Straighten Our Saff and Close The Gaps Between Us

The Prophet Muhammad pbuh reminded:
“Perform your solat as you see me perform mine.”
(HR Bukhari)

Straightening the saff during prayers is a sunnah from the prophet Muhammad pbuh. (Never begins a sentence with ‘and’) As the above hadith has stated, we are urged to perform our prayers the way the Prophet did which we are lacking in especially in how we form our saffs. Consider this analogy, a driver can possibly drive his car even though without properly adjusting his seat, rear mirror and probably turning on his lights at night. There’s a chance he can reach his destination safely without any problems what so ever. He may not even get caught by the police, honked by other concerned road users or tragically get involved in a car accident. Same goes with the prayers in congregation (jamaah prayers), it’s not anyone to decide whether one prayer is accepted by Allah, the jamaah prayer may as well be accepted but would it be the same as when they are performed according to the guidance laid out? The ways shown by the Prophet through his hadiths and the examples shown by his early followers.

Lets share how we could improve this:

1. The role of the imam.

It was said that the Prophet Muhammad pbuh would ensure that the makmum has straightened their saffs before he starts the solat.

Anas bin Malik said,
after the iqamah for solat, Rasulullah would face us with his face and say:
“Straighten your rows and stand closer together, for I see you from behind my back.”
(HR Bukhari)

In normal practice our imams would just say “straighten you saffs”, “straighten your saffs” without even turning back and checking on his makmums and also not to forget those who preach in arabic not knowing that his ma'mum don't understand a thing. Yet there are those who just raise the takbir not the least troubled whether the makmums are ready and have straightened the saff. Take the example of Umar Al-Khattab, he would inspect and ensure each saff was straight and only then he would start the prayer.

Surely, under the leadership of good imams, the ummah is more likely to be united.

2. How should we straighten our saffs?

It also worries us that some people consider that straightening the saff is enough. From the fiqh perspective, straightening the saff is important but once that has been addressed, we should ensure that there are no gaps between the makmums. How this is done?

1. Standing shoulder to shoulder.

2. Standing foot to foot.

From Anas bin Malik, The Prophet said:
“Every one of us used to put his shoulder with the shoulder of his companion and his foot with the foot of his companion.”
(HR Bukhari)

Have we ever heard of the term “let’s join hands and work together”? We have a strong conviction physical bonds will instill closeness of the hearts until we become one strong united ummah.

3. Values gained

It’s a factor to achieve perfection in solat
RasululLah said: “Straighten your rows, because straightening your rows is a part of perfection in solat.” (HR Muslim)
A factor that unites the muslim’s heart as one ummah (as stated by the hadith of the poster)

It prevents disturbance from syaitan upon those who pray.
The Prophet pbuh said: “Straighten your saffs, close the gaps between you...for I see syaitan moving between the gaps like kids (goat’s offspring).” (HR Abu Daud)

InsyaAllah getting ample rewards from Allah.

Unfortunately, these sunnah of straightening our saffs and closing the gaps between our jamaahs has been neglected in Malaysia. Why do we deny ourselves from attaining such good? If the answer is “I’m not aware of this before..,” then there’s no better time to start than now, put these commands into practice in our next prayer and urge others to do the same.

The ummah’s individualistic tendencies have brought forth individuals who see for himself and for himself only. Each one is only concerned with what he owns as an individual, what he does as an individual and even how he obliges himself as individuals to Allah. All that matter is himself/herself and ignoring the fact that he/she is an integral part of this ummah.

Narrated by An-Nu'man bin Bashir: Allah's Apostle said,
“You see the believers as regards their being merciful among themselves and showing love among themselves and being kind, resembling one body, so that, if any part of the body is not well then the whole body shares the sleeplessness (insomnia) and fever with it.”
(HR Bukhari)

Let’s relive the concept of one ummah. It’s not impossible to revive it again; and let us start with how we perform our solat.

Building Integrity from Solat Campaign

broQ: jom kita kejar kesempurnaan dalam solat..lebih2 lagi dalam kita nak bersedia sambut kedatangan Ramadhan~itu pun kalau Allah panjangkan umur sampai ke minggu depan insyaAllah. ya Allah, Kau temukanlah aku dengan Ramadhan yang akan datang..entri kali nih kira kesinambungan khutbah abati (ustaz fuad Abdullah) di masjid 'surau al khauthar'..

The Call for Jamaah Prayers

All praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings of be upon His noble Messenger.

Islam has never been a religion for individuals ever since it was first revealed to our Prophet Muhammad pbuh. We could see this through the implementation of the Islamic teachings as believers are urged to spread good deeds and prevent mischievous acts amongst others no matter who they are . From the lowest social rungs to the highest level everyone can give and be given advise. From this, it leads to a better society as every one is given the right to voice out their opinion on what to improve based on the Islamic teachings. Just imagine if islam focus on the individuals only. Then we would probably have good personalities but having to live (or rather struggling hard to maintain his/her integrity) in a corrupt society.

It is a sad reality that the muslim world today is filled with individualistic attitudes. We live in 300 different countries bordered by the wrongly placed spirit of nationalism and patriotism so much so that we don’t even take a glimpse at the suffering of our bothers and sisters in faith . In Malaysia for instance, take the tragic case of little Nurin Jazimin, I’m not surprised if there’re Malaysians, yes muslim Malaysians, that don’t even took notice of the issue just because she ‘is not related to me’ type of attitude. Palestine is yet another big issue. Many muslims don’t even see that the struggle of our brothers and sisters there is also in every way our own stuggle . It’s more like adopting ‘their land, their war’ kind of stand. Whatever happens to the bonds that bind us together as believers? As muslims the ties of the ‘aqidah is far stronger than family bondings. What could have made us this way?

The answer lies deep inside our hearts. And one of these answers could be found in the urge to perform solat jamaah (congregration prayers).

Yes, there has been many different opinions regarding the obligatory status of jamaah prayers, some say it’s a prerequisite for a prayer to be accepted by Allah while others say it’s sunnah mu’akkadah (confirmed regular practice of the Prophet SAW, yet the term is used here to imply that it is optional). I wouldn’t go into details but would like to stress out the benefits of performing jamaah prayers and how it builds integrity amongst us, insyaAllah.

Obviously performing congregation prayers are 27 far superior than praying alone.

Ibn Omar said that the Messenger of Allah SAW said,
"Prayer in congregation is 27 grades in excess of one's prayer alone."
(HR Muslim)

Well, although this clearly states that prayers done alone are still acceptable (the acceptance of our ibadah is only in the knowledge of Allah), but it is way much better if we perform jamaah prayers. Why deny ourselves the great benefits and goods? How can we allow ourselves to lose the reward of 27 grades, and sufficing with one grade only. Have we reached a state that we have no need for hasanat (merits) from Allah?

Jamaah prayers are amongst the times that we unite as one towards fulfilling our main purpose of living which is to obligate our lives for Allah. If the solution to our ummah’s individualistic problem is to find a common ground, why can’t it be solat? “together we stand, divided we fall?” then we should stand together in a straight line to perform our prayers.

Logically, if we’re in the wilderness, we are more prone to be attacked by wolves if we’re alone. And from a different point of view, the wolves will have a bigger chance of success if they attack as a pack. Clearly, even though some might just see prayers are only done in mosques or prayer room and even have the idea of questioning how could it bring any effects to themselves and others. However we must not forget that everything ordained by Allah and his Messenger has benefits beyond our knowledge.

Abi Ad-Darda'a said that the Messenger of Allah SAW said
"There are not three in a town where no Athan is called, and congregational prayers are not established amongst them except that the Syaitan will overcome them, so you must stick to jama'ah because the wolf gets the stray ones."

(Authentic hadeeth narrated by Abu Dawood and Ahmed)

Either we notice this or not, each time we pray we always recite:

“Only to You whom we obligate to, and only to You whom we seek for help. Guide us the straight path.”
(Al-Fatihah: 5 & 6)

We recite this verse in every prayer and each time we recite it, we use the term of ‘us’ and ‘we’. This clearly shows that islam is never and will never ever be a religion for individuals. Even during prayers, we pray for ourselves and other as stated in Al-Fatihah verse 6.

I hope the following analogy wouldn’t be crossing the line as a conclusion just to give a little more push towards urging jamaah prayers.

“Salat (prayer) is of the most important of the pillars of the deen”

If we must bring the pillars to a stand, wound’t it be easier if we did it together?

May this little effort towards uniting our ummah is accepted by Allah. And that those reading will have all the benefits, insyaAllah.

Building Integrity From Solat Campaign

broQ: ayuh kita bina kekuatan ummah dengan titik yang menyatukan kita semua!

Memperingati Masjid Al-Aqsa dibakar

Oleh MOHD. SAFWAN SAPARUDIN

TANGGAL 21 Ogos merupakan tarikh yang amat penting dalam lipatan sejarah umat Islam. Apa tidaknya, Pertubuhan Persidangan Islam atau lebih dikenali dengan OIC lahir kerana insiden 21 Ogos. Apakah yang berlaku sehingga persidangan ini tercetus?
Pada 21 Ogos 1969, seorang lelaki berbangsa Australia bernama Dennis Michael Rohan telah membakar Masjid Al-Aqsa. Api menyala besar dan membakar tembok serta mimbarnya yang besar (mimbar Solahuddin).

Api marak dengan dahsyat sekali seolah-olah seluruh Masjid Al-Aqsa akan musnah ketika itu. Sehinggakan pihak bomba juga tidak hadir menghulur bantuan. Tetapi Allah s.w.t telah menyelamatkan Masjid Al-Aqsa dan melindunginya. Akhirnya api dapat dipadamkan.
Setelah itu orang-orang Yahudi membuat pengadilan pura-pura terhadap Rohan. Lucunya, Rohan mendakwa bahawa dia diutuskan oleh Allah untuk melakukan pembakaran itu, bersesuaian dengan berita dari Kitab Zakaria.

Apa yang menyedihkan kemudiannya ialah Yahudi membebaskannya dengan mengatakan Rohan 'gila', dengan kata lain, tidak waras.

Maka, atas sebab itu, Rohan tidak da- pat dipertanggungjawabkan atas kejadian tersebut. Bertitik-tolak insiden menghinakan itu, negara-negara Islam di seluruh dunia bangkit mempertahankan tempat suci mereka dan mengecam perbuatan keji terhadap Al-Aqsa.
Maka sejak itu, 21 Ogos tanpa gagal diangkat sebagai Hari Al-Quds sedunia. Ia disambut sebagai tanda memperingati tragedi pembakaran masjid Al-Aqsa.

Tragedi tersebut merupakan catatan sejarah yang paling menyedihkan dalam sejarah umat Islam. Masjid Al-Aqsa yang begitu suci itu dihina sedemikian rupa.

Tidak menghairankan apabila semua umat Islam seluruh dunia 'terbakar' hati dan perasaan mereka kerana tindakan Rohan, 38 tahun lalu. Begitulah nasib Tanah suci umat Islam yang ketiga setelah dihuni oleh rejim Zionis.

Perlu diingatkan, isu Masjid Al-Aqsa ini ada hubung kait dengan hal-hal Palestin.

Maka selayaknya, isu Palestin ini merupakan isu yang dipertanggungjawabkan bagi sekalian umat Islam. Satunya kerana, kedudukan Masjid al-Aqsa sebagai Tanah Suci ketiga dalam Islam. Selebihnya ia merupakan kiblat pertama umat Islam selain menjadi bumi didiami para Nabi serta pusat pemerintahan dunia Islam seperti yang dirakamkan dalam hadis Rasulullah.
Bagi masyarakat bukan Islam, isu Palestin menggambarkan ketidakadilan dan kezaliman rejim terhadap bangsa Palestin yang perlu sama-sama dibela dan diperjuangkan.

Hari ini Palestin berada dalam tangan rejim Zionis yang telah merampasnya daripada tangan umat Islam. Akibatnya, umat Palestin telah dihalau keluar, dizalimi, ditindas, dikambinghitamkan, dipenjarakan dan dibunuh. Nasib yang melanda umat Islam Palestin memerlukan pembelaan dari seluruh umat Islam.

Sebagai usaha pembelaan dan kepedulian, maka Hari Memperingati Al-Quds atau Remembrance of Al-Quds (ROQ) merupakan sebuah gagasan yang menjadi simbol solidariti umat Islam di Malaysia terhadap umat Palestin.

Pelbagai kegiatan boleh dijalankan untuk menghebahkan tentang isu Palestin dan kedudukan Palestin dalam hati umat Islam serta soal penindasan di Masjid Al-Aqsa. Kita berharap program ini akan menggerakkan masyarakat su- paya sedar lalu terpanggil untuk menghulurkan sumbangan dan mempersiapkan diri mereka dengan segala pertahanan dan kecemerlangan sebagai umat yang terbaik.

Episod duka Palestin ini, ditambah dengan penindasan dan kezaliman yang tidak henti hingga ke saat ini hakikatnya menuntut sokongan dan bantuan semua, seluruh lapisan masyarakat dunia.
Malah, 21 Ogos hadir setiap tahun mengingatkan kita bahawa sekiranya kita tidak mempertahankan tanah suci Palestin dan Masjid Al-Aqsa, kelak, kita bukan sahaja tidak dapat mempertahankannya daripada sekadar dibakar, malah keseluruhannya cenderung untuk dirampas secara haram oleh rejim Zionis.

Justeru, bersempena Sambutan Memperingati Hari Al-Quds Sedunia tahun ini, adalah amat wajar untuk kita sama- sama mengajak masyarakat sekeliling memperingatinya, apatah lagi merencana langkah strategik, efektif dan praktikal lagi kreatif demi menyumbang ke arah pembebasan Palestin.

Sementara itu, antara aktiviti-aktiviti untuk menyemarakkan sambutan ini ialah ceramah umum, seminar, demonstrasi damai, penerbitan filem, buletin, cakera padat video (VCD), persembahan seni seperti teater, nasyid, dan festival seni dan pameran kesedaran di tempat awam yang strategik di masjid-masjid, sekolah-sekolah termasuk gedung beli-belah dan sebagainya.

broQ: akhi safwan nih kenalan dalam medan dakwah waktu dia di malaysia dulu..sekarang bersama isteri di Australia. moga Allah beri segala kekuatan pada akhi safwan untuk terus memperjuangkan hak ummah. moga usaha ini Allah balas sebagaimana usaha para mujahid!

di petik dari UTUSAN

sambungan Genap 2 1/2 Bulan Sudah

*yang paling macho..tuh haa, yang kat tengah. cekak pinggang seyh Own~*
*ok! semua lari atas air!..during this session, my usrah joined in as our weekly riadhah session and apart of muayasyah (getting to know) with the new comers*
*on the ledge from nearest: MFI guys (luqman and ajis), bro Bilal, Adullah Omar (UTP)..standing is our one and only: Own, in the water: bro Asrol (UKM), ibrahim (alamin bangi) and izwan*
*"okeh..jom lah start! aku tak sabar nih nak kalahkan record micheal phelps," cabar nizam dengan penuh yakin..."weiyh! tengoklah sinih," sambung nizam lagi mendesak kawan2nya melihat cubaan memecahkan record olympic renang gaya bebas*
*dugong akuarium UNITEN~from left: siaful, syeikh Bilal, broQ and broGG*
*ikram: "anak dumex tuh~", zubair:"sebab die pandai potong kek, nak kasi semua org dapat rasa..best lah nizam nih", aadif:"yang kecik2 tuh korang ambik, yang suku besar tuh aku yang punya!"*
*AO, asrol and brothers from MFI; luqman and ajis*
*nih leher die kan? kang salah sembelih, tak putus urat merih-tak bleyh makan plak..bismiLlah*
*K.A.M.I dan beberapa lagi yang tak masuk gambar*
*ukhuwah kita bersemi di UNITEN dan akan kekal tersemai hingga ke penghujung perjuangan kita membina peribadi muslim 'soleh wa musleh' (baik dan membaikkan, bersinar dan menyinarkan)*

Genap 2 1/2 Bulan Sudah

*rifdy, munzir and ikram..yang nasi tak berempunya tuh saper punyer plak ikram?*
*geng usrahku yang macho~ridhwan, jaffreen, zulkarnain (pakar korek idung..hahaha) and aadif*

AlhamduliLlah, all praise is to Allah, the One who gives hidayah to those who seek and still placing me amongst those who are grateful. It’s already the midterm break for the degree students in UNITEN, and the campus is quite dead when I left for home last night. Leaving behind Azzizi to spend the weekend alone and the foundation students who will be burning their mid night oil for next weeks tests. The june 2008 intake foundation students are currently under a tri-semester program, latest progress from the administration towards gaining a better standard and student quality..there are pros and cons of this matter, but I’ll just leave it to the admins.

If I could recall back my memories, it’s been 2 ½ months I’ve been with the latest usrah batch June 2008. So much has been done but still so much to do..

It started of with a little supper the first night of their arrival in UNITEN. Akh Bilal came to the rescue bringing some cream breads and drinks since none of the newly registered students and the facilitators (me) can go outside of kelompok area that night. We had it at saiful/azri/wan hazim/fikri’s house. Joining in were contigens from zubair/nizam khan/rifdy/aizat and ikram/aadif/jaffreen/ridhwan. It was simple, but enough to get the juice of ukhuwah flowing inside us.

Then we meet during night halaqahs (I used the term ‘halaqah malam’ with the guys) at the surau after isya’ prayers. Me, Azzizi and Hakim brought a couple of guys to join in the isya prayers since it wasn’t scheduled in their time table; “jom kita solat isya’ dulu kat surau sebelum minum malam, kalau lambat sangat, abang tapau kan kuih ngan air..amcam?”
Every night we had the meeting for the straight 1 week orientation program. AlhamduliLlah, Allah gave us istiqamah to stroll along this path of urging others to good deeds and obligation towards Him. Here we meet Hazim, Shahir and Mahlil.

After the orientation program, we had a little dinner gathering, 23+ guys showed up. This time the Sarawakians came and joined the family. Azrai, Firdaus and Nazrin. Plus some others like Shahrul (Own), Zulkarnain, Nazemy and Shah.

*aisyeh~gambar blur plak..harap korang tak blur jgak time dengar tazkeerah. "Allah itu baik, tidak disukai melainkan yang baik"*
*Saiful amir, fikri, azrai and firdaus..mangan2*
*zubair, aizat, nazrin and ali
*mahlil (su kelompok amanah kita~), bro hakim khatib, syahir and hazim. sorry ek, gambar belakang plak*
*bro gg doing his thang..on the far right is azri. orang kuat pahang kita*

The coming weekend we spent our Sunday morning in the pool. UNITEN’s swimming pool. Learned how to swim, conducted by akh Izzudin, ate our ‘ukhuwah cake’, heard a little share of where are we heading and the purpose of tarbiyah by akh Izzudin and some words of wisdom and hope from akh Riza (he quoted himself as a father that hopes a better future for his children lead by this generation).

Till now, I can never emphasis more of the outcome of our meetings than HOPE. You guys are the future, a hope for a better future. We can only lead you towards building strong muslim personalities, share our wisdom and vision, and give love as muslim brothers. But to ensure that you do become ‘insan’, it rests on your shoulders. We will stretch out our hands to help and guide, lend our shoulders to cry for and to gain support, our time for friendship and problems..our prayers. So that you will not only be like us, but better than us. As students, as engineers and as mulims.

Today is 15th of Syaaban. 15 days left till Ramadhan. A holly month where we should drain our energy for ibadah, seek His forgiveness and to be one with our ummah. The whole year we’ve been living alone, a life of ourselves and all intentions only leads to the benefits of ourselves. But in Ramadhan, this will be our opportunity to remember others, our muslim brothers and sisters all around the world; their sufferings, their starve and thrist, their shreaded integrity…take the month of Ramadhan to reflect ourselves, not as just us, but us as one ummah. What have we done and contributed to the ummah?

My dear brothers, adik2 di UNITEN, fellow readers..lets be better people, better muslims. So that we can somehow contribute back to the revival of islam. Defend our brothers where they are cornered by bullets and regain our sister’s dignity as human and muslimah.

JOM! Kita terus istiqamah atas jalan membina peribadi muslim yang unggul!

broQ: pictures at the swimming pool will be in another entry..poning eden nak suson eiyh~

BIFS campaign

yep..thats what i'm working on now. its BIFS not beefs~

BIFS as in Building Integrity From Solat Campaign. got a couple of things that i'll post up here once the acrticles are published in UNITEN. do pray that i can finish by this weekend. been postponing this since last semester break.wohooo. astaghfiruLlah. one of my very very bad habbits.

nothing else for now. still in recovery mode. compared to last friday, alhamduliLlah, things are getting better. i can now breath fresh air. but still suffering from short breathings.

next friday, a test coming up. followed by another test on monday.

needless what you do Qayyim, put in mind for ikhlas..life is not about achievements, its about moving forward. once these are done, there's still other new things to be done.

calling for contributors: those who have any interesting articles on 'smiling', do mail (qayyimh@gmail.com) it to me..running out of ideas actually. may Allah reward you for your good deeds.

broQ: hmm..belom start study lagi nih.focus2! apalah ada pada daie ni kalau belajar pon tak lepas. jangan kau jadi fitnah pada ad-deen ini!