THE RADIANCE OF THE SECRETS OF PRAYER

Book index

First Pages a1
Foreword 15
Preface 19
Chapter 1 23
Worship [‘ibadah] 0
Why worship [‘ibadah]? 0
Reasons for worship 24
1. Greatness of God 0
2. Feelings of dependence 0
3. Awareness of blessings 25
4. Human nature [fiṭrah] 0
Role of worship 26
1. Making the perishable perpetual 0
2. Changing the material into the spiritual 27
3. Individual and collective development 0
Dimensions of worship 28
1. Reflection on the handiwork of God 0
2. Earning a living 29
3. Seeking knowledge 0
4. Rendering service to the people 0
5. Waiting for the global government of justice 30
How we should worship 31
1. Conscious worship 0
2. Fervent worship 32
3. Sincere worship 33
4. Worshipping submissively 34
5. Worshipping in private 35
Dangers threatening worship 0
1. Ostentation [riya’] 0
2. Self-conceit [‘ujb] 0
3. Sin 36
Ways of avoiding pride and self-conceit [‘ujb] 37
1. Have we really worshipped? 0
2. Have our acts of worship been accepted? 38
3. Futile acts of worship 0
4. Will we achieve redemption? 39
5. Comparing acts of worship and blessings 40
6. Comparing acts of worship and complacencies 0
7. Comparing acts of worship and needs 41
8. Comparing our state of worship with that of the divine saints [awliya’] 42
Invalid acts of worship 44
Servitude [‘ubudiyyah] and not worship [‘ibadah] 46
Constancy in worship 48
Opportunity to engage in worship 49
Enduring difficulties of worship 50
Promotion of worship 51
Duty and its conditions 52
1. Puberty [bulugh] 53
Some reminders 54
2. Strength 55
3. Freewill [ikhtiyar] 56
4. Intellect [‘aql] 0
Conditions for the soundness of worship 0
Motives behind changing the form of worship 58
1. Changing the form out of obduracy 59
2. Changing the form out of false enlightenment 0
3. Changing the form out of sanctimony 60
Conditions for the acceptance of acts worship 0
1. Ideological condition: Faith in God 61
2. Political condition: Guardianship [wilayah] 62
3. Moral condition: God-wariness [taqwa] 64
4. Economic condition: Giving people their rights 0
5. Social condition: Wishing others well 65
6. Familial condition: Good behavior 66
Signs of acceptance 67
Conditions for the perfection of worship 68
1. Making greater effort 0
2. Concentrating on what is more important 69
3. Concentrating on what has lasting value 70
4. Acting in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet 0
5. Having precedence in meritorious works 0
6. Performing devotional acts under difficult circumstances 71
7. Fervor and constancy 72
8. Humility 0
9. Possessing insight 73
Philosophy of worship 0
Submission as the greatest philosophy of responsibility 79
Pretext or research? 81
An encounter 82
Chapter 2 85
Prayer [Salah] 0
Importance of prayer 88
Prayer as viewed by reason and conscience 89
Some questions and answers 92
Negligence of prayer 93
Treating prayer lightly 94
Unaccepted prayers 95
1. Those who are indifferent 0
2. Those who live on unlawful earnings 0
3. Those who are unmindful if their duties 0
4. Those who do not pay zakat [poor-rate] 0
5.Those who are lackadaisical 96
6. Those who are “ḥaqin wa ḥaqib” 0
7. Those who are unacceptable prayer leaders 0
Prayers of the Infallibles [ma‘ṣumin] (‘a) 0
Prerequisites of prayer 98
Prayer and its accompaniments 99
Prayer as spiritual ascension 100
Chapter 3 105
Let’s Welcome Prayer! 0
Preliminaries of prayer 0
Purification [ṭaharah] 0
Ablution [wuḍu’] in every state 106
Bathing [ghuṣl] 108
Dry purification [tayammum] 0
Clothing and place of the one praying 0
1. Observance of courtesy 110
2. Observance of the rights of others 0
3. Observance of priorities 0
Focus of direction in prayer [qiblah] 111
Call to prayer [Adhan] 112
Bilal 114
Chapter 4 117
Intention [niyyah] 0
Intention [niyyah] as the criterion of value 0
Examples of sincerity [ikhlaṣ] 120
Sincerity in worship [‘ibadah] 121
Worldly effects of intention 123
1. Management of the society 0
2. Improvement of economic conditions 124
3. Good social relations 0
Intention as an action [‘amal] 125
Intention as compensation for deficiencies 126
Ways of acquiring sincerity 0
1. Attention to values 0
2. Reflecting on creation 128
3. Attention to the Attributes of God 0
4. Attention to His blessings 0
5. Attention to the sure gain 129
6. Attention to worthlessness of the world 0
7. Attention to impotence of created beings 130
8. Learning from others’ experiences 131
9. Attention to final end of hypocrites in the hereafter 132
Sound intentions 0
1. Fear of the Divine Station and Court 0
2. Hope for reward 133
3. Gratitude for the blessings 0
4. Modesty [ḥaya’] 0
5. Love of God 134
The university of wisdom [ḥikmah] 0
The root of sincerity 0
Signs of sincerity 135
1. Not expecting anything from others 0
2. Focusing on duty, not title 137
3. Having no regrets 138
4. Taking reception and heedlessness as one 0
5. Consistency of motive and action 139
6. Lack of wealth and position does not hinder 0
7. Oneness of the apparent and the hidden 140
8. Without factional bigotry 0
9. Pursuit of important works undone 141
10. Desisting from error 142
Outcome of sincerity 0
Sincerity in the context of society 143
Chapter 5 145
Let’s Engage in Prayer! 0
“Allahu akbar” [God is the greatest] 0
Allahu akbar! 146
Surah al-Ḥamd 148
Bismillahi’r-raḥmani’r-raḥim [In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful] 0
“Al-ḥamdulillahi rabbi’l-‘alamin” [All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds] 150
“Ar-raḥmani’r-raḥim” [the All-beneficent, the All-merciful] 153
“Maliki yawmi’d-din” [Master of the Day of Retribution] 154
“Iyyaka na‘budu wa iyyaka nasta‘in” [You [alone] do we worship and to You [alone] do we turn for help] 155
“Ihdina’ṣ-ṣiraṭ al-mustaqim” [Guide us on the straight path] 156
“Ṣiraṭ al-mustaqim” [The straight path] 157
Some notes 158
“Ṣiraṭ al-mustaqim” in the traditions 160
Examples of immoderation and profligacy 161
Ṣiraṭ alladhina an‘amta ‘alayhim [The path of those whom You have blessed] 162
Ghayri’l-maghḍubi ‘alayhim wa laḍ-ḍallin” [Such as have not incurred Your wrath, nor are astray] 164
Surah at-Tawḥid 165
“Lam yalid wa lam yulad” [He neither begat nor was begotten] 167
“Wa lam yakun lahu kufuwan aḥad” [Nor has He any equal] 0
To be calm while reciting 0
Ruku‘ [Bowing] 169
Ruku‘ of the saints of God 0
In the company of angels 170
Sujud [prostration] 171
Sujud of all created beings to God 172
Sujud of the saints of God 174
Effects of sujud 175
Prostration on the soil of Karbala’ 176
Meaning of “subḥan Allah” [Glory be to Allah] 177
Tasbiḥ as the most oft-repeated command 181
Qunut 182
Tashahhud 183
Salam 187
A glance at the salam 188
Chapter 6 193
The Post-prayer Supererogatory Devotional Acts [ta‘qibat wa nawafil] 0
Post-prayer devotional acts [ta‘qibat] 194
Invoking benediction and malediction 195
Tasbiḥat Ḥaḍrat az-Zahra’ (‘a) 196
Prostration of gratitude [sujud shukr] 197
Supererogatory prayers [nawafil] 199
Night supererogatory prayers [tahajjud] 201
Chapter 7 205
Congregational Prayer [ṣalat al-jama‘ah], Etc. 0
Importance of congregational prayer [ṣalat al-jama‘ah] 0
Effects of congregational prayer 208
1. Spiritual effects 0
2. Social effects 209
3. Political effects 0
4. Moral and educational effects 0
The leader of congregational prayer 211
Selection of congregational prayer leader 212
Justness of congregational prayer leader 214
Means of recognizing justness 215
Why some people do not participate in congregational prayers? 217
Traveler’s prayer 220
Conditions for shortened [qaṣr] prayer 0
Ten days of stay 221
Compensatory [qaḍa] prayer 222
Chapter 8 0
Other Prayers 0
‘Id prayers 0
Ṣalat al-Ayat as a lesson on monotheism [tawḥid] 0
Manner of performing Ṣalat al-Ayat 0
Ṣalat al-Mayyit [ritual prayer for the dead] 0
‘Id prayer as a prerogative of the leader 0
Ṣalat al-Ayat [Prayer for the Signs] 0
‘Id al- Aḍḥa prayer 0
‘Id al-Fiṭr as a scene of the Day of Resurrection [qiyamah] 0
Divine gift 0
‘Id al-Fiṭr prayer 0
Prayer for rain [ṣalat al-istisqa’] 0
Reason behind the absence of rain 0
Life conduct [sirah] of the holy saints [awliya’] 0
Manner of performing the prayer for rain 0
Historical precedence of the prayer for rain 0
Importance of Friday congregational prayer 0
3. Intellectual and political development of the Muslims 0
Chapter 8 225
Other Prayers 0
Friday congregational prayer [ṣalat al-jum‘ah] 0
Manner of offering Friday congregational prayer 226
Importance of Friday congregational prayer 227
1. Cultivating the spirit of fraternity and brotherhood 0
2. Formation of the Islamic forces 228
3. Intellectual and political development of the Muslims 0
4. Enhancing the spirit of collectivity 0
5. The center for mobilization 0
Life conduct [sirah] of the holy saints [awliya’] 229
‘Id prayers 230
‘Id al-Fiṭr prayer 0
Divine gift 232
‘Id al-Fiṭr as a scene of the Day of Resurrection [qiyamah] 0
‘Id al- Aḍḥa prayer 233
‘Id prayer as a prerogative of the leader 234
Ṣalat al-Ayat [Prayer for the Signs] 235
Ṣalat al-Ayat as a lesson on monotheism [tawḥid] 0
Manner of performing Ṣalat al-Ayat 237
Ṣalat al-Mayyit [ritual prayer for the dead] 238
Prayer for rain [ṣalat al-istisqa’] 239
Reason behind the absence of rain 240
Manner of performing the prayer for rain 242
Historical precedence of the prayer for rain 243
Other prayers 244
Bibliography 247
Transliteration Symbols 251

Page

First Pages




بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم

In the Name of Allah,
the All-beneficent, the All-merciful





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Ahl Al-Bayt World Assembly

The Ahl al-Bayt World Assembly  is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) that was established by a group of Shiite elites under the supervision of the great Islamic authority of the Shiites in 1990 to identify, organize, educate and support the followers of Ahl al-Bayt.

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  • 88950827 (0098-21)
  • 88950882 (0098-21)

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