The Mosque The Cure For All The Ailments Of The Heart Final Hc Checked

The Mosque The Cure for all the Ailments of the Heart

Presented to you by: ISAT The Islamic Society of Arlington, Texas

Our hearts are a trust whose rights we must fulfill. It is often that a Muslim complains about the darkness of his heart saying, for example: 'I wish to cure my sick heart; how can I soften it? How do I busy it with the mention of Allaah?' Such hearts must always be cared for and treated; if one's heart becomes rusty due to continuous sinning, it causes its owner to drift away from Allaah, and become known as one of the sinful; it would be a calamity if such a person were to die in this state. Therefore, the questions arise: How do we cure our hearts? How do we soften them? The Islaamic cure in this regard is of many types, but there is a very important cure which we would like to pay special attention to and emphasize on more than others: the role of the mosque. So, what is the connection between the mosque and the heart? What role can the mosque play in reforming and rectifying the heart? Our Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam has mentioned seven types of people who will be shaded under the shade of Allaah on the Day of Resurrection, when there will be no shade but His, and one of them was: "“A man whose heart is attached to the mosques.”" So there is a strong Islaamic connection between the heart and the mosque; Allaah says (what means): “[Such niches are] in mosques which Allaah has ordered to be raised and that His Name be mentioned therein; exalting Him within them in the morning and the evenings. [Are] men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allaah and performance of prayer and giving of Zakaah. They fear a Day in which the hearts and eyes will [fearfully] turn about." ” [An-Noor: 36-37]

These are the best places on earth in the scale of Allaah, over which angels spread their wings and onto which the divine light of guidance from Allaah reflects; these are places in which Muslims compete to perform good deeds; places where Muslims gather and acts of worship are performed out of obedience to Allaah; places where the angels and the mercy of Allaah descend; places in which hearts are purified and cleansed; in them, all people are equal in their prostration and bowing before Allaah, in full submission. The noble call of 'Allaahu Akbar' which emanates from these houses of Allaah, glorifying Allaah, the Exalted and Almighty, is capable of awakening sleeping hearts and bringing the heedless to guidance. When a believer's heart becomes like a bright lantern hanging in the mosque, and when it is attached to this position, it becomes intensely tranquil and calm. Having attachment to the mosque either means that one always rushes to return to the mosque as soon as he can after he has left it, or that he has immense love for it; both of these meanings are great and the Islaamic scholars have mentioned this when addressing this topic. Therefore, devotion to the mosque and repeatedly attending it to perform acts of obedience to Allaah is a great way of curing one's heart; it is indeed a cure for he who complains about the hardness of his heart and the other diseases which we all complain about.

Due to his great attachment and love of the mosque, when our Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam was suffering from his terminal sickness, he commanded his companions, may Allaah be pleased with them, to carry him out from his home to the mosque so that he sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam could attend the congregational prayer, and so he was carried out with his feet dragging on the ground. 'Aa'ishah, may Allaah be pleased with her, said: “"It is as if I am looking at him (i.e., the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam), being carried and with his feet marking two lines on the ground, due to his sickness (i.e. he couldn't walk unassisted).”" He sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam could not lift his feet off the ground and therefore they dragged along. When any of you go to the mosque, you are protected by Allaah and guarded by Him. When you leave your house purified by your ablution and go to perform one of the five obligatory prayers, you will receive the reward of one who is in the state of Ihraam performing Hajj, as in the narration which is mentioned in the book of Imaam Abu Daawood, may Allaah have mercy upon him. Praying optional prayers for half of the night is not an easy task, but it is easily achieved (i.e., its reward is attained) when you pray the ’Ishaa' `Ishaa' prayer with the congregation; likewise, praying optional prayers for the entire night is extremely difficult and tiring, but it is easily achieved (i.e., its reward is also attained) when you pray the Fajr prayer with the congregation.

If you happen to be present for every opening 'Allaahu Akbar' of each congregational prayer for forty consecutive days, during which you pray two hundred prayers, you shall receive two certificates, but not from any famous university; rather, they are from Allaah, the Lord of the heavens and earth; one certification releases its owner from Hell while the other certifies that he is free from hypocrisy. So the question arises, how can one be considered a person who was present at the opening 'Allaahu Akbar'? The answer is that: First: He must have been standing in line when the Imaam uttered it. Second: He must have uttered it immediately after him. It is only if a person prays two hundred consecutive obligatory prayers, which would take forty days, that he would achieve this. Some people have tried to achieve this and have thereby discovered great pleasure and tranquility in their lives. Attempting to achieve this has been the cause for the return to the Straight Path of many; it has transformed their lives and caused them to adhere to Islaam. Some of our pious predecessors said: “"We are living such pleasurable lives that if the kings realized its sweetness and could not attain it except by fighting us with their swords in order to seize it from us, they would certainly do so.”" They were referring to the tranquility and calmness of the heart which they felt whenever they attended the mosque; attending the houses of Allaah is indeed a great ritual.

This is why they were never willing to give it up; they would never accept giving up this great pleasure, the joy and delight of the heart that it brought, and this is why when Sa'eed bin AlMusayyib, may Allaah have mercy upon him, was told to leave Madeenah so that he could seek a cure for his diseased eyes, he replied: “"I would not then be able to attend the Fajr and 'Ishaa' `Ishaa' prayers with the congregation.”" For this reason it was never that the call for prayer was made except that he, may Allaah have mercy upon him, was present in the mosque. It was reported that many of our pious predecessors would go to the mosque being carried and supported by each other due to their sickness, which reflects their great attachment to the mosque, and many of them died whilst in the mosque. It is a huge honor to be the first to enter the mosque, as reported in an authentic narration that some of the companions of the Prophet, may Allaah be pleased with them, said: “"There is an angel with a banner (of honor) who accompanies the first person who goes to the mosque in the morning, and he remains there until he returns with him to his house after he is done (praying).”" On Fridays, angels sit at the entrance of the mosque recording the names of those who attend the Friday prayer—first, then second, and then third, and so on until the Imaam climbs the pulpit, and then they fold up their records. This is another form of being honored by Allaah, for those who attend first.

Waiting for the next prayer after finishing a prayer will result in one's name being recorded in the 'Iliyyoon; Allaah says (what means): “"Indeed, the record of the righteous is in ‘Illiyyoon. And what can make you know what ‘Illiyyoon is? It is [their destination recorded in] a register inscribed. Which is witnessed by those brought near [to Allaah].”" [Al-Mutaffifeen: 1821] If only people knew the great reward for praying in the first row of the mosque in the congregational prayer, they would compete to pray there. Leaving one's house in a state of purity (i.e., having performed ablution) and heading to the mosque purifies the body and the heart, and has tremendous effects on a person when it is done sincerely for the sake of Allaah. Mosques are the abode of the pious; they are the places to which the righteous people of the past would send their children for cultivation and to be trained in good manners. Contrary to that is what some parents are doing nowadays, whereby they witness their children either partially or completely abandoning their prayers in the mosques, and even in their homes so that they may, for example, watch a program on a satellite television channel; such parents never seem to make any effort to direct and instruct their children, and have therefore breached their trust and have been negligent with regards to raising their children Islamically. Our pious predecessors never sacrificed the twenty-five multiple reward for praying in congregation (which is lost if one prays alone). Longing to be in the mosque reflects the high level of faith and commitment in one’s heart.

We must always utilize this method of curing our hearts. Those who specialize in education and cultivation, frequently talk about the means to purify the heart and elevate the level of faith. Let it be known that elevation of the level of people's faith, and the purification of the hearts, happen in the mosques. So let us rush to this great act of worship, of attending the mosque for prayers, in order to reform and rectify our hearts, elevate our ranks and become closer to Allaah. Whenever a person enters into one of the houses of Allaah he will always benefit in one way or another; he either performs an obligatory or an optional prayer or waits for the congregational prayer - which has the same reward of performing the prayer, or he may be supplicating between the call for prayer (the Athaan) and the call to start the prayer (the Iqaamah), or he may be mentioning the remembrance of Allaah. The angels pray for such a person's forgiveness for as long as he is sitting in the mosque. Moreover, one can meet a righteous brother in faith in the mosque, and where would one meet such a righteous person if not in the mosque? Mosques in the past would always be filled with people who mentioned Allaah and engaged in circles of knowledge. In these mosques, people would find many ways of performing virtuous deeds. Attending the mosque raises one's rank and honor, so we must be keen to attend it continuously and always remember the reward for doing so.

Each step towards the mosque elevates one's rank by a level; it eradicates a sin and earns a reward - and rewards are always multiplied by Allaah. Our pious predecessors would walk with short steps in order to increase the number of steps that they would take while walking towards the mosque, so that their reward for walking to the mosque would be greater. One should walk calmly and must not intermingle his fingers while walking towards the mosque, since the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam forbade that. We must be grateful to Allaah for being able to attend the mosque safely, and this gratitude is expressed by increasing one's attendance in them, being early for prayers, remaining in them and reciting the Qur'aan, and attending study circles in them. It is unfortunate that we see many people shunning the mosque; some feel as if they are imprisoned once they enter it and cannot wait to leave; others argue in them and behave as though they are not in a place of worship. On the other hand, there are still others who are almost always in the mosque, moving from one act of worship to another, from praying, to reciting the Qur'aan, to mentioning the Name of Allaah, to supplicating, and worshipping Allaah in various ways.