Copyright 2010 S. E. Jihad Levine)
This morning I made sujood during my Fajr prayer.
"Big deal, Safiyyah. What's so unusual about that?" you may wonder.
It IS a big deal for me. Because I rarely get to do it.
Between MS and Arthritis, I cannot always make my salaat without the use of a chair. I also have a very stubborn Baker's Cyst behind my left knee. They are supposed to dissolve on their own, but oh joy, mine actually comes and goes. I've had it for about two years. This cyst and the Arthritis make it very painful and nearly impossible for me to sit between the two sajdahs, or to sit for the Tashahhud.
Even though Allaah swt granted the use of a chair as His Mercy for Muslims like me, I still grieve. When I have to make salaat in a chair, I mourn the full physical movements that lend so much spirituality to the prayer. I miss the involvement of my entire body in praising Allah swt. More than anything, I miss the feeling of my forehead on the prayer carpet.
Sujood has a position of excellence in the salaat.
In the time of the Prophet saw, one time during the month of Ramadan, there was a a rainstorm that washed the roof of the mosque away. The roof was made of palm-branches. The Messenger saw of Allah swt was making salaat when this happened. He didn't stop his prayer, but continued and MADE SUJOOD IN THE MUD! Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri (ro) said, "So I saw, with my own eyes, the Messenger of Allah, with traces of mud and water on his forehead and nose."
Subhan'Allaah!
The Prophet saw also "used to say, 'There is no one among my ummah whom I will not recognise on the Day of Resurrection.' They said, 'How will you recognise them, O Messenger of Allaah, among the multitude of created things?' He said, 'Do you not see that were one of you to enter an enclosure in which there was a jet black steed and a horse with a white forehead and legs, would you not recognise the latter from the former?' They said, 'Of course.' He said, 'Thus, my ummah on that day will surely have white faces because of sujood, and white arms and feet because of ablution.'"
Also, when Allaah swt wants to have mercy on the people of the Fire, he orders the angels to pull out those people who used to worship Him. The angels will recognise those people from their sujood marks because Allaah swt has prohibited the Fire from consuming the sujood marks.
In his book, Du'a: The Weapon of the Believer, Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi describes sujood as "the most noble posture that a worshipper can be in, for it is the epitome of humility and submissiveness."
"And how can it not be," he writes, "when a person in prostration lowers his face - the most noble and sacred part of his body - to the dust, seeking the pleasure of his Lord? This is why this posture is the most beloved by Allaah."
The closest any worshipper can be to his Lord is while he is in prostration, so increase your duas in it. (Muslim)
Ya Allaah! I want to be close to You!
Ya Allaah! Cure me, and make it easy for me to make sujood! Make it easy for Your messenger to recognise me on the Day of Resurrection. Make it easy for the angels to recognise me. Ameen!
"Big deal, Safiyyah. What's so unusual about that?" you may wonder.
It IS a big deal for me. Because I rarely get to do it.
Between MS and Arthritis, I cannot always make my salaat without the use of a chair. I also have a very stubborn Baker's Cyst behind my left knee. They are supposed to dissolve on their own, but oh joy, mine actually comes and goes. I've had it for about two years. This cyst and the Arthritis make it very painful and nearly impossible for me to sit between the two sajdahs, or to sit for the Tashahhud.
Even though Allaah swt granted the use of a chair as His Mercy for Muslims like me, I still grieve. When I have to make salaat in a chair, I mourn the full physical movements that lend so much spirituality to the prayer. I miss the involvement of my entire body in praising Allah swt. More than anything, I miss the feeling of my forehead on the prayer carpet.
Sujood has a position of excellence in the salaat.
In the time of the Prophet saw, one time during the month of Ramadan, there was a a rainstorm that washed the roof of the mosque away. The roof was made of palm-branches. The Messenger saw of Allah swt was making salaat when this happened. He didn't stop his prayer, but continued and MADE SUJOOD IN THE MUD! Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri (ro) said, "So I saw, with my own eyes, the Messenger of Allah, with traces of mud and water on his forehead and nose."
Subhan'Allaah!
The Prophet saw also "used to say, 'There is no one among my ummah whom I will not recognise on the Day of Resurrection.' They said, 'How will you recognise them, O Messenger of Allaah, among the multitude of created things?' He said, 'Do you not see that were one of you to enter an enclosure in which there was a jet black steed and a horse with a white forehead and legs, would you not recognise the latter from the former?' They said, 'Of course.' He said, 'Thus, my ummah on that day will surely have white faces because of sujood, and white arms and feet because of ablution.'"
Also, when Allaah swt wants to have mercy on the people of the Fire, he orders the angels to pull out those people who used to worship Him. The angels will recognise those people from their sujood marks because Allaah swt has prohibited the Fire from consuming the sujood marks.
In his book, Du'a: The Weapon of the Believer, Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi describes sujood as "the most noble posture that a worshipper can be in, for it is the epitome of humility and submissiveness."
"And how can it not be," he writes, "when a person in prostration lowers his face - the most noble and sacred part of his body - to the dust, seeking the pleasure of his Lord? This is why this posture is the most beloved by Allaah."
The closest any worshipper can be to his Lord is while he is in prostration, so increase your duas in it. (Muslim)
Ya Allaah! I want to be close to You!
Ya Allaah! Cure me, and make it easy for me to make sujood! Make it easy for Your messenger to recognise me on the Day of Resurrection. Make it easy for the angels to recognise me. Ameen!
