Thursday, April 21, 2005

Shaykh Mokhtar Maghraoui on The Power of Prayer


The following are my notes from a talk by Shaykh Mokhtar Maghraoui a few years back. Nothing can capture the sincerity and experiential knowledge that poured out from his heart that day and is still etched freshly in my memory, but perhaps some benefit may come, insha'Allah, for I believe Allah had me stumble across my notes for a purpose...

The Power of Prayer

Salah, from wasilah connects Allah and the 'abd (servant), just as the umbilical cord connects mother and child, nourishing the baby. When we are not in dhikr (remembrance) of Allah, this cord is disconnected. This same cord is the distinction between the Mu'min and a non-Mu'min.

Five times a day Allah by His Infinite Rahmah invites us to break away from the things of this dunya (worldly life). Nothing of this dunya is worthy of being loved for its own sake. If we do love it for itself, then we are a slave to it. We must love what Allah loves. If we do not we are only claiming this hubb (love).

It is reported in a hadith of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), that "the most beloved of deeds to Allah is salah (prayer) on time". Therefore, we are showing our love for Allah by performing salah on time because it is beloved to Him. The most beloved of prayers to Allah is fajr on Jummah in congregation at the masjid.

The great knower of Allah, Rabia al-Adawiyya is reported to have said, "how can one who claims to love Allah, disobey Him? For the lover is ever-obedient to the Beloved". "Every love outside of His love, is pain", as Mawlana Rumi said.

So, brothers and sisters, perform wudu (ablution) properly and with focus. Stand with your heart and body focused on Allah 'Azza wa Jall. When a person stands before Allah with his heart not focused on Allah, Allah asks, "where is something better than I?".

The kibla of the body is Makkah, and that of the heart is with Allah 'Azza wa Jall.

I seek refuge in Allah, that I remind you of Him, yet I myself forget him. If there was anything good in what I have said, know that it was from Allah alone, and any errors were from my own nafs, and the influence of Shaytan upon me.

- 'The Power of Prayer', a lecture by Shaykh Mokhtar Maghraoui delivered at the ISNA Canada Conference in Toronto 2002.

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:35 AM

    barakallahu feek sister for posting this - i really really love this shaykh. he really moves me everytime i hear him. mashaAllah, he is truly a hidden, low-profiled gem of our time. i wish he gets more attention.
    wasSalaam

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  2. Ameen. I share your love for him, and have since I first met him five years ago -- he changed my outlook and moved me greatly. Allah's friends are hidden amongst us.

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  3. Anonymous7:26 PM

    Assalamoalaikum ,
    one of the greatest blessings in my life after the kalima was to be in his kind company. I have some talks if anyone wants please feel free to contact me, there is no charge for them. And this blog is one of my favourites because we share the same love for our shayukhs.
    tumunir@gmail.com

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  4. Anonymous12:11 AM

    jazaki Allahu khayr sister for the notes. i love shaykh mokhtar with all my heart. subhan Allah i first heard him about 8 years ago and have been hooked ever since. every time i see and hear him i cry out of love for him because every time i'm around him, i am reminded of Allah SWT and His SWT Rasul (S). subhan Allah
    Allah SWT preserve Shaykh Mokhtar (hafithahullah) ameen.

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  5. Anonymous3:55 PM

    salaam alaykum sister,

    jazakiLLAH khayran for this beautiful blog, and yes, isn't shaykh Mukhtar amazing? mashaALLAH...thank you for sharing these precious notes also.

    there is just one thing i would like to correct, which the arabist in me cannot forgo, out of respect for the language of RasuluLLAH, alayhe al salat wal salaam.

    we may say that SALAH is a wasilah (link, connection, way to) ALLAH azza wa jall. But it is etymolygically incorrect to say that SALAH is FROM the word WASILAH (as I read in the notes), because Arabic words are derived from roots, normally three letter cores with a common set of meanings.

    The root for SALAH is sad, laam, waw.

    The root for WASILAH is waw, seen, laam.

    Therefore they cannot be derived from one another.

    Of course may all our salawaat be a SILAH (waw, saad, laam)to ALLAH subhanahu wa taala and a WASILAH to ma'rifah of ALLAH azza wa jall.

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