Namaz-e-tawbah (Isteghfar)

Messenger of Allah (s) emerged from his house on Sunday the 2nd of Zilqad and said: O people! Who among you intends to perform Tawbah? 

The people replied: All of us would like to do Tawbah. 

The Messenger of Allah (s) said: Perform the Ghusl (bath) and Wuzu (ablution) and recite four rakats prayer. In each rakat after Surah Hamd recite Surah Tawheed thrice and Surah Falaq and Surah Naas once each and after the prayer do Isteghfar and then say: Laa hawla wa laa quwwata illa billaahil a'liyyil a'zeem. Then say: Yaa A'zeezo yaa ghaffooro ighfirli zunoobi wa zunooba Jamee'il mo-mineena wal mo-minaate. Fa innahu laa yaghfiro illa ant.

 

And the Holy Prophet (s.) said: No servant of my Ummat performs this prayer that a caller does not call out from the sky: O slave of Allah! This deed has been elevated and your repentance (Tawbah) has been accepted and your sins are forgiven. An angel will call out beneath the heavens: O slave of Allah! Congratulations to you and your family members. 

An angel would call out: Your enemy would be satisfied with you on the day of Judgment. Another angel would call out: O slave of Allah! You would leave this world with faith. You would not be arrested. Your grave shall be expansive and illuminated. 

Another angel would call out: O slave of Allah! Your parents are happy with you though they were dissatisfied with you before. Your parents and your descendants shall get salvation and there shall be increase in the livelihood in the world and the hereafter. 

Hazrat Jibraeel (a.s.) would call out: At the time of death I would come with the Angel of death and would be kind to you and you shall not have any problem. Your body would not be pained at the time the soul is taken out.

 

The people asked: O Messenger of Allah (s.), how should one perform this if one desires to perform it in any other month? The Prophet (s.) replied: In the same way with the merits. And said: Jibraeel has taught me these words on the night of ascension (Shab-e-Me'raj).(Ref;dua.org)

Me'raj

Angels with Feathers: We continued on our path until we reached to the end of the seventh heaven. It was there at the end of the heaven that we witnessed the Throne of Allah. Here I saw an Angel who was glorifying Allah  such: "Wherever I may be, glory is to my Lord. I do not know where your Lord is due to His great status. "

This Angel had two wings such that if they were to spread open, it would cover the east to the west of the Universe. Every morning he would open up his wings, rest against something and cry out such: "Glory be to Allah, the King, the Holy. Glory be to Allah, the Great, the Most High. There is no god except Allah, the Living and Self­ Subsisting.” Whenever the Angel would say this tasbih, all the peacocks that are on the Earth would start to praise Allah  and open their wings up in respect (of Allah).

Whenever this Angel in the heaven would become quiet, the peacocks on the Earth would become quiet. The Angel in the heaven had green hair and white wings ‑ so white that no one has ever seen anything that white before. Under its green hair, there are white wings which are very beautiful ‑ the green which until now has never been seen before." 

(From Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 18, p. 327, Bab 3 - Ithbaat al-Mi`raaj wa ma`anaahu wa kayfiyyatuhu wa sifatuhu wa ma jaraa feehi wa wasf al-buraaq, Hadith 34.)

Bait al Ma’mur Along with Jibra'il, we entered into Bait al‑Ma'mur. A group of my friends were with me all of whom were wearing new clothing. Others from amongst them were wearing old clothing, and when they tried to enter this area, they were prevented. Only those who were wearing new clothing were permitted to enter with me into Bait al‑Ma'mur. In this place, I performed a two Rak'at Salat, and then left.

Two rivers passed by me ‑ one was al‑Kawthar and the other was the river of Mercy. I drank from the river of al‑Kawthar and performed a Ghusl with the river of Mercy. I was then guided to enter into Paradise. In one area of Paradise, I saw my house and that of my wife. The ground and the dirt of Paradise had the smell of Musk and Amber. In the rivers of Paradise, I saw a servant of Allah who was bathing. I asked her, "O' servant! Who are you for?" She replied to me, "I am (here) for Zaid ibn Harith." When I saw Zaid (after this event), I gave him the good tidings of this.

"The birds of Paradise were as the camels of Khurasan (in size). The pomegranates that were hanging on the trees were so large and glowing and incomparable to anything else. It was here that I saw a huge tree such that if a bird were to fly around it for seven hundred years, he would still not be able to go around the entire tree. In Paradise, there is not a single house in which one of the branches of this tree does not cover. I asked Jibra'il regarding this tree and he told me, "This is the tree o f Tuba about which, Allah has said in the Qur'an:"...Tuba shall be theirs and a goodly return” Surah al‑Ra'd (13).  Thus this tree of Tuba is in Paradise and all of the houses in there are under (the shade) of this tree.

 I asked Jibra'il concerning all the wonderful things that we had witnessed including the rivers, and those things which frightened me, and he replied, "These are all various levels of veils which are placed between Allah  the High and His creations. If these curtains were not there, then the Throne of Allah would have been visible however, it is not possible for any of His creations to see His Light (Nur).'" 

( Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 18, p. 327-328, Bab 3 - Ithbaat al-Mi`raaj wa ma`anaahu wa kayfiyyatuhu wa sifatuhu wa ma jaraa feehi wa wasf al-buraaq, Hadith 34.)

SALAT (SUMMARY OF ME’RAJ)

The distinguished Prophet Muhammad (S) while summarizing great event of ME’RAJ narrates: Here I led the Angels of Paradise in Salat just as in Bait al ­Muqaddas I led the previous Prophets in Salat. When I went into Sajdah, Allah called out, "I had made fifty Salat for each day incumbent upon the Prophets who came before you; and upon you and your Ummah, I make these incumbent too for these fifty Salat I have confirmed.” After the Salat, I continued on my back and while on the path, I met Prophet Ibrahim al‑Khalil. He did not ask me a single question.

Then I met Musa ibn Imran. He asked me, "O' Muhammad what did you do?" I replied, "My Allah told me that he had made fifty daily Salat obligatory on the Prophets before me, and upon me and my Ummah too, He has made this amount obligatory."

Prophet Musa  said to me, "O' Muhammad! Your Nation is the final and the weakest of all the Nations. Allah's commands must be followed, however your Nation does not have the ability to perform fifty daily Salat; thus, return to Allah and request Him to lighten the load on your Ummah."I returned to Sidratul Muntaha and fell into prostration. I said, "O' Allah! You have made fifty daily Salat obligatory on my Ummah and me. However, my Ummah and I do not have the ability to perform this much. From your Holy Presence, I request a reduction in this."

Allah, Glorious and High ‑ reduced the number of Salat by ten. I returned back and informed Musa  what happened. He replied, "Go back as they do not have the power to perform even this much." I returned once again, and Allah reduced the number of Salat by ten. I was going back when Musa (a) said, "Still they do not have the ability to perform even this."

I once again returned, fell into sajdah, and asked for a reduction in the Salat. Allah once more reduced the number by ten. I returned to where Musa (a)  was and told him what happened. Again he said to me, "Go back since they will not be able to even handle this."

I once again returned, fell into sajdah and again asked Allah for a reduction in the Salat. I said, "O' Allah, my Nation is weak and they will not have the ability to handle even this." Allah reduced the Salat by ten more. From a total of fifty Salat, only ten were made obligatory.

Again, I passed by Musa (a) and he said, "Your Ummah does not have the ability to even handle ten Salat." For the last time I returned and fell into sajdah. Allah reduced the Salat by five. I went to where Musa was and he said to me, "Your Ummah does not even have the ability to perform five daily Salat." I said to him, "I am embarrassed to go back to Allah again. I will just be patient in relation to these five Salat."

Then I heard a voice that said, "Since you have had patience, these five Salat will be counted as fifty Salat. Each Salat will be counted as ten Salat, and if one person from your Ummah performs a good act, then ten good acts will be written for him, but if he performs one bad act, then only that one bad act will be written in his record."

Imam Ja'far as‑Sadiq (a.s) had said, "May Allah give Musa (a.s) great reward since because of him, the daily (obligatory) Salat were reduced to only five."

(From Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 18, p. 330-331, Bab 3 - Ithbaat al-Mi`raaj wa ma`anaahu wa kayfiyyatuhu wa sifatuhu wa ma jaraa feehi wa wasf al-buraaq, Hadith 34.)

Sajdah and Ruku

Imam Musa Kazim (a.s) addressed Hisham saying: 'O Hisham! Just listen. Almighty Allah created seven skies, seven earths, seven hijabs (veil or curtains). When the Holy Prophet (saw) went in ascension (Mehraj) and his nearness to his Lord was only of two bows, one of the veils was lifted. At that moment the Holy Prophet (saw) said Takbeer (ALLAHU AKBAR - ALLAH IS GREAT) and also recited the words which are being recited in the beginning of every namaaz. Thereafter other veils also went on lifting. He thus recited Takbeer seven times. Then he got the honour from Almighty Allah. He remembered HIM and began to tremble with awe and bowed down upon his knees saying, SUBHAANA RABBIYAL AZEEM WA BI HAMDHI.

When he stood up from the ruku position, he saw that HIS status is far more high. So he went Further down and prostrated on the ground (sajdah) and said, SUBHAANA RABBIYAL AALA WA BIHAMDHI. He recited this zikr (recitation) seven times and his fear was removed. That is why this is ritual became part of namaaz.