The word “qunut” means obedience accompanied by humility. For example, while addressing Hadrat Maryam (Mary), God says: “O Mary, be obedient {uqnuti} to your Lord.”[38][399] What is meant by qunut in prayer is the supplication that we recite in the second rak‘ah of every prayer. On the interpretation of the verse, “And dedicate yourself to Him with total dedication,”[39][400] Imam as-Sadiq (‘a) says that what is meant by “tabattul” is to raise the hands in supplication during prayer.[40][401] The word “tabattul” means cutting off hope in other than God.[41][402] The Qur’an thus enjoins us: “Supplicate your Lord, beseechingly and secretly.”[42][403] One of the signs of beseeching and weeping in the presence of God is to raise the hands in supplication.[43][404] The indigent man stretches his hands toward the Absolute All-sufficient, praying to Him alone and purges his heart of other than Him. Although qunut is only optional {mustahabb} in prayer, it has, nevertheless, been given such attention that Imam ar-Rida (‘a) thus wrote in one of his letters to Ma’mun: “Qunut is an obligatory sunnah in all the daily prayers.”[44][405] Of course, the purpose of the Imam (‘a) is to emphasize the importance of qunut. For example, if one forgets to perform it before the ruku‘, it is recommended to perform a compensatory one after ruku‘, and if he remembers it during sujud, he may also do so after salam. Concerning the etiquette of performing qunut, it is thus recorded: You have to raise your hands up to the level of your face; the palms of the hands must be open toward the sky; the two hands must be kept together; the fingers must be close together except the thumbs; at the time of reciting the supplication, you have to look at the palms of the hands and recite it loudly; of course, not to the extent that the leader of the congregation would hear it.[45][406] There is no specific supplication and one may recite whatever supplication one wants. It is also not necessary that the supplication be recited in Arabic as it may also be recited in English. Of course, it is clear that the Qur’anic supplications and the supplications that the Infallibles (‘a) read in their qunut have special virtue and preeminence. The qunut of different prayers The number of qunut is not identical in all prayers. Each of the five daily prayers has one qunut before the ruku‘ of the second rak‘ah. But the Friday congregational prayer which has two rak‘ahs have two qunuts, one before the ruku‘ of the first rak‘ah and the other one after the ruku‘ of the second rak‘ah. In the ‘Id al-Fitr and ‘Id al-Qurban prayers each of which has two rak‘ahs, we recite nine qunuts; five successive qunuts before the ruku‘ of the first rak‘ah and four successive qunuts before the ruku‘ of the second rak‘ah. Of course, there is a special supplication recorded for these qunuts. Even in the salah al-ayat {prayer of natural signs} which has two rak‘ahs and five ruku‘s in every rak‘ah, it is recommended to recite the qunut before the second, fourth, sixth, and eight ruku‘s, though it is enough to have one qunut before the tenth ruku‘. The witr prayer, which is a one-rak‘ah prayer performed at the end of the night supererogatory prayers, has a long qunut and many recorded supplications, such as istighfar {to say, for example, “astaghfirullah”} 70 times, “al-‘afwu” 300 times and supplication for 40 believers. The prayer for rain, like the ‘Id prayers, has five qunuts in the first rak‘ah and four qunuts in the second rak‘ah. In any case, to prolong the qunut is recommended. Abu Dharr asked the Prophet (S): “Which prayer is better?” The Prophet (S) replied: “The prayer whose qunut is longer and anyone who would recite his qunut longer will have more comfort during the time of the Day of Resurrection.”[46][407] The qunut of the Infallibles (‘a) Ibn Mas‘ud said that the reason behind his acceptance of Islam was his witnessing the prayer of three persons, viz. the Holy Prophet (S), Hadrat ‘Ali (‘a) and Hadrat Khadijah (r).[47][408] In the salam that we give in the Ziyarah Al Ya Sin to Hadrat al-Mahdi (may Allah, the Exalted, expedite his glorious advent), we read: “Peace be upon you when you are standing for prayer and qunut!” For each of the Infallibles (‘a), there has been recorded long supplications in the qunut, which we cannot quote here for lack of space. It is surprising that the qunut with all its blessings is not widely and frequently practiced. Were Hadrat ‘Ali and the Khulafa’ ar-Rashidun not reciting qunut in their prayers? During qunut we should not think of ourselves and our requests only. We have to learn from Hadrat Zahra who said: “al-jaru thumma ’d-dar.”[48][409] That is, “Think of your neighbor first and then your family.” God has promised to grant the personal requests of anyone who would pray for others. In the qunut we have to pray against our enemies, asking for the victory of Islam and the Muslims. In his qunut the Holy Prophet (S) would curse a group of people, mentioning their names and descriptions. In the qunut of his prayer, Hadrat ‘Ali (‘a) used to curse Mu‘awiyah and ‘Amru ibn al-‘As.[49][410] At any rate, tawalla and tabarra are part of the religion, nay the foundation of our religion: ﻫَﻞ ﺍﻟﺪِّﻳﻦ ﺇِﻻَّ ﭐﻟْﺤُﺐّ ﻭَ ﭐﻟْﺒُﻐْﺾ؟ “Is the religion other than love and hatred?” Tashahhud ﺃَﺷْﻬَﺪُ ﺃَﻥْ ﻻَ ﺇِﻟٰﻪَ ﺇِﻻّ ﺍﻟﻠﻪ ﻭَ ﺃَﺷَﻬَﺪُ ﺃَﻥَّ ﻣُﺤَﻤَّﺪﺍً ﻋَﺒْﺪُﻩُ ﻭَ ﺭَﺳُﻮﻟُﻪ، ﺃَﻟﻠّﻬُﻢَّ ﺻَﻞِّ ﻋَﻠﻰٰ ﻣُﺤَﻤَّﺪٍ ﻭَ ﺁﻝِ ﻣُﺤَﻤَّﺪ . I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.O Allah! Send blessings on Muhammad and his progeny. Among the obligatory parts of prayer is tashahhud which is recited in the second and last rak‘ahs of prayer. In the tashahhud we testify and bear witness to the Oneness of Allah and the apostleship {risalah} of His Prophet, Hadrat Muhammad (S). Although we have testified again and again to these two facts in the adhan and iqamah, those testimonies were at the time of the approach of the prayer and this testimony is at the end of the prayer. There is wisdom behind all these repetitions. It is because man is easily subjected to negligence and forgetfulness, easily forgetting the Owner of the blessings. These sentences are like a rope that protects the ship of humanity from the waves of events. The slogan of tawhid “La ilaha illallah” is the first slogan of all the prophets (‘a). “ La ilaha illallah” is the testimony that all those who possess knowledge along with the angels do acknowledge: ﺷﻬِﺪَ ﺍﻟﻠَّﻪُ ﺃَﻧَّﻪُ ﻻ ﺇِﻟَﻪَ ﺇِﻻ ﻫُﻮَ ﻭَ ﺍﻟْﻤَﻼَﺋﻜَﺔُ ﻭَ ﺃُﻭﻟُﻮﺍ ﺍﻟْﻌِﻠْﻢِ “Allah bears witness that there is no god but Him—and {so do} the angels and those who possess knowledge.”[50][412] “La ilaha illallah” is the sentence that every Muslim hears at birth, with which he will be buried and which will be recited at his grave {talqin}. “La ilaha illallah” is the most beloved of sentences to God and the heaviest of deeds on the Scale.[51][413] “ La ilaha illallah” is the formidable fortress of God in which whoever enters is safe from His wrath: “La ilaha illa’llah is My fortress; so, whoever enters My fortress is safe from My wrath.”[52][414] “ La ilaha illallah” is the demarcation between kufr and Islam. Any unbeliever {kafir} who recites it enters the fold of Islam. The Prophet (S) criticized the Muslim who did not pay attention to one of the enemy soldiers when the latter recited “la ilaha illallah” and killed him, saying: “With the utterance of this statement, anyone is safe even though we do not know whether he does so sincerely or not.”[53][415] “La ilaha illallah” is the slogan of the Muslims at the time of passing the Sirat on the Day of Resurrection.[54][416] We read in history that Abu Jahl said to the Prophet (S): “Shall we abandon the 360 idols and accept One God? We are willing to utter 10 sentences but not this statement.” But the Prophet (S) said: “It is this statement that will give you glory and power and will give you superiority over other communities.”[55][417] A glance at the Du‘a’ al-‘Arafah of Imam al- Husayn (‘a) and the sermon of Imam as- Sajad (‘a) at Sham makes the fact clear that the saints of God wholeheartedly bore witness to this, and even the earth and time gave this testimony. In the tashahhud we do not suffice ourselves with merely “la ilaha illallah”. We rather add, “wahdahu la sharikalah” “He is alone who has no partner”. That is, He is One who has no partner in creation, in control and in legislation: “wa lam yaku’l- lahu sharika fi’l-mulk” “And He has no partner in sovereignty.” Servitude to God is the highest honor for the saints of God: .ﻋَﺒْﺪﺍً ﻟَﻚَ ﺍَﻛُﻮﻥَ ﺍَﻥْ ﻋِﺰّﺍً ﺑﻰ ﻛَﻔﻰٰ ﺍِﻟٰﻬﻰ “O Lord! It is already enough of an honor for me that I am Your servant.”[56][418] Servitude to God implies man’s freedom from all forms of restriction, attachment and affection. It thus gives man so much power that he would not be afraid of any superpower. On account of being a sincere servant of God, the wife of Pharaoh became such an impenetrable force that all of Pharaoh’s gold and silver had no effect on her, and although Pharaoh subjected all to his service, she remained the servant of God alone. Her accomplishment was such that she became a model for all believing men and women throughout history: ﻭَ ﺿﺮَﺏ ﺍﻟﻠَّﻪُ ﻣَﺜَﻼً ﻟِّﻠَّﺬِﻳﻦَ ﺀَﺍﻣَﻨُﻮﺍ ﺍﻣْﺮَﺃَﺓ ﻓِﺮْﻋَﻮْﻥَ “Allah draws an{other} example for those who have faith: the wife of Pharaoh.”[57] [419] In any case, testimony to the Prophet’s (S) servanthood {‘ubudiyyah} to God is a preliminary to the testimony of his apostleship {risalah}, and this itself has lessons and messages: “Ashhadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduh…”. Testimony to his apostleship means the negation of all man-made schools; acceptance of the eternality and universality of the apostleship of the Seal of the Prophets {khatam al-anbiya’}; and rejection of all the taghuts. Testimony to the apostleship of Hadrat Muhammad (S) is a covenant that God has made with the all the prophets; had they not accepted his apostleship, they would not have attained the station of prophethood. [58][420] Therefore, I am not alone in saying, “Ashhadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhu wa rasulah” as all the prophets (‘a) have said so as well.
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 06:11:20 +0000
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