Funny story told by Saudi Sheikh Areefi

I provided a translation of what the Sheikh is saying in the video. Basically imagine that it is him talking. Another point is that when I say the word Prayer, I mean performing Salah. Video is kinda funnier in Arabic coz the Shiekh does voice impressions as he tells the story xD

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I remember, a while ago, I was giving a few lectures in Jordan. So I sat in a gathering and I spoke a little about Prayer (Salah). There was an old Jordanian man in this gathering, his age was about 70.

He said to me “Sheikh”.

I turned to him and said “Yes?”

He said to me “I would like to tell you my story with Prayer”

I don’t remember ever coming across anyone before that had a story to do with Prayer. People have stories with a job, stories with ladies they fell in love with … but a story with Prayer? “You have a story with Prayer?” I said to the old man.

“Yes ya Zalameh (Zalameh translates to Man. People in Shaami countries sometimes use it when talking to each other) what are you saying? I told you I have a story with Prayer”

“Ok, don’t get irked. Tell me your story with Prayer.”

“Sheikh, when I was a young man, I was not a very good person: I was rotten. However, I used to Pray. All my bad friends would not Pray, I was the only one amongst them who did. So I entered a Masjid once in order to Pray, and as I lifted my eyes to perform the Takbeera, I saw infront of me written on the wall a Hadeeth of the Prophet Peace Be Upon Him that said: ‘Whomever his Prayer would not stop him performing Fahshaa and Munkar (Sinful deeds), he has no Prayer (i.e.: the Prayer is not accepted with Allah)’ ”

This Hadeeth, by the way, is weak. The old man continues:

“I thought to myself ‘what in the world is this?’ I have no Prayer …? My Prayer does not stop me from sinning so that means I have no Prayer … so what am I Praying for then!? You know what, I will not Pray anymore!’”

--The Sheikh pauses and smiles at the audience--

Instead of thinking “I will not sin anymore so that my Prayer can be accepted by Allah” the old man thought “I will not Pray anymore so that my sins be accepted” ! Look at how Iblees (Devil) plays with people! The old man continues:

“And so, Sheikh, for 10 years of my life after this incident I did not Pray a single Prayer … what is the point of me Praying when I have no Prayer? I was invited to a party at one point after all this time passed, and there was a Saudi man there from Jeddah. And there were so many people in the boisterous party, doing who knows what. The Jeddah man sat next to me, and we both began drinking together. The Jeddah man asked me, and we were drunk at this point: ‘Where is your girlfriend?’

I told him: ‘I don’t have a girlfriend.’

‘How come? Don’t you do Zina? (premarital sex)’

‘No, I don’t do Zina.’

‘Why not?’

‘I don’t want to that’s all!’

‘Well … if you don’t do Zina then why don’t you Pray?’”

Remember, this is them talking to each other and they are drunk. Subhan Allah, sometimes wisdom comes from the most unlikely sources. The old man continues:

“I said to the Jeddah man: ‘I don’t Pray because, look at me, I drink’

‘Listen to me man’ the Jeddah man said ‘Us human beings, we have ropes between us and our Lord of the Worlds. A rope called [Being good to Parents]. A rope called [Reading the Quran]. A rope called [Giving Charity]. A rope called [Prayer]. When you are not good to your parents, you come to the first rope and you cut it. When you don’t read Quran, you come to the second rope and you cut it. When you don’t give charity, you come to the third rope and cut it. Dude, keep the last rope [Prayer] between you and our Lord of the Worlds intact, it might come in handy to you someday!’”

This is them and they are drunk, one of them telling the other to keep the Prayer rope intact incase he needs it later. The old man continues:

“As the Jeddah man finished talking, I thought to myself ‘What he is saying is truly right …’ I stood up, left the party, went home, washed myself and Prayed Maghrib and Ishaa. And since that day I have never left a single Prayer!”

And the reward of bringing the old man back to the righteous path is given to whom? –Sheikh pauses and smiles again—This is one of the benefits of alcohol by the way, because as it says in the Quran (In them there is great harm and also benefit to people).

Dr. Muhammad Salah - How to develop khushu'

Dr. Muhammad Salah is one of the well-know scholars in US
He lead the Islamic Center of Victoria, Texas and founded two Islamic and Arabic schools, Namely Iman Stems and the Muslim Generation.

He teaches at Al-Azhar University,Shariah Academy and London College.
He speaks Arabic and English fluently
He presents a famous TV program called Correct your recitation.

He obtained his BA in Shari'ah and Islamic Law from the University of Al-Azhar and BA in pharmacology.
He obtained a four-year diploma in Muslim arts and Arabic calligraphy
He obtained the pre-master diploma in Islamic studies from the American Open University.

The following episodes are taken from a series on Huda TV called (The Prophet's Prayer) and it Dr. Muhammad Salah discusses Islamic prayer, and issues related to it. The complete series is available on youtube for those interested. However in this post I will only share episodes that deals with quite a crucial part of a Muslim's prayer and that is khushu'.

In order for Allah Subhanho wa Tala to be pleased with a prayer and to accept it, one must be in complete khushu', meaning their mind must be focusing on Allah and the prayer only, because basically as we pray we are between the hands of Allah, and how would it look like if we are communicating with Him with no reverence or consciousness? Pretty rude I'll say xD

The following four episodes explain what exactly is khushu' and how one might develop in it in their prayer. I've embedded a youtube playlist that includes them all (this is the first time I've come across this youtube feauture. You can scroll through the episodes either mb the arrow buttons on the side of the video area or click on the little icon that's on the right of the play button to see the list of videos invluded in the playlist) I've also linked the link to the playlist on youtube, incase you don't like the embedded playlist =P

Hope they enlighten you as much as they enlightened me.

YouTube Playlist: Dr. Muhammad Salah - How to develop khushu'

Daily Jewish Prayer & Submission

Came across this pretty interesting video of a jewish prayer. Apparently the practice of kneeling bowing the head to the ground stopped becoming a daily part of jewish prayer, most don't even know it was actually a part of the prayer custom.

This is the comment from the uploader on youtube

In our days there are not many Jews who still kneel and bow during regular daily prayer. A noticable number of Orthodox Ashkenazi Jews do bow to the ground during Yom haKipurim and Rosh haShana. Most Jews are not even aware that such is the historical practice of the Jewish people to kneel and prostrate during regular daily prayer. Therefore, be prepared that if you kneel or prostrate in most synagogues, you are sure to get reactions of surprise. They may or may not be encouraging reactions. Nonetheless, so long as you are still able to concentrate properly while praying and are willing to endure the possible consequences of bowing and prostrating in public, I only encourage you to do so. It is a shame to fear men more than the Most High. How can bowing or prostrating be a sign of arrogance, especially when you know people may look upon you negatively for doing so? Rather, it is an expression of humility and submission to the Almighty.

There uploader wrote alot more, I suggest you click on the video's link and have a read of the entire comment. The following two quotes (which is from this website that the uploader shared in his comment as well) are intriguing

"Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he went into his house; Now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem; and he continued kneeling on his knees three times every day, making requests and giving thanks before his G-d, AS HE HAD BEEN DOING BEFORE..." Daniel 6:11-14 [10-13]

"As for me, I shall call unto the All-powerful Authority, and the ALL-TRANSCENDENT One will save me. Evening, morning, and noon, I shall make supplication and moan; and He has heard my voice." Psalm 55:17-18

And here is the video showing the jewish prayer. Now where have you seen something similar to this before =P