Saturday, August 22, 2026

Controlling Nafs, Avoiding Excessive Eating and the Importance of Ṣalāĥ with Jamā'at

7. Prophet Yaḥyā عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام and Satan

It is narrated that Prophet Yaḥyā عَلَيْہِ الصَّلٰوةُ وَالسَّلَام once saw Satan with many traps (for people) and asked him about them. He replied that those were the traps of sensual desires by which he entraps people. Sayyidunā Yaḥyā عَلَيْہِ الصَّلٰوةُ وَالسَّلَام asked him, 'Do you have any trap for me?' Satan replied, 'No, however, one night you ate food till you were full, so I made it difficult for you to offer your Ṣalāĥ that night.' Upon hearing this, Sayyidunā Yaḥyā عَلَيْہِ السَّلَام said, 'By Allah ! I will never eat food to a full stomach in the future.' Satan responded, 'I will also no longer tell anyone such useful things.'

(Minĥāj-ul-'Ābidīn, pp. 93)

May Allah have mercy on him and forgive us without accountability for his sake!

صَلُّوْا عَلَى الْحَبِيْبِ ۞ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

Pleasure in worship

Dear Islamic brothers! Commenting on the foregoing parable, Hujjat-ul-Islam, Sayyidunā Muhammad Ghazālī has stated: This is the state of such a noble individual عَلَيْہِ الصَّلٰوةُ وَالسَّلَام who ate food to a full stomach just once in his whole life. What will be the condition of the person remaining hungry just once in his entire life? Can such a person hope to have pleasure in his worship? Eating to a full stomach causes a reduction in worship because when a person eats to a full stomach his body becomes heavy, he feels sleepy and his body parts become lazy. He cannot carry out any work despite making efforts. He lies on the ground all the time like a dead body. It is rightly said that when you become a glutton, then consider yourself like the person in chains. Sayyidunā Abū Sulaymān Dārānī has stated, 'I feel the most pleasure in worship when my back touches my stomach due to hunger.'

(Minĥāj-ul-'Ābidīn, pp. 93)

May Allah have mercy on them and forgive us without accountability for their sake!

صَلُّوْا عَلَى الْحَبِيْبِ ۞ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

8. He spewed milk

Once, a slave of Sayyidunā Abū Bakr Ṣiddīq presented some milk to him. He drank the milk. His slave asked, 'Previously, whenever I presented anything to you, you used to ask about it, but you did not ask about this milk.' Upon hearing this, he asked his slave as to where he had brought the milk from. The slave replied that during the (pre-Islamic) era of ignorance, he had treated a sick person by reciting some incantations and the milk was given to him as the payment of reciting those incantations. Listening to this, Sayyidunā Abū Bakr Ṣiddīq immediately placed his fingers into his throat and spewed out whatever milk he had swallowed. After doing this, he prayed to the Almighty with extreme humility, 'O Allah ! I have done whatever I could do; forgive some of the milk left in the veins.'

(Minĥāj-ul-'Ābidīn, pp. 97)

May Allah have mercy on him and forgive us without accountability for his sake!

صَلُّوْا عَلَى الْحَبِيْبِ ۞ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

Dear Islamic brothers! How pious and virtuous Sayyidunā Abū Bakr Ṣiddīq was! The unbelievers often used to recite blasphemous incantations to exorcise patients. This practice dates back to the pre Islamic era of ignorance. As the slave had read incantations during the days of ignorance, Sayyidunā Abū Bakr Ṣiddīq spewed out the milk he had swallowed for fear that the slave may have spoken words of Kufr (blasphemy).

9. Roasted meat

Once, Sayyidunā Abū Ĥurayraĥ passed by some people who were eating roasted meat. Seeing him, they offered him to join them but he refused saying that the Beloved Prophet left the world in such a state that he never ate even barley bread to his full stomach. (Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, vol. 6, pp. 252, Ḥadīš 5414)

May Allah have mercy on them and forgive us without accountability for their sake!

Roasted thigh

Dear Islamic brothers! On one hand, Sayyidunā Abū Ĥurayraĥ refused to eat the roasted meat because the memories of the hunger of the Holy Prophet brought about grief in him. On the other, there are the so-called devotees like us who pound upon the roasted meat, like placed before us, like a starving lion forgetting all love and grief and devour it so voraciously that we even miss the Jamā'at of Ṣalāĥ.

Alas! The above misdeed is often committed in dinner feasts. Even on the occasions of the Niyāz of Auliyā, which is a Nafl act, many people miss their Jamā'at just because of greed for food. It is my Madanī appeal that whenever you organize any gathering, please ensure that the time of any Ṣalāĥ does not fall during the ceremony. If the time of Ṣalāĥ happens to fall, the host and guests should all immediately proceed to the Masjid forgoing all activity. If you do not have a valid exemption justified by the Sharī'aĥ, it is Wājib (compulsory) to join the first Jamā'at in the Masjid. Even if you offer Ṣalāĥ with Jamā'at at home, you will still be considered a sinner for missing the Wājib Jamā'at. According to some Islamic jurists, the person who does not come to the Masjid before the Iqāmaĥ, is a sinner.

Fear of losing faith at time of death

It is not allowed at all to miss the first Jamā'at of Farḍ Ṣalāĥ held in Masjid on account of attending Ifṭār-dinner, ceremonies, Niyāz (meal served to send reward to Auliyā) and Na'at-reciting etc. In case of holding the Jamā'at of Tarāwīḥ at home or in a hall or a bungalow, it is Wājib to offer the Farḍ-Rak'at (of 'Ishā Ṣalāĥ) with the primary Jamā'at in the Masjid first if there is a Masjid in the vicinity. Those not offering Farḍ Ṣalāĥ with the primary Jamā'at held in Masjid without a valid exemption, despite having capability, should fear.

Sayyidunā 'Abdullāĥ Bin Mas'ūd has said, 'The one liking to meet Allah as a Muslim tomorrow (the Judgement Day) should regularly offer these five Ṣalāĥ with Jamā'at at the place where Ażān is uttered, for Allah has rendered Sunan-e-Ĥudā (Sunnaĥ of guidance) as Mashrū' for your Prophet and Ṣalāĥ with Jamā'at is also one of the Sunan-e-Ĥudā. If you offered Ṣalāĥ at your homes like the one who stays behind and offers in his house, you would leave the Sunnaĥ of your Holy Prophet , and if you left the Sunnaĥ of your Holy Prophet , you would go astray.'

(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, vol. 1, pp. 232, Ḥadīš 257)

The foregoing Ḥadīš implies that the one who offers Ṣalāĥ with Jamā'at will die with faith, whereas the one who misses the first Jamā'at of Masjid without the permission of Sharī'aĥ is in the danger of losing his faith at the time of death. Those not offering Ṣalāĥ with complete Jamā'at because of sheer laziness should pay attention to the following saying of A'lā Ḥaḍrat Imām-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat Maulānā Ash-Shāĥ Imām Aḥmad Razā Khān . He has said that it is stated in Al-Baḥr-ur-Rāiq with the reference of Quniyyaĥ that if someone kept waiting for Iqāmaĥ to enter the Masjid having heard Ażān, he would be a sinner.

(Fatāwā Razawiyyaĥ (Jadīd), vol. 7, pp. 102), (Al-Baḥr-ur-Rāiq, vol. 1, pp. 604)

On the same page it is also mentioned that if a person hears Ażān and waits at his house for the Iqāmaĥ, such a person's testimony is unacceptable.

(Al-Baḥr-ur-Rāiq, vol. 1, pp. 451)

Dear Islamic brothers! According to some jurists, the testimony of those who do not arrive in the Masjid until the time of Iqāmaĥ is not acceptable, in addition to him being a sinner. So what would be the condition of those who offer their Ṣalāĥ without Jamā'at or with Jamā'at at home without a valid reason or do not offer their Ṣalāĥ at all!

O Allah ! Bless us with offering the daily five Ṣalāĥ with Jamā'at with the first Takbīr (i.e. Takbīr-e-Ūlā) in the first row of the Masjid!

آمِيْن بِجَاهِ النَّبِيِّ الْاَمِيْن ﷺ

Mayn pānchon namāzayn pařĥūn bā-Jamā'at
Ĥo taufīq aysī 'aṭā Yā Ilāĥī

May I offer five Ṣalāĥ with Jamā'at, O Almighty!
Please, bestow upon me this ability!

صَلُّوْا عَلَى الْحَبِيْبِ ۞ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

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