Category: Salah (Prayer)

Reflecting Over the Tahiyyāt (Tashahud)
Shaykh ‘Abdurrazzāq al Badr حفظه الله
https://youtu.be/Vqy0FWKrsSU [35 min]

O noble, beloved brothers, I titled the talk of tonight’s gathering: Reflecting Over the Tahiyyāt. What I mean by the Tahiyyāt is that which the Muslim recites at the end of his prayer, after standing, bowing and prostrating. Then, at the completion of the prayer he sits in this tremendous position in front of the Lord of all that exists. Commencing this sitting with his statement: At-Tahiyyātu lillāh… until the end of what is mentioned. And that which I will speak about in regards to the Tahiyyāt is not from an aspect of teaching, rather it is from an aspect of reminding. I am reminding myself firstly and reminding those that are present listening. We ask Allāh to bless us all. So, I am not a teacher. Rather, I am one who is reminding, reminding myself firstly and reminding all my brothers. We ask Allāh for success and uprightness.

It comes in the Sahihayn, from the Hadith of ‘Abdillāh ibn Mas’ūd (may Allāh be pleased with him), he said: “When we used to pray behind the Prophet ﷺ, we would say As-Salām upon Allāh from His slaves, As-Salām upon Jibrīl and Mikā’īl, As-Salām upon So and So and we would name the people one by one. So the Prophet ﷺ said: Don’t say As-Salām upon Allāh. Verily, Allāh is As-Salām. However, say At-Tahiyyāt, As-Salawāt and At-Tayyibāt is for Allāh. As-Salām and Allāh’s Mercy and Blessings be upon you O Prophet. As-Salām upon us and the righteous slaves of Allāh. If you say this, this includes every righteous slave that is in the heavens and that is on the earth. I testify that there is nothing worthy of worship but Allāh, alone without any partners and I testify that Muhammad is His slave and messenger.”
(كُنَّا إِذَا صَلَّيْنَا خَلْفَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، قُلْنَا: السَّلَامُ عَلَى اللَّهِ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ، السَّلَامُ عَلَى جِبْرِيلَ وَمِيكَائِيلَ، السَّلَامُ عَلَى فُلَانٍ وَفُلَانٍ، فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: لَا تَقُولُوا السَّلَامُ عَلَى اللَّهِ، فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ السَّلَامُ، وَلَكِنْ قُولُوا: التَّحِيَّاتُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَوَاتُ وَالطَّيِّبَاتُ، السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ، السَّلَامُ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى عِبَادِ اللَّهِ الصَّالِحِينَ، فَإِنَّكُمْ إِذَا قُلْتُمُوهَا أَصَابَتْ كُلَّ عَبْدٍ لِلَّهِ صَالِحٍ فِي السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ)

This is a tremendous Hadith in mentioning this tremendous Tahiyyāt that the Prophet ﷺ taught his Ummah. We take from this an important piece of benefit. We see from the beginning of the Hadith the independent judgement of the companions in regards to the Tahiyyah. They used to say As-Salām upon Allāh. And we know who they are in regards to virtue and nobility. However, the Prophet ﷺ corrected them and taught them. We will go over the description of how to send the Salāt upon him. They said: We know how to send the Salām upon you. So, teach us how to send the Salāt upon you.

So, we take from this an important piece of benefit, which is that affair of supplication and remembrance is like the affairs of the religion, and that is that it must be learned from the Prophet ﷺ. Regarding these religious affairs, if an individual relies on his independent judgements, he will err and fall into mistakes. However, if he took from the Prophet ﷺ, then everything from the Prophet ﷺ is infallible and there are no mistakes in any of them. So behind the Prophet ﷺ they used to say: As-Salām upon Allāh. Salām is a supplication. A supplication for well-being for the one you are supplicating for. Allāh, He is As-Salām. He is the One Who Salām is requested from for His slaves. And As-Salām is one of His Names as it comes at the conclusion of Sūrah al-Hashr: “He is Allāh than Whom none has the right to be worshipped but He, the King, the Holy, As-Salām…” (59:23)
(هُوَ اللَّهُ الَّذِي لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْمَلِكُ الْقُدُّوسُ السَّلَامُ)

As-Salām is one of His Names. This Name is from the Names that negates any type of deficiency, imperfection or likening to the creation, like al-Quddūs, like As-Subbūh. These are all names that negate any type of deficiency, imperfection or likening to the creation. They negate everything that is not befitting for His Majesty, His Perfection and His Greatness. So it is not correct to say As-Salām upon Allāh because it is from Him that Salām is requested from. And He is the One Who gives it. As for Him, then He is As-Salām. “Don’t say As-Salām upon Allāh because verily He is As-Salām and from Him that Salām is requested from.”
(لَا تَقُولُوا السَّلَامُ عَلَى اللَّهِ، فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ السَّلَامُ)

However, say At-Tahiyyāt, As-Salawāt and At-Tayyibāt is for Allāh. At-Tahiyyāt: all types of magnification in all of its forms, from humility, submission, bowing and prostrating. This is the sole right of Allāh alone. It is not directed to anyone but Him. As-Salawāt: It is said (the prayer) that which entails the bowing and prostrating. And it is said that what is intended is its linguistic meaning which is supplication. And there is nothing that prevents this from comprising both affairs. It’s all for Allāh. So one doesn’t prostrate or bow except to Allāh. Likewise, one doesn’t supplicate except to Allāh. “And who is more astray than one who calls (invokes) besides Allāh, such as will not answer him till the Day of Resurrection, and who are (even) unaware of their calls (invocations) to them?” (46:5)
(وَمَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّن يَدْعُو مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ مَن لَّا يَسْتَجِيبُ لَهُ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ وَهُمْ عَن دُعَائِهِمْ غَافِلُونَ)

At-Tayyibāt is for Allāh. At-Tayyibat is described for a description that is removed. The context points to this. At-Tayyibāt: from the Names and Attributes, statements, actions, intentions, all of this is for Allāh. At-Tayyibāt: are from the Names and Attributes. All of Allāh’s Names are Tayyibah. And from the Names of Allāh is At-Tayyib. He said: “Allāh is Tayyib. And He doesn’t accept anything except that which is Tayyib.”
(إِنَّ اللَّهَ طَيِّبٌ لَا يَقْبَلُ إِلَّا طَيِّبًا)

All characteristics that are Tayyib are for Him. Actions, speech and intentions that are Tayyibah all of this is for Allāh alone. So He is Tayyib and everything that is for Him is Tayyib. Therefore, if an individual is Tayyib in his actions, speech and intentions seeking nearness to Allāh by way of them, on the Day of Judgment he will be from those that it will be said to them: “(Tibtum) You have done well, so enter here to abide therein…” (39:73)
(طِبْتُمْ فَادْخُلُوهَا خَالِدِينَ)

At-Tayyibāt is for Allāh… from statements, actions, intentions, as well as His beautiful Names and lofty Attributes, they are all for Allāh. The beautiful Names and lofty Attributes, which is considered Tayyibāt for Allāh, is a description of Allāh. And statements, actions and intentions for Allāh are a means of attaining nearness to Him. And all of this is taken from the other Hadith: “Allāh is Tayyib (in His Names and Attributes). And He doesn’t accept anything except that which is Tayyib (from actions, statements and intentions).”
(إِنَّ اللَّهَ طَيِّبٌ لَا يَقْبَلُ إِلَّا طَيِّبًا)

After this Tahiyyah and magnification for Allāh, the Prophet ﷺ is singled out with an exclusive Salām and it is the first Salām before the rest of the slaves. As-Salām and the Mercy and the Blessings of Allāh upon you O Prophet. And this shows that the Prophet ﷺ has exclusive rights upon the whole Ummah and all of the slaves. This is because, by way of him, Allāh saved the people from darkness to the Light and guided them to the straight path. “Verily, there has come unto you a Messenger from amongst yourselves. It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty. He is anxious over you, for the believers (he is) full of pity, kind, and merciful.” (9:128)
(لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُم بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ)

He said: “The Prophet is more worthy of the believers than themselves…” (33:6)
(النَّبِيُّ أَوْلَىٰ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ)

If he is more worthy of the believer than his ownself, then he is given precedence even in this Tahiyyah and in this Salām. As-Salām and the Mercy and the Blessings of Allāh upon you O Prophet and As-Salām upon us… After this appropriation for him, comes something specific for the one praying, the one sending the Salām. As-Salām and the Mercy and the Blessings of Allāh upon you O Prophet and As-Salām upon us… After this appropriation for the Prophet ﷺ, which takes precedence over his ownself because he is more worthy of yourself than you. This is because he is more diligent and wants good for you more than you do. Therefore, he ﷺ is more worthy of your love than yourself and your love of him ﷺ takes precedence over your love for yourself. And this precedence in Salām is from this affair, which is: “The Prophet is more worthy of the believers than themselves…” (33:6)
(النَّبِيُّ أَوْلَىٰ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ)

So Salām upon him takes precedence over Salām upon himself. As-Salām and the Mercy and the Blessings of Allāh upon you O Prophet and As-Salām upon us… Afterwards, it becomes general: and upon the righteous slaves of Allāh. When the Prophet ﷺ taught them this statement, he said: “If you say this, this includes every righteous slave that is in the heavens and that is on the earth.”
(فَإِنَّكُمْ إِذَا قُلْتُمُوهَا أَصَابَتْ كُلَّ عَبْدٍ لِلَّهِ صَالِحٍ فِي السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ)

Take heed now, when a Muslim says: As-Salām upon us and upon the righteous slaves of Allāh. The companions would say: As-Salām upon So and So, So and So, So and So, So and So. They used to say As-Salām upon Mikā’īl and Jibrīl, but there are other angels that exists. The companions would say: As-Salām upon So and So, So and So, So and So, So and So. They would specify the individuals by their names. If this was legislated in the Tahiyyah, who would we remember and who would we forget and leave out. If, for every prayer, we would enumerate the names of the angels, the names that we know, and the names of the righteous who have rights over us, how many would we enumerate?

This reminds me of an affair. I will allude to it and return back to the topic. Now, some visitors come to Madinah to visit the Prophet’s ﷺ Masjid, the norm in many countries is that they will ask the one who will visit the Masjid to send the Salām to the Prophet ﷺ for them. Whoever knows he will be traveling, they would burden him with this trust. How many of their names is he supposed to remember? Some of them have informed me that from their wanting good for those people, they wrote all of their names down in a paper. A questioner once came to me and said to me: O Shaykh, I was made to bear the burden of sending the Salām upon the Prophet ﷺ and I wrote the names of them in a paper and they were a lot. He wanted to stand and send the Salām from So and So, So and So, So and So. He said: ‘I lost the paper!’ So he asked about the paper and what he should do about it. He burdened himself with something he wasn’t ordered to do. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Indeed, Allāh has angels who travel around. They convey to me the Salām of my Ummah.”
(إِنَّ لِلَّهِ مَلَائِكَةً سَيَّاحِينَ فِي الْأَرْضِ يُبَلِّغُونِي مِنْ أُمَّتِي السَّلَامَ)

No paper or any writing down of names need to be done. They convey to me the Salām of my Ummah. A man doesn’t need to wait for someone from his country to travel to Madinah so that he could say to him: convey my Salām to the Prophet ﷺ. He is in no need of this. At any time of the day or night, he can send As-Salāt and As-Salām upon the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ and the angels will convey it. The similarities between the two stories is that this enumeration causes a great burden upon the individual. If this was legislated for the one who visited Madinah… Now, when a person travels to another place, we have a custom. We say: Send Salām to those you meet, our loved ones, the brothers and our relatives. If he was to burden himself with this, it would be a problem. However, similar to this, the benefit that we can derive from this Tahiyyah is that this is not what is intended. Even if one were to say: Send Salām. What is not intended is that you follow-up one by one. However, in general gatherings, so that kinship and communication remain by conveying the Salām.

We return to the Hadith. As-Salām upon us and the righteous slaves of Allāh. If you say this, this includes every righteous slave that is in the heavens and that is on the earth. Look at this tremendous virtue. With this, you are supplicating for every righteous slave on the earth and in the heavens with this concise statement that Allāh has sufficed His slaves from having to do without long statements that wouldn’t be possible to fulfill. This reminds us of an affair that firmly connects us to the narrated supplications of the Prophet ﷺ which is that the Prophet ﷺ was given concise speech with an abundance of meaning. And the supplications narrated from him, despite its conciseness, it combines all the good. After: As-Salām upon us and the righteous slaves of Allāh… is the two testimonies of faith, the testification of Allāh’s Oneness and the testification for the Prophet ﷺ in conveying Allāh’s message. I testify that no one has the right to be worshipped except Allāh alone, without partner. This is the Tawhīd of Allāh because this is a testification of the Oneness of Allāh and sincerity to Allāh. And the testimony of faith is established upon two pillars. There is nothing worthy of worship except Allāh. Negation and affirmation. Negating worship for anything other than Allāh and affirming worship in all its forms for Allāh alone. This is Tawhid. Tawhid is negation and affirmation. Negation without affirmation is not Tawhid and affirmation without negation is not Tawhid. It must comprise both in order for it to be Tawhid. Negation that is general and affirmation that is specific. Negation of worship that is general in everything other than Allāh and affirmation of worship in all of its forms for Allāh, alone with sincerity and singling Him out in worship.

The second testimony is the testimony for the Prophet ﷺ in conveying Allāh’s message. And this is also Tawhid. The scholars say that Tawhid is of two types. Tawhid for the One Sending, Allāh, by making the religion sincerely for Him. And Tawhid for the one being sent, by following him. We follow him alone. We take from him alone and we learn the religion from him alone. So the religion is what comes by way of him ﷺ. This is because he is the one conveying the message to the people from Allāh. “Nor does he speak of (his own) desire. It is only an Inspiration that is inspired.” (53:3,4)
(وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ * إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَىٰ)

This testimony combines his description of worship and conveying of Allāh’s message. So he is a slave and a slave is not worshipped. And he is a messenger and a messenger is not to be disbelieved in. Rather, he is to be obeyed and followed. And the one who actualizes this he becomes balanced and falls between the two extremes of exaggeration and negligence. So he doesn’t go into exaggeration in regards to the status of the Prophet ﷺ because he is a slave. He doesn’t give him any of Allāh’s rights or attributes. He is a slave and a slave is not worshipped. And he is a messenger and a messenger is not to be disbelieved in. Rather, he is to be obeyed and followed. “We sent no Messenger, but to be obeyed by Allāh’s Leave.” (4:64)
(وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن رَّسُولٍ إِلَّا لِيُطَاعَ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ)

Therefore, the reality of testifying for him in conveying Allāh’s message is obedience in what he commands, belief in what he reports and abandoning what he prohibits and rebukes. The Ibrahīmiyyah prayer comes after this and it has many different forms. However, the most comprehensive form is the form that comes in the Sahihayn, from Abdurrahman ibn Abī Layla. He said: K’ab ibn Ujrah (may Allāh be pleased with him) met me and said: Should I give you a gift…? If a person were to say: Should I give you a gift…? Most people would wait for him to put his hand in his pocket and take something out to give it to him. K’ab ibn Ujrah said: Should I give you a gift…? Abdurrahman ibn Abī Layla said: Of course, gift it for me. K’ab ibn Ujrah (may Allāh be pleased with him) said: “(This is the gift) We said to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ: We know how to send the Salām upon you. How do we send the Salāt upon you?”
(سَأَلْنَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقُلْنَا: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، كَيْفَ الصَّلَاةُ عَلَيْكُمْ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ، فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ عَلَّمَنَا كَيْفَ نُسَلِّمُ عَلَيْكُمْ؟)

This questions comes more than once in different Ahādith from more than one companion. They said: How do we send the Salāt upon you? This question clarifies to us what I want to allude to and clarify which is that the companions, despite their knowledge and their eloquence of the Arabic language and their understanding of the religion, Don’t they have the ability to create a beautiful way or form of sending the Salāt upon the Prophet ﷺ? They have the ability to create the most beautiful way or form of sending the Salāt! However, not one of them created anything that they would recite on a regular basis! They said: How do send the Salāt upon you? Nowadays, there are several books available that comprises of fabricated Salawāt upon the Prophet ﷺ. And they aggrandize it, meanwhile they are fabricated. Despite the lofty status of the companions, their eloquence, their knowledge of the religion, being near the Prophet ﷺ, learning directly from him, despite all this, they didn’t create their own way of sending the Salāt upon him. They said: How do send the Salāt upon you? After he taught them how to send the Salāt upon him, what did they do? They took it and acted upon it. They said: How do send the Salāt upon you? He said: “Say: Allāhumma Salli ‘alā Muhammad wa ‘alā Āli Muhammad kamā Sallayta ‘alā Ibrāhīm wa ‘alā Āli Ibrāhīm innaka Hamīdun Majīd. Wa Bārik ‘alā Muhammad wa ‘alā Āli Muhammad kamā Bārakta ‘alā Ibrāhīm wa ‘alā Āli Ibrāhīm innaka Hamīdun Majīd.”
(قُولُوا: اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَعَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ، اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا بَارَكْتَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَعَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ)

He taught them this way of sending the Salāt upon him and they took it from him. And there comes other types of forms of sending the Salāt upon the Prophet ﷺ that are similar. However, this is the most comprehensive. So any way of sending the Salāt upon the Prophet ﷺ that is narrated will establish what is intended. In summary, that which is after the Tahiyyāt and the Tashahhud, the individual sends the Salāt upon the Prophet ﷺ. This tremendous Salāt that combines the Salāt, mercy and blessings. Allāhumma Salli ‘alā Muhammad… afterwards: Wa Bārik ‘alā Muhammad… As-Salāt upon him from Allāh is praising him in the highest gathering. The Salāt of the believers and the angels upon him… Allāh sends His Salāt on the Prophet and also His angels too. “O you who believe! Send your Salāt on him, and (you should) greet (salute) him with the Islamic way of greeting.” (33:56)…
(يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا)

It is a request for that. As for the blessings, it means growth and increase. So this is a request for the Salāt and blessings to be upon him ﷺ. What comes after this affair? The slave stands in front of Allāh, makes the Takbīr, makes the opening supplication, recites the Fātihah and whatever he is able to afterwards, bows, raises, prostrates until he reaches the end of the prayer and sits in this position. After these tremendous affairs that Allāh has honored him with, he begins this sitting with the Tahiyyah, magnifying Allāh, sending the Salām upon the Prophet ﷺ, upon the righteous slaves of Allāh. Then the Ibrāhīmiyyah prayer. What comes after all this? The door becomes open for supplications to be answered. It is from the greatest doors for supplications to be answered! And the most anticipated times of having supplications answered is in the middle of the night and at the end of the prayer before the Taslīm. Therefore, he said in the Hadith: “Afterwards, let him choose whichever supplications he would like to supplicate with.”
(ثُمَّ لِيَتَخَيَّرْ مِنَ الدُّعَاءِ أَعْجَبَهُ إِلَيْهِ فَيَدْعُوَ)

This is because it is a door where supplications are answered. One of the Imāms spoke about one of those who was praying behind him, that he came to him after the prayer and said: O Shaykh you made the Tashahhud too long. I recited the Tashahhud behind you twice. Who said to you: Recite the Tashahhud twice?! If you complete the Tashahhud, there is an opportunity for you to supplicate. Afterwards, let him choose whichever supplications he would like to supplicate with. When the Imām does the Taslīm, some people wished that he would’ve prolonged it a little bit longer so that they can complete their supplications. They understand the value of this specific time in regards to supplications. And some people, if the Imām were to prolong it a little bit, they would get restless and wished that he would hasten to the Taslīm. There’s a difference between the two. In summary, before the Taslīm is an extremely tremendous and precious opportunity to supplicate. Even if the individual is praying a supererogatory prayer, if he has a need, he would hasten to the Taslīm. Afterwards, he would raise his hands and supplicate. Your opportunity is before the Taslīm to choose any supplication you wish, as the Prophet ﷺ said: “Afterwards, let him choose whichever supplications he would like to supplicate with.”
(ثُمَّ لِيَتَخَيَّرْ مِنَ الدُّعَاءِ أَعْجَبَهُ إِلَيْهِ فَيَدْعُوَ)

However, there is a specific supplication which is the seeking of refuge. It comes in the Sahihayn from the Hadith of Abi Hurayrah that the Prophet ﷺ commanded us to seek refuge in Allāh from four. Due to this command, some of the scholars viewed seeking refuge from these four affairs as obligatory. Some of them, which is the majority of the people of knowledge, view it as recommended and not obligatory. Regardless, the slave should be diligent in seeking refuge in Allāh from these four matters: the torment of the Fire, the torment of the grave, the trials of life and death and the trials of the False Messiah. And these four matters return to two affairs: the first is the torment and in the Hadith it is of two types, the torment of the Fire and the torment of the grave. And the punishment of the grave is true as the Prophet ﷺ said. And the second affair are the trials, and they are of two types: major and minor. They are comprised in his statement: “I seek refuge in You from the trials of life and death and I seek refuge in You from the trials of the False Messiah.”
(وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ فِتْنَةِ الْمَحْيَا وَالْمَمَاتِ، وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ فِتْنَةِ الْمَسِيحِ الدَّجَّالِ)

The major trial mentioned here is of two types: the trial of the False Messiah and the trial of death. Why is this? This is because the trial that occurs to the individual during his death, he is not able to make amends because he is trialed and then he dies. He dies while being trialed and Allāh’s refuge is sought. And the second trial is the trial of the False Messiah and one also will not be able to make amends from this trial. And the trials of life are the minor trials. The trials that a person in confronted with throughout his life. And they are minor trials because he has the opportunity to make amends. As for the trials of death and the trials of the False Messiah one is not able to make amends. However, the minor trials that one is confronted with throughout his life he is able to make amends. How many people have been trialed with desires and doubts and Allāh protected them from it. After seeking refuge, he chooses from any supplications he wishes seeking from Allāh the good of this worldly life and the Hereafter. This is a concise summary regarding the topic. It is as I mentioned a reminder. I ask Allāh to benefit us all, to give us success in all that is good and to guide us to the straight path.

There is something, which is off-topic, that I would like to allude to. It has something to do along the lines of history, but I see it as something very beautiful. The individual to my right is Shaykh ‘Alī al-Mohannā (may Allāh preserve him), he was my father’s classmate. They both studied together in the faculty of Sharī’ah in Riyadh. The seats in their class used to be attached whereby three students would sit together, so their seats used to be together. When they graduated, the first ones to graduate from the students were my father and the second was Shaykh ‘Ali. My father (may Allāh preserve him and Shaykh ‘Alī) said to me: When the grades came out, I was in Qasim. One of my classmates wrote a telegram to me congratulating me. If someone wanted to send a telegram, he would have to try his best to be very brief and concise. So he wrote a telegram to my father. He wrote: I congratulate you, al-Mohannā and ‘Arafah (who was the third classmate) on the occasion of being the first to graduate. Shaykh ‘Alī holds a special place in my heart. I consider him like a father. My talk in this gathering while he is present in reality is an honor for me and I benefit from his advice. May Allāh reward him. O Allāh, glory and praise be to You. I testify that there is nothing worthy of worship but You. I seek Your forgiveness and repent to You. O Allāh, send Salāt and Salām upon Your Slave and Messenger our Prophet Muhammad, his family and companions.

Salah ( Main Page):
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[Shaykh ‘Abdurrazzāq al Badr حفظه الله]
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