Closing your eyes in prayer—what does the Sunnah actually say?

Continuing this evening with our weekly reading and study of the book zadil the provisions for the day of the great meeting the great appointment from the ways and traditions and sunan of the best of servants offered authored by the great and esteemed imam and sheikh of islam shem siddin ibn al-jazeera today we are tonight we are going to continue from where we left off last week last week we discussed the forgetfulness that would happen to a person inevitably in prayer we spoke about the five different places or different instances in the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam's documented lifetime in which he had led the companions in prayer and had forgotten in some way or another and we discussed the rulings that imam abdul qaeda derived from those instances continuing on with some issues of prayer he says.

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Says and it is not the prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam's way that during prayer he would close his eyes and this is something that imam ahmed rahimahullah and others disliked of the folk and jurists of islam and they disliked that a person closed his or her eyes during prayer citing that it is of the ways of the jews in prayer yet another group of another group of jurists and scholars allowed it and said it is fine they agree that it's not what the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam used to do they agreed that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam did not used to close his eyes during prayer but they dis they differ on whether it is permissible or it is something that is disliked imam ahmad and others viewed it to be something disliked whilst citing that it is of the traditions of the jews and their prayer and a group of scholars allowed it and said there's nothing wrong with that ibn then tells us what his target is what he gives precedence to of these two opinions he said and the correct opinion is that if opening a person's eyes during prayer will not interfere with his or her focus then this is something which is better it is better that if a person's prayer and a person's focus is not depleted is not interfered with by opening one's eyes then it is better to keep the eyes open yet if a person is unable to focus or his focus is disrupted by opening his eyes for whatever reason that is whether that is because there is there are a lot of there are a lot of distractions present or what have you or perhaps that the you know that the masjid or the place that he or she is praying in is a place of many distractions or there are lots of drawings or something this then it is not disliked in the under these circumstances to close one eye one's eyes he says he says and when the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would make taslim after he would conclude his prayer of course he is speaking about the five daily prayers and also the jummah prayer the jummah prayer according to the opinion of the majority these prayers are the ones that have the following ruling so if a person just prays any to recall or praise any sunnin or praise or praise eclipse salah when you ask for rain during times of drought or funerals any other kind of sale salah this rule does not apply this applies only to the five daily prayers and the jummah prayer that when the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would conclude his prayer any one of these he would seek esther for three times he would say esther allah three times and then he would follow that up with allah.

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I have a a typo here in this copy he says if no question goes on to say that after he would say allah three times and then allah he would then quickly turn around to face the believers that prayed with him to face the congregation so he's praying in front everybody is behind him in the most usual of positions and after making tesleem he would say for allah and then he would turn around and directly face those who are behind him this is how the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would do this and he would not sit there faced away from them for any longer than it would take him to make that make those those remembrances some people have an idea in their mind that it is incorrect for a person to put his back towards the kaaba that a person turn directly away from the qibla and so we'll see some people when they finish prayer they'll turn to the side so the people are to the right and the qibla is to the left or vice versa and there is no evidence for this in the authentic sunnah the authentic sunnah of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam is that he would turn straight around his back towards the qibla and his front towards the people this is these kinds of things that are derived sometimes scholars of islam have an opinion about them but when these opinions contradict an explicit narration of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam mentioning or specifying and knowing certain terms that he used to do something or say something then that is it allah it is not for any believing man or woman that if allah and his messenger rule something that they have their own opinion or they have their own opinion to contradict that decision that allah has made and has mentioned or transmitted through his prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam so this kind of continues on some people are reluctant to stretch their feet out towards the qiblah some people say it's haram haram to stretch your feet out towards the qiblah after prayer if you come in the masjid and someone sitting against the wall with their feet towards the qibla they'll come in and scold them as if they've committed some atrocity right and this is all because of what this is all because of something that they have in their mind that they feel should be a certain way there's no concrete conclusion about this and there's no wrong in doing this some people take this as far as their house that they design their house or at least their bedroom so that when they are sleeping they are facing a particular direction towards the qibla right side with their right side towards the qibla and there's no evidence for this from the authentic sunnah of the prophet sallallahu and this kind of this is kind of reminiscent of an ailment that was present and beni is and the followers of moses had actually suffered from and that is giving extreme attention to minutia and things that are differed upon and things that are not so cut and dried and things that are absolutely agreed upon ignoring them and writing them off as unimportant what do i mean by that so for example for example we have issues this if a man were to walk in wearing gold or wearing a gold earring or wearing a gold chain you know everybody knows that that's haram they will catch a lot of flack for that people will tell them over and over and over and over that's haram that's haram and get upset and make very big deal and it is a big deal it's it's a sin but if we took the same group of people and someone the same person rather than wearing gold or doing something that was backbiting someone else speaking ill of someone else right how many people would disagree and scold him with the same with the same vehement scolding and rebuke as before a lot less if any if anybody it's it's rare unfortunately to hear someone say to another let's not talk about this this is this is backbiting or this is negative where this is right why is this because we stick on things that we feel don't apply to us so wearing gold is not a problem for me so i have no problem pointing my fingers at other people however backbiting well a lot of people feel we all do it so i don't really have any more high ground to stop that and i kind of it actually because i've got a problem with the person being spoken of etc this is a big big problem which is something that occurred in the time of even abbas as well when the people of iraq the same people who murdered the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam's grandchildren they also would ask questions like is it permissible to kill a fly in the masjid is it permissible to kill a fly in the masjid so they will ask the scholars about the ruling on killing a fly and the masjid but the ruling on killing al hasan will hussain and the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam's lineage that's not really a big deal right likewise they suffered from a similar disease they took many of the companions of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam including one of the greatest sons of one of the companions they took him hostage his concubine was pregnant with his child they cut the child out of her stomach and they killed her and the child the most ruthless heartless of fashions muslims these are muslims but they viewed that these people had left islam and then they took abdullah they took him and they butchered him at the foot of a river yet these same individuals would not interfere or even when they passed some of the pig farms of the christians of the area they refused to get too close to the pigs because they didn't want to startle the pigs of these are the the you know these are the this is the pr these pigs are the property of the minority of the people of the book and their land and they were to honor that treaty that was between the muslims and the christians and that's correct we're not saying that that is incorrect what we are saying is there is no sense of proportion this is pure hella this is pure we don't have any sense of proportion we feel really really bad about startling an animal but we have no remorse to take someone who says and is the son of a great companion and butcher him or kill his child etc etc this is a disease right this is the facade of righteousness but actually it is driven by desires it's driven by whim and desire so we have to make sure that we keep a sense of proportion a person to face his back towards the qibla there is nothing wrong with that unless they are in prayer if they are in salah then that is impermissible if they are relieving themselves then it is not permissible to relieve oneself facing towards the qibla or turning your back towards the qibla these are the three instances when it is impermissible to turn away from the qibla any other instances it is an issue of preferable disliked and some things that don't even have any don't even have any evidence for them and people make a big deal about them right so people will come into the masjid and they'll have a problem putting their feet towards the qibla there is no prohibition in the sunnah that i'm aware of about this and the scholars the jurors of islam do not speak about any prohibition with regards to this issue merely conjecture or something of preference meaning it is better that we do this it's better that we don't do this right so the time when facing the qibla or turning away from the qibla comes in is when a person is in prayer they cannot turn away from the qibla or when a person is relieving himself some scholars based on a narration collected by imam ahmed authenticated by some such as more also mentioned that this rule applies for when a person spits when a person spits you know they park something up or they need to spit something out that they not do it facing the qibla however most scholars view this ruling to be in prayer only however others view this to be in prayer and outside of prayer but this is it and as for slaughtering facing towards the and so forth all of these things are issues of preferable what is preferable what is encouraged do not come into this.

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And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would quickly turn away from the qibla and face towards the people that he just led in prayer the congregation what kenny and then he would face the the people that he just led in prayer completely he would completely fail and he would not turn to one particular group or the other he would face exactly down the center to where he is facing everyone equally as best as possible what does it mean whenever no claim says and he would turn to his right and to his left what's meant is when a person finishes prayer salaam alaikum they do the we mention and then they wish to turn around as the imam and face towards the congregation now when we say congregation we're not speaking about just if you're in a masjid or if you have a lot of people we're speaking about any time another person prays behind you even if it is only your wife or your sister or your daughter or you know your mother right this is you are leading someone in prayer even if it's just one person once you're done you turn around and you face that person and when you turn around when the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would turn around would he turn his ru to his right would he turn this way to face them or would he turn to his left the other way to face them ibn al-qayyim says he used to do both and this is something that occurred in the time of the tabian that some rumors were going around that the imam should only turn to his right to face the congregation and so ibm he said the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam used to turn to the right and to the left do not insist on only turning to the right as a matter of fact he would usually turn to the left this is how ibn maserud mentions as was collected by ibn hazman in and so the point here is that either way is fine he said and when he would finish the the the break of dawn prayer he would remain in his area of prayer until the sun would completely rise till the sun would completely rise so he would turn around and then he would make vikir and atkar and recite portions of the quran whatever it is to himself and the companions as well after fajr until the sun would completely rise this is what his tradition was now there is a narration in which the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam the narration is in that it is in a sunan that if an individual prays salat al-fajr and then waits in the place that he prayed until the sun rises completely and then makes two recap it will be written for him as if he had made a hajj the scholars of islam differ on the authentication of this narration many of them view it to be an inauthentic narration however the action in it is something that the scholars agree upon that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam used to do that he would pray the companions would pray and they would remain in their places in the masjid until the sun would rise completely they would make two rakha and then he would leave and some would leave off the turret until until pre-noon just before noon they would pray it because it is a more virtuous time and that's the salah and he would say after each obligatory prayer each obligatory prayer meaning the five prayers in salah he would say none is rightfully worshipped but allah alone no partners unto he to him belongs all of the dominion to he belongs all praise and he is over all things capable and able subhanna and omnipotent and he would also say.

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He would also say oh allah there is no stopping what you have judged to be given and there is no giving what you have judged be stopped and prohibited nor will intense trying intensely change this because all intensity comes from you he says and there is no change nor any power or strength except by allah none is rightfully worshipped but allah and we do not worship anyone other than he so he belongs all favor to he belongs all virtue and to he belongs all good mention and praise none is rightfully worship but allah we say this completely devoting all of our actions and all of our worship to he alone even if the disbelievers are in disagreement even if they dislike this video.

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He says and he and likewise the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam encouraged his ummah encouraged his followers that they say after each obligatory prayer that they say subhanallah 33 times meaning perfect is allah free from any deficiency or imperfection is allah alhamdulillah all praise is due to allah.

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Allah is greatest 33 times and that you know 33 33 33 makes 99 and the finality of that would be how does a person do this subhanallah subhanallah subhanallah subhan allah subhan allah subhan allah subhan allah just that 33 times they counted in that way this is how the scholars mention that a testimony would happen they they mention two types of ways either with the thumb this or simply moving the fingers up and down in this way right so subhan allah subhan allah subhan allah subhan allah and this is something that we have to mention and that is this thing where people say something or do something so long that it just becomes rambling nonsense that they are saying because they're somewhere else you know what i'm talking about this doesn't count this is a person is wasting his or her time completely other person you'll see them moving their fingers in it or if they have one of these message you know beads or a rosary they'll be moving it so fast it is physically impossible to actually even think subhanallah that fast it's impossible right moving your fingers this or you know some people this person is not doing anything this person is just moving his fingers they have not done the sunnah and they have not left off the sunnah they're doing some other thing that has nothing to do with what the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam commanded and we see this in in prayer too people they're not focused on what they're saying so in prayer instead of saying subhana rabbi subhan just that right it's meditation you are meditating everything you say you are expressing from the depths of your heart that's how your prayer is going to be of consequence otherwise you're just you know and so a person would make and say you know what you're saying you every time you say it it comes from a place deep within you but people you know they learned subhanallah when they were kids and as adults they end their lives by saying this this is not anything this person's prayer cannot be valid in this way it's neither arabic it's some kind of you know chance of a magician or something and so it's important for us to understand this if you're going to make the tasmiyah you make it properly you say it properly from your heart first subhan that's that's how you say it right now ibn al-qaeda here mentions 33 times each there are a number of narrations one and the one that is most common and the one that is most that he taught all of the companions when they asked him is subhan allah three times alhamdulillah 33 times.

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But also we have subhanallah 33 times alhamdulillah.

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We also have subhanallah 27 times alhamdulillah 27 times 27 times we also have subhan allah 10 times.

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Ten times and the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam mentioned that this was for a person who is in a rush person who is in a hurry some kind of you know pressing circumstances he says.

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He says and ibrahim has collected in his authentic compilation on the authority of ahadith muslim who narrates that the messenger of allah instructed him if you pray the morning prayer then say before you say anything else meaning before you speak to anyone or go on with your day oh allah save me from the fire deliver.

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Na say it seven times how would a person say this so after fajr they would say allah this is after fajr and after maghrib salah okay he says if you say this seven times after fajr and you die that day after having said that allah will will have written for you protection from the fire and if you pray salat then say that as well before you speak meaning before you go on with your evening o allah save me from the fire grant me refuge from the fire seven times and if you die that night then allah will have written for you protection from the fire now there's a couple of things that we want to mention here number one the scholars of islam differ on the authenticity of this narration however there is an authentic difference in the son of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam between the of fajr and merib and the rest of the daily prayers okay what does that mean in the fajr prayer and in the mercury prayer there are additional of god after salah that are to be said in the opinion of many of the scholars of islam so after each prayer if we were to collect all of the narrations of what the prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam said or did after prayer or advised be said after prayer we will come to the following conclusion when a person finishes prayer he starts with establish a stuffed fiddle.

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Okay this is all the prayers then the person.

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The 255th verse of the second chapter of the quran the prophet salallahu said whoever recites after each prayer meaning each obligatory prayer the only thing preventing him standing in between him and entering paradise is death after this the person will then recite okay he so each one of these three times three times three times three times and the rest of the prayers including jomah just one each okay then the person will make the tasmiyah subhanallah subhanallah subhanallah in the way that we mentioned the most preferable 33 times each finalized with foreign they would add an additional 10. 10 times okay as well in fajr alone a person would add an additional vicar which is.

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You beneficial knowledge in my day today and actions that are accepted he said allah beneficial knowledge pure and good bounty and action which is accepted meaning in this day this is for fajr only now ibn mentions also this narration for fajr and merib seven times each these are the atkar of prayer now what i've mentioned to you is a very common rundown of the different utkar of prayer prayers amongst the scholars of islam there are differences there are differences the scholars of islam have differences amongst them with regards to understanding the narrations and authentication of the narrations from which we have collected these narrations however this is a very popular opinion the one that i have just mentioned amongst the scholars of islam there is no to my knowledge a particular order that these are to be made meaning a person the only thing that we authentically know is that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would end his prayer by estafa allah allah we know that's the first thing but the order of everything else we're unsure of but then when we refer back to general principles giving precedence over recitation of the quran as opposed to any other type of dhikr et cetera also the order of the quran following the order of the muslim we come to these conclusions a very good book for this would be muslim the fortress of the muslim it is a wonderful book it is a book that should be memorized or at least the most relevant parts of it memorized by the muslims right and the earthquake so that we know what to say when to say it so that we know what to say when to say it and it's also translated into probably every conceivable language there is and it's printed by everybody and his brother who has a publishing house and so this is one of the indicating indicators that this book is has found acceptance with allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and we hope that that is the case now some people will disagree with some of the book and say well this is inauthentic or this is authentic etcetera etcetera but it is one of the best concise books of ethical for every occasion that you will find in current publication and allah knows best ibn al-qaeda goes on to say that allah now we are going to speak about an issue that is often neglected by many muslims and that is the issue of a sutra a sutra having a barrier in front of you when you pray a sutra is something that is a barrier between yourself and the rest of the world that would walk in front of you and the sutra is something that a person should always pray to if they can and if it is feasible right so there are some regulations for a sutra and i will roughly mention them right now and then we'll read what abnormal claim says so a sutra is that which shields a person's prayer from those who pass in front of him while he is praying and it's kind of an indicator for my place of prayer prayer when i stand and pray it doesn't go on for infinity it is just between me and the correct opinion so three qubits just about the amount of of space that i would need to make sujud and an additional small amount of space i would have this sutra now what is this sutra this is something that must start in the ground and go up right so a chair a table whatever it is and its breadth does not matter what matters is its height right and its height needs to be about about the height of the is kind of like we have a back to the chairs that we sit on well when they would put their saddles on their camels there's a very particular type of saddle that they would use and it would have a piece of wood usually on the back so that the person could rest their back on this piece of wood right instead of having to use their rest just a chair this is called okay the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam sometimes would pray towards a spear that would be stuck in the ground sometimes a wall sometimes his camel sometimes the saddle from the cat camel and there are narrations articulating that the sutra this barrier that a person should pray to it should be no less than it should be no less in height than the back rest that is found on how tall is that it's roughly scholars of islam tell us is roughly a cubit in the arabic language is from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow as ibn mandur has collected in his book lisa and laro so it needs to be at least that high so for example one of these tall water bottles that you buy in the store a tire of a car you know wherever a person is playing praying right how broad it is does it matter how dense it is doesn't matter what matters is how tall it is and that it starts from the ground up this is something that is important the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam has mentioned in one narration none of you is to pray except to a barrier to a sutra that is an authentic narration however the majority of the scholars of islam including the four imams imam imam malik imam imam ahmad allah agree that this is something which is mustahab it is something preferable that a person always pray towards a sutra and that is derived from a narration in sahih muslim which the prophet s if a person is to pray then he is to pray towards a sutra and if he does not pray towards a barrier then anything that walks in front of him will not invalidate his prayer except for a few things and one of them walaikumuslam is a woman who is of pubescent age now this can be anything a tree you know some scholars mentioned that it is disliked for a person to pray towards fire for a person at a campfire or something to pray towards this fire cari had.

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Some scholars mention that we should not pray towards a fire however all of them agree that this will not invalidate a person's prayer but inshallah there's no problem with that there's nothing definitive speaking about that and so this is these are some of the rulings of a sutra when a person prays towards a sutra anything that passes past his sutra you know will not affect his prayer however anything between himself and his sutra that is a place where he should make sure that not to let anybody pass through if he can now this is something that we want to mention.

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Foreign.

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You know this is an issue that we see in some households some people they take things a little bit too far and so you know when when when they go to pray the women in the house have this kind of stigma where they can't walk anywhere near you know 180 degree radius in front of a person praying and this is this is all exaggeration right the prophet sallallahu alaihi muslim was narrated to have made salah in his you know nighttime salah and it's so tight in the you know room of aisha that she would be sleeping and when he would go to make sujud he would touch her feet she would move her feet and he would make sujud and then he would stand up again welcome right so this idea that a person you know a woman cannot be anywhere in the vicinity of a person praying this is this is incorrect.

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Foreign.