Al-Ghufaylah

Salvation through patience & perseverance

Salat al-Ghufaylah

Written by Saleem Bhimji SAMPLEEdited by Arifa Hudda

Foreword by Shaykh Muhammad Khalfan

Written by Saleem Bhimji Edited by Arifa Hudda

Foreword by Shaykh Muhammad Khalfan

Published by Islamic Publishing House www.iph.ca [email protected] www.almubin.org director@almubin.org w Shaheed101

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C TheIPH

Cover Design and Layout by Saleem Bhimji for the Islamic Publishing House

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Printed in Canada Contents

Introduction ...... v Foreword ...... xi The Daily Prayers (Ṣalawāt) ...... 19 Recommended Prayers in the Aḥadīth ...... 21 1. Perfecting the Obligatory Prayers ...... 21 2. One’s Scale of Deeds ...... 21 3. Sufficing with only the Obligatory Prayers ...... 22 4. True Followers (Shīʿā) of Imām ʿAlī ...... 22 5. Keeping away from Laziness ...... 22 6. Preparing One’s Self ...... 23 7. Alleviation of Tribulations ...... 23 8. Total Daily Prayers are FiftyOne Rakaʿāt ...... 23 9. Effects of Reciting Numerous Amounts of Prayers ...... 24 10. In Order for the Recommended Prayers to be Accepted ...... 24 What is Ṣalāt alGhufaylah? ...... 25 The Benefits of the Stories of the Qurʾān ...... 26 1. Bringing tranquility to the heart ...... 26 2. Consolation to the soul ...... 27 3. Fulfillment of the Divine proofs ...... 27 4. Spiritual fortitude and determination ...... 27 5. A reminder ...... 28 6. A means to reflect and ponder ...... 28 7. SAMPLE A greater wisdom ...... 28 8. Truthfulness of Prophet Muḥammad ...... 29 9. Truthfulness of the Day of Resurrection ...... 30 10. Knowing Allāh j ...... 30 11. Making others understand realities ...... 31 12. Learning lessons ...... 31 13. Admonition and exhortation ...... 32 14. Servitude to Allāh j ...... 32 15. A means to further knowledge ...... 32 What is Ṣalāt alGhufaylah? ...... 33 A Particular Form of Ṣalāt alGhufaylah in the Ḥadīth ...... 35 Ṣalāt alGhufaylah – Step by Step ...... 37 Ṣalāt alGhufaylah: A Short Window of Opportunity ...... 42 Philosophy of Ṣalāt alGhufaylah and the Dhikr Yūnusiyyah ...... 43 Prophet Yunus A Prophet of Many “Exceptions” ...... 44 Exegesis on the First Verse of Ṣalāt alGhufaylah ...... 48 1. Prophet Yūnus’ Salvation from the Frightful Agony ...... 48 2. Points of Reflection ...... 50 a. The Outcome of Prophet Yūnus ...... 50 b. What is the Meaning of “Darkness” in this Passage? ...... 51 c. What is the Tark alAwlā that Prophet Yūnus Performed? . 52 d. A Fateful Lesson Learnt ...... 52 Exegesis on the Second Verse of Ṣalāt alGhufaylah ...... 55 a. Knowledge of the Unseen (ʿIlm alGhayb) ...... 55 Importance of the Qunūt in the Prayers ...... 60 Did Imām asSajjād Teach Yazīd ibne Muʿāwiyah the ‘Secret’ for the Latter to be Forgiven? and ...... 64 Other Recommended Prayers Between Maghrib and ʿIshā 1 ...... 71 Another Recommended Prayer Between Maghrib and ʿIshā 2...... 72 Some Points about Recommended (Mustaḥab) Prayers ...... 77 Fourteen Differences Between Obligatory and Recommended Prayers . 78 GlossarySAMPLE of Prophets and Saints ...... 81 Index ...... 83 Image Credits...... 85 Other Writings, Translations & Compilations from Saleem Bhimji ...... 87

Introduction By the Author

In the Name of Allāh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

When we glance through the spiritual regiment of the Muslim, we see that it is composed of various acts of devotion towards Allah j the Almighty. Some of these are obligatory and must be performed – such as the fast of the month of Ramaḍhān, the ‘religious tax’ on one’s gross savings (khums or zakāt), the five daily canonical prayers (ṣalāt) or the major pilgrimage (ḥajj) to Mecca. Others are highly recommended and have been emphasized by the leaders of the faith – actions such as the minor pilgrimage (ʿumrāh), recommended charity (ṣadaqah), and the elective (mustaḥab) prayers – of which Ṣalāt alGhufaylah is one of the highly recommended and very “easy” to perform – for those who have earned the Divine providence (tawfīq) to enact it. This book, Ṣalāt alGhufaylah, is our second attempt to elucidate upon the jurisprudence of Islām in the realm of the ṣalāt while endeavoring to present such acts of worship in a clear and easy to understand language.1 At the same time, through such writings, we wish to expound on the philosophy, wisdom and etiquette of these acts of worship which we sometimes perform out of habit or ritual without knowing the spiritual SAMPLE 1 Our first project is Ṣalāt alAyāt – the special prayers performed during natural events such as earthquakes, solar and lunar eclipses, etc. Published by the Islamic Humanitarian Service (www.alhaqq.com), this book is available for sale from the Islamic Humanitarian Service (www.alhaqq.com), Islamic Publishing House (www.iph.ca) and Taqwa Media (www.taqwamedia.com). vi Ṣalāt alGhufaylah aspects. If we are given the lifespan and the Divine support, we intend to continue in this series and to present a contemporary look at the remaining regularly performed ṣalāt including Ṣalāt alJumuʿah and Ṣalāt alʿEid, inshallāh – we ask the reader to pray to Allāh that we are able to see our goals to fruition. What follows in this book is the first ever comprehensive analysis in English about one of the most important recommended prayers in Islām – Ṣalāt alGhufaylah – a joint recommendation from at least two of the infallibles. The final Messenger (Rasūl) of Allāh j and Prophet (Nabī), Muḥammad alMuṣṭafā taught us the importance of recommended prayers in general, and specifically the ones between Maghrib and ʿIshā; and it was the 6th Imām, Jaʿfar ibne Muḥammad asṢādiq who was born on the same day as Prophet Muḥammad — the 17th of Rabīʿ al Awwal — but 72 years later, who taught us one of the specific methods of Ṣalāt alGhufaylah which carries with it a high reward, and also a profound way to change the course of our lives through its performance – if done with a complete understanding of it. Although the prayer itself is only two rakʿat and can be performed in five minutes or less, however there is truly an ocean of spiritual benefit and lessons which one can learn and implement, if time is taken to study the contents of what is being recited and the deeper understandings of each and every word which is uttered. Therefore, one needs to carefully read, study and reflect over the commentary of the verses used in this prayer (as presented in this book and also as has been described in various other authoritative works which are currently available), and also study the life history of one of Allāh’s j prophets, Yūnus , if we truly wish to turn our own lives around and turn back to complete servitude of Allāh j – like this great prophet of Allāh j did. In completing this work, we have relied on numerous sources and reference books – all of which have been duly noted and we sincerely owe a debtSAMPLE of gratitude to the scholars of Islām who have preserved and passed on the teachings of Muḥammad and the family of Muḥammad , as they reach us today, 1,400 years since their inception. This book will take the reader through a journey into various areas of Islamic teachings which may at first seem trivial, however when looked at from a holistic point of view, one will realize that performance of any Introduction by the Author vii act of worship in Islam actually requires the studying and understanding of multiple disciplines, since these acts of worship are not given to us in a vacuum – they are multidimensional. It is for this reason that before we even begin to discuss the method of its performance, we need to educate ourselves with the overlying concept of ṣalāt, and from there the importance of spending time on personal development through acts of worship which are not obligatory upon us, but highly recommended (mustaḥab) – such as the optional prayers. Once we have understood the importance of going above and beyond what is required from us, then we are able to better appreciate what Ṣalāt alGhufaylah is, how it was taught to us, how to perform it and all of the periphery instructions in this regards. As this prayer is formulated around two main concepts: the forgiveness of Allāh j in our lives and the allencompassing knowledge of Allāh j, we then delve into the commentary of the two verses which are read in this ṣalāt because without knowing what Prophet Yūnus went through in his mission and what form his repentance took, it will be difficult for us to understand our life challenges and how we can work on altering our condition. In addition, we also need to delve into the comprehensive knowledge of Allāh j to better appreciate our role as servants and how vast His forgiveness is. This book then presents a discussion regarding an issue which has been circling in the community in terms of the spiritual power of Ṣalāt al Ghufaylah, and seeks to bring clarity to an incident which many people have falsely attributed to the Infallibles in regards to the tragic events of Kerbalā’ and the role of the guilty individuals in the senseless massacre of Imām alḤusayn ibne ʿAlī and his family and friends. We then conclude this writing with two other prayers which are highly recommended to be recited between Ṣalāt alMaghrib and ʿIshā and some general jurisprudential issues regarding the recommended (mustaḥabSAMPLE) prayers.  As human beings who are only here for a limited time, we realize that we have very little time at our disposal. If we presume that an average viii Ṣalāt alGhufaylah person lives 70 years in the period of being bāligh2, if you subtract the regular amount of hours spent commuting to and from work/school, the time at work/school and the amount of time sleeping, eating and all of the other vicissitudes of life, we are left with a little over 23 years of actual “free time” – to engage in recreation, pleasure, entertainment – and of course the specific acts of worship:

Average life span ‘postbāligh’: 70 years Total number of “days lived”: 25,500 days Total number of “hours lived”: 613,200 hours Time spent commuting for work/school, 409,200 hours working, sleeping and other daily activities: Total amount of hours remaining: 204,000 hours Total number of days remaining: 8,500 days Total number of years “free time”: 23.29 years

With such a short amount of time available at our disposal to work towards Allāh’s j pleasure and the attainment of paradise, we see that time is truly ‘flying by’ and ‘slipping away’ from us and that we need to make the most of our ‘spare time’ in our lives rather than drowning ourselves in other activities and before we know it, we will be gone from this world, and thus we need to ensure that we make the most of the time that we have available to build our next life. Therefore, let us ensure that if we are not able to spend the approximately 21 years in ‘prescribed worship’, that we make the most of whatever time we have in our lives before that too withers away from us. SAMPLE 

2 What is termed as bāligh or the beginning of maturity – for girls this is 9 years of age and for boys approximately 1215 years of age. Introduction by the Author ix

We are humbled for the opportunity to have his eminence, Shaykh Muhammad Khalfan3 review this work and offer his suggestions, and for also writing a thorough and powerful foreword to this book — a task which he most graciously accepted from this insignificant servant of Allāh j — despite his extremely demanding schedule of studying, writing, preaching and personal selfgrowth, he still took time to support yet another one of our projects.4 This work could not have been completed had it not been for the support and encouragement from my family — my wife and editor, Arifa Hudda; and my dear daughter, Muhadditha Fatima Saleem. Their assistance in more ways than anyone is truly aware of is the prime reason why this project was completed and is now in your hands. The funding for the printing of this project was done via our Kickstarter campaign and in approximately three days, we managed to secure donations from generous contributors around the world to help publish this book – we were truly humbled to receive such support in such a short period of time. In addition to all of the online donors, many other anonymous individuals approached us personally with their contributions for which we are eternally grateful. Last but not least, we have had the generous and continuous support of the Academy for Learning Islam (www.academyofislam.org), the Mohsin and Fauzia Jaffer Foundation towards the printing of this work. We ask Allāh j to reward all of the donors and to bless their family and loved ones and to shower their deceased family and friends with His special mercy. Keeping the readership of this book in mind, we have done our best to maintain English terminology for the Islamic terms used, but have also used their Arabic equivalent in parenthesis to further acquaint the reader

3 Readers will benefit from the Shaykh’s lectures which are available on YouTube (by searching for his name), but also from his writings – his books can be found at www.alislam.orgSAMPLE by searching under his name, and also at his three blogs: 1. http://www.universalrealization.blogspot.ca/ 2. http://lisanalqawm.blogspot.ca/ 3. http://fridaylantern.blogspot.ca/ 4 Shaykh Muhammad Khalfan also wrote an introduction to our work, Ṣalāt al Āyāt. x Ṣalāt alGhufaylah with these terms, however when it comes to the names of the prophets and saints, we have maintained their Arabic names and have included a glossary at the back of the book providing their Anglicized names. We ask the readers to overlook any spelling or typographical errors in this book and to inform us via email if you find any of the same so that these may be corrected for an online version or future printings. Finally, when you — the reader — are given the Divine providence to recite this beautiful ṣalāt, we would humbly request that you remember everyone who was instrumental in completing this project — including the author, editor, reviewers, donors and everyone else. May Allāh j accept all of our prayers, and grant us that which we have prayed for others – with no reduction in what anyone is given as surely with Him are the treasures of the heavens and the earth, and He does not tire in giving to His servants in abundance, nor do His bounties ever decrease by Him bestowing upon His creations.

“There is no entity worthy of worship except for You (O’ Allah!) All glory belongs to You, indeed I was one of those who was unjust to himself.” AlQurʾān, Sūrah alAnbiyāh (21), verse 87

Saleem Bhimji Edmonton,SAMPLE Alberta

April 21, 2016 CE Rajab 13th 1437 AH Birth anniversary of the Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī ibne Abī Ṭālib, peace be upon them both

Foreword By Shaykh Muhammad Khalfan

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Introduction

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Salat al-Ghufaylah

The Daily Prayers

The most important act of worship (ʿibādah) and connection to Allāh j are the canonical prayers (ṣalawāt) which a Muslim is obligated to perform from the day one becomes of age, until one leaves this world. Among these are the five daily prayers which must be performed every day. In the traditions (aḥādīth), Prophet Muḥammad has told us that if the ṣalāt is accepted, then all of the other acts of worship will also be accepted; however if the ṣalāt is rejected, then all of the other acts of worship will also be refused. The Prophet has also described the prayers as being the pillar of religion, the means of spiritual ascent (meʿrāj) of a believer, and many other such beautiful metaphors. Indeed, while in the state of prayer, a believer is in direct communion with one’s Lord and is the time when one is the ‘closest’ to Allāh j. The process of gaining spiritual proximity to the Beloved is not only limited to the five daily prayers which are performed at specific times within a 24hour period; rather, we are told that we can and should speak to Allāh j in this way at any time – not only when we need something, but even to simply thank Him for all of the countless blessings and favours that He has showered upon us. Therefore, we have also been encouraged to engage in the recommended (mustaḥab) prayers which have been taught to us by Prophet Muḥammad and his noble family, the Ahlul Bayt . Some of these prayers are designated to be performed specifically on a certain day or night within the Islāmic lunar calendar – such as the 1,000 units (rakaʿāt5) of ṣalāt which are recommended to recite in the blessed month of Ramaḍhān; while others take place on special events in specific months such as on the day of the completion of the fast (SAMPLEʿEīd alFiṭr) or the completion of the pilgrimage (ḥajj) to Mecca (ʿEīd alAḍhā), or on the birth anniversaries of the fourteen infallibles.

5 Plural of rakʿah 20 Ṣalāt alGhufaylah

However, if we draw our attention to a tradition from Imām Ḥasan al ʿAskarī and the five signs6 of a true follower (the Shīʿa), we see that we have been encouraged to perform a minimum of 51 rakaʿāt within a 24 hour period which is outlined below: Prayer Number of Rakaʿāt 11 rakaʿāt – known as ṣalāt altahajjud (also known as ṣalāt al PreFajr layl or namazeshab) 2 rakaʿāt before fajr prayer Fajr + 2 rakaʿāt of obligatory fajr prayer 8 rakaʿāt before the time of dhuhr prayer Dhuhr + 4 rakaʿāt of obligatory dhuhr prayer 8 rakʿat after the time of ʿaṣr prayer ʿAṣr + 4 rakʿat of obligatory ʿaṣr prayer 3 rakaʿāt of obligatory maghrib prayer + Maghrib 4 rakaʿāt after maghrib prayer (other than the 2 rakaʿāt of Ṣalāt al Ghufaylah, but it can be combined in the intention – according to some of the Marājiʿ Taqlīd) 4 rakaʿāt of obligatory ʿishā prayer ʿIshā + 2 rakaʿāt sitting after ʿishā prayer– counted as 1 rakʿat standing Obligatory (wājib) prayers = 17 rakaʿāt Total + daily Recommended (mustaḥab) prayers = 34 rakaʿat rakaʿāt Total = 51 rakaʿāt

6 The text of this ḥadīth reads: SAMPLE َ ﻋﻼَ َﻣ ُﺎت اﻟْ ُﻤ ْﺆ ِﻣ ِ ﻦ َﺧ ْﻤ ٌﺲ َﺻﻼَ ةُ اﻹْ ِ ْﺣ َﺪى َو اﻟْ َﺨ ْﻤ ِﺴ َ َو ِزﻳَ َﺎرةُ اﻷْ َ ْرﺑَ ِﻌ َ َو اﻟﺘﱠ َﺨﺘﱡ ُﻢ ِﰲ اﻟْﻴَ ِﻤِ َو ﺗَ ْﻌ ِﻔ ُ ِ ِ اﻟْ َﺠﺒِِ َو اﻟْ َﺠmandatory ْﻬ ُﺮ ِب ْﺑِﺴ ِﻢ including] اﻟﻠﱠﻪ ﱠاﻟﺮrakʿatْﺣ ِﻤﻦ ﱠاﻟﺮﺣfiftyoneِﻴﻢ .The signs of the believer are five: praying“ and optional prayers], Ziyārat alArbaʿīn, wearing a ring in the right hand, prostration on dirt, and saying ‘Bismillāh hir Raḥmān nir Raḥīm’ in a raised voice.” Ṣalāt alGhufaylah 21

Thus we see that the recommended prayers are even greater in number than the minimum which Allāh j expects from us and are more beloved to Him because their performance shows our devotion and commitment to the faith and its sacred teachings as we are going ‘above and beyond’ the call of duty to cherish our Creator. In this regards, there are countless traditions from Prophet Muḥammad and the infallible Imāms in which they have accentuated on the significance of engaging in recommended prayers and below are ten such traditions.

Recommended Prayers in the Aḥadīth

. Perfecting the Obligatory Prayers

ﻗ َ َﺎل ِاﻹ َﻣ ُ ﺎم اﻟ ْﺒَ ِﺎﻗ ُﺮ َﻋ ﻠَﻴْ ِﻪ ﱠاﻟﺴ َُﻼم: ِإ َن اﻟ ْ َﻌﺒْ َ ﺪ ﻟ َ ُ ْﻓَ ُﻊ ﻟ َ ُﻪ ِﻣ ْﻦ َﺻ َِﻼﺗ ِﻪ ﻧ ِ ْﺼ َُﻔﻬﺎ أ َ ْو ُﺛ@ ﻠُﺜُ َﻬﺎ أ َ ْو ُر ﺑُ ُﻌ َﻬﺎ أ َ ْو ُﺧ ُﻤ ُﺴ َﻬﺎ ﻓ َ َ B ﻳ ُ ْﺮﻓَ ُﻊ ﻟ َ ُﻪ ِإ ﱠ ﻻ َﻣ ﺎ أ َﻗْﺒََ ﻞ َﻋ ﻠَﻴْ ِ ﻪ ِﺑَﻘﻠ ْ ِ ِﺒﻪ َو ِإ ﱠFَﺎ أ َ َﻣ ْﺮﻧَﺎ ِﺑﺎﻟﻨ ﱠ ِﺎﻓﻠَ ِﺔ ﻟ ِﻴ ِﺘﻢ ﻟ َﻬ ﻢ ِﺑﻬ ﺎ ﻣ ﺎ ﻧ َﻘﺼﻮا ِﻣ ﻦ اﻟ ْ َِﻔﺮﻳﻀ ِﺔ. َ ﱠ ُ ْ Imām alBāqir, peace be upon him,َ has said:َ Indeedُ َ َ sometimesَ onehalf, onethird, onequarter or even onefifth of [the total] of the prayers which a servant performs ascend [into the heavens], because it is only that amount of prayer in which there was focus and presence of heart in which will soar, and it is for this reason that the people have been advised to [perform] the recommended prayers so that through this, any deficiencies which exist in their obligatory prayers will be compensated for.7

. One’s Scale of Deeds

ﻗ َ َﺎل َر ُﺳ ُﻮل ِ اﻟﻠﻪ َﺻ ﱠ ﲆ اﻟﻠ ﱠ ُﻪ َﻋ ﻠَﻴْ ِ ﻪ َو آﻟ ِ ِﻪ َو َﺳﻠﱠ َﻢ: أَ ﱠﻟﺼ َﻠﻮ ُ ة ِﻣ َﻴﺰ ٌان َﻓ َﻤ ْ ﻦ أَ ْو َ ﰱ ِإ ْﺳ ﺘَ ْﻮ َ ﰱ ProphetSAMPLE Muḥammad, prayers of Allāh be upon him and his family, has said: The ṣalāt is the scale [which will be used to weigh one’s

7 Biḥār alAnwār, vol. 87, pg. 28 22 Ṣalāt alGhufaylah

deeds] and therefore a person who performs more [ṣalāt], will benefit more.8

. Suﬃcing with only the Obligatory Prayers

ﻗ َ َﺎل ِاﻹ َﻣ ُ ﺎم َﺣ َﺴ ُﻦ اﻟ ْ َﻌ ْﺴ َﻜ ِﺮ ُي َﻋ ﻠَﻴْ ِ ﻪ ﱠاﻟﺴ ُ ﻼَم: ِإ ﱠن ﻟ ِ ْﻠ ُﻘﻠُ ِﻮب ِإ ﻗْﺒَﺎ ً ﻻ َو إ ِ ْدﺑَﺎرا ً ﻓ َ ِﺈ َذا أ َﻗْﺒﻠَﺖ ﻓ َﺎﺣ ِﻤﻠُﻮﻫﺎ ﻋ َ ﲆ اﻟﻨ ﻮ ِاﻓ ِ ﻞ و ِإ َذا أ َدﺑﺮ ْ ت ﻓ َﺎﻗْﺘ ِﴫوا ِﺑﻬ ﺎ ﻋ َ ﲆ ْاﻟ َﻔﺮ ِاﺋﺾ hasَ said:َ Indeedْ ْ theَ ﱠ َ,Imām alḤasanَ َ alʿAskarī,َ ُ َ peaceَ َ ْ be uponَ him hearts [go into a state] of acceptance and rejection; therefore, when your heart is [in a state of] consenting, then urge it towards the recommended [prayers], and when it is [in a state of] rejection, then suffice it with only the obligatory [prayers].9

. True Followers (Shīʿā) of mām ʿAlī

ﻗ َ َﺎل ِاﻹ َﻣ ُ ﺎم ُﻣ َﺤ ﱠﻤ ُﺪ اﻟ ْﺒَ ِﺎﻗ ُﺮ َﻋ ﻠَﻴْ ِﻪ ﱠاﻟﺴ ُﻼَم: ِإﱠFَﺎ ِﺷ َﻴﻌ ُ ﺔﻋ َ ِ ﱟﲇ ... ِﻛَﺜ ٌَ ة َﺻ َﻼﺗُ ُﻬ ْﻢ ِﻛَﺜ ٌَ ة ﺗ ِ َﻼوﺗُﻬﻢ ﻟ ِﻠْ ُﻘﺮ ِآن... َ ُ Imām Muḥammad alBāqir, peace be upon him, has said:ْ Indeedْ the true followers (Shīʿa) of ʿAlī … [are known by their] abundance in prayers and their abundance in recitation of the Qurʾān...10

. Keeping away from Laziness

ﻗ َ َﺎل ِاﻹ َﻣ ُﺎم َﺟ ْﻌ َُﻔﺮ ﱠاﻟﺼ ِﺎد ُق َﻋ ﻠَﻴْ ِﻪ ﱠاﻟﺴ ُﻼَم: ِإ ﻳﱠﺎﻛُ ْ ﻢ َو اﻟ ْ َﻜ َﺴَ ﻞ ِإ ﱠن َر ﺑﱠ ُﻜ ْﻢ َر ِﺣ ٌ ﻴﻢ ﻳ َ ُْﺸﻜ ُﺮ اﻟ ْ َِﻘﻠﻴ َ ﻞ ِإ ﱠن ﱠاﻟﺮ ُﺟَ ﻞ ﻟ َﻴُ َﺼﱢ ﲇ ﱠاﻟﺮ َﻛْﻌﺘَ ِْ ﺗ َﻄَ ﱡﻮﻋﺎً ﻳ ُ ِﺮ ُﻳﺪ ِِﺑﻬ َ B َو ْﺟ َﻪ اﻟﻠ ﱠ ِ ﻪ ﻓ َﻴﺪ ِﺧﻠُﻪ اﻟﻠ ﱠ ﻪ ِِﺑﻬ B اﻟ ْﺠﻨ َ ﺔ Iَ adviseُ ُyouْ toُ َ ﱠ:Imām Jaʿfar alṢādiq, peace be upon him, has said keep away from laziness as indeed your Lord is mostMerciful and He accepts the minimal. Indeed a person may perform a two rakʿat prayerSAMPLE solely seeking the pleasure of Allāh and because of this

8 Furūʿ alKāfī, vol. 3, pg. 267 9 Mustadrak alWasā’il, vol. 1, pg. 177 10 Ṣifāt alShīʿa, pg. 436 Ṣalāt alGhufaylah 23

[short two rakʿat prayer], Allāh will enter that individual into Paradise.11

. Preparing One’s Self

ﻗ َ َﺎل ِاﻹ َﻣ ُﺎم َﺟ ْﻌ َُﻔﺮ ﱠاﻟﺼ ِﺎد ُق َﻋ ﻠَﻴْ ِﻪ ﱠاﻟﺴ ُﻼَم: ِإ َن اﻟ ْ َْﻘﻠ َﺐ ﻳ َ ْﺤﻴَﻰ َو َ gُ ُ ﻮت، ﻓ َ ِﺈ َذا َﺣ ﱠﻲ ﻓ َﺄَدﺑﻪ ِﺑﺎﻟﺘ ﻄَﻮ ِع، و ِإ َذا ﻣ َ ﺎت ﻓ َﺎﻗْﴫ ه ﻋ َ ﲆ اﻟ ْ َﻔﺮ ِاﺋ ِﺾ. ﱢ ْ heartُ ﱠthe ﱡ Imām Jaʿfar alṢādiq, peace beَ uponَ ُhim,ْ ُ has said:َ Indeedَ [of a person] can be (spiritually) alive and it also (spiritually) dies; so then when it is (spiritually) alive, then coach it with the recommended [prayers]; and when it has (spiritually) died, then keep it content with only the obligatory [prayers].12

. Alleviation of Tribulations

ﻗ َ َﺎل ِاﻹ َﻣ ُ ﺎم َﺟ ْﻌ َُﻔﺮ ﱠاﻟﺼ ِﺎد ُق َﻋ ﻠَﻴْ ِﻪ ﱠاﻟﺴ ُﻼَم: َﻣﺎ َ gْ ﻨَ ُﻊ أ َ َﺣ َﺪ ْﻛُﻢ ِإ َذا َد َﺧَ ﻞ َﻋ ﻠَﻴْ ِ ﻪ َﻏ ٌﻢ ِﻣ ْﻦ ُﻏ ُﻤ ِﻮم ﱡاﻟﺪ ﻧْﻴَﺎ أ َ ْن ﻳ َﺘَ َﻮ ﱠﺿﺄ َ ﺛ ُ ﱠﻢ ﻳ َ ْﺪ ُﺧَ ﻞ ْاﻟ َﻤ ْﺴ ِﺠ َﺪ ﻓ َ َ ْ َ ﻛَﻊ َر َﻛْﻌﺘَ ِْ ﻳ َ ْﺪ ُﻋﻮ اﻟﻠ ﱠ َﻪ ِﻓ ِﻴﻬB أ َ ﻣ ﺎ ﺳ ِﻤﻌﺖ اﻟﻠ ﱠﻪ ﻳ ُُﻘﻮل [ و اﺳ ﺘ ِﻌﻴﻨﻮا ِﺑﺎﻟﺼ ِ ﱪ و اﻟﺼ ِ ﻼة] َ be ُ uponَ ْ him,َ hasَ said:َ َ Whatْ َ preventsَ ﱠ peaceْ َ ﱠ,Imām Jaʿfar alṢādiq any of you that when a sorrow from the distresses of the transient world visits you that you perform ablution (wuḍhū), enter the mosque (masjid) and perform a two rakʿat prayer in which you call upon Allāh in these two [rakʿat]?! Haven’t you heard Allāh say [in the Qurʾān13]: [And seek assistance [with Allāh] through patience and prayer.]14

. Total Daily Prayers are Fifty-One Rakaʿāt

ﻗ َ َﺎل ِاﻹ َﻣ ُ ﺎم َﻋ ِ ﱞ ﲇ َﻋ ﻠَﻴْ ِﻪ ﱠاﻟﺴ َُﻼم: ... َ و ﻛَﺎﻧ َ ِﺖ اْﻷ ُ َﻣ ُﻢ ﱠاﻟﺴ ﺎﻟِ ُ َﻔﺔ ﻗ َ ْﺪ ﻓ َ َﺮ ْﺿ ُ ﺖ َﻋ ﻠَﻴْ ِﻬ ْﻢ َﺧ ْﻤ ِﺴ َ َﺻ َﻼ ً ة ِ ﰲ َﺧ ْﻤ ِﺴ َ َو ﻗْﺘﺎ ً َو ِﻫ َ ﻲ ِﻣ َﻦ ْاﻵ َﺻ ِﺎر اﻟ ﱠ ِﺘﻲ ﻛَﺎﻧ َ ْ ﺖ َﻋ ﻠَﻴْ ِﻬ ْﻢ ﻓ SAMPLEََﺮﻓَ ْﻌﺘُ َﻬﺎ

11 Wasā’il alShīʿa, vol. 3, pg. 30; Uṣūl alKāfī, vol. 2, pg. 61 12 Mustadrak alWasā’il, vol. 1, pg. 177 13 Qur’ān, Sūrah alBaqarah (2), verse 153 14 Wasā’il alShīʿa, vol. 5, pg. 263 24 Ṣalāt alGhufaylah

َﻋ ْﻦ أ ُ ﱠﻣ ِﺘ َﻚ َو َﺟ َﻌﻠْﺘُ َﻬﺎ َﺧ ْﻤﺴﺎ ً ِﰲ َﺧ ْﻤ َﺴ ِﺔ أ َ ْوﻗَ ٍﺎت َو ِﻫ َ ﻲ ِإ ْﺣ َﺪى َو َﺧ ْﻤ ُﺴ َ ﻮن ر ﻛْﻌ ًﺔ و ﺟ ﻌﻠْ ﺖ ﻟ َﻬﻢ أ َﺟﺮ ﺧ ﻤ ِﺴ ﺻ َﻼَة... َ Imām ʿAlī, peace be upon him, has said:َ َ [Allāh,ْ َ َ ْ theْ ُ Mostُ َ Highَ َ saidَ to His Prophet, prayers of Allāh be upon him and his family], ‘I had made it an obligation upon the nations which came before (you) that they were to perform fifty prayers during fifty times (of the day) and this was one of the exertions which was placed upon them, however I have lifted this weighty load off from your nation and I have given them five prayers in five times, and [including the obligatory and the recommended prayers], there are a total of 51 rakaʿāt and I will give them a reward [if they perform these] as if they have performed fifty prayers [as the previous nations had obligatory upon them].’15

. Eﬀects of Reciting Numerous Amounts of Prayers

ﻗ َ َﺎل َر ُﺳ ُﻮل اﻟﻠ ﱠ ِﻪ َﺻ ﱠ ﲆ اﻟﻠ ﱠ ُﻪ َﻋ ﻠَﻴْ ِ ﻪ َو آﻟ ِ ِﻪ َو َﺳﻠﱠ َﻢ: أ َ َﻛtُْﻛُ ْﻢ أ َ ْز َواﺟﺎ ً ِﰲ اﻟ ْ َﺠﻨﱠ ِﺔ أ َ َﻛtْﻛُﻢ ﺻ َﻼ ً ة ﰲ اﻟﺪ ﻧﻴﺎ him َ andْ ُ his ِ ﱡ ْ The Messenger of Allāh, prayers of Allāh be uponَ family, has said: Those of you who will have the most number of spouses in Paradise are those of you who performed the greatest number of [recommended] prayers while in this world.16

. n Order for the Recommended Prayers to be Accepted

ﻗ َ َﺎل ِاﻹ َﻣ ُ ﺎم ُﻣ َﺤ ﱠﻤ ُﺪ اﻟ ْﺒَ ِﺎﻗ ُ ﺮ َﻋ ﻠَﻴْ ِ ﻪ ﱠاﻟﺴ ُﻼَم: ... َ و إ ِ َذ اﻟ َ ْﻢ ﻳ ُ َﺆ ﱢ د ﱠاﻟﺮ ُﺟُ ﻞ اﻟ ْ َِﻔﺮ َﻳﻀ َﺔ ﻟ َ ْﻢ ﺗ ُ ْﻘﺒ ْ ﻞ ِﻣ ﻨ ﻪ اﻟﻨ ِﺎﻓﻠَ َﺔ ... said:ُ ْ Ifَ a ﱠImām Muḥammad alBāqir, peace be upon him, has person does not perform the obligatory [prayers], then the recommendedSAMPLE [prayers] will not be accepted from him.17

15 Jāmiʿ Aḥādīth alShīʿa, vol. 4, pg. 40 16 Mustadrak alWasā’il, vol. 1, pg. 175 17 Wasā’il alShīʿa, vol. 3, pg. 20 Ṣalāt alGhufaylah 25  Now that we have attained a better understanding on the importance of the recommended (mustaḥab) prayers in the faith of Islām, let us turn our attention to a specific prayer which is highly encouraged to perform every night, known as Ṣalāt alGhufaylah.

What is Ṣalāt al-Ghufaylah? Every prayer which a believer can perform has its own specific name. For example, the five daily obligatory prayers are known as Fajr, Dhuhr, ʿAṣr, Maghrib and ʿIshā. The prayers on the first of Shawwāl are known as Ṣalāt alʿEid; the prayers during an earthquake or other natural occurrence are called Ṣalāt alAyāt, and all of them have their own philosophy and meaning behind them. Lexically, the word ghufaylah comes from the Arabic root word “ ” َﻏﻔَﻞَ which means “one who had fallen completely and totally into & heedlessness or negligence” and in addition, it is also the diminutive18 19

18 In language structure, a diminutive or diminutive form is a formation of a word used to convey a slighter degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment. It is the opposite of an augmentative. Diminutives are often used for the purpose of expressing affection. In many languages, the meaning of diminution can be translated as “tiny” or “wee”; and diminutives are used frequently when speaking to small children; adults sometimes use diminutives when they express extreme tenderness and intimacy by behaving and talking like children. In English the alteration of meaning is often conveyed through clipping, either alone or combined with an affix, and English diminutives tend to be shorter and more colloquial than the basic form of the word. (Wikipedia – with modifications)

19 In his book, alMūjiz fī alTaṣrīf, vol. 2, pg. 397, Shaykh Ali AbdurRasheed writes thatSAMPLE in Arabic, the diminutive noun signifies smallness or a reduction in size, body or mass – such as ‘ ’ or man and ‘ ’ or small man. He also mentions رﺟﻴﻞ رﺟﻞ that at times, it can signify insignificance – for example ‘ ’ or servant and ‘ ’ or ﻋﺒﻴﺪ ﻋﺒﺪ humble servant. It can also signify something which is few in number, such as ‘ ’ or dirham and ‘ ’ or a few dirham. Also, the diminutive can signify درﻳﻬBت درﻫﻢ shortness of time and nearness of a place. Yet another usage is to denote 26 Ṣalāt alGhufaylah form of the word ghaflah which means negligence or neglect. Thus, the word “ghufaylah” means one who has fallen into a complete and utter state of heedlessness; and the “ ” at the end on the word “ ” does not اﻟﻐﻔﻴﻠﺔ ة denote that this word is of the feminine tense, rather, it denotes an emphasis on this trait being present in a person. Thus from this we understand that someone or something may be “present”, however the individual is not aware or has fallen into negligence in regards to that thing, or has forgotten it and the only way to awaken an individual to that reality is to remind them about it. It is for this reason that we state that Ṣalāt alGhufaylah is a ṣalāt which is performed by a person who has fallen into a state of heedlessness or negligence of Allāh j, and that one must perform this prayer so that they can fall out of this state of forgetfulness and bring that reminder back to one’s heart. It is for this reason that the verses which are contained in this chapter have been so carefully chosen as the first portion relates to the amazing story of Prophet Yūnus – and indeed it is not just a “story”, but rather in Islamic teachings, even stories serve a great purpose.

The Benets of the Stories of the urʾān There are countless ‘stories’ mentioned in the Qurʾān – all which reflect reallife incidents which have transpired over the course of the history of the world and have affected countless individuals. The scholars of the Qurʾān have enumerated at least fifteen benefits of the ‘stories’ that are contained in the Qurʾān, and they are the following:

. Bringing tranquility to the heart َ َ ْ ُ ّ ْ ٌ َ ْ َ َ َ َ َ ُ ّ ُ ُ َ َ ُ َ و َِ ُر ُ ِْ ِ ُوا ٰ َ ُِا َ وأوذوا َ ْ َ ْ ُ َ َ َ ُ َ ّ َ َ َ َ َ َ ْ َ َ َ ْ َ َ ْ ُ ْ َ َ و ِ ل ِِ ِ ت اِ و ء ك ِ ِ اِ And certainly messengers before you were rejected, but they were patientSAMPLE on being rejected and persecuted until Our help came to them; and there is none to change the words of Allāh, and compassion and sympathy and lastly, he writes that there are rare examples where it is used to demonstrate greatness.