Nadir Keval on Tumblr: By Request: Question about struggling in Salah made rebloggable ›

[Flickr] offering prayers. 

[Youtube] 

Practical Steps to Develop Khushoo’ in Salah - Meaningful Prayer Prologue

wild-fleured asked: assalamualaikum:) i have been struggling to find ways to get back constantly praying 5 times a day. it's not that i dont want to, but its just that i do it but not with a peaceful heart. i do it because we have to? but i wana know the real meaning behind it. i wish you could help me? i just turned 15 anyway:) may allah bless you:) x

Peace and many blessings,

watch this inshaAllah.

[Flickr] Muslims offer the early morning prayer for Eid-Ul-Fitr, or the ‘festival of fast breaking’ at the Hamidiya Masjid, in Mumbai.

hayaisbeauty asked: Salam! Sorry to bother again. So my family, all the girls, always told me you can't pray for seven days while your on your period. But i get it for 4-5 days. I told them that and they said im supposed to wait a full 7 days, then i can pray. Is this true? :)

Salaam dear,

And no, please don’t apologize. It is said that one should abstain from prayer when she is on her period. For some girls, the period lasts up to 10 days, for others, it lasts up to 5.

If yours lasts up to four to five days, then you must pray as soon as your period has ended. There is nothing in our Literature that suggests a woman should abstain from Salah for more days after she is done with her period simply because of normality range.

So yes, please feel obligated to pray as soon as you have made Ghusl and know for sure that your period is over. There is no purpose in waiting extra days.

InshaAllah kheir. — Dee

your-beeautiful-deactivated2013 asked: Asalam o leikum, how did muslims start offering salah publicly? Is there something behind that? And why do muslims have to go to a mosque for praying together when the strongest religious moments come in solitude?

Peace and many blessings,

The reason why Muslims tend to offer prayer in public is because we are obligated to pray on any place on this earth as soon as the prayer is called. Whether that be in the hallway of our school or on the outskirts of a highway, we feel an obligation to put down everything we’re doing and simply pray. Quran even demonstrates that Allah has created this earth wa’asi’a, wide and enlarged, so that we can take advantage of it to travel and observe the salah. 

Also, Muslims tends to pray in a mosque because the mosque is a location in which worship as well as social gatherings are met. We feel most comfortable in settings where God is remembered most; hence, the need to pray there.

Thank you for asking. — Dee.

itskinddacool asked: Why do they say that prayer is a call for success?

That’s a fairly interesting question that would vary from Muslim to Muslim.

But the reason why our call to prayer suggests that prayer is a call for success is because when we submit to God through worship, we become successful people. 

Because we come to recognize that through prayer, we were once dust and shall return to dust, the intricacies of this life no longer delude us nor misguide us from our journey towards righteousness. 

And that, my friend, is what makes those who pray successful people. — Dee.

tswiftmomblog asked: Is it necessary for Salat to be performed in Arabic, or can a non-Arabic speaking Muslim pray in their native language?

Hey there,

It is highly recommended to learn the Arabic language in that your salah can be that of the practice of Muhammad (peace be upon him). 

However, I have not read in any Fiqh books that suggest that it is mandatory to be read in Arabic (even though the surahs in Quran are in the Arabic language). For the sake of being on the safe side, I would suggest you read the small surahs from Quran in Arabic and recite them.

 For a thorough analysis on the ruling on this issue, ask Osama inshaAllah.

zebravillage asked: Assalamu Alaikum! I've been wondering, if I forget to recite a surah after suratul-fatiha during prayer, is my prayer invalid? Do I have to get back up and recite the surah and then go down to ruku?

Peace and many blessings,

Continue praying your salah normally. And before you make the salams on your right and left shoulder, make a sujood (in that we acknowledge our forgetfulness and mistake), and then make salams.

InshaAllah this helped. 

conspiracyofmyheart asked: I want to start praying but I don't know how to perform a prayer.. Can you help me?

Peace and many blessings,

We get asked this question a lot, and hopefully, we’ll be providing a step by step guide that you can download and print when we finally get it together. 

In the meantime, I thought this video was quite helpful. It doesn’t only thoroughly explain how to make prayer and the ablution (or wudu) previous to the prayer, but it explains why we and in what context we should pray. Also, we’ve posted another video that’s rebloggable as well. 

God bless. — Dee.

[x] How to perform all five prayers

Please note, this is the traditional form prayed by most Orthodox Muslims. Because the religion of Islam invites people of all cultures, race, ethnicities, and backgrounds, the notion of meditation and worship is understood in different ways (and that’s okay). We should never belittle anyone who finds sitting for a few hours in the dark, reading the book of God during the night, or lowering the head in prostration during the day as a wrong means of worship. 

Hence, to suggest that anyone who prays on soil rather than carpet is the wrong “sunnah” is a very ignorant approach to inviting a brother or sister to understanding your perspective. It is also very rude to demand that anyone who prays with their hands down to “learn how to pray;” please restrain your tongue from insulting your brother or sister in faith. And also note, it is very immature to suggest that Muslims who find Allah when constantly reading His Book or continually mentioning His name(s) in supplication are not part of the faith. 

Regardless, inshaAllah this video helps anyone seeking Allah.

Kompong Cham, Cambodia (2012)

[Flickr]

Implementing Salah

photo courtesy: [flickr] 

Among the many emotions that seem to bring us into a bigger pit hole than we normally are in, the feeling of depression (by many people) is sometimes understood as inevitable. Truth is, even Muslims feel depressed at times. Among the many things that Prophet Muhammad has instilled in the Islamic tradition, this notion of serenity in the hearts of men in terms of prayer is one of them. That is, this ideal of meditation has been reaffirmed by Muhammad into the Monotheistic faith.

I’ve been messaged on my other blog about salah and how one can go about continually praying in a spiritual uplifting way whilst feeling great about it at the same time. And this question isn’t something new. In fact, many Muslims — including myself — continually struggle with their salah’s.

According to my observations, there are great amount of factors that play into account in accordance to our daily salah. That is, there are a lot of things that affect the way we view, pray, and feel about our prayer. And if we actually observe the way Muhammad used to observe his daily salah, some of these factors would not even exist; let me explain how and why. 

Signs or implications made by the environment, our body, and our mind when our salah is not intact as it should be: 

• the feeling of depression: most Muslims admit that when they’re feeling depressed, they also feel a bit shitty about their level of faith. I will be the first to admit that there is a huge difference between clinical depression and moderate depression, I am not credible enough to explain clinical depression for that entirely involves a whole new scientifically noted text post regarding it. But I can say a few things about moderate depression because I would like to believe that I, too have felt, along with many other Muslims, this disease of the heart. This feeling of depression consumes your entire day; it is this prolonging itchy feeling (that doesn’t feel itchy, but never seems to go away) that involves feelings like loneliness and a great amount of mourning. And let me tell you a secret. There is a way to get rid of it. It has been permissed by Allah for you to have that feeling, so you must believe that the only source to remove this pain is with the permission of Allah. Yes, it is simple as that. 
• Behavioral changes: Along with many moral characteristics that Islam promotes (i.e being merciful to parents, sympathizing with others, etc), the idea of being consistent and meaningful in worship is essential. When you realize that you are being inconsistent with your worship, your behavior begins to change. Your mood becomes a bit bipolar, you start to feel hatred towards very simple things, and you have little patience for others. And this reveals one conclusive fact: you are very far away from Allah. Many Muslims would argue that Allah created Satan to destroy us, but I believe that we have a Satan within our own selves. And when we let loose this Satan of the self, our behavior (among many other things) changes. Truth is, you have control of your nafs and actions; waking up to realize this is highly vital. 

How to go about grasping your salah back; how to stay intact: 

• the power of salah: To power phrase Zein el Abideen (as):  if we knew the power of our sojood, we would never lift our heads off of the ground. It is ultimately vital to realize the meaning of our salah. We need to realize this and empower ourselves to understand what it means. Imam Ali ibn abi Talib once said: An hour of self reflection is more worthy in Allah’s eyes than a thousand years of physical prayer. What do these Imams mean? That’s exactly right, they wish to give us meaning; something that we have a hard time doing. Please note this: we need to give our salah meaning. We need to find a reason why we need Salah. Because through Salah we find Allah. When we understand that to speak to Allah is when we empower our Salah, our salah drastically changes. 
• attitude towards salah: I have a hard time being consistent with my prayers, my parents keep forcing me to pray, I just don’t see the point because I have no feeling towards prayer. These are all things I have had people tell me, and I can’t help but agree that all of this is true. We have all experienced these feelings towards salah; whose fault is it? Along with our environment (which includes peers, physical environment, and time and place), our attitude toward salah affects our salah. If if we understood the characteristics that make up true believers Allah speaks about in Quran (read article here), we would wish to change our habits in terms of attitude. Also, the fact that when we observe salah as a chore rather than something that should free us is something that will affect our level of faith in a short amount of time. Be mindful of your attitude towards salah, ask Allah to grant you the permission to want Salah, and want to want to change. That is the answer. 

InshAllah this brief article helps us all and serves some justice to Muslims who are seeking reminders. InshAllah Allah continues to bless us, protect us, and guide us. Hopefully Allah strengthens this Ummah and allows us to remind eachother rather than bicker with one another. And I pray that all of us - at some point of our lives - remember our ultimate purpose towards our existence and begin to live in accordance to our realization. I love you all for the sake of Allah. Stay safe, stay true, and always seek the truth.