 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العالم وصل الله على السيدنا وحبيب قلوبنا وشفيع نفوسنا أب القاسم محمد وعلى ألبيته الطيبين الطاهرين المعصومين لاسيما بقية الله روحي وأرواح العالمين اللي ترابي مقدمه الفداء أما بعد رسبكتت السكولرز ألدز بردز and سيستز السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته في نهاية قديمة نبدأ نتحدث عن سلات سلات المهمة نرى بمشاهدة سلات أولاً في المشاهدة نرى بمشاهدة سلات المهمة التي نرى بشكل أحدث من the Prophet صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم في which he states that the difference between the mu'min or a Muslim and the kafir is his Salat أخرى مرحلة التي نتحدث is Imam al-Sadaq أليه الله صلى الله عليه و سلم mentions that our intercession and he's referring to Ahl al-Bayt's intercession he says our intercession will not reach those that take their prayers lightly so therefore we looked yesterday at the importance of Salat the importance of such the pillar of Islam of such a pillar in Islam and then we moved on to talk about what Salat tries to teach us and yesterday we looked at the idea of how Salat tries to humble us and if we can quickly recap on it before starting tonight's topic the recap was that if we looked at Iblis when he prayed for 6,000 years in narrations to Allah Subhanahu و تعالى one moment of arrogance brought him down after all that worship therefore the question arises as to what kind of prayer was Iblis actually praying if we did not know Allah Subhanahu و تعالى in essence and tonight insha'Allah we'll talk about three particular faculties to continue from yesterday as we started by talking about how Salat tries to teach us humbleness and remove the arrogance from oneself so tonight insha'Allah I want to focus on how Salat or what other things Salat tries to teach us or tries to instill in us on a daily perspective that we may not look for or actually ponder over and insha'Allah we'll move on to the concept of concentration because many people come forth and ask Salat is very important yes but I find it very difficult to concentrate within Salat where you find many people come forth and think of everything except Allah Subhanahu و تعالى whilst they're performing their Salat so we want to look at what would aid and help in the concept of the concentration in Salat and insha'Allah on the final level we want to look at Salat at night and a particular story about a young man that didn't pray but was aided by Imam Mehdi and from that day on he upholds his praise and how we can learn from this man he looks at those people that take their prayers very seriously don't take their prayers in a light manner so insha'Allah to start off the topic for tonight and look at first and foremost the attributes of Salat on a person's self both physically and spiritually please help me in reciting so we discussed yesterday one concept which was the concept of arrogance where we said that the Arabians at the time of the Prophet SAW allowed themselves to take and comprehend every single pillar of Islam except the pillar of prayer where they found it very difficult to prostrate in a manner where their head is lower than that of their backside and how Allah tries to humble them by saying no, you will submit to Allah's will you will have to bow down before the Almighty you have to humble yourself and remove that sense of arrogance that I am higher than anyone else now that's the first faculty the second faculty I want to have a look at tonight is the aspect of time management and it's very important especially in a western society and I say this because we all understand the importance and why is it that we go to work from a specific timeframe as in you can't go to work early and leave before work starts there's a timeframe in which you have to go towards work you will be prosecuted or will be given warnings if you go towards work late or if you leave early, isn't it therefore Allah SWT tries to teach us that there's a specific timeframe for everything in the first faculty that Allah SWT says that this there's three particular stages in which you must pray and those prays they have a timeframe and there's a timeframe in which you can gain the best rewards the highest rewards and anything after that and then there's a specific idea which is Qadr once you overlap that there's another set of rules and regulations in which you perform Salah but to give us the concept to grasp the idea that there is a time restraint there is a small circle in which you can pray in that Ibada is in and that's not just with Salat that's for every single Ibada there's a timeframe from when the sun rises to the sun sets everything is within a particular timeframe there's a particular Salat when the moon eclipses there's a particular timeframe for everything this is actually quite amazing there's a narration as a side note there's a narration that says when it's raining the doors of heaven are actually open and whatever Dua you actually make is accepted by Allah so on that note let's raise our voices in Allah's Salawat on Muhammad and Ali Muhammad it's actually quite beautiful so that's the first idea there's a timeframe there's a time lapse for everything and Salat is one of them now how can we apply this to our own lives how can we apply the concept of time management to our own lives where you see nowadays if we want to have in an aspect of concentration with Salat if we take it into the next level of a job description if we want to go towards a job we're applying for a job applying for jobs what do we do we first make a resume when we make a resume we look at the resume we say this is what we've achieved this is what we're lacking for that job this is what I have to achieve this is what I have to look into isn't it before you even apply for the job in the same faculty before you approach Salat there's specific things that you have to do there's specific aspects in which you have to prepare yourself both physically and spiritually in a mental state two aspects and it tries to cleanse us both physically and mentally because you're preparing yourself mentally for Salat you're preparing yourself that I'm going to meet my lord, my creator I have to be on my best manners in the best state of cleanliness that's one aspect physically you're purifying yourself take that aspect of going towards a job if you want to pick a small metaphor tonight the second level is when you go towards Salat nowadays we just put the Torba down in Allahu Akbar but there's a particular concept of concentration I need to look at tonight when you go towards Salat when you go towards a job it's a job interview you go and you go and google you have to see and google that job what kind of questions the interviewee might ask you then you go and look at clothes you make sure you're groomed you make sure you wear the best clothes you make sure that you're presentable you go and google whether you should put too much cologne not enough cologne how should I smell like how should I look at him how is my body language what would my body language tell them everything we tend to look at in a more ordeal in a more inquisitive manner in which we try to do our best to get that job don't we we try to be on our best manners our best behavior we pressure ourselves into doing anything to please that person that's going to hire us we do everything we prepare and prepare and prepare so that everything that that interviewee wants or the interviewee wants the interviewee being myself has to meet has to give them has to develop for them to show them I know what he wants and I want to deliver the best to get that job now the same question we can take and put it with Allah SWT when Allah SWT calls us and we stand in his hands when Allah SWT calls us do we prepare ourselves like we prepare ourselves for an interview do we go out of our way to look at how we are dressed for Allah SWT how we smell the scent or do we just go sweaty dirty and put the turba down and pray because there's a certain level of acceptance towards Allah SWT do you think if you pray in that manner Allah will accept we have to do the best that we can and then Allah takes it from there because there's a concept of Tawakul and there's another concept of Tawakul two differences because someone may come forth and say well I leave all my affairs to Allah SWT we know many people that says I leave everything in the hand of Allah there's two things here one of which is that you do what you have to and then leave it with Allah and the other person he says what I'll leave everything towards Allah let's look at the example let's look at an example of a farmer because the work that we're doing it's all like cultivating the hereafter isn't it we're planting houses trees gardens for the hereafter one person comes forth a farmer and he leaves everything in his farm and he waits he says Allah will provide Allah will give me crops Allah will give me such and such to grow on my farm doesn't do anything wow he trusts in Allah but Allah has given us a brain there's another farmer that does what that does everything in his capability that goes he makes sure that the fertilizer is ready the seeds are put in the right manner that he fertilizes it that he waters the seed he does everything that he can to ensure that his garden is growing then he says I leave it in Allah's hands there are two different aspects one person doesn't do anything the other does everything that he can therefore we want to be one of those people not the people that just put the tourba down we want to be of the people that dress in a manner that Allah سبحانه وتعالى loves smell in a manner that Allah سبحانه وتعالى loves us to smell be on time if you go to a job interview do you think if you come 5 he puts a note and says this person is a latecomer Allah سبحانه وتعالى calls us 5 times a day so 3 times a day in 5 prayers how many times do we come early when's the last time that we prepared ourselves had our clothes ready and our sujada ready waiting for the adhan to go job interview were there half an hour early just to make sure we don't miss the exit and wait at that door this is just a creation that's going to pay you minimal wage for a job that you're not going to like Allah سبحانه وتعالى the creator of that man is calling you what do we do towards Allah سبحانه وتعالى and I say this to myself before I say it to anyone else I question myself in this manner before I tell everyone else because we're all in this loophole we're all in this together we're all in this world to help each other and in that node someone may come forth and ask the concentration because that's time management it teaches us and believe you me once you have your salah in order you will never be late for anything else in your life make sure your salah it is in order make sure you pray on time and see if you're late for anything else organization and time management will become something that comes in nature to you preparation for anything in your life and organization will become second nature you won't even have to think about it but look at us nowadays we have iphone standard time and muslim standard time which is an hour after everything is already started that's the aspect that we have nowadays concentration which is the second level we want to look at tonight and we've mentioned most of it in the first point in which we said the concentration goes hand in hand with the preparation of the soul hand in hand in what we do to prepare ourselves for the meeting with Allah سبحانه وتعالى as in do you think you'll have concentration and Salat if you go towards Salat 2 or 3 hours you won't have the same concentration as being prepared having the Sajada there making sure your environment is ready because you can put it down the turbo is not a problem when you start you finish you don't remember what work are we on did we do the teshahood or the fourth rik'a but there's another aspect which Allah is going to love which he says I want you to be ready for me you are meeting with Allah سبحانه وتعالى look at us when we go towards Salat we have to because it's wajib because it's encompassed if we don't do it it becomes a sin and we're prosecuted we're punished so we have to do it there's people that crave Salat time the ulama the people that we look up to they crave it they become upset when Salat is finished they try to extend their Salat as much as they can and as we can't remember if we recited it properly or not we have to repeat a couple of verses maybe we did it too fast or we might have forgotten something to say and as soon as we finish pack it up quickly run we have to aim to be like our ulama we have to aim to be like our imams like what our imams want what more do we want from this life other than to please Allah سبحانه وتعالى and please our imams the person the person has something within himself and that's why a person is called insan because he likes the social beings you can imagine nowadays take this into concept you as one person imagine you had your dream living in the best palace with the most gold everything materialistic under your hands everything that you wanted now imagine you're in that state of mind now imagine on the second level there's absolutely no other human being to bear witness to that absolutely no one else though you can talk to to tell what you have or show off what you have or to admire what you have is it worth anything at all the things that we have or the palace that we have doesn't become worth anything now you can imagine to ourselves that's when we go towards our grave there's nothing there's no one to keep us company there's no one we can talk to there's no one that we can complain to what keeps us company our good deeds and none of our good deeds will be accepted if our salah is not accepted the prophet says he says if your prayer is accepted everything else is if your prayer is not accepted nothing else is that's the importance of prayer that's why I chose to talk about prayer in the utmost perspective as a beginning perspective now concentration it's all to do with us if we make the environment ready if we have particular garments that we wear a particular scent that's in the sujada when we open it we will begin to crave it make sure we pray in a particular aspect 30 days in a row let's try to make it it becomes second nature anything that you do in consistency becomes second nature to you it's all to do with ourselves if we train ourselves we go one step towards Allah Allah comes 10 towards us and one of the best things and the most illuminating things in our grave is salah to layl because there's one aspect where we have to pray as beautiful as it is we have to pray it now there's another aspect in which Allah SWT says it's available I want you to pray this it's obligatory but on the second level there's something called salah to layl what's salah to layl so many bounties you can look at the prophet says to Ali Ibn Abi Talib if you want the bounties خير الدنيا if you want the bounties of this world you pray salah to layl of this world it says you pray salah to layl it says what about the bounties of the hereafter it says if you want خير الأخر you pray salah to layl it's a win-win situation you are given bounty in this world and the hereafter why? because it's a prayer whilst everyone else is asleep comfortable when everyone is up to make the Lord that created you pleased when everyone is snuggled when everyone is relaxing you put pressure on yourself to get up and stand in front of your Lord these prayers might have riyat people might look at us when we pray صلاة الصبح ظهر عصر مغرب أشاء someone might look at us we might be in a prideful manner we might extend our ruku and make sure we pronounce everything beautifully but صلاة الليل who's watching only Allah سبحانه وتعالى the narration says the angels anyone pray salah to layl the angels look at you on earth like we look at the stars you look at the stars how little they are and how much they sparkle in the night it says the angels look at us like that and they know the person by their name and their face and characteristics they know you if you pray salah to layl it's a beautiful thing to start to practice so on the first level let's start to perfect our salah and then inshallah Allah will give us the blessing and the tawfiq to go a step further and begin to pray salah to layl once we pray that we'll begin to realize the beauty and taste the beauty that Allah has given us only then will we taste it but if we don't do anything because we want to do it rather we have to do it there becomes a fine line once you want to do once you want to go towards Allah not because you have to because you crave to be with Allah سبحانه وتعالى then you will taste it then you will taste what Allah سبحانه وتعالى mercy will be like and I end on one particular narration because someone may come forth and say well I haven't prayed someone may come forth and say my prayer is not perfect there is a beautiful story of a young man the person that narrates this is a scholar he says I wear a turban the scholar is saying I wear a turban I wear the garments of the olama he says I hopped on a bus he says on the bus I saw and I sat next to a boy that had a tight shirt his hair was spiked I didn't think he was very religious don't judge a book by its cover never say that I am more or greater than this person never you don't know how Allah views him or her and you don't know how Allah views you so he says he says it became Salat time and we are on the bus he says it became Salat time straight away this boy jumps up he runs towards the driver and he says to the driver you have to stop now so the anim is saying he says I am the scholar I thought to myself let the bus stop once it stops once it stops then we will go down and pray not a problem but the boy says no you have to stop now he says why he says I have to pray now it's Salat time Allah is calling I need to pray now so he looks at the scholar he says should I stop he says stop not a problem he gets down the boy prays the anim comes to him he says what's the matter you are a man that has a tight shirt and spiked hair you are not a man that people might think is a religious figure that's the problem with our society nowadays if you dress in a particular manner or you do something in a particular manner they automatically dissociate you in society like we said don't judge a book by its cover the man says to the anim he says there is a story behind why I do this the anim says tell me the story so the boy is telling him the story he says I am a person that studied medicine to become a doctor I studied medicine he says I wasn't religious whatsoever I didn't pray I didn't fast the best of fast I didn't know anything he says I had a grandmother that was very religious very religious grandmother says what's the matter what happened the last exam the last day that I went towards my exam he says on the way there's nothing like stops there's one bus that comes picks us up from a particular point takes us towards the university and it's only one route that you can travel in and it's very isolated okay not a problem he says on my last exam the exam that's either I pass and I become a doctor or I fail and all my courses gone down the drain he says on the way there the bus tire became flat the flat tire so the person he's freaking out he says to himself he says how on earth am I going to get there there's no time there's nothing that comes on this road except this bus no one's going to help us so he says in my panic I'm thinking to Allah what do I do what do I do he says I remembered my grandmother told me something look at the beauty of this and Salat he says my grandmother told me if you are in any doubt or in any trouble whatsoever any trouble just say يا صاحب الزمان when the rain stops صلى الله عليه وسلم he says say يا صاحب الزمان and he will come to you he says I didn't know what the time was so what did I say he says I said يا صاحب الزمان جدتي I don't know who he is oh time of my grandmother he says at that second I said to myself if you help me and allow me to go towards my test I will make sure that every prayer that I pray from now on is on time he says I haven't finished the nether between me and Allah سبحانه و تعالى the bus driver comes around the corner and he says everyone hop back on he says what happened he says a man just came he fixed the tire and he went he says where's the man he says around the corner he goes there's no one there he says from that day I knew it was a miracle and I knew there was an importance for prayers and from that day till now he says that incident I make sure that my prayers are on time look at the importance of prayers brothers and sisters put that into perspective when we go tomorrow and pray let's prepare for it let's ensure that we know that our Imam صاحب العصري و الزمان is bear witness to that which we pray and let's pray to Allah on this note and on a final manner that Allah writes us as one of the people that uphold their prayers that he doesn't allow us to be of those that the Imam says that they take their prayers lightly so that we may receive the intercession on the day of judgment with الصورة المباركة الفاتحة before three of the صلوات على محمد و آل محمد