The dilemma of reverence…
The saying of the prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him):
“A person in Salah (prayer) is speaking in private to his Lord (Allah)”
Meaning that he is having a speech with him
By opening his heart, and showing reverence in prayer
When the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “A person in Salah (prayer) is speaking in private to his Lord (Allah)”
That shows us that speaking in private to the Lord (Allah) is the great aim that was meant from prayer
And that a human should remove and refuse anything that prevents him from speaking in private to his lord
anything stands against him being sincere in his prayer to his lord
It is impossible for someone to focus on what he is saying when there is noise around
That is why righteous people used to have certain places in their houses for prayers
And you know the hadith of the blind man, and the hadith of the orphan’s mother, when they came to the prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him)
And asked him to pray in a position in the house in order to make it a place of prayer
In which there isn’t any noise, which helps in approaching Allah
Sheikh Abo Al-Abas Al-Sabty who is buried in Marrakech (may Allah have mercy upon him) said:
Which is about that meaning:
How many people praying, they only gained from prayers….
But the sight of the prayer chamber, bowing and prostrating
As you can see him standing on the prayer carpet
While his mind is at the market thinking about buying and selling
Sheikh Yemeni Sharaf Al-Deen Ismaeel Ibn Al-Maqary (may Allah have mercy upon him) also said:
Praying without your heart in it, indeed a prayer with which you deserve punishment
Woe to you, if you only know who are you talking to so lightly, and between whose hands are you bowing without humility
Saying “It is You we worship” while you are thinking about someone else without necessity
While you would burst with rage and jealousy if someone removed his eyes from you to the others while talking to you
Are you not shy of Allah seeing you turning away from him, O you lacking gallantry?
A prayer which was held, only Allah knows that by which you have done in it you have committed a sin in worship
Those are verses from a very beautiful poem for him in wisdom and sermons
The beginning of it says:
Till when will you insist in arrogance and negligence
Till when this sleep will last, when will be the day of wakening
You have wasted your age, in which an hour would be bought..
By what the earth and heaven could be filled with, what a waste
How could you spend it for the sake of this “life”?
Which Allah insisted that it is even worth less than a wing of mosquito
A jewel which was thrown between garbage
And a gem that was sold for the cheapest price
You foolishly purchase what will perish (in exchange) for what is eternal
And purchase wrath (in exchange) for pleasure, hell [in exchange] for paradise
Are you a friend or an enemy to yourself?
As you throw it in every calamity
Even enemies if they do some of what you are doing to yourself
They would have mercy for you
Your enemies will show you mercy
While you didn’t show mercy to yourself
Sadly, you sold it “yourself” cheaply
While it didn’t deserve such treatment