during the prayer, he utters this verse on behalf of three great and tremendous congregations. The first one is the congregation consisting of the believers and unifiers on the earth. The second is the congregation of all of the living and non-living creatures that glorify Allah in their own languages. The third is the congregation consisting of the particles and feelings that form the human body, which is a small circle in terms of outward appearance and quality but in reality a big circle in terms of duty and quantity.
An army officer presents the services of all the soldiers that he represents to the commander using his own name. Similarly, man, who is the officer of the animals and plants and who has the talent to be the caliph of the beings on the earth and who regards himself as the deputy for all of the beings in his private world, says, اِيّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَاِيّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ (You alone do we worship, and from You alone do we seek help) and presents all of the worships and wishes of all of the beings to Allah using his own name.
The prayer that causes man reach the rank of a commander and to be addressed by Allah is a lofty and comprehensive worship. The best way of performing it is at the early stated time, in congregation and in conformity with its conditions. Abandoning prayers is not only a disobedience to an order but also a deprivation of the rank of being superior to all of the beings and the most important of all a deprivation of the honor of being addressed by Allah.
2.8. OBLIGATORY ACTS (FARDHS) OF PRAYER
There are twelve fardhs of prayer. Six of them are before prayer and they are called prerequisites of prayer. Six of them are within the prayer. They are called the constituents of prayer.
All of those obligatory acts have to be carried out fully for a prayer to be correct.
2.8.1. Prerequisites of prayer:
1) Taharat (cleanliness) of the body: To take ablutions (wudu) or to have a bath (ghusl) to remove the spiritual impurity (najasah).
2) Tahara (cleanliness) of the clothes and place: To clean any impurity on the body, clothes and the place to prayed.
3) Satr (covering): To cover parts of the body obligatory to be covered during prayer.
For men: the part of the body between the navel and the knee (knee included), For women: all of the body except the face, hands and feet.
4) Facing Qiblah: It is to perform the prayer facing qiblah. Qiblah is the direction towards the holy building, Kaaba, in the city of Makkah. Kaaba was built by Hazrat Ibrahim (Abraham) and Ismael (Ishmael).
5) Time: It is to perform prayers within the predefined periods. It is not valid to perform a prayer before its time.
6) Intention (Niyyah): It is to be aware of which prayer one is going to perform and to remember it in his heart. It is sunnah to utter the intention by tongue.
2.8.2. The constituents of prayer:
1) The Opening takbeer: It is to say Allahu Akbar when starting prayer.
2) Standing (Qiyam): It is to stand while praying.
3) Reciting: It is to recite something from the Quran while standing.
4) Bowing down (Ruku): It means to bend down with ones hands on his knees.
5) Prostration (Sujud): To place ones feet, knees, palms and forehead on the ground.
6) The last sitting: To sit long enough to recite the tashahhud at the end of the prayer.
Things that are fardh for those following Shafi sect:
Reciting Chapter al-Fatiha (for everybody)
The organs should remain still during the bow down and standing,
Standing still after bow down
To do tumaninah after the bow down,
To prostrate twice in each rakat (section of a prayer),
To do tumaninah in prostration,
To sit between the two prostrations,
To do tumaninah between the two prostrations,
To recite tashahhud during the last sitting,
To recite salawats for the Prophet (PBUH) during the last sitting,
To utter the first salam (To say at least As-salamu alaykum, or
better As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi ve barakatuhu.)
To observe the order of the sections
2.9. SOME FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT PRAYER
(For more information regarding this issue refer to the Risale-i Nur collection.)
Question: During the prayer some scruples emerge in my heart, what should I do?
Answer: When a person prays, some scruples and dirty memoirs either by the devil or his own soul attack the heart and the mind like flies. In such a state one should not try to drive those ugly scruples away; because scruples are like bees. As you deal with them, they increase their attacks. If you do not deal with them, they go away. Scruples, too, leave man if man does not deal with them. Besides, those scruples do not harm worship or a mans heart. It is harmful to think that scruples are harmful. Those words are not the words of the heart. Maybe they are the blowing of the devil which is near the heart. The heart is disturbed by it. The fact that the heart is disturbed by those words shows that those words do not belong to the heart; on the contrary they are the scruples of the devil. Man is not responsible for something that does not belong to his heart.
For instance, when man contemplates on the verses in the presence of Allah, opposite Kaaba, a scruple comes to his imagination. Thus it tries to distract him from prayer. The imagination of the man who is exposed to such a scruple resembles to a mirror. The image of a snake in the mirror does not bite, the fire does not burn and the dirty things do not contaminate the mirror; similarly the scruples and ugly memoirs that come to mans mirror of imagination do not harm mans belief and worship.
If the scruple is too disturbing, then man should take shelter in Allah, who is Wise and Merciful, and say, I seek refuge in Allah from Satan.
Question: The Prayers are fine, but to perform them every single day five times is a lot. Since they never end, doesnt it become wearying?
Answer: Listen to the four reasons below and then decide.
1.Your life is not eternal. You may die next year, maybe tomorrow. What causes you boredom is that you fancy you shall live for ever. You complain as though you will remain in the world for pleasure eternally. If you had understood that your life is brief, and that it is departing fruitlessly, to spend one hour out of the twenty-four on a fine, agreeable, easy, and merciful act of service, that is, prayer, which is the means to the true happiness of eternal life, surely does not cause boredom, but excites a real eagerness and agreeable pleasure.
2.Every day you eat bread, drink water, do they cause you boredom? They do not, because since the need is repeated, it is not boredom, but pleasure, that they give. In which case, the five daily prayers should not cause you boredom, because they are the food of your heart, life source of you spirit, and the development of your subtle faculties. Indeed, the sustenance and strength of a heart which is afflicted with infinite grief and sorrows and captivated by infinite pleasures and hopes may be obtained by knocking through supplication on the door of One All-Compassionate and Munificent.
3.Yes, man who, by its nature, desires eternal life and was created for eternity and who is a mirror of the Pre-Eternal and Post-Eternal One and who has a conscious inner sense which is infinitely delicate and subtle, is surely most needy for air in the sorrowful, crushing, distressing, transient, dark, and suffocating, conditions of this world and can only breathe through the window of the prayers.
O man who is weary of performing prayers! The troubles of yesterday have today been transformed into mercy. The pain has gone while the pleasure remains and the hardship turned into reward. In which case, you should not feel wearied at it, but make a serious effort to continue with a new eagerness and fresh enthusiasm. As for future days, have not yet arrived, and to think of them now and feel bored and wearied is a lunacy like thinking today of future hunger and thirst, and starting to shout and cry out. Since the truth is this, if you are reasonable you will think of only today in regard to worship. And say: "I am spending one hour of it on a agreeable, pleasant, and elevated act of service, the reward for which is high and whose trouble is little." Then your bitter dispiritedness will be transformed into sweet endeavor.
4.O man who is weary of performing prayers! Is this duty of worship without result? Is its recompense little that it causes you weariness? Whereas if someone was to give you a little money, or to intimidate you, he could make you work till evening, and you would work without slacking. So is it that the prescribed prayers are without result, which in this guest-house of the world are sustenance and wealth for your impotent and weak heart, and in your grave, which will be a certain dwelling-place for you, sustenance and light, and at the Resurrection, when you will anyway be judged, a document and patent, and on the Bridge of Sirat, over which you are bound to pass, a light and a mount?
Someone promises you a present worth a hundred liras, and makes you work for a hundred days. You trust the man who may go back on his word and work without slacking. So if One for Whom the breaking of a promise is impossible, promises you recompense like Paradise and a gift like eternal happiness, and employs you for a very short time in a very agreeable duty, if you do not perform that service, or you act accusingly towards His promise or slight His gift by performing it unwillingly like someone forced to work, or by being bored, or by working in halfhearted fashion, you will deserve a severe reprimand and awesome punishment. Have you not thought of this`? Although you serve without slacking in the heaviest work in this world out of fear of imprisonment, does the fear of an eternal incarceration like Hell not fill you with enthusiasm for a most light and agreeable act of service, that is, prayer?
With the right intention, all the other acts of someone who performs prayers become like worship. He can make over the whole capital of his life to the hereafter in this way. He can make his transient life permanent in one respect.
Question: I have a lot of work to do. I cannot perform prayers. What should I do?
Answer: O man who is connected to the world as if worshipping it! Does your slackness in worship and deficiency in prayers arise from the multiplicity of your worldly occupations, or because you cannot find time due to the struggle for livelihood? Were you created only for this world that you spend ail your time on it?
Why do you not understand that your basic duty is not to labor like an animal, but to expend effort for a true, perpetual life, like a true human being.!
Besides, the worldly works are trivial matters that mostly do not concern you, and that you meddle in officiously and confuse. You leave aside the essential things and pass your time in acquiring inessential information as if you were going to live for thousands of years.
As a result: O man! Know that yesterday has left you, and as for tomorrow, you have nothing to prove that it will be yours. In which case, know that your true life is the present day. So throw at least one of its hours into a mosque or prayer-mat, a coffer for the hereafter like a reserve fund, set up for the true future.
Question: I perform prayers. However I cannot perform them properly. Will performing prayers like this be of any use to me?
Answer: Never say, "What are my prayers in comparison with the reality of the prayers?", because like the seed of a date-palm describes the full-grown tree, your prayers describe your tree. Similarly the prayers of a great saint, the prayers of ordinary people like you or me - even if they are not aware of it - have a share of that light. There is a mystery in this truth, even if the consciousness does perceive it. However the unfolding and illumination differ according to the degrees of those performing them. As there are many stages and degrees from the seed of a date-palm to the mature tree, so the stages in the degrees of prayers may be even more numerous. However, in each degree, the basis of that luminous truth is present.
Question: Why are prayers allocated to five times?
Answer: Each time of prayer is the beginning of an important revolution and also a mirror of the divine disposition. It is necessary to glorify and honor Allah more at those times. Prayer, which means thanking and praising, was ordered for the numerous bounties accumulated between two times.
For instance, at the time of the morning prayer, there is a huge day and a lot of tasks awaiting man. It is an essential need of the spirit to take refuge in Lord and ask for His help for the coming troubles. Man is weak and poor. The weight of those burdens overwhelm him. To know and ask for the help of his Lord gives man peace. Therefore, from this aspect, it is an essential need of the spirit to perform the morning prayer.
Noon is the time when the spirit of man that is spiritually overwhelmed by the tiring and suffocating weight of the worldly works. So the spirit attains the peace through the noon prayer by turning towards Allah.
Afternoon is the time when the day starts to end and reminds partings. The sun goes away gradually. The day is leaving, the life is going, the world is going towards the Day of Judgment. The heart and the spirit always feel pain due to the partings, they do not want to leave the things that they are interested in and they do not even want to think of it. So, to perform the afternoon prayer at that time is an essential need of the heart and the spirit.
Evening prayer reminds man that with the end of the day life will also end and the Day of Judgment will come. It is shown at the time of evening prayer that the spirit of man is need of taking refuge in Allahs presence and man is reminded that the world and the worldly things that man is interested in are not of help to him and will leave him alone.
The time of night prayer is the time when the day closes and it reminds man the silence of the grave and his loneliness. Man is in need of taking refuge in a Lord that will console him and will free him of his loneliness. So by performing night prayer he ascends to His presence.
It is understood from the explanation above how wise it is that five obligatory prayers are allocated to certain times of the day.
READING TEXT
PRAYER IS THE PILLAR OF THE RELIGION
Based on the hadith Prayer is the pillar of the religion it will be seen in this reading text how profitable a trade a person who performs prayers makes and how much a person who does not perform prayers loses.
If you want to understand with the certainty that two plus two equals four just how valuable and important are the prescribed prayers, and with what little expense they are gained, and how crazy and harmful is the person who neglects them, pay attention to the following story which is in the form of a comparison:
One time, a mighty ruler gave each of two of his servants twenty-four gold pieces and sent them to settle on one of his rich, royal farms two months' distance away. "Use this money for your tickets", he commanded them, "and buy whatever is necessary for your house there with it. There is a station one day's distance from the farm. And there is both road-transport, and a railway, and boats, and aeroplanes. They can be benefited from according to your capital."
The two servants set off after receiving these instructions. One of them was fortunate so that he spent a small amount of money on the way to the station. And included in that expense was some business so profitable and pleasing to his master that his capital increased a thousandfold. As for the other servant, since he was luckless and a layabout, he spent twenty-three pieces of gold on the way to the station, wasting it on gambling and amusements. A single gold piece remained. His friend said to him: "Spend this last gold piece on a ticket so that you will not have to walk the long journey and starve. Moreover, our master is generous; perhaps he will take pity on you and forgive you your faults, and put you on an aeroplane as well. Then we shall reach where we are going to live in one day. Otherwise you will be compelled to walk alone and hungry across a desert which takes two months to cross." The most unintelligent person can understand how foolish, harmful, and senseless he would be if out of obstinacy he did not spend that single remaining gold piece on a ticket, which is like the key to a treasury, and instead spent it on vice for passing pleasure. Is that not so?
And so, O you who do not perform the prescribed prayers! And O my own soul, which does not like to pray! The ruler in the comparison is our Sustainer, our Creator. And of the two traveling servants, one represents the devout who perform their prayers with fervor, and the other, the heedless who neglect their prayers. The twenty-four pieces of gold are life in every twenty-four-hour day. And the royal domain is Paradise. As for the station, that is the grave. While the journey is man's passage to the grave, and on to the Resurrection, and the Hereafter. Men cover that long journey to different degrees according to their actions and the strength of their fear of God. Some of the truly devout have crossed a thousand-year distance in a day like lightening. And some have traversed a fifty-thousand-year distance in a day with the speed of imagination. The Quran of Mighty Stature alludes to this truth with two of its verses.
The ticket in the comparison represents the prescribed prayers. A single hour a day is sufficient for the five prayers together with taking the ablutions. So what a loss a person makes who spends twenty-three hours on this fleeting worldly life, and fails to spend one hour on the long life of the Hereafter; how he wrongs his own self; how unreasonably he behaves. For would not anyone who considers himself to be reasonable understand how contrary to reason and wisdom such a person's conduct is, and how far from reason he has become, if, thinking it reasonable, he gives half of his property to a lottery in which one thousand people are participating and the possibility of winning is one in a thousand, and does not give one twenty-fourth of it to an eternal treasury where the possibility of winning has been verified at ninety-nine out of a hundred?
Moreover, the spirit, the heart, and the mind find great ease in prayer. And it is not trying for the body. Furthermore, with the right intention, all the other acts of someone who performs the prescribed prayers become like worship. He can make over the whole capital of his life to the Hereafter in this way. He can make his transient life permanent in one respect... Badiuzzaman
6-)
Introduction
Created as the vicegerent on Earth and appointed as the commander of all creatures, man is given infinite drives and emotions. The life and afterlife are presented before him, and he is granted the nomination for a position from the most superior to the most inferior. Equipped with such talents and furnished with comprehensive emotions, he had been sent to this world where his capabilities will flourish through tests.
The very reason behind the existence of man in this world is to know the Creator, to believe in and worship Him. Thus, it is worship that will open the gates of bliss of this life and of afterlife by nourishing his emotions and enhancing his aptitudes. It is worship that will make him achieve his aims. It is worship that will bring an order to his ideas. It is worship that will limit his drives of lust and wrath. It is worship that will cheer up his sublime spirit. It is worship that will wipe the dirt and the rust which pollute his outer and inner organs and feelings. It is worship that will form the strongest and yet most charming bond between the creature and his Creator. In short, it is but worship that will exalt him to the honor of being real human by making him addressed by Allah.
The materialistic philosophy that takes atheism as its very principle has made the contemporary man a slave of his own self by filling his realm with flesh and has had him search everything within the matter. Even the subjects belonging to faith and worship are judged by this mentality and religion is attacked.
Each believer needs to be aware of what are the worships that are both the reason and the result of his existence. In this book, fardh (obligatory) worships as prayer, fasting, hajj, and alms, are studied by an inquisitive approach, resulting in a succession of wisdom, knowledge, and logic in their presentation. Thus, it is tried to answer some tricky questions, coming from science and philosophy relating with the principles of belief and worships, like the reasons behind worships.
Fardh worships could clearly be meaningful only when presented together with the catechism. However, since this book will be translated into various languages and therefore it will deal with many undergraduate and graduate students who are believers or not, we chose to present those characteristics of worships in a different dedicated book. We wish that our readers will tolerate this lack we would like them to pray for us.
It is for us to try, and for Allah to give success.
Kayseri, 2008
7-)
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