The Prayer on Friday - Essay Example

Fridays Prayer Imam Muslim in His Book of collected authentic prophetical narrations narrated on the ity of Abu Hurayrah (one of the Prophets Companions may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The five daily prayers, and from one Jumu’ah to the next, are an expiation for whatever sins come in between, so long as one does not commit any major sin. It is another Friday, Jumu`ah in Arabic…the blessed day which Muslims waits for in all the world to attend an important religious ritual. The Fridays Kutbah and Salat which are the Arabic words for Speech and Salat, takes place instead of the Dhur (noon) prayer. It is a ritual in which Muslims, men and women must attend in mosques, since it is not a prayer than can be performed in house, and while Men are obliged to attend as it was made clear in Quran and Prophetical narrations, women are excused from doing so, as the Prophet Muhammad (may the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon Him) explained that when He said (with the meaning): "Jumu`ah is an obligation upon every Muslim which He must perform in congregation, except for four: an owned servant, a woman, a young boy and a (very) sick Man" The time needed for the Jmu`ah prayer changes from one mosque to another, it depends on the important of the subject addressed by the Imam, the man who usually leads the 5 daily prayers in the mosque, He usually choose the topic of it according to what He sees best regarding benefiting the Muslims attending the prayer. Sometimes the Imam addresses a social problem taking place within the Muslim world and communities, in other cases He points and guides toward the right practices, remind people of what is good and forbid them of what is bad, channel their thoughts and help toward other Muslims in need and no matter what is the main topic of the speech, it is all follow the reminder of Allah and His Messenger, by quoting Verses from Quran and Hadith (Narrations) from the words of the Prophet Muhammad and in other cases He mentions certain related opinions or ruling for known knowledgably trusted scholars. One can clearly see the Muslims heading toward nearby mosques before the start of the prayer, some goes there real early as they try to seek more rewards while others try to manage being there before the Imam starts the speech. It doesn’t matter if you are a local in that area or just passing by or even a traveler, when you go inside the mosque you instantly see all sorts of people walking in, placing their shoes in the a place designated for that task, perform ablution if they didn’t get to do so before going into the mosque then pray whats called Tahiyyat AlMasjid, which literally means the greeting prayer for the mosque, which is the prayer upon entering any mosque. You look around and you see Muslims from all races, ages and social status, some are praying, some are reading in Quran, while others had theirs hands raised supplicating to Allah in almost whispering manner.. It is usually an open big space inside the mosque where there are few chairs for ones who cant sit on the covered floor with carpets or straw mat, people sits in closed ranks, while women head into their separated section from a private door for them, there is no mixture between the ranks of women and men as it is not allowed in Islam outside the relation which are considered lawful, one cant see the women as their section is protected by a wall or thick curtain. Usually the number of women compared to the number of men is smaller as women are excused from going to Jumu`ah prayer. As I made my way to sit as close as I could toward alMinbar, which is a kind platform the Imam uses to address the Muslims in His speech before going down to lead the congregation prayer. Minutes passed by before I see the Imam of the mosque making his way through the ranks slowly, greeting the Muslims. He made his way up the Minbar (platform), He greeted the Muslims and gave a sign for a nearby man to perform the Adhan, the Arabic word for the call for prayer.. As soon as the call was over, the Imam stood and started his first part of the speech by Glorifying and Praising Allah then asking Allah to send His Peace and Blessings upon The Prophet, He then recited verses from Quran to pave the way for the subject He choose, the Imam wanted to address the duty of Muslims when it comes to call to Allah whether for Muslims or non muslims, He went on narrating related narrations said by the Prophet Muhammad in which He explained and showed the rewards of calling to Allah and the awaited bounty in life and hereafter He was calm and slow, yet not boring; He addressed the Muslims with a soft tone attempting to gently channel them into taking on this important duty as this kind of speech demanded such tone. After 15 minutes or so, the Imam sat for a short while signing the end of the first part of the speech, few seconds more and He stood up to Glorify and Praise Allah once more, He again asked Allah to send His Peace and Blessings upon The Prophet Muhammad and then went on reminding the Muslims of the general guidelines of Islam focusing on the concept of Tawheed, the Islamic Creed of Monotheism. The Imam then went down the platform and order a man to sign the start of prayer I stood as everyone else went on fixing the ranks, leaving no space… in wait for the prayer which will consist of two sets of prayer. It wasn’t long before the Imam raise His voice with the words Allahu Akbar (Allah Is The Greatest) alerting everyone that the prayer started, everyone else followed Him with the words of Allahu Akbar and went on listening to the recitation and doing as the Imam do, they bow when He bows, they went into prostration as He went down to prostration, once step followed the other, doing exactly as He did until the Imam reached the final stage of the prayer and signed the end of it by repeating the words AlSalamou alaykom wa Rahmatu Allah twice. The Muslims concluded their prayer the same way the Imam did, then they went on engaging in supplications or praying, I stood up after finishing my supplications and headed out along the channel of Muslims going out of the mosque. While reflecting on this day, I remember 3 things caught my attention… the first is How Muslims emphasize on the matter of Tawheed (Islamic Monotheism), the second thing is the way they follow the Imam during the prayer, doing exactly as He do, and lastly How I came to be more sure that Islam isn’t a religion for a certain group of Humans, for it is the religion for all the worlds Read More