A Hanbali Epitome: A Student’s Guide

Formal prayer (salat) is the second pillar of Islam, and the most important of a Muslim’s acts of worship. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: “The first of one’s actions for which a slave of Allah will be held accountable on the Day of Judgment will be one’s prayers. If they are correct and accounted for, then he (or she) will have succeeded (gained paradise); and if they are lacking, then he (or she) will have failed (lost paradise). If there is something defective in his (or her) obligatory prayers, the Lord will say: ‘See if my slave has any supererogatory prayers with which that which was defective in his (or her) obligatory prayers may be completed. Then the rest of his (or her) deeds will be judged in like manner.” (At-Tirmidhi and others) Shaykh Mashhur Hasan Salman has compiled a list of the most common errors that we make when we pray, discussing and explaining each one. This book is a valuable aid to Muslims hoping to perfect their prayers, so that their prayers may be free of defects and acceptable to Allah. This new and revised edition of the English translation of his work presents the text in a fluent, highly readable style.

This book offers a detailed presentation of the theory of Muslim law (usul al-figh). Often regarded as the most sophisticated of the traditional Islamic disciplines, Muslim jurisprudence is concerned with the way in which the rituals and laws of religion are derived from the Qur’an and the Sunna – the precedent of the Prophet. Revelation, which is given to man to restore unity and help him achieve a just and devout order in society as well as in the soul, must be interpreted so as to render it practicable in every culture, while not betraying its spirit and immutable provisions. To achieve this, additional sources of legal authority are recognized, including consensus (ijma), analogical deduction (qiyas), public interest (maslaha) and local customary precedent (urf). In employing these, the jurist guards the five principles which it is the purpose of Islamic law to uphold, namely, the right to life, sound mind, property, lineage and religion.

Salah is one of the five pillars on which the edifice of Islam rests. Most of us feel that we already know all there is about salah – the formal prayers of a Muslim. However, very few individuals actually do justice to it or derive any worldly or spiritual benefits from it.

Salah & Its Essential Conditions is an effort to detail the essential prerequiires of salah. Moreever, it takes a detailed look at its importance along with the different types of obligatory and voluntary prayers. It alsa presents an illustrated guide to help those who wish to learn or correct the performance of their prayers.

Inshallah, all those who wish to improve their salah will find plenty of help in this book whether they are looking for information on cleanliness and purify, locating the direction of qibla, improving their congregation during salah, making up for the missed salah, or joining acongregation when the imam has already sarted the salah, or joining a congregation when the imam has already started the salah. All in all, it is a relevant handbook on what the Prophet (saw) has described as the coolness of his eyes.