Thirty & Up The Secrets Of Prayer #06

So what is the virtue or what is the extra favor or the extra, uh, uh, you know, merit of praying in congregation? And we talked about, uh, last week that the congregational salah was presented, the initial presentation that Imam Al-Ghazali, he put forth, was that it's something in its default, that it is something that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will reward you for regardless of any other factor.

So if we just take away all the factors about prayer, right? If a person is doing their prayer, performing prayer in a congregation, whether that be in the musalla or whether it be in their house, right, with other people, if they take the time and they ma- they make the effort to pray together, that the hadith that Imam Al-Ghazali first quoted talks about how the reward for the congregational prayer is much, much more, right? Uh, 27 or more, and we talked about how there's some hyperbole there as well.

So it could mean even greater than that.

So just starting off with understanding that the congregational prayer presents an opportunity, and almost as if to say, Al-Ghazali is saying, like, why would you ever turn a good thing down if you controlled the situation, if you have a choice? Why would you ever leave something on the table, right? Why would you, as Allah Ta'ala, he, uh, um, he mentions in the Quran, he says, "Why would you choose that which is worse for that which is...

Or that which is, uh, less for that which is more?" Meaning, why would you prefer something that's not as good? So Al-Ghazali begins with that.

And then he mentions another narration, and we talked about this one in specific, so I don't wanna go into detail too much, about the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam giving a really, really vivid image of what type of self-sabotage, what type of self-inflicted distance a person who purposely, without any good reason or any circumstance, when they skip the prayer in congregation, like, what type of effect that would have on them.

And I don't wanna go over that whole thing 'cause it took a while last week.

If you wanna learn more about that, then just, you know, the recordings are there.

Um, so almost as if to provide both sides of the spectrum.

Here's all the good that's available, and here's the, here's the damage that you could be doing to yourself by, you know, as they say, like, just not caring about it, neglecting it to a point where it's like, "I don't even care," right? And we all know that we don't do everything perfectly, but there is a base of at least caring.

There's a threshold where we should at least care.

I may not follow my diet, for example, or, you know, my sleep regimen.

Like, I know that I should be getting this much sleep.

I should be going to sleep at this time, and I may not be doing that perfectly every night, or really even the majority of nights.

But at least I believe and I know that this is a concept, getting sleep or eating well or saving up or calling my family, checking on my friends.

These are ideals that I strive towards.

And so that's what Al-Ghazali does.

He's trying to paint that picture for us.

Um, and now he's gonna continue, and he's gonna tell us about some of the other narrations and other benefits of the congregational prayer.

Uh, and, and that which... uh, well, the last one, then we'll continue forward, is he says, "Whoever prays in congregation, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala fills that person's chest or their heart up with worship." And this is referring to the quality of the actual prayer.

This is referring to, like, the experience, that when you perform Salah with other people, that you are already at an accelerated or at a higher point of entry.

You're already experiencing worship the way that it was meant to be experienced, right? Of course, absolutely, like, there are wisdoms and there are moments where being by yourself is okay, in fact, sometimes beneficial, where you should be alone and worshiping and making dua by yourself.

Absolutely.

But the default, the default for the daily prayers especially, is that you should try your best to do them in congregation because that is part of the design.

And there's also a sort of a hidden meaning here that he'll talk about, which we'll get to Inshallah.