Hadiths about Prayer

Prophetic Reminders On The Importance of Prayer

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In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful & Compassionate

The Prophet said in this regard: ” The first thing that will be judged among a person’s deeds on the Day of Resurrection is the prayer. If that is in good order, he will pass the test and prosper, and it that is defective, he will fail the test and will be a loser.(Tirmidhi)

Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As said that the Prophet mentioned prayer one day saying: “If anyone keeps to it, it will be a light,evidence, and salvation for him on the Day of Resurrection; but if anyone does not keep to it, it will not be for him light,evidence, or salvation; and on the Day of Resurrection,he will be associated with Qarun, Pharaoh, Haman, and Ubayy bin Khalaf(a great enemy of Islam from among the Quraish). (Ahmed,Darimi,and Baihaqi)

‘Umar ibn al-Khattab reported that a man asked the Prophet: “Messenger of Allah, what action is dearest to Allah Most High?” The Prophet said,” Prayer at its proper time.The one who does not pray has no religion. Prayer is the main pillar of the religion.”

After Umar had been stabbed, it was said to him,”As-salat, ya amir al-mumineen(The prayer, leader of the believers)!” He said,”Yes,truly! If anyone misses prayer, he has no share in Islam,” and thereupon he prayed while his wounds were bleeding.

When Ali was asked about a woman who did not pray, he replied,”The one who does not pray is an unbeliever.” Ibn Mas’ood said that the one who does not pray has no religion, and Ibn Abbas said,”The one who leaves off a single prayer will find,when he meets Allah Most High, that He is angry with him.”

Abdullah bin al-As reported that Allah’s Messenger said:” There are three kinds of people whose prayer Allah will not accept: a leader who is hated by his nation, a master who oppresses his slave after making a contract to set him free, and a person who observes prayer after its proper time(Abu Dawood).

From Riyad as-Salihin

(The Meadows of the Righteous)

An-Nawawi

Chapter: On the excellence of the prayers

1042. Abu Hurayra said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, ‘What do you think would happen if there was a river by someone’s door in which he washed five times every day? Do you think that any dirt would remain on him?’ They said, ‘Not a scrap of dirt would remain on him.’ He said, ‘That is a metaphor of the five prayers by which Allah wipes out wrong actions.'” [Agreed upon]

1043. Jabir reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “The metaphor of the five prayers is that of an sizeable flowing river at the door of one of you in which he washes five times every day.” [Muslim]

1044. Ibn Mas’ud reported that a man received a kiss from a woman and went to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and told him about it. Allah sent down, “Establish the prayer at the two ends of the day and in the first part of the night. Good actions eradicate bad actions.” (11:114) The man said, “Messenger of Allah, is this for me?” He said, “It is for every single one of my community.” [Agreed upon]

1045. Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “The five prayers, and Jumu’a to Jumu’a is expiation for what is between them as long as a man has committed no major sins.” [Muslim]

1046. ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, “There is no Muslim man who attends a prescribed prayer and does wudu’ for it well and is humble in it and in its bowing, without that being expiation for the sins before it as long as he did not commit any major sin. This will always apply.” [Muslim]

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What Are Hadiths?

Important: The Science of Hadith, What Are Hadith?

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In the Name of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful.

Verily We: It is We Who have sent down the Dhikr (i.e. the Qur’ân)

and surely, We will guard it (from corruption).

(Qur’an 15:9)

The above ayat (verse) is obviously fulfilled in the undisputed purity of the Qur’anic text throughout the fourteen centuries since its revelation. However, what is sometimes forgotten is that the divine promise also includes, by necessity, the Sunnah of the Prophet . The Sunnah is the practical example of the implementation of the Qur’anic guidance, the wisdom taught to the Prophet along with the scripture, and neither the Qur’an nor the Sunnah can be understood correctly without the other.

Allaah, subhana watala, says in His Book (An-Nûr 24:54):

Say: “Obey Allah and obey the Messenger, but if you turn away, he (Messenger Muhammad saaws) is only responsible for the duty placed on him (i.e. to convey Allah’s Message) and you for that placed on you. If you obey him, you shall be on the right guidance. The Messenger’s duty is only to convey (the message) in a clear way (i.e. to preach in a plain way).”

Allah (SWT) preserved the Sunnah by enabling the companions and those after them to memorize, write down and pass on the statements of the Prophet (PBUH), and the descriptions of his way, as well as to continue the blessings of practicing the Sunnah.

From al-Irbaad ibn Saariyah [radiy’Allaahu anhu] who said:

Allaah’s Messenger gave us an admonition which caused the eyes to shed tears and the hearts to fear, so we said, “O Messenger of Allaah, this is as if it were a farewell sermon, so with what do you counsel us?” So he said: “I have left you upon clear proof , its night is like its day, no one deviates from it except one who is destroyed, and whoever lives long from amongst you will see great controversy. So stick to what you know from my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the orthodox, rightly-guided caliphs – cling to that with your molar teeth, and stick to obedience even if it is to an Abyssinian slave, since the believer is like a submissive camel, wherever he is led, he follows“[Ahmad (4/126), Ibn Maajah (no. 43), al-Haakim (1/96) and others – Hasan]

Later, as the purity of the knowledge of the Sunnah became a concern, Allah (SWT) caused the Muslim Ummah to produce individuals with exceptional memory skills and analytical expertise, who travelled tirelessly to collect thousands of narrations and distinguish the true words of prophetic wisdom from those corrupted by weak memories, from forgeries by unscrupulous liars, and from the statements of the large number of Ulama (scholars), the companions and those who followed their way. All of this was achieved through precise attention to the words narrated, and detailed familiarity with the biographies of the thousands of reporters of hadith.
The methodology of the expert scholars of hadith in assessing the narrations and sorting out the genuine from the mistaken and fabricated, for ms the subject matter of the science of hadith.

Components of Hadith

A hadith is composed of three parts (see the figure [below]):

Matn (text), isnad (chain of reporters), and taraf (the part, or the beginning sentence, of the text which refers to the sayings, actions or characteristics of the Prophet (PBUH), or his concurrence with others action). The authenticity of the hadith depends on the reliability of its reporters, and the linkage among them. Classifications of Hadith

A number of classifications of hadith have been made. Five of these classifications are shown in the figure [below], and are briefly described subsequently.

1. According to the reference to a particular authority
   Four types of hadith can be identified.
   • Qudsi – Divine; a revelation from Allah (SWT); relayed with the words of the Prophet (PBUH).
   • Marfu – elevated; a narration from the Prophet (PBUH), e.g. I heard the Prophet (PBUH) saying …
   • Mauquf– stopped: a narration from a companion only, e.g., we were commanded to …
   • Maqtu’ – severed: a narration from a successor.

   

2. According to the links of Isnad – interrupted or uninterrupted
   Six categories can be identified.
   • Musnad – supported: a hadith which is reported by a traditionalist, based on what he learned from his teacher at a time of life suitable for learning; similarly – in turn – for each teacher until the isnad reaches a well known companion, who in turn, reports from the Prophet (PBUH).
   • Mutassil – continuous: a hadith with an uninterrupted isnad which goes back only to a companion or successor.
   • Mursal – hurried: if the link between the successor and the Prophet (PBUH) is missing, e.g. when a successor says “The Prophet said…”.
   • Munqati – broken: is a hadith whose link anywhere before the successor (i.e., closer to the traditionalist recording the hadith) is missing.
   • Mu’adal – perplexing: is a hadith whose reporter omits two or more consecutive reporters in the isnad.
   • Mu’allaq – hanging: is a hadith whose reporter omits the whole isnad and quotes the Prophet (PBUH) directly (i.e., the link is missing at the beginning).
3. According to the number of reporters involved in each stage of Isnad
   Five categories of hadith can be identified:
   • Mutawatir – Consecutive: is a hadith which is reported by such a large number of people that they cannot be expected to agree upon a lie, all of them together.
   • Ahad – isolated: is a hadith which is narrated by people whose number does not reach that of the mutawatir.
     It is further classified into:
   • Mash’hur – famous: hadith reported by more than two reporters.
   • Aziz – rare, strong: at any stage in the isnad, only two reporters are found to narrate the hadith.
   • Gharib – strange: At some stage of the Isnad, only one reporter is found relating it.
4. According to the nature of the text and isnad
   • Munkar – denounced: is a hadith which is reported by a weak narrator, and whose narration goes against another authentic hadith.
   • Mudraj – interpolated: an addition by a reporter to the text of the hadith being narrated.
5. According to the reliability and memory of the reporters
   This provides the final verdict on a hadith – four categories can be identified:
   • Sahih – sound. Imam Al-shafi’i states the following requiremetts for a hadith, which is not mutawatir, to be acceptable “each reporter should be trustworthy in his religion; he should be known to be truthtul in his narrating, to understand what he narrates, to know how a different expression can alter the meaning, and to report the wording of the hadith verbatim, not only its meaning”.
   • Hasan – good: is the one where its source is known and its reporters are unambiguous.
   • Da’if – weak: a hadith which fails to reach the status of hasan. Usually, the weakness is: a) one of discontinuity in the isnad, in which case the hadith could be – according to the nature of the discontinuity – munqati (broken), mu’allaq (hanging), mu’dal (perplexing), or mursal (hurried), or b) one of the reporters having a disparaged character, such as due to his telling lies, excessive mistakes, opposition to the narration of more reliable sources, involvement in innovation, or ambiguity surrounding his person.
   • Maudu’ – fabricated or forged: is a hadith whose text goes against the established norms of the Prophet’s sayings, or its reporters include a liar. Fabricated hadith are also recognized by external evidence related to a discrepancy found in the dates or times of a particular incident.

taken from http://muttaqun.com/

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