How to Improve our Prayers: Brother Ali Hashmi

17/12/2006 Lecture 1 + Q & A Introduction

24/12/2006 Lecture 2 + Q & A Man's position before God
(the audio quality for the first 15min of lecture 2 is not great but is perfect after that)

31/12/2006 Lecture 3 + Q & A Relation between this world and the greater world

7/1/2007 Lecture 4 + Q & A Difference between i'lm and ma'arifa and the relation between this world and the greater world

14/1/2007 Lecture 5 + Q & A The human soul and its attributes

21/1/2007 Lecture 6 Questions and Answers only

4/2/2007 Lecture 7 + Q & A Levels of purity

19/2/2007 Lecture 8 + Q & A 40 Day Plan

25/2/2007 Lecture 9 + Q & A Importance of Adhan and Iqiyama

4/3/2007 Lecture 10 + Q & A Importance of Adhan and Iqiyama (Part 2)

11/3/2007 Lecture 11 + Q & A Journey from the self to Allah

Salam alaykum

Any questions to brother Ali Hashmi or simply comments on the lecture series can now be posted here.

Below are the previous comments/questions from the old site:

Quote :

12 comments:
Revolutionary said...

salam alaykum

i just wanted to extend my thanks to brother Ali Hashami who is taking time out of his busy schedule to enlighten us about the act of prayer.

the time spent on learning this fascinating topic is priceless and inshaAllah we will all benefit from it.

i especially love the weekly tasks that are set, it gives the lecture series a practical element designed to produce gauranteed results (if implemented!).


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anonymous said...

Salaam alaykum
I cant donwload the lecturess?? it doesnt seem to be workinggg


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Revolutionary said...

salam alaykum

sorry about that it should be working fine now.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anonymous said...

I have listened to the lectures over and over again and I find them immensely inspirational.
I find contentment and happiness during this alone/quality time with our creator during salaat. When it comes to an end, a sadnees fills my heart.
I feel that the act of perfecting ones salaat(or aiming to) really does have a positive impact on ones life. But I guess that goes without saying!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Revolutionary said...

salam alaykum,

MashaAllah.

i echo your sentiments. improving one's salat is an investment that brings immeasurable returns, both in this life and the next.

i think also that your heart does not lie, meaning sometimes after prayer you know it will be accepted because you prayed with the presence of heart. other times you sincerely doubt it was accepted because it was just a series of motions and words.

thats why i find these lectures so important, to help us pray with this presence of heart frequently and with more intensity.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anonymous said...

as salaamu alaikum

The site is great and the lecture quality is great. thank you for posting and uploading them so quickly. May Allah bless your efforts! Elahi ameen
Amana


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anonymous said...

Salamu A3laykum,
Jazakum allah kheir for all your efforts in spreading islam in the right manner. However, I have a small questions if you can plz clarify it to me. What is the reason sunnis pray 5 times a day, while shias 3 times a day? Thank you very much for your time. If you could plz post it, or send it to my email zenataleb2001@yahoo.ca.
Salam


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ali Hashimi said...

Bismi Ta'Ala
Salaamun Alaikum
Praise be to Allah in the begining and praise be to Him in the end.

Thank you for your question and the reply has been given. If anybody else has questions regarding the discussions we have been holding, please feel free to post them here. Please do have patience with me as I myself am overwhelmed by ignorance so if I am not able to answer, I will have to ask another which may at times take time.

Wasalaam wrwb


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Revolutionary said...

"Salamu A3laykum,
Jazakum allah kheir for all your efforts in spreading islam in the right manner. However, I have a small questions if you can plz clarify it to me. What is the reason sunnis pray 5 times a day, while shias 3 times a day? Thank you very much for your time. If you could plz post it, or send it to my email zenataleb2001@yahoo.ca.
Salam"

salam alaykum,

it looks like brother Ali Hashimi has already sent you an answer.

just for the others who may have the same question please refer to the following ayah:

Establish regular prayers at the Sun's decline till the darkness of the night, and the recital of the Quran in the morning prayer; for the recital of the dawn is Witnessed. [17:78]

we can see here that there are 3 times mentioned:

1. Sun's decline
2. Darkness of the night
3. Morning

Now that is not to suggest we cant be praying at 5 seperate times, the point being made here is that it is perfectly permissible to pray the 5 prayers at these 3 times:

1. Morning: Fajr prayer 2 rakats.
2. Noon: Zuhr (4 rakats) and Asr (4 rakats) prayer
3. Night: Maghrib (3 rakats) and Isha (4 rakats)

There is a common misconception that one should only join their prayers when in a state of journey or fear.

Yet this was not the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet (s):

Ibn Abbas reported that the messenger of Allah(may peace be upon him) combined the noon prayer with the afternoon prayer and the sunset prayer with the Isha prayer in Medina without being in a state of danger or rainfall. And in the hadith transmitted by Waki(the words are): "I said to Ibn Abbas: What prompted him to do that? He said: So that his(prophet's)Ummah should not be put to (unnecessary) hardship." Sahih Muslim, English version, Chapter CCL, Tradition #1520

Ibn Abbas reported: The messenger of Allah(may peace be upon him) observed the noon and afternoon prayers together in Medina without being in a state of fear or in a state of journey. Abu Zubair said: I asked Sa'id[one of the narrators] why he did that. He said: I asked Ibn Abbas as you have asked me, and he replied that he[the Holy prophet] wanted that no one among his Ummah should be put to[unnecessary] hardship. Sahih Muslim, English version, Chapter CCL, Tradition #1516


So the reason why the Shia pray the 5 prayers 3 times a day is because the Prophet (s) had done this.

hope this helps.

wasalam.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anonymous said...

Asalam waleikum,

Id like to extend my thanks to brother ali hashimi too, these lectures are a blessing in our journey towards Him, Alhumdullilah
in regards to the last lecture, the 40 day plan, i would like to request if brother ali can provide us with any further advice on how to keep it going. such as problems that we might encounter, and how we could overcome them, InshaAllah?? Anything that we should keep in mind during the 40 days?
Thankyou,
Duas.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anonymous said...

Bismi Ta'Ala

What are the conditions of Repentance?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anonymous said...

Asalam waleikum,

i found this while searching for the conditions too;

It is narrated that someone said: "Astaghfirullah" before Imam Ali (as).
He said to him: "May your mother mourn for you! Do you know what Istighfar is? Verily Istighfar is a degree of the illiyun (people of high station) and it is a word that means six things:
First, is remorse over the past.
Second, is the resolution not to return to it ever.
Third, to return to creatures their (formerly usurped) rights so that you meet God Almighty in a state of purity in which no one has any claim against you.
Fourth, that you fulfill every duty that you neglected in order to satisfy your obligation in respect to it.
Fifth, that you attend to the flesh of your body that has grown on unlawful nourishment so that it melts away as a result of grief and mourning and your skin adheres to your bones, after which new flesh grows in its place.
sixth that you make your body taste the pain of obedience in the same way as it earlier tasted the pleasure of sins. When you have done these things, then say Astaghfirullah."

taken from al-islam.org, the above is enlightening, i also find myself asking, "have i really done istighfar?"

the complete article is here, its very helpful:
http://al-islam.org/nutshell/files/tawbah.pdf

InshaAllah it helps.
wasalam