Don't be a THIEF

by Asma bint Shameem

🍃 The Prophet ﷺ said:

"The worst type of thief is the one who STEALS from his prayer."

The people asked, "O Messenger of Allaah, how can a person steal from his prayer?"

He said: "By not doing rukoo' and sujood properly."

(Ahmad, Saheeh by al-Albaani).

Subhaan Allaah!

And where are we with OUR Salaah?

How many Salaah have WE rushed through?

How many rukoo’ and sujood have WE ‘stolen’ from?!

Amazing how we think NOTHING of stuff like this, yet it's SO SERIOUS.

We would NEVER steal because we know it's wrong, and yet we steal from our own salaah!

🍃 The Prophet ﷺ said:

"The one who does not do rukoo’ properly, and pecks in sujood, is like a starving man who eats only one or two dates; it does not do him any good at all.'” (al-Tabaraani- hasan by al-Albaani)

🍃 And the Prophet ﷺ also said:

“Verily, a man may perform prayers for sixty (60) years, while not one of his prayers will be accepted from him; (the reason being that) perhaps he will complete (and perfect) the Rukoo', but he will not complete (and perfect) the Sujood; or perhaps he will complete (and perfect) the Sujood, but he will not complete (and perfect) the Rukoo'.”

(Silsilah al-Ahaadeeth as-Saheehah 2535)

🍃 And the Prophet ﷺ also said:

“A slave may pray and have nothing recorded for it except a tenth of it, or a ninth, or an eighth, or a seventh, or a sixth, or a fifth, or a quarter, or a third, or a half.” (Ahmad; Saheeh al-Jaami’).

Imagine!

Standing in front of our Rabb on THAT Day and finding NOT MUCH of our salaah because we STOLE from it!

What an unfortunate moment that would be!

♦️ Also think about this:

Why did the Prophet ﷺ call this man the 'WORST' thief?

Thats because:

▪️Stealing usually involves taking something that belongs to SOMEBODY ELSE.

However, here this person is stealing from HIMSELF...

his own salaah....his own salvation.

▪️He is stealing from his prayer which makes the prayer deficient, and if the prayer is deficient on the Day of Judgement, then all deeds will be deficient.

▪️The one who steals worldly things at least gains SOME benefit but in this kind of stealing, there's nothing but loss and regret...

📌 What to do?

-So move at a ‘slow, measured’ pace during salaah. There’s no need to hurry.

-Every time you move to a new position, let all the bones settle in their place.

-Take a deep breath.

-Say the prescribed dhikr in a calm manner.

-Then and ONLY THEN move on to the next position.

-Practice and perfect ALL your movements until you have performed your entire salaah this way.

May Allaah enable us to perfect our prayer and NOT be among those who steal from it.

And Allaah knows best.