Tag: Around the Web

Around the Web: Fajr Edition

On Rabi Al Awwal 12 1444 / Oct 8 2022

If you asked any Muslim what prayer they struggle with the most, a majority would say fajr – the dawn prayer. Fajr times can vary drastically between summer and winter. Sometimes getting up for fajr is no thing. Actually sometimes you can get up, get ready for work, drive to your job and start your day, and then have to find a decent corner to pray in. Other times though, fajr is at 3 am. It can feel like an impossible challenge to maintain your prayer (never mind emotionally communicating with the Divine) through such transitory shifts. Don’t fret though, that’s why we’re at it again with another Around the Web edition dedicated just to the first prayer of the day.

Get Inspired

Fajr has a special place in the prayer repertoire of the Muslim. Beginning at dawn and extending until the sun begins to rise, it’s the closest prayer to the night prayer and can often elicit the same feelings of intimacy and wonder. Additionally, being so early in the morning, it can set a mood for the day and allow each person to clarify their daily intentions. Starting your day with the freshness of a renewed connection with God is such a blessing.

Often though, many of us who make fajr prayer on time do so bleary eyed and at the very last moment of the window. It may feel like a simple thing to put off prayer and even feel good that we at least made it on time, but putting off the prayer creates long term issues for the rest of our day. Just from an etiquette perspective, constantly running late to a recurring meeting would indicate a lack of interest and commitment to who and why you are meeting. How can we say that to Allah? How can we be so flimsy in our devotion? Fajr prayer needs to mean more to us.

Around the Web: Night Prayer

By Admin

On Dhul Hijjah 21 1442 / Jul 31 2021

In Rethink Salah

Perhaps the most demanding and yet rewarding practice of the believer is night prayer. The night prayer, initially ordained on every person entering Islam, has become for us, the mark of a true committed. Not for the faint-hearted, consistency in waking through the night to meet Allah means a person is giving their all. That’s why, though it may feel out of reach for so many, we thought it important to include an ‘Around the Web’ edition specifically dedicated to cultivating this essential practice.

What’s What

You may hear a lot about the virtues of praying ‘qiyam al-layl’ or ‘tahajud’, but what’s the difference and how does it affect your practice? There are actually a lot of different terms referring to night prayers and this article here gives a good general overview of what’s what and how to perform it. Basically though, any prayer performed between sunset and sunrise, excluding the obligatory prayers, is considered night prayer. If you’re looking for something more technical and that gives an overview of many different types of night prayers, as well as some others performed during the day, check out the detailed list on this site.

Around the Web: (re)Start Edition

By Admin

On Rabi Al Thani 17 1442 / Dec 2 2020

In Rethink Salah

While salah is the most fundamental practice of the believer, many Muslims struggle to pray or to pray consistently. You may be such a Muslim. You may have maintained prayer many years ago but somehow, along the way, fallen out of practice. You may have never really gotten the hang of praying. No matter. If you are feeling motivated to start praying then take comfort. Allah ﷻ tells us that no slave of His takes a step towards him except that He, Allah, comes toward him even more quickly 1. Your desire to return to salah is an indication of Allah calling you to Him. Don’t let negativity stop you. Respond to Allah’s call and begin.

Get Inspired

A simple reason to take heart in the beginning of this journey back to meeting Allah is knowing that others have tried and succeeded. Muslims all over the world are on a journey to meet their Creator. Some are in the same exact place as you, and some were and have moved forward. This personal story gives a lot of inspiration for anyone struggling to build a consistent practice of prayer. Another personal reflection shares how it’s possible to be lost, find your way, and then get lost again; but not to lose heart. And finally, if you need inspiration in the form of more tough love, check out this convert’s reflections on salah.

Where to Start

The idea of building or rebuilding a complete prayer practice is overwhelming. It is key however, to override emotions of pessimism with those of longing and hope. Before even beginning to look into how to schedule your prayers, reach out and reconnect emotionally to Allah. What will propel you through this period of building salah into your life is a growing attachment to being with your Lord. Check out this article for further discussion of why this is so important. It’s the first step in your journey back to Allah but it’s also encased in every step you will take forward.

Around the Web – Parenting Edition

By Admin

On Shaban 20 1441 / Apr 13 2020

In Rethink Salah

One of the most important responsibilities Muslim parents may feel is ensuring that their children hold fast to their practice of salah. There are so many components to this! Making sure your kids remember to pray, pray on time, have wudu, pray even if it’s embarrassing, pray mindfully, pray in the mosque, be willing to stick their feet in a public sink to make wudu. The list goes on. The more you think about it, the more daunting it can be. We took a look at some of the resources available on the internet right now on kids and salah. Honestly the quality resources available aren’t much but we did a round up of what’s there and put the following together. We hope these can give you a little support.

Putting the Parent Back in Parenting

Though for many parents, the urgency of wanting to find a solution for a kid who won’t pray feels imminent, the best place to start with addressing it is actually in oneself. It can be easy to forget, but for children, parents are a huge influence on their religious worldview¹. Actions, more than words, tell your children about what salah means and value it should hold in their lives. Check this article and this one for some ways to revive your own perspective on prayer life. For more practical tips look here and here, and for new mothers especially, check out this article. All of these links can help address some issues that may unintentionally translate into one’s children.

If you’re only going to read one thing …

Around the Web – Jumpstart Your Prayer

By Admin

On Dhul Hijjah 19 1440 / Aug 20 2019

In Rethink Salah

In the process of searching for the best resources on salah available right now, we’ve come across some great pieces that could jumpstart your journey to a richer prayer life. We’ve organized the links we’ve found to help you zoom in on the area of salah you want to start with.

(Re)Starting your Salah Habit.

People fall out of the habit of praying all five prayers commonly. If you’ve completely stopped praying or never have before, we recommend you regain your spiritual footing here and look for inspiration on why this is a worthwhile endeavor here and here. Even a non-Muslim can vouch for the benefits of salah!

Ready to get back on the wagon?

Establishing a habit of praying 5 times a day everyday is hard! Some have been lucky enough to have family who helped instill in them the habit, others have had to struggle as adults to figure out a way to build the habit. For some general tips on how to start building the habit of prayer from scratch check out this link as well as this one. If you need advice on how to push past more emotional blocks to salah, read this.

I pray … but I’m always running late.

Even if you’ve successfully established a habit of prayer, that doesn’t mean you’re performing at the optimum level you could be. If you find yourself always missing fajr prayer, or constantly procrastinating salah once the time comes in you need to examine more closely how committed you are to meeting Allah and how strong your faith in Him is. Looking to make sure you catch every fajr salah? Here’s one man’s method of making sure to get it in every morning, plus extra! Have an overarching procrastination problem? Check this link out.

Salah isn’t really about clocking in though …

Even though there’s a lot of importance in establishing and maintaining a habit of salah, that really isn’t the goal of prayer. You may be performing all the actions of prayer and in the right way, but still gain no spiritual benefit from praying. Is your mind constantly buzzing while praying? Do you jump after prayer to finish that task you were thinking about all through sujud? If you’re looking to develop your mindfulness and really focus on the meanings behind the motions of prayer consider taking this or this online class, or listening to a podcast here.

Do you walk out of your salah eager to come meet Allah in the next one?

You may have thought that mindfulness and focus were the optimum signs of a successful salah experience. But mindfulness is just the means. The goal is to connect to Allah swt; to feel yourself in the presence of your Maker. Being able to focus in your salah is one thing, tasting and enjoying your prayer so much that you can’t wait to meet Allah again, is another. There’s a great article series that hopes to convey the many layers of enjoyment that can be grasped in salah. If you can’t read the whole series, we recommend at least read this article.

And hopefully we can offer something too.

Honestly though, there is a lot more than can be offered to help improve the Muslim’s prayer experience. That’s the goal of this site: to create content, develop resources, and provide support in helping you transition from one level of prayer experience to another until prayer becomes a transformative addicting experience for you. May Allah bless us and allow us to fulfill that goal and May Allah grant us prayer that is a solace to be yearned for. Ameen.