Chapter 10: The Prophet on Supplications/Prayers
When distressed, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ would say: ‘let us find comfort in prayer.’ ‘My joy is in my prayer.’ (Abi Dawud)
Because of his compassion and mercy, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ would choose acts that were gentle and easy for his Ummah. For example, he would bring Isha at its earliest time for fear of causing hardship to the people.
The Prophet prayed Taraweeh for 2-3 nights and the companions would join him. After the fourth night, he would not go to the mosque for fear that praying Taraweeh would be made obligatory.
‘The best supplication is the supplication of the day of Arafah, and the best words that I and the prophets who came before me said is: ‘There is no god worthy of worship except Allah alone, with no partner or associate. His is the Dominion, to Him be praise, and He has power over all things.’ (Tirmidhi)
‘Those who will be most blessed with my intercession on the Day of Resurrection will be those who say Laa ilaaha illa Allah sincerely from the heart.’ (Bukhari)
‘Whoever says ‘There is no god worthy of worship except Allah alone, with no partner or associate. His is the Dominion, to Him be Praise and He has power over all things’ 100 times in a day, it will be equivalent to freeing ten slaves, one hundred good deeds will be recorded for him, one hundred bad deeds will be erased from his record and it will be a protection for him against Shaytan all day until evening comes. no one does anything better than what he does, except one who does more than that.’ (Bukhari, Muslim)
‘The one whose last words are Laa ilaaha illa Allah will enter Paradise.’ (Abi Dawud)
‘The best Dhikr is Laa ilaaha illa Allah and the best Dua is Alhamdulillah.’ (Tirmidhi)
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ once asked: Is any one of you incapable of reciting one third of the Quran in a night? The people said: How could he recite one third of the Quran?
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ replied: ‘Qul Huwa Allahu Had.’ (Surah Al- Ikhlas) is equivalent to one third of the Quran. (Muslim)
‘Actions are but by intentions, and each person will have but that which he intended.’ (Bukhari, Muslim)
‘The five daily prayers, from one Jummah to the next, and from one Ramadan to the next, are an expiation of whatever (sins) come in between so long as one avoids major sins.’ (Muslim)
‘You should prostrate to Allah a great deal, for you will not perform one prostration to Allah but Allah will elevate you one degree in status thereby and erase one sin for you’ (Ibn Majah)
‘no Muslim man does wudu and wudu well, then offers a prayer, but he will be forgiven for whatever (sins) come between that and the following prayer.’ (Bukhari)
‘Whoever purifies himself in his house and then walks to one of the houses of Allah in order to perform one of the obligatory prayers, for every two steps he takes, one will erase a sin and the other will elevate his degree in status.’ (Muslim)
‘Whoever goes to the Mosque in the morning or evening, Allah prepares for him a provision in Paradise every time he goes in the morning and evening.’ (Bukhari)
‘Whoever prays Fajr will be under the protection of Allah.’ (Muslim)
Whoever prays at the two cool times (Fajr and Asr) will enter Paradise.’ (Bukhari)
‘Whoever adheres to regular prayers, it will be light proof and salvation, for him on the Day of Resurrection. And whoever does not adhere to it, it will not be light, proof or salvation for him, and on the Day of Resurrection, he will be with Pharaoh, Hamaan, Qarun and Ubayy ibn Khalaf.’ (Sahih ibn Hibban)
‘The first deed for which a person will be brought to account on the Day of Resurrection is his prayer. If it is good, then he will have prospered and succeeded, but if it is not good, he will be doomed and lost. If he falls short in his obligatory prayers, Allah SWT will say: Look and see whether My slave has any voluntary prayers to his credit. Then they will be used to make up for any shortcoming in his obligatory prayers, and the rest of his deeds will be dealt with in a similar manner.‘ (Tirmidhi)
‘In the night there is an hour when, if a Muslim asks Allah for good in this world and in the Hereafter, He will grant that to him and that happens every night.’ (Muslim)
‘The Shaytan has three knots at the back of the head of a person when he sleeps, striking each knot saying: you have a long night ahead. If he wakes up and remembers Allah, one knot is undone. If he does wudhu, another knot is undone. If he prays, another knot is undone and he starts the day feeling energetic and in a good mood. Otherwise, he starts his day in a bad mood, feeling lazy.’ (Bukhari)
‘The best prayer after the obligatory prayer is prayer in the depth of the night.’ (An-Nasa’i)
‘I advise you to pray qiyaam al-layl, for it is the habit of the righteous who came before you, it brings you close to your Lord, expiates bad deeds and prevents you from committing sins.’ (Tirmidhi)
‘The two Sunnah rakats of Fajr are better than this world and everything in it.’ (Muslim)