What Happens the Moment You Stand for Prayer

When a servant stands for salah, his sins are brought and placed on his head and shoulders — then with every ruku and sujud they keep falling away.

The Scene the Shaykh Describes

The Shaykh repeatedly tells his patients something narrated from Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). Picture the scene for a moment.

The servant stood for salah. Then all his sins are brought and placed on his head and both shoulders. Every time he bows, every time he goes into sujud — they fall away.

When the prayer is over, he stands up — his shoulder feels light. (The narration is found in Sahih Ibn Hibban and Bayhaqi; Albani, may Allah have mercy on him, declared it sahih.)

Five times every day we pass through this scene — we just don't notice.

The Shaykh's Question

Why are all the sins brought back again at every obligatory prayer? Because between two prayers we pile up so much.

In that gap of heedlessness, the eyes, the ears, the tongue — everything keeps going. A single reckless word can throw a person into Hellfire. So do not take salah lightly — neither the obligatory nor the voluntary.

The Prophet's ﷺ Analogy

أَرَأَيْتُمْ لَوْ أَنَّ نَهَرًا بِبَابِ أَحَدِكُمْ يَغْتَسِلُ فِيهِ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ خَمْسًا، هَلْ يَبْقَى مِنْ دَرَنِهِ شَيْءٌ؟ قَالُوا: لَا يَبْقَى. قَالَ: فَذَٰلِكَ مَثَلُ الصَّلَوَاتِ الْخَمْسِ، يَمْحُو اللَّهُ بِهِنَّ الْخَطَايَا

Do you think that if one of you had a river at his door and bathed in it five times every day, any dirt would remain on his body? They said: Nothing would remain. He said: That is the example of the five daily prayers — through them Allah wipes away sins. (Sahih Bukhari 528, Sahih Muslim 667)Copy

For someone undergoing ruqyah, this is directly practical. Fewer sins means the doors of Shaytan closing — salah washes that door clean five times a day.

What to Do Today

1. Pray the five daily prayers on time — and if you are a man, in congregation as far as you can.
2. Stop rushing in ruku and sujud; complete the tasbih at least three times.
3. After salah, sit and make istighfar a few times — for the dust gathered in between.
4. Be careful with your words — whatever I say, I will have to account for it too.

Source: Based on a talk by Shaykh Khalid bin Ibrahim Al-Hibshi (ruqyah specialist)

Translation and compilation: Raqi Faisal Ahmed Sabit — Al Qur'an Ruqyah Healing Center