Reverence in prayer

"focusing on the senses and comprehending their meaning, yet without reverence. Reverence is an addition to them both. Awe is a progression beyond reverence; it is a term for fear that originates from reverence. Without fear, one cannot be called in awe. Fear from a scorpion or a servant's bad nature is not termed awe, but fear from a grand sultan is termed awe."

"From this perspective, prayer restrains from indecency and wrongdoing, for it conveys matters that indeed prevent indecency. Reverence surpasses the presence of heart and understanding, as a person may address their servant with words, focusing on the senses and comprehending their meaning, yet without reverence. Reverence is an addition to them both."

"From these insights arise humility, submission, and reverence to Allah. Without blending the understanding of one's own insignificance with the recognition of Allah's majesty, reverence does not form properly. One who is self-sufficient may recognize greatness in others without reverence or humility because the recognition of one's own need is absent."

"exclaiming: "It is the speech of my Lord, it is the speech of my Lord. Reverence for the speech is reverence for the Speaker, and the grandeur of the Speaker will not be present unless one contemplates His attributes, majesty, and actions. When recalling the Throne, the Footstool, the heavens, the earth, and everything between them—humankind, jinn, creatures, and trees—and understanding that the Creator, Sustainer, and Maintainer of all is One, and that all are within His grasp, oscillating between His grace and mercy and His vengeance and might, if He bestows grace, it is from His favor, and if He punishes, it is with justice."

"Let us mention their details, then their causes, and then the treatment for acquiring them. The first is presence of heart, which means that the heart is emptied of everything other than what it is engaged with and speaking about. Knowledge of the action and speech is paired with them. The thought should not wander outside them, and if it is diverted in thought from anything else and there is remembrance in the heart of what it is involved with, presence of heart has been achieved."

"Understanding the core meaning of the words, then reverence, presence of heart, contemplation, comprehension, removing obstacles to understanding, specification, emotional influence, ascension, and renouncement. The first is understanding the greatness and exaltedness of the speech, the superiority of Allah, Exalted and Glorious, and His kindness to His creation by sending down His message from His throne of majesty to the level of human comprehension."

"Sahl was asked about love, and he said: It is God's tenderness to the heart of His servant to witness Him after comprehending His will. It is said that the journey of the lover unfolds in four stages: love, awe, modesty, and reverence. Among these, reverence and love are the highest, as they remain with the people of Paradise, while the others are lifted from them."

"It is said that five virtues are signs of the scholars of the afterlife, derived from five verses in the Book of Allah: reverence, humility, modesty, good character, and preferring the afterlife over the world, which is asceticism. Reverence is from His saying, "Among His servants, it is only those who have knowledge who fear Allah."

"Its environs saw the initial establishment of Allah’s obligations and gathered the best of creation, both living and dead. Let your hope in Allah be great, that He will have mercy upon you as you enter it, so enter it with humility and reverence. This place is deserving of evoking reverence in the heart of every believer."

"gain, what benefit do you seek in acquiring knowledge, for the fruit of knowledge is acting upon it? When you proceed to the mosque, walk with calmness, gentleness, and reverence. Do not rush and say on your way, O Allah, I ask you by the rights of those who ask of you, by the rights of those who desire to be close to you, by the rights of this walk of mine towards you, for I have not come out with pride or arrogance, nor ostentatiously or for reputation, but I have come for fear of your wrath and to seek your pleasure. I ask you to protect me from the fire and forgive my sins, for none forgive sins except you. Etiquettes for Entering the Mosque"

"Moses was in a valley called Tuwa, facing the Chibla, while the bush was to his right from a western direction. His Lord called him from the sacred valley of Tuwa, first commanding him to remove his sandals as a mark of reverence, respect and veneration for that blessed spot, especially on that blessed night. According to the people of the book, Moses placed his hand on his face because of the intensity of the light fearing for his sight. Then the Almighty addressed him saying, Indeed I am Allah, Lord of the worlds. There is no deity except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance. Meaning, He is the Lord of the worlds, the one and only worthy"

"stone worship among the descendants of Ismail, peace be upon him, was when travelers from Mecca facing hardship would carry a stone from the sacred stones of the sanctuary as a sign of reverence. Wherever they settled, they would place it down and circle around it as they did with the Kaaba. This practice evolved into worshipping stones they found pleasing, leading to a time when they worshipped what they admired among stones, forgetting their original teachings. In authentic narrations, Abu Raja al-Taridi said, in the days of ignorance, if we could not find a stone, we would gather dirt, milk a sheep onto it and then circle around it. Ibn Ishaq continued that"

"recitations of the imams conclude on the night before. At that hour, all other imams pause their tarawih prayers in reverence of the reading completion at the maqam, coming together to partake in its blessing. The imam concludes in two cycles, then stands to deliver a sermon facing the maqam. Upon finishing, the imams return to their prayers, and the gathering disperses. The final completion occurs on the 29th night in the Maliki Maqam, conducted with simplicity and devoid of ostentation, where a completion and sermon also take place. In Shawwal, the month marking the beginning of the well-known pilgrimage months, it is customary to light torches and set"

"and Bethlehem. Then he placed his hand on my foot and wiped it over his face. I marveled at their reverence for those who entered these places, even those outside their faith. Then he took my hand, and I walked with him as he asked about the holy land and the Christians there, asking many questions. I entered with him into the sanctuary of the church we previously described. As we neared the main door, a group of priests and monks came out to greet him as befits their revered figure in monasticism. When he saw them, he released my hand. I asked to enter the church with him, but he said through the interpreter, Entry requires prostration"

"was amazed at their veneration for such trivial things. I was told they did it as a gesture of honor and reverence. We departed from them, arriving on the sixth day at the island of Uthman, a virtuous man who generously hosted us. On the eighth day, we landed on an island belonging to a minister called Al-Tirmidhi. On the tenth day, we reached the isle of Mahal, where the sultana and her husband resided, anchoring at their harbor. Their custom was that no one could disembark from the port without their permission. They granted us permission, and I intended to go to some mosques, but the servants on the shore prevented me,"

"Lord. This reverence prevents one from approaching what is forbidden. Piety from sin is thus motivated by either fear or reverence. The author mentions reverence instead of love as a motivator because love without reverence does not necessarily lead to abstaining from disobedience. Reverence, when present, compels one to avoid opposition."

"All of this arises from the absence of God's reverence in the heart. And whoever is like this, God will cast no reverence or awe for him into the hearts of people; rather, his dignity and awe will fall away in their hearts. And if they do revere him out of fear of his evil, that is the reverence of loathing, not the reverence of love and esteem. Part of revering God is that one feels shy that He should look upon his secret and his innermost thought and see in it what He dislikes."

"with excessive strictness, nor carried on a rationale that weakens adherence. The essence of his statement is that the first level of revering the Almighty is the reverence of His command and prohibition. The believer knows his Lord through his message sent via the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, to all humanity, which entails adherence to His command and prohibition. This is accomplished by respecting Allah's commands, following them, respecting His prohibitions, and avoiding them. Therefore, the reverence of a believer for Allah's commands and prohibitions signifies his reverence for the one who commanded and prohibited,"

"respecting His prohibitions, and avoiding them. Therefore, the reverence of a believer for Allah's commands and prohibitions signifies his reverence for the one who commanded and prohibited, and based on this reverence, he is among the righteous, testified for their faith, belief, accuracy, and freedom from major hypocrisy. A person may perform and act in compliance with the command for the observation of others, seeking status and prestige amongst them, and avoid prohibitions out of fear of losing their esteem or fear of worldly punishments prescribed by the legislator, peace be upon him, for the"

"size. The greater the gathering, the dearer it is to Allah and the further the steps, each step erases a sin, another elevates a rank. Missing reverence and presence of heart in prayer before the Lord, blessed and exalted, which is its essence and core, results in a prayer without reverence and presence being like a body without a soul. Does the servant not feel shame to present to a fellow creature a lifeless servant or a lifeless maidservant? What would this servant expect the receiver of such a gift, whether a king or an emir or otherwise, to think of it?"

"and if these are not accompanied by reverence, they lead to stepping outside the bounds of servitude and arrogance. Any love not accompanied by reverence for the beloved is a cause for distance from Him and falling from His grace. His words encompass five key elements: a journey towards اللّٰه, the continuity of this journey, the presence of the heart with Him, reverence for Him, and being overwhelmed by His greatness to the exclusion of others."

"Respect is veneration coupled with love. Fear is for general believers, reverence is for knowledgeable scholars, awe is for lovers, and respect is for the close ones. The degree of fear and reverence corresponds to one's knowledge and understanding. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Indeed, I am the most knowledgeable of you about اللّٰه, and the one who has the most reverence for Him." In another narration, "fear" is mentioned."

"while this second degree involves reverence for the cosmic and predestined decree. This is what the author refers to as the decree. Just as a servant must honor God's religious decree with reverence, so too must they honor His cosmic decree. The author mentions three aspects of this reverence. The first aspect is not seeking any deviation from it, meaning not looking for or perceiving any deviation in it."

"When these two are combined with praise for the beloved and revered, that is the true essence of praise. And اللّٰه, glorified and exalted, knows best. Chapter: Degrees of Reverence The First Degree: Reverence for Command and Prohibition Chapter: The author of "المَنَازِل," may اللّٰه have mercy on him, explains that reverence is the recognition of greatness, accompanied by humility towards it."

"Both aspects are necessary; if one neglects reverence in favor of good consideration, they fail to deduce the attributes. Conversely, if one considers without reverence for the Creator, they do not benefit in affirming the attributes. When reverence for the Creator and good contemplation of His creation come together, they inevitably lead to affirming His attributes of perfection."

"For obedience to Him, glorified is He, is to shun acts of disobedience to Him, and shyness before Him is according to the measure of His reverence in the heart. For this reason one of the early generations said: Let the reverence of God be so great in the heart of one of you that he will not mention Him alongside what he would be ashamed to mention, coupling His name with it — as when you say, may God disfigure the dog, the pig, the stench, and the like. This is part of revering God. And part of revering Him is that you set nothing of His creation as His equal: not in speech, as when you say, "By God and by your life," "I have none but God"

"esteem or fear of worldly punishments prescribed by the legislator, peace be upon him, for the prohibited. Such actions or omissions do not originate from reverence for the command and prohibition nor for the one commanding and prohibiting. A sign of reverence for acts of worship is attending to their times and limits, scrutinizing their pillars and obligations, striving for their completion, and eagerly performing them when they become due, feeling sadness, regret, and sorrow when missing any rites. Like one who mourns missing the congregation, knowing that his solitary prayer was accepted yet missed 27-fold the reward."

"It is important to avoid the expansiveness and self-importance that revelation might provoke. Revelation can lead to expansiveness, and there is a fear of overstepping unless accompanied by reverence that preserves respect. Purifying one's time from seeking the approval of others goes beyond merely avoiding hypocrisy. At this level, it means concealing one's spiritual states from people as much as possible, such as reverence, humility, and submission."

"In this state, his heart becomes too narrow to contain it, but when he regains his senses, his heart expands to embrace it. His saying, "and the reverence remains," means that the narrowness of his heart from being preoccupied with the report is not due to neglect or disinterest. It is news from his beloved, after all. Rather, it is due to his heart's narrowness in that state from being preoccupied with it, while reverence remains in his heart."

"and good consideration" means that in addition to the light of insight and the pleasant life of the mind, the heart is enlivened through good contemplation. This contemplation revolves between the reverence of the Creator and the good consideration of His creations that indicate Him. Both aspects are necessary; if one neglects reverence in favor of good consideration, they fail to deduce the attributes."

"we were indeed in manifest error when we equated you with the Lord of the worlds." It is known that they did not equate them with the Lord of the worlds in creation and lordship, but rather in love and reverence. This is also the justice mentioned in His saying: "Then those who disbelieve equate others with their Lord." Meaning, they equate others with Him in worship, which is love and reverence."

"This matter cannot be understood except by experiencing it and tasting it, and the best way to express it is through the prophetic مُحَمَّدِيّ expression. The closest expressions of the people are that it is the nearness achieved by removing the intermediaries, which, when removed, the servant attains the reality of reverence. Therefore, he said, "awe of Him with reverence.""

"According to شَيْخ الإِسْلَام, zeal is part of complete insight because the degree of knowledge of the truth, its due, love, and reverence for it determines the zeal for it not to be lost, and the anger towards those who neglect it. This is evidence of the love, reverence, and esteem for the one who holds the truth, and this is the essence of insight."

"never departing from it. The reality of this is the heart's abiding upon His love and His remembrance with reverence and magnification, and the limbs' abiding upon His obedience with sincerity toward Him and with following His Messenger. Whoever's heart does not keep its retreat upon God alone keeps it upon images of every kind, as the leader of the upright said to his people: "What are these images to which you are so devoted?" So he and his people divided between them the reality of devoted retreat: his people's portion was retreat upon images, and his portion was retreat upon the Majestic Lord. Al-tamathil is the plural of timthal, meaning fashioned forms."

"what I am solely entitled to, which is divinity that neither befits nor suits anyone but me? Whoever claims this has not given me due reverence, nor has he magnified me as I deserve, nor has he recognized me as the only one uniquely entitled to what is mine alone among my creation. He has not given Allah his due estimation who worships another alongside him, as he said, O people, an example is set forth, so listen to it. Those whom you invoke besides Allah could never create a fly, even if they gathered together for that purpose, and if the fly should snatch anything away from them, they could not recover it from it. Weak are the pursuer"