Well, as Ramadhan has just passed and it was an opportunity for all Muslims to pray as much as possible to Allah, we were also told by the Holy Prophet ﷺ that even a shoelace we should ask for from Allah, if need be. That is by saying of Hazrat Naseem ﷺ. Well, it says, yes, Muhammad ﷺ. Rasool-e-Krim ﷺ? Well, it says here, it says the Holy Prophet.
As far as I remember, Queen, is it also a tradition, about the shoelace? Yes, I believe so. Where is it? Is it quoted here? Because I remember Hazrat Naseem’s instructions and he mentioned that this is our practice, that we believe that even if you require a shoelace, you should pray to Allah and this is how you should employ prayer. It’s very nice that it’s mentioned here. It’s mentioned here? Right. It’s also said that it is a part of the religious tradition. I didn’t remember it, so now I stand corrected, JazakAllah. Yes, please.
And it’s a very strange, or such a hadith to be found, because in those days the concept of shoelaces was not this, as we find it today. I know, there’s an old system, but they were not called, you know, this modern concept of shoelaces had not yet developed. What they did was, it was a loose sort of shoe which was worn and then here, it was tied down with a string. Thongs. Thongs could be said, yes. But I mean more like a string than shoelace. This is why I was wondering whether they were the words of a hadith or not. What are the actual words? What are the actual words which have been translated?
No, it’s not the actual words, it’s just a reference. You better find out what are the actual words and whether the translation of shoelaces is appropriate there, literally speaking or not. I had a very different concept of those shoes and the way they were bound. I thought it should be some sort of, you know, thickest string. Like this was also the practice here in Europe in the olden days. The same sort of shoes were worn here and the same sort of thick, ropish material was used to bind it. Skin hide, yes, material from skin hide. And they were not called laces. No, laces has a connotation of thin, thread-like material which goes through the special holes.
Anyway, we’ll make research into this later on, please. Well, Huzoor has even asked us to pray for many things during Ramzan. But here’s a hadith that’s quoted and I would like if Huzoor would most kindly clarify this. It says, on one occasion one of the companions said to the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, I have decided to devote one quarter of my prayers to you. The Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, was pleased and urged him to devote more time to prayer for him. Yes, that I know, that I have in mind. Yes, please, go ahead. He said he would devote half his prayers to him.
The Holy Prophet urged him further and he said that henceforth he would devote all his prayers to the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him. The latter, peace be upon him, assured him that in such a case God would provide for all his needs and requirements. So why aren’t we always told to just pray for Hazrat Muhammad, peace be upon him, if such a hadith exists? This is a very fine philosophy which has been explained in this tradition. If you love the founder of Islam in all your entirety, as much as you can love anyone, below God, of course, that is understood, and you pray for him wholly and for nothing else.
Let’s conceive the situation. What would happen then? What should happen? You are ignoring your personal needs, you are ignoring your other desires which are not obviated by this fact, which remain independently in existence. And yet you are ignoring them for the sake of your love for the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, and devote all your prayers to him. Then what should happen? If there is a God who loves the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, so much, much, much more than you do, what should be his reaction?
He should look after all your needs, because you are preferring the needs of the one whom he loves more. So this sort of philosophy is described in a manner that it should not be taken literally too far. It doesn’t mean that the ideal lover of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, is described in the sense that in common day, everyday life, this is expected of every Muslim and they should not pray for anything else. If you extend this tradition to that far, then the entire subject discussed of prayers in the Holy Qur’an and instructions given in this regard, and elsewhere in other traditions of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, would be meaningless.
So such traditions should be considered in their proper perspective. They are teachings of higher philosophy. They are teachings of inner meaning. And cryptic messages are sent to you, and the essence of the whole tradition is that if you devote your services for a higher cause, Allah would see to it that no harm comes your way out of the neglect to some of your personal tasks which you sacrifice for the sake of a higher task. That is in essence the message conveyed here. This is why it is promoted so much to send durood to the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him.
The more you send durood to the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, the more response you will receive from heaven and heavenly bodies, from Allah and his angels. Because you will be… In fact, this is like a rebound system, an ecosystem, where you raise your call and your voice is returned, sometimes more intensified and louder, from an echo. And whether it is not intensified and made louder in echo, that is not the subject of discussion. There are so many mountains around, this effect sometimes is produced and enhanced.
But in the spiritual world, this is positive. Your prayers for the Holy Prophet and durood for him, that is your prayer for him. That is rebounded. And what you receive in the end from heaven is far more precious and much more in volume than whatever you sent as a gift for the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him. How far would Huzoor ask us to go as far as this? No, don’t be artificial. This has been my repeated advice regarding prayers. Be true to yourself and judge yourself how far you do love the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him.
And according to the measure of that love, devote your time in durood, but don’t force yourself artificially. So this answer was given to a particular person by the Holy Prophet. This advice was not rendered by him to everyone who came and asked for prayer, how it should be made. On the contrary, to many others he rendered a completely different advice. Like Ibn Abbas, we know, was advised by him that as a general pattern of prayer, he should first of all praise Allah.
So obviously this does not contradict that, it should not be misunderstood that what he is saying here is that one should say only durood and should forget the praises of Allah. That would be putting a cart before the horse, or things to that effect. So there the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, once he saw Hazrat Ibn Abbas saying prayers and while he was muttering prayers a bit audibly, and the Holy Prophet heard what he was saying, so when he finished the prayer, he asked and beckoned him to come forward and said, this is not the way to pray.
First praise Allah as much as you can, then send durood upon me, then ask whatever you may please for yourself. So that was things put in proper perspective, in proper order of preference, and there he did not stop him from praying for himself, only he said do it after you have done these two things. So in the tradition it is said that once again the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, was sitting in the mosque when he watched this boy, who was of young age at that time, Hazrat Ibn Abbas, do exactly what he was told by the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him.
And it made him so happy that he looked at him with pride as if a father is looking with pride at his own son, and then in words also he expressed his appreciation of what he was doing. He said, yes boy, this is the way how to do it, this is the way how to do it. So traditions and the verses of the Holy Quran should be taken in totality as put against other verses and should be understood in their proper perspectives. Otherwise you will become an extremist according to one instruction, and you will be forgetting many other instructions, totally and entirely.
So that is how an extremist is born. He becomes one-sided and imbalanced. Just don’t form your final opinions by reading one or two traditions. Wait until you come across others belonging to the same subject, and then a more balanced and well-poised picture will be created for you. Thank you, Huzoor.
