A Letter to a Dear One — Page 56
56 Letter to a Dear One he would thus shorten the Prayer. A false prophet could never say something so lucid and true. Once a complaint reached the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) that a certain im ā m prolonged the ‘Ish ā (night) Prayer. The Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) expressed sadness at this and said whoever does so, puts displeasure in people’s hearts regarding faith. An imam should be aware of the fact that he leads a congregation with children and the elderly and some who are tired after a hard days’ work. He must keep them in mind. It was the direction of the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) that congregational Prayer should not be prolonged—indeed worship in the privacy of one’s home could be as long as one wished. As I have mentioned before, the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) himself would lengthen his standing posture in the voluntary Prayers so much that at times his feet would swell—indeed he spent a large portion of the night in worship. There is a Tradition that once a man visited a friend. In those days, ‘pardah’ [hij ā b] had not been enforced. The man saw that the hosts’ wife was all disheveled. He inquired as to why she appeared like that. The woman said, “Your friend does not pay any attention to me, he fasts all day and spends all night in voluntary Prayers. I have no one to adorn myself for. ” The guest went silent at this. After dinner that night, both the friends offered their ‘Ish ā Prayers and then everyone went to bed. A little while later, the host got up. The guest asked what was he up to. The host said he was preparing for the voluntary Prayers. The guest said that that was not the Tahajjud time yet and that he should go back to sleep. The host did so. After a while the host got up again, the guest again insisted that he should go back to sleep. This was repeated for sometime. In the end when it was Tahajjud time, they both got up and offered their voluntary Prayers and then offered their Fajr. Later, the host offered some food to his guest. The guest suggested they ate together. The host declined, saying he was fasting. The guest insisted that he would only eat if the host did. It is an Arabian custom to show deep respect to the guests. As the fast was voluntary, the host broke it and had breakfast with his friend. Later they both went to the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam). The guest narrated the whole episode of the night to the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) and asked whether what he had done was correct or not. The Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said that he had indeed done the right thing. He then turned to the host and told him that the man’s own