Congregational Prayer: Meeting upon Obedience

Occasion: A transcription of two lectures delivered on November 26 and 27, 2016Source: A transcription of a video lecture by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

Dr. Ahmed began with a word on the prostration of forgetfulness (sujūd as-sahw). He said that the jurists relied in this matter on distinguishing between whether the mistake is by omission or by addition, and that this is among the existing opinions, and Ibn al-Qayyim cited it in full in the book «Zād al-Ma'ād», and mentioned several opinions on it.^[1] But the relied-upon view, and Allah knows best, is that if the forgetfulness is by omission, the prostration is before the closing salām, whereas if it is by addition, like one who prays four rak'ahs and comes with five, then it is after the salām. And they discussed afterward whether he recites the tashahhud again or not. Then he said: what was, was; praise be to Allah, glorified and exalted, and we ask Allah for well-being, O Lord of the worlds, and we ask Allah to forgive us our shortcomings in His right and to mend our hearts. O Allah, amen.

A meeting upon obedience

And he said: tonight, in truth, I want to speak with those who are outside the mosque about the matter of congregational prayer and its importance in our lives as Muslims, and how Allah, glorified and exalted, legislated these prayers for us to be a path to gathering hearts and the unity of the ranks, and a path to the meeting that we are witnessing now, and to feeling one another.

Then he brought the meaning closer with an example: when the imam forgets, for instance,^[2] there is no doubt that one of the worshippers will say: Allahu akbar! How is the Sheikh today? What is wrong with him? What threw his head off? I wonder, is he tired? I wonder, is he ill? We have not known this from him before, and this does not happen often, so what are the reasons? And if a man stands beside you praying and you do not feel that he is settled in his prayer, he sways a lot, or the sound of his chest is loud, or something of this sort, then no sooner do you finish the prayer and say «السلام عليكم ورحمة الله، السلام عليكم ورحمة الله» ("Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah, peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah") than you are busy asking him: is your health well? Are you all right? How are your affairs? What is going on with you?

So the matter of the spirit that flows among Muslims when they meet, and meeting upon obedience, is the loftiest kind of meetings. So if a servant wants to be truly part of the community, and to be rid of the feeling of alienation that many people complain of, then he must come to the place where he feels familiarity, and feels safe, and feels that the people around him are from the chosen ones of Allah, blessed and exalted, or from the chosen of creation with the Lord of the worlds. So he lines up his foot with these people, supplicating Allah with the supplication that is directed at everyone, saying amen behind an imam, all listening to verses recited to them at one time, and in a shared pattern of instructions that apply to the imam of the Muslims in the prayer and to the worshippers praying behind him.

Those who listen to us in their homes

And he said: when the people of knowledge spoke about congregational prayer, I know that some of our brothers are listening to us now through the programs on which this is recorded. So perhaps one of them will close the phone, saying: we will not complete the rest of the lesson, and we will not listen to «congregational prayer»; we are sitting at home comfortable. And perhaps among our brothers is one who is "under house restriction", who has used up his allowed time throughout the day, as if he were allowed to leave the house for eight hours and he has used them up, so you do not want to give him a second permission, so you say to him in English: «Your time is up», your time is over, it is not right for you to go out. So he says: and may I pray? You say: no, your time is over. (He said it jokingly, may Allah bless you.)

And some people may have returned from their work in extreme exhaustion, so he cannot come to the prayer, so he finds in himself now, as he listens to these words, a kind of self-reproach, or psychological pain because he cannot come to the mosque. And he said: each according to his intention and according to his deed. And the Lord of the worlds, glorified and exalted, deals with people according to the strength He gave them and according to the excuses they have; so if the servant truly has an excuse, then Allah the Exalted pardons him and forgives him, and if not, then Allah the Exalted punishes him if he did something forbidden. And perhaps the servant finds reproach from Allah, blessed and exalted, if there was some kind of shortcoming in an act of obedience with which he obeys the Lord of the worlds, glorified and exalted.

«Do of it what you are able»

And the speech here is about a text very simple in its wording, from the Prophet ﷺ as he addresses the Ummah, saying: «إذا أمرتكم بأمر فأتوا منه ما استطعتم».^[3] ("When I command you with a matter, do of it what you are able.") Some people take this text by way of ease, and some take it by way of resolve. So the people who say it by way of ease, one of them says to you: "Uncle, the Prophet ﷺ said so, so what I can do, I do, and what I cannot, then the matter is over." So you go back and ask him: are you really unable to do that? So you stand before the Prophet ﷺ, and he asks you: why did you not follow my sunna in this matter? So you say: O Messenger of Allah, I truly had an excuse. Or are you putting on a show? For some people act out being tired to themselves, wanting to make themselves imagine that they are ill, or that they are worn out or exhausted, when if he were to rise and get up from his bed or from the seat he is in, or if he were able to delay the meal or advance it so as to match the time to the Isha prayer, especially in times or places in which the prayer times at the mosque are fixed.

In the Qur'an there is what urges it

And in any case, verses from the noble Qur'an come which some of the people of knowledge speak of as perhaps having a direct relation to the matter of congregational prayer. When the Lord of the worlds, glorified and exalted, says:

﴿إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ كَانَتْ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ كِتَابًا مَّوْقُوتًا﴾^[4] ("Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers at specified times")

some of the people of knowledge comment on the phrase ﴿عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ﴾ ("upon the believers"): can it be understood that Allah the Exalted meant that congregational prayer is binding upon the Muslim community, since the address was general to them in this way? Well, if not, then why did Allah, blessed and exalted, say in the other text:

﴿حَافِظُوا عَلَى الصَّلَوَاتِ وَالصَّلَاةِ الْوُسْطَىٰ وَقُومُوا لِلَّهِ قَانِتِينَ﴾^[5] ("Guard strictly the prayers and the middle prayer, and stand before Allah devoutly obedient")

And this is a direct command to the whole body of Muslims to guard the prayer together, and to stand together before Allah, blessed and exalted, devoutly obedient. And some of them said that there is no evidence in them that congregational prayer is obligatory, or that it is not an obligation, he said: and this of course is the preponderant opinion.^[6] But the verses come by way of urging; and even if we had from these Qur'anic texts nothing but more encouragement to comply with the command of Allah, blessed and exalted, that is enough for us to line up our feet in the houses of the Lord of the worlds, glorified, exalted on high.

A prayer multiplied according to the effort

And there are many sayings of the people of knowledge mentioned here, but by way of brevity we relate the ḥadīth of the Prophet ﷺ when he says: «صلاة الرجل في الجماعة تُضعَّف على صلاته في بيته وفي سوقه خمسًا وعشرين ضعفًا».^[7] ("A man's prayer in congregation is multiplied over his prayer in his house and in his market by twenty-five times.") Then he asked: how much effort do you exert to get up from your place while you are at home? You returned from your work at six, for example, and you have barely eaten and drunk some coffee or tea, and your muscles have begun to loosen from one another and rest, and you have felt a measure of recollection; so in order to get up again and put on your clothes again and go out again, and start the car and move, at that moment you work out the calculations very precisely. And you still have to reach the mosque, and then if the Sheikh speaks on a topic you say to him: "You have lengthened it for us, we sit all this time and we still have to go back!" And he said: this resistance in itself calls for multiplying the reward that follows the act of worship; so if the resistances are many and strong, then to the degree that the servant multiplies his effort, the Lord of the worlds, glorified and exalted, multiplies for him.

And in a simple comment on this noble text from the Prophet ﷺ: many narrations have come indicating that the multiplication is seventeen-fold or eighteen-fold or twenty-four-fold or twenty-five-fold or twenty-seven-fold.^[8] So the people of knowledge say: why did these narrations multiply, and how can we reconcile between them? I mean, when is it twenty-five and when is it twenty-seven? They said: according to the effort the servant exerted until he reached the mosque of Allah, until he reached the house of the Lord of the worlds, glorified and exalted, and according to how much he was humble in his prayer and devoutly obedient in it to Allah, blessed and exalted, ﴿وَقُومُوا لِلَّهِ قَانِتِينَ﴾ ("and stand before Allah devoutly obedient"). So the differences between people vary; so it is possible that in a very long row of people standing beside one another, praying the same prayer behind the same imam, hearing the same Qur'anic verses, one of them comes out with twenty-seven, the second with twenty-four, the third with twenty-five, and so on, they vary among themselves according to the degrees of superiority between them, and Allah the Exalted knows best.

The man farthest from the mosque

And in another ḥadīth of the Prophet ﷺ, Ubayy ibn Ka'b, may Allah the Exalted be pleased with him, narrates, saying: there was a man, I do not know a man farther from the mosque than he, meaning he was very far from the house of the Lord of the worlds, from the mosque of the Prophet ﷺ, and no prayer would miss him. What is the meaning of "no prayer would miss him"? It means he is present every time, so there is not a single time we go to the mosque and do not find him. He said: it was said to him, or I said to him (our master Ubayy ibn Ka'b says), meaning some people said it to him, or perhaps it was I who said it to him; and it seems that many people advised him with the same advice, which means that it was a matter noticed within the community. So it was said to him or I said to him: if only you bought a donkey to ride in the darkness and in the scorching heat. Meaning that when night comes the world is dark, and when day comes the ground is hot, the heat rises from beneath the earth, so how many steps does he endure while walking on them? So if only you bought a donkey to ride in the darkness and in the scorching heat. He said: it does not please me that my house be beside the mosque; I want my walking to the mosque and my return, when I return to my family, to be recorded for me. So the Prophet ﷺ said: «قد جمع الله لك ذلك كله».^[9] ("Allah has gathered all of that for you.")

And the Doctor commented: this is further striving on the part of the Companion, may the pleasure of Allah the Exalted be upon them all, and further eagerness on his part to attain a greater reward; and there is in it no indication that living next to the mosque has in it anything of doubt or prohibition, but the man wanted to have very many steps to walk until he reached the house of Allah, blessed and exalted. So he was eager that his steps be recorded from his house to the mosque, and he was the farthest one, as Ubayy, may Allah the Exalted be pleased with him, says, going and returning. And how many times does he do that in the day? No prayer would miss him, meaning five times every day, seven days a week, so his times are filled.

And the very simple question: was this man without any work except that he went back and forth to the house of Allah, blessed and exalted, or did he make that his greatest concern? You say to me: well, does this ḥadīth call us to slow down in our work so that we become lazy people, with no occupation except going and coming to the mosque? And its answer is extremely simple: know the life of the people then; it is possible that he had a plot of land that brought forth some fruit, and he had, may Allah honor you, a group of livestock or something of this sort; and these are things that do not consume much time, so you put some fodder for the animals and go to the mosque, then return and see how things are going, or put out some water, or do such and such and return again, and so on going and returning; so there was no work that kept him from coming to the mosque. Or the man was content with little provision out of eagerness to go to the mosque five times in every day and night, and that may be because his reason led him to that and his striving led him to that. So when he laid what he had before the Prophet ﷺ, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ affirmed him in that and did not deny it of him.

Isha and Fajr

And he said: you know, may Allah bless you, what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ narrated, that whoever prays Isha in congregation, it is as if he stood half the night, and whoever prays the morning prayer in congregation, it is as if he prayed the whole night.^[10] And some narrate that the morning prayer equals the whole night and the Isha prayer equals half, so I am left with, I mean, a night and a half: as if he prayed a night and a half! And some said: whoever prays Isha in congregation has half, and whoever prays Fajr, it is as if he completed the other half, so the Prophet ﷺ expressed it as the whole night to express that.

And he said: you know how little effort we have in worship; this is an important matter that we must take into account, in addition to the trials or objections that confront us and take us to sins in many cases.^[11] And you know, may Allah bless you, O Lord of the worlds, that the servant has such shortcomings that he may not attain the higher station with Allah, blessed and exalted. Is this not the reality in our lives? So if the Lord of the worlds provides us with some deeds through which He can multiply for us the reward by which we can reach the high ranks of Allah, or attain a greater reward from the deeds accomplished, then perhaps it is a great benefit from which the hypocrites are sluggish and to which the pious believers hasten.

And therefore the Prophet ﷺ narrated, in contrast, that the heaviest prayer upon the hypocrites is the Isha prayer and the Fajr prayer, «ولو يعلمون ما فيهما لأتَوهما ولو حبوًا».^[12] ("If they knew what is in them, they would come to them even crawling.") He said: look, the Prophet ﷺ says: «ولو يعلمون ما فيهما لأتوهما ولو حبوًا»! ("If they knew what is in them, they would come to them even crawling!") Imagine a man coming to the prayer crawling on the ground, walking on his feet and hands on all fours, unable to stand, creeping until he reaches the mosque! This is the feeling and this is the act of one who truly wants to catch up with the caravan of the pious believers who seek their reward with Allah, blessed and exalted.

And the ḥadīth in its completion says: «ولقد هممتُ أن آمر بالصلاة فتُقام، ثم آمر رجلًا فيصلي بالناس، ثم أنطلق معي برجال معهم حُزَم من حطب إلى قوم لا يشهدون الصلاة، فأُحرّق عليهم بيوتهم بالنار». ("I had intended to order the prayer to be established, then order a man to lead the people in prayer, then go off with men carrying bundles of firewood to people who do not attend the prayer, and burn their houses down upon them with fire.") And he said: it is completely clear from the ḥadīth that the Prophet ﷺ is speaking about the hypocrites; as if he pointed to a number of people in themselves whom he described at the beginning of the ḥadīth by his saying «إن أثقل صلاة على المنافقين» ("the heaviest prayer upon the hypocrites"), so it is as if he specifies these, and these are the ones he wanted to burn upon. Because the presence of hypocrites in a community is the greatest trial that can exist in the midst of believers; since they do not leave the community stable, but always incite against people, and always leave conditions disturbed and unbalanced, and so on, and this has in it what it has of splitting the ranks of the people and their lack of unity, the constant quarreling and continuous disputes, and everything else that unsettles the state of the believing community and so halts its movement toward a renewed future. I mean, instead of our minds being free so that we think about what we will do tomorrow, no, we are busy with so-and-so said, and so-and-so came back, and we went and came, and so-and-so caused a problem between so-and-so and so-and-so; so our minds are always occupied with the small things, leaving what is greater than that, and Allah, blessed and exalted, knows best.

Then he concluded the evening by asking Allah to grant us the good completion of this talk at a later time, if the Most Merciful, glorified is He, wills, and to accept our deeds from us and forgive us our shortcomings, and to protect us and them from the evils of our souls and the misdeeds of our actions, and to grant us good wherever we are. And he said: may Allah keep your evening safe, and may Allah bless you and reward you well. And he added: and I ask Allah the Most High, the Almighty, to always gather us upon obedience to Him and upon what pleases Him, mighty and majestic; O Allah, we ask You for constancy in remembering You and the completion of Your blessing; O Allah, keep us upon Your obedience as long as we live, and seal our lives with faith, and our ages with lā ilāha illā Allāh. O Allah, amen, O Lord of the worlds.

The next day: between the principle and the reality

And on the next day he said: we spoke yesterday, and also this morning, about the matter of congregational prayer, and we mentioned that we perhaps address those in the homes more than we address those who are with us in the mosque now, and Allah the Exalted has subjected for us these means that broadcast our words, as you say "live". And we spoke yesterday about how Allah the Exalted pointed to the matter of the Muslims gathering in His houses, glorified and exalted, for the prayers of the people; they gather in the mosque upon the greatest human act that the human being was commanded by the Lord of the worlds, glorified and exalted, which is the performance of prayer. They gathered, not with their bodies only, but with their bodies, their souls and their spirits.

Then he said: we are talking about the principle, O Hajj, and we are talking about the reality.^[13] I know that in many cases two people are standing in the row and their hearts are at odds, indeed one of them almost curses his companion, indeed things between them almost reach the most severe state, and perhaps he wants to slip away from standing beside him but fears the people's reproach, or that it would draw their attention, and so on. We know that, and we know that the trials that exist between the hearts of Muslims, except those whom Allah has shown mercy, are heavy in their weight, and that whoever does not feel that, does not feel it only because of the soundness of his heart and the goodness of his intention and his dealing with people. As for the lived reality, it is severe. But our role, as callers to Allah, or as we call ourselves callers, is to speak about the principle, and about what ought to be, and about what is supposed to happen, and we speak about the foundations of legislation and the texts of Islam; so what the Muslims respond to afterward is what benefits them before Allah, blessed and exalted, and what each one of us does not respond to, its consequence returns to him also. And Allah, blessed and exalted, described His believing servants as ﴿يَسْتَمِعُونَ الْقَوْلَ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ أَحْسَنَهُ﴾^[14] ("who listen to speech and follow the best of it"); as for the one who listens to speech and does not follow, or does not follow the best of it, his matter is up to the Lord of the worlds, glorified, exalted on high.

Then he summarized what had passed: that the Prophet ﷺ wanted the servant to feel the importance of what he does, and that prayer in congregation, with multiplied reward, excels the prayer of the one praying alone by twenty-seven degrees, and that what the servant suffers from his house to the mosque and the effort he meets in humility and supplication before Allah has its effect on the number of multiples he finds, and that Ubayy ibn Ka'b, may Allah the Exalted be pleased with him, recounted to us the story of the man whose house was far, who was eager for every prayer and wanted his steps going and returning to be recorded, so the Prophet ﷺ said to him: «قد جمع الله لك ذلك كله» ("Allah has gathered all of that for you").

Why Isha and Fajr are heavy

And what came concerning Isha and Fajr specifically came because of the hardship in them, because it is difficult for a person to wake from his sleep and to raise his body from his warm bed, especially if there is no reason other than the prayer, to tear himself from the bed by force and go to the mosque, just to the mosque. I mean, some people come to the Fajr prayer because they are going to work anyway, so naturally this is the basis of their work; so if the intention is not present for us, we have from the prayers only the measure of performing the tasks. But if the intention is present to draw near to Allah, glorified and exalted, and to perfect this prayer and be humble in it, and to take into account the condition of the people and deal with his needs, and so on of what is part of the content of our deeds, then Allah, blessed and exalted, multiplies the reward and gives the servant according to his intention. And we ask Allah the Exalted to reach noble qualities, O Allah, amen, O Lord of the worlds.

So since Fajr is the servant tearing himself from his bed at a time when sleep is at its loveliest and its pleasure is most intense, glory be to the Most High, the Almighty; and likewise Isha, the people who come from their work late, worn out, who possess nothing of their choices except that they have only one choice: to return to his home and rest a little then sleep to receive a new day, which may be a hard day too or harder than the one before, or easier, but tiring; so for him to carve out of his time and add to the effort he exerted throughout the day an additional effort, and set out to the house of Allah, blessed and exalted, to pray, he struggles, I mean he exerts his effort and takes from his faculties so that he may be in the house of Allah the Exalted. And therefore there was the multiplication.

Then we saw that the Prophet ﷺ narrates that the heaviest two prayers upon the hypocrites are the Fajr and Isha prayers. Why? Because they prefer something over Allah, glorified and exalted. So the one who chose for himself to get up from his bed and pray in the mosque, this one chose Allah, mighty and majestic, and preferred the Lord of the worlds over the matter of sleep; and the one who chose to pass by the house of Allah the Exalted before returning to his house and perform the prayer first, has chosen Allah, blessed and exalted. As for the hypocrite, he chooses the bed, and chooses the house, and chooses such and such, let alone his choosing the Lord of the worlds, glorified and exalted, and matters with him are in stages. And we ask Allah the Exalted for well-being and safety, O Lord of the worlds.

A guest of Allah

Then he said: before us is a ḥadīth of the Prophet ﷺ in which he, peace and blessings be upon him, narrates saying: «من غدا إلى المسجد أو راح أعدّ الله له في الجنة نُزُلًا كلما غدا أو راح».^[15] ("Whoever goes to the mosque in the morning or in the evening, Allah prepares for him a hospitality in Paradise every time he goes in the morning or evening.") Take heed, two minutes we stand with this fascinating ḥadīth, a wonderful ḥadīth from him ﷺ, and all his speech ﷺ is so.

«من غدا إلى المسجد أو راح أعدّ الله له في الجنة نزلًا» ("Whoever goes to the mosque in the morning or in the evening, Allah prepares for him a hospitality in Paradise"); what is the meaning of «غدا أو راح» ("goes in the morning or in the evening")? And how do we understand this speech? The one who sets out to the house of Allah, blessed and exalted, is a visitor of whom? Of Allah. Indeed, mosques are the houses of Allah, and their visitors are their inhabitants, is it not so? Are we agreed on this? And it is due upon the one visited to honor his visitor, is it not so? So if the servant goes out in the morning heading to the house of Allah, blessed and exalted, does Allah, mighty and majestic, not know of his coming? Is it not the principle that Allah knows that you headed for the mosque? Is it not the right of the guest that the place where he will be be prepared for him? Who prepares the place? The owner of the house. And who is the owner of the house? The Lord of Might. So the Lord of Might prepared for you the place you are in right now, in which you are sitting now after the prayer, Allah the Exalted prepared it for you. So if we understand this matter well, then just as Allah the Exalted prepares your hospitality in His house if you visit Him in His house, so too every time it is prepared for you in this world in one of the houses of Allah, a station is prepared for you in Paradise also.

Then he said: but imagine this reward, so that we may picture it more; imagine that I called you: "Peace be upon you, Hajj, I want to drink a glass of tea with you." So you say: "Please, Sheikh, welcome." Then you say to your family: "Girl, clean this place, and prepare the bathroom in case he needs to enter, and tidy the way, and do such and such." Is it not so? Do we not do this in our houses merely because you learned that a guest will be visiting you, even for just minutes, so that you prepare everything at the guest's disposal and prepare for him as much as you can if he is a person of standing with you? Well, if he were not a person of standing with you, I mean any passerby who has no standing with you, then you prepare this time not with what suits the guest's standing but with what suits the host's standing; so it is not right that he leaves me and says that he did not find a clean glass, it is not right, or that he leaves and tells people that he did not find a place to sit; it is not right, this does not suit me as the host, is it not so?

So if Allah the Exalted prepares a dwelling for you, this dwelling is prepared for you according to what you need. I come to you today to sit with you for two hours because we need to get on the internet and do such and such and deal with such and such; so what do you prepare for me? You prepare for me a table and a computer and a chair and so on, you prepare what suits the reason for my coming, is it not so? So if the servant has come to the house of Allah, blessed and exalted, why have you come, Sir? Are you asking for forgiveness? Asking for mercy? Asking for help? Asking for support? Are you supplicating Allah, glorified and exalted, for such and such? Allah, blessed and exalted, prepares for you all the means that can be available to you so that you fulfill your need in the fullest way. Do we picture the state in this way? «من غدا إلى المسجد أو راح أعدّ الله له في الجنة نزلًا كلما غدا أو راح» ("Whoever goes to the mosque in the morning or in the evening, Allah prepares for him a hospitality in Paradise every time he goes in the morning or evening"); you have a direct connection, your step is recorded there as if it were a step to Paradise. This is how we understand, and Allah, blessed and exalted, knows best.

And he said: glory be to Allah the Most High, the Almighty, if the servant comes to the mosque once and again and again, each time he is honored with something, is it not so? And the treasuries of Allah the Exalted are full, not diminished by spending, is it not so? Well, this time He completes this quality for you, and this time He completes this quality for you, and this time He completes this quality for you, until your qualities are complete and you become a Muslim truly.

Where they are called

And he translated that in the speech of 'Abdullāh ibn Mas'ūd, may Allah the Exalted be pleased with him, and he said: listen to this text from 'Abdullāh ibn Mas'ūd, he says: «من سرّه أن يلقى الله غدًا مسلمًا فليحافظ على هذه الصلوات حيث يُنادى بهنّ»,^[16] ("Whoever is pleased to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim, let him guard these prayers where they are called") meaning, as he explained, as if he were a complete Muslim. Guard what? And where? In his house? Or in the field? Or in the market? No, where they are called. And where are the prayers called? In the mosques. «من سرّه أن يلقى الله غدًا مسلمًا فليحافظ على هؤلاء الصلوات حيث يُنادى بهنّ» ("Whoever is pleased to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim, let him guard these prayers where they are called"), so the principle in prayer is that it be where? Where it is called; the place in which «الله أكبر الله أكبر» is said, that is the place to which you should go and perform this prayer in.

And he said: and this matter is settled with us, my brothers; I mean, the principle is that the person is the one who goes to the doctor, that is the principle, and the matter of the doctor coming to you at your house is an exceptional matter. So likewise, why do we differentiate between this case and the case of your going to the Greatest Doctor, going to the house of Allah, blessed and exalted? Why do we fall short in this matter?

Then he repeated the text, attributed this time to 'Abdullāh ibn 'Abbās, may Allah the Exalted be pleased with him,^[17] and he said: «من سرّه أن يلقى الله تعالى غدًا مسلمًا فليحافظ على هؤلاء الصلوات حيث يُنادى بهنّ، فإن الله شرع لنبيكم سُنَنَ الهدى، وإنهنّ من سنن الهدى، ولو أنكم صلّيتم في بيوتكم كما يصلي هذا المتخلّف في بيته لتركتم سنّة نبيكم، ولو تركتم سنة نبيكم لضللتم». ("Whoever is pleased to meet Allah the Exalted tomorrow as a Muslim, let him guard these prayers where they are called, for Allah has legislated for your Prophet the practices of guidance, and they are among the practices of guidance; and if you were to pray in your houses as this one who lags behind prays in his house, you would have abandoned the sunna of your Prophet, and if you abandoned the sunna of your Prophet you would go astray.") Listen to this! If you did that, what would you be doing? You would be abandoning the sunna of the Prophet ﷺ! Can you imagine the results that follow from the premises, my brothers? How do the causes and their effects appear here?

Then he concluded by saying: we ask Allah, blessed and exalted, to join us with His obedient servants, and to make us among the people of the mosques, and to keep our hearts always attached to Him, and to preserve our faith for us; and we will continue, Allah the Exalted willing, in a renewed meeting. May Allah the Exalted reward you well, may Allah the Exalted bless you, may Allah keep you safe, and peace be upon you.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The number the lecturer mentioned for Ibn al-Qayyim's opinions is garbled in the transcript («خم آراء»), so it was not recorded. The transcript began with these words on the prostration of forgetfulness without an introduction, so what connects to them before it is not known. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: The word is garbled in the transcript («يسؤ الإمام»), and perhaps it is «يسهو» ("forgets"), and the context of what follows supports it. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: Narrated by al-Bukhārī and Muslim from the ḥadīth of Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), and its beginning is: «إذا نهيتكم عن شيء فاجتنبوه» ("When I forbid you something, avoid it"). ^[4]: Editor's documentation: [an-Nisā': 103]. The lecturer did not mention the location of the verse. ^[5]: Editor's documentation: [al-Baqara: 238]. The lecturer did not mention the location of the verse. ^[6]: Editor's documentation: The phrase «وليست فريضة… وهذا هو الرأي الراجح» is ambiguous in the transcript, so it is not known whether it concerns the implication of the two verses or the ruling on congregational prayer; it was recorded as it came, without preference by the editor. ^[7]: Narrated by al-Bukhārī and Muslim. Editor's documentation: The number is distorted in the transcript («5 ضعفا»), so it was recorded in the wording of the narration: «خمسًا وعشرين ضعفًا» ("twenty-five times") in the ḥadīth of Abū Hurayra, and in the ḥadīth of Ibn 'Umar: «سبعٌ وعشرون درجة» ("twenty-seven degrees"). ^[8]: Editor's documentation: The numbers were recorded as they appeared in the transcript. What is established in the two Ṣaḥīḥs is twenty-five and twenty-seven, so perhaps some of the other numbers are from mishearing or from a narration that has not been verified, so they need listening to the audio. ^[9]: Editor's documentation: Narrated by Muslim from Ubayy ibn Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him). ^[10]: Editor's documentation: Narrated by Muslim from 'Uthmān ibn 'Affān (may Allah be pleased with him). ^[11]: Editor's documentation: This sentence is confused in the transcript («ما يكون عندنا بداية من قلة الجهد في التعبد»، «ما يعترضون من فتن»), and it was phrased cautiously to the nearest meaning; it needs listening to the audio. ^[12]: Editor's documentation: Narrated by al-Bukhārī and Muslim from the ḥadīth of Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), and in its completion is the burning that the lecturer mentioned after it. ^[13]: Editor's documentation: It is not clear from the transcript whether «نتكلم عن الواقع» ("we are talking about the reality") is an affirmation, a negation or a question; and the name of the person addressed was removed from the phrase. And what follows it («أنا أعلم أن في كثير من الأحوال…» ("I know that in many cases …")) establishes the difference between the principle and the reality. ^[14]: Editor's documentation: [az-Zumar: 18]. The lecturer did not mention the location of the verse, and what he mentioned of it was recorded, and after it: ﴿أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ هَدَاهُمُ اللَّهُ…﴾. ^[15]: Editor's documentation: Narrated by al-Bukhārī and Muslim from the ḥadīth of Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him). ^[16]: Editor's documentation: Narrated by Muslim from 'Abdullāh ibn Mas'ūd (may Allah be pleased with him). ^[17]: Editor's documentation: The lecturer first attributed the text to Ibn Mas'ūd and then to Ibn 'Abbās (may Allah be pleased with them all) in the repetition; and the report is in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim from Ibn Mas'ūd. The lecturer's words were recorded as they came.