Allah Almighty Says
(what means): "And when you have completed the prayer, remember
Allaah standing, sitting, or [lying] on your sides. But when you become secure,
re-establish [regular] prayer. Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the
believers a decree of specified times." [Quran 4:103]
For forty consecutive years, Sa`eed Ibn Al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy upon him) was to be found in the mosque before the Athaan
(call to prayer) was made. `Umar may Allah be pleased with him became
unconscious after he was stabbed, and according to Al-Miswar Ibn Makhramah may Allah have mercy upon him it was said: "Nothing would wake him up except
the call to prayer, if he is still alive." So people said to him:
"The prayer has finished, O Chief of the Believers!" He therefore
awoke and said: "The prayer! I swear by Allah that there is no share of Islam for whoever abandons the prayer." He then performed the prayer
while his wound was bleeding.
After Ar-Rabee` Ibn Khaytham (may Allah have mercy upon him)
became partially paralyzed, he would go to the mosque helped by two men. He was
told: "O Abu Yaazeed! You have been given permission to pray at
home." He replied: "You have said the truth, but I heard the caller
say: 'Hayya `ala al-falah' (rush to success), and so I thought that whoever
hears this call should answer it, even by crawling."
'Uday Ibn Haatim (may Allaah be pleased with him) said:
"Every time the time for prayer arrives, it finds me eager and ready to
perform it (i.e. in the state of ablution)."
Abu Bakr Ibn 'Abdullaah Al-Muzani (may Allaah have mercy upon
him) said: "Who is like you, O son of Aadam? Whenever you desire, you use
water and make ablution, go to the place of worship and thus enter the presence
of your Lord (i.e. start praying) without a translator or barrier between you
and Him!"
Abu Rajaa' Al-`Ataaridi may Allaah have mercy upon him said
on his deathbed: "I am not grieved by leaving anything behind, except that
I used to bow down on my face five times a day before my Lord, the Exalted and
most Honoured."
Abul-'Aaliyah (may Allaah have mercy upon him) said: "I
would travel for days to meet a man and the first thing I would note about him
would be his prayer. If he was one who established the prayer perfectly and on
time, I would stay with him and hear the knowledge he had to impart. If I found
him to be careless concerning the prayer, I would leave him and say to myself
that for things other than the prayer, he would be even more careless."
When 'Ali Ibn Al-Husayn (may Allaah have mercy upon him) would
perform ablution, the colour of his face would change. His family asked him why
this would always happen and he would reply: "Do you know before Whom I am
about to stand (in prayer)?"
Yazeed Ibn 'Abdullaah (may Allaah have mercy upon him) was
asked: "Should we make a roof for our mosque?" He replied:
"Purify your hearts and your mosque (in its current state) will suffice
you."
'Uday Ibn Haatim may Allaah be pleased with him said:
"Ever since I became a Muslim, I always made sure to have ablution when
the Athaan is called."
'Ubayd Ibn Ja`far may Allaah have mercy upon him said:
"I never saw my uncle Bishr Ibn Mansoor miss the first Takbeer (that
commences the congregational prayer in the mosque), and whenever any person
stood up in our mosque to ask people for help, he would always give him
something."
Ibn Sam`ah (may Allaah have mercy upon him) said: "For
forty years, I only missed the first Takbeer once, and that was when my mother
died. If you know of a man's disinterest in being present in the mosque for the
first Takbeer, then wash your hands of him (i.e. know that there is no good in
him)."
Sufyaan Ibn `Uyaynah (may Allaah have mercy upon him) said:
"Honoring the prayer includes arriving before the Iqaamah (the call that
establishes the prayer) is called."
Maymoon Ibn Mahraan (may Allaah have mercy upon him) was once
delayed from coming to the mosque on time. When he did eventually arrive, he
was told that the people had already concluded the prayer: "We all belong
to Allah and to Him shall be our return! I value the congregational prayer
more than being made governor of Iraq," he lamented.
Yoonus Ibn 'Abdullaah (may Allaah have mercy upon him) said:
"What is the matter with me? If I lose a mere chicken I feel concerned,
but when I miss a prayer in congregation it does not grieve me!"
`Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) once said while
standing on the pulpit: "A man may have white hair in Islam (i.e. reach
old age while being Muslim), but has not yet completed even a single prayer for Allah the Exalted!" He was asked: "Why is that?" He replied:
"Because he does not perfect the prayer's required Khushoo` (solemness)
and fails to be attentive to Allah with his heart."
Hammaad Ibn Salamah (may Allah have mercy upon him) said:
"I have never stood up for prayer without imagining that the Hellfire is
before my eyes."
