An Encouragement To Pray And Virtues of Ruku, Sujood and Khushoo In Salah.
Hadith 224: (Repeated, Sahih Muslim 223)
Hadith 225:
Abu Dharr reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, came out during the winter while the leaves were falling from the trees. He took hold of two branches and shook them until the leaves fell. The Prophet said, “O Abu Dharr!” I said, “Here I am, O Messenger of Allah.” The Prophet said, “Verily, when a Muslim servant performs prayer seeking the countenance of Allah, his sins will fall away just as these leaves fall from this tree.”
(Musnad Ahmad 21046, Hasan Li Ghairihi.)
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Hadith 226:
Rabi’a b. Ka’b said:
I was with Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) one night. and I brought him water and what he required. He said to me: Ask (anything you like). I said: I ask your company in Paradise. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Or anything else besides it. I said: That is all (what I require). He said: Then help me to achieve this for you by devoting yourself often to prostration.
(Sahih Muslim 489, At-Tabrani in Al-Kabeer 578.)
Hadith 227:
On the authority of Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ once walked past a grave and he said: Who does this grave belong to? It was said: To such-and-such a person. He ﷺ said: Two Rakahs for him now are more beloved than everything else in your world.
(At-Tabrani in Al-Awsat 920, 124, Hasan, Sahih.)
Hadith 228:
On the authority of Yousuf bin Abdullah bin Salam that he said: I came to Abu Ad-Darda (رضي الله عنه) in his final illness and he said, ‘O my nephew! What work brought you here to this city or why did you come?’ I said: Nothing except for the relationship that was there between you and my father Abdullah bin Salam (رضي الله عنه).
Abu Ad-Darda said: This is not a time to lie, I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “Whoever does the Wudhu properly, then he stands and prays Two Rakahs (or 4), beautifying it with Dhikr and Khushoo (fear of Allah), and then when he seeks forgiveness, Allah forgives him.
(Musnad Ahmad 6/450, Hasan.)
Hadith 229:
(Repeated, Sahih Muslim 234a.)
An Encouragement To Pray In The Earliest Time
Hadith 230:
It is narrated on the authority of ‘Abdullah b. Mas’ud that he observed. I asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) which deed was the best. He (the Holy Prophet) replied:
Prayer at its appointed hour. I (again) said: Then what? He (the Holy Prophet) replied: Kindness to the parents. I (again) said: Then what? He replied: Earnest endeavour (Jihad) in the cause of Allah. And I would have not ceased asking more questions but out of regard (for his feelings).
(Sahih Muslim 85a, Sahih Al-Bukhari 527.)
Hadith 231:
Narrated Abdullah ibn Sunabihi:
(AbuMuhammad fancies that witr prayer is essential (Wajib). (Hearing this) Ubadah ibn as-Samit said: AbuMuhammad was wrong.)* I bear witness that I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: Allah, the Exalted, has made five prayers obligatory. If anyone performs ablution for them well, offers them at their (right) time, and observes perfectly their bowing and submissiveness in them, it is the guarantee of Allah that He will pardon him; if anyone does not do so, there is no guarantee for him on the part of Allah; He may pardon him if He wills, and punish him if He wills.
(Sunan Abi Dawud 425, Sahih Li Ghairihi. Imam Al-Mundhiri did not quote the asterisked portion in the brackets.)
Encouragement To Pray In The Congregation And Mentioning Of The One Who Went To Pray In The Congregation But He Reached It Late.
Hadith 232:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “The reward of the prayer offered by a person in congregation is twenty five times greater than that of the prayer offered in one’s house or in the market (alone). And this is because if he performs ablution and does it perfectly and then proceeds to the mosque with the sole intention of praying, then for every step he takes towards the mosque, he is upgraded one degree in reward and his one sin is taken off (crossed out) from his accounts (of deeds). When he offers his prayer, the angels keep on asking Allah’s Blessings and Allah’s forgiveness for him as long as he is (staying) at his Musalla. They say, ‘O Allah! Bestow Your blessings upon him, be Merciful and kind to him.’ And one is regarded in prayer as long as one is waiting for the prayer.”
(Sahih Al-Bukhari 647, Sahih Muslim.)
Hadith 233:
(Repeated, Sunan At-Tirmidhi 3234.)
Hadith 234:
(Repeated, Sunan At-Tirmidhi 241.)
Hadith 235:
(Repeated, Sunan Abi Dawud 563.)
An Encouragement To Have A Large Number For Congregational Salah.
Hadith 236:
Narrated Ubayy ibn Ka’b:
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) led us in the dawn prayer one day. And he said: Is so and so present? They said: No. He (again) asked: Is so and so present? They replied: No. He then said: These two prayers are the ones which are most burdensome to hypocrites. If you knew what they contain (i.e. blessings), you would come to them, even though you had to crawl on your knees. The first row is like that of the angels, and if you knew the nature of its excellence, you would race to join it.
A man’s prayer said along with another is purer than his prayer said alone, and his prayer with two men is purer than his prayer with one, but if there are more it is more pleasing to Allah, the Almighty, the Majestic.
(Sunan Abi Dawud 554, Hasan Li Ghairihi.)
An Encouragement To Pray In The Jungles
Hadith 237:
Narrated AbuSa’id al-Khudri:
Prayer in congregation is equivalent to twenty-five prayers (offered alone). If he prays in a jungle, and performs its bowing and prostrations perfectly, it becomes equivalent to fifty prayers (in respect of reward).
Abu Dawud said: ‘Abd al-Walid b. Ziyad narrated in his version of this tradition: “Prayer said by a single person in a jungle is more excellent by multiplied degrees than prayer said in congregation.”
(Sunan Abi Dawud 560, Sahih.)
Hadith 238:
Salman Al-Farisi (رضي الله عنه) said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
If a man happens to be in a jungle and the time for Salah comes by, and he performs Wudhu, and if he doesn’t get water he does Tayammum, if he stands and prays his angels (two) stand and pray with him, but if he gives the Adhan and Iqamah, a numerous army of Allah (from amongst the angels) prays behind him because of which one cannot see their ends (of their rows).
(Al-Musannaf of Abdur Razzaq 1955, Sahih.)
Hadith 239:
Narrated Uqbah ibn Amir:
I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: Allah is pleased with a shepherd of goats who calls to prayer at the peak of a mountain, and offers prayer, Allah, the Exalted, says: Look at this servant of Mine; he calls to prayer and offers it and he fears Me. So I forgive him and admit him to paradise.
(Sunan Abi Dawud 1203, Sunan An-Nasai 666, Sahih. )
Virtues Of Praying Fajr and Isha In The Congregation And Warning Against Being Late To Them
Hadith 240:
(Repeated, Sahih Muslim 656.)
Hadith 241:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “No prayer is heavier upon the hypocrites than the Fajr and the `Isha’ prayers and if they knew what is in them (in reward), they would have attended them, even if (it was) crawling. Certainly, I felt the urge to order the Mu’adh-dhin (call-maker) so that he would pronounce Iqama, then order a man to lead the people (in prayer), then take a flame of fire so that I burn (the houses) upon those who had not left for the prayer yet.”
(Sahih Al-Bukhari 657, Sahih Muslim 651.)
Hadith 242:
On the authority of a man from Banu An-Nakha’a who said, I heard Abu Ad-Darda (رضي الله عنه) say when I visited him before his death, “I will narrate to you a Hadith that I heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, I heard Allah’s Messenger ﷺ say- Worship Allah as if you see him, and if you do not (worship him as if you) see him then He sees you. Count yourself amongst the dead. And protect yourself from the supplication of the oppressed, for it is answered. And whosoever amongst you can witness the two prayers (should go to)- Fajr and Isha even if he has to crawl.
(At-Tabrani in Al-Kabeer 374, Hasan Li Ghairihi.)
Hadith 243:
It was narrated from Samurah bin Jundab that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:
“Whoever offers the morning prayer, he is under the protection of Allah, the Mighty and Sublime.”
(Sunan Ibn Majah 3946, Sahih Li Ghairihi.)
Hadith 244:
Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Abu Bakr ibn Sulayman ibn Abi Hathma that Umar ibn al-Khattab missed Sulayman ibn Abi Hathma in the subh prayer. In the morning he went to the market, and Sulayman’s house was between the market and the Prophet’s mosque. He passed ash-Shifa, Sulayman’s mother, and said to her, “I did not see Sulayman at subh.” She replied, “He spent the night in prayer and his eyes overcame him. Umar said, “I would rather be present at subh than stand the whole night in prayer”.
(Muwatta Imam Malik 1/131, Sahih Mawqoof.)
Hadith 245:
On the authority of Abu Ad-Darda that the Prophet ﷺ said:
Whoever walks in the darkness of the night to the Masjid, he will meet Allah on the Day of Judgement with Noor (light)
(Sahih Ibn Hibban 2044. Sahih Li Ghairihi.)
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