A few weeks ago I was praying next to my room-heater. The congested space is only enough for a janamaz to fit in, which means that one has to be in close proximity to the heater while praying.

The cold had me huddled there, but as I prayed, the heat coming from my left quickly became too hot to bear. I shifted uncomfortably, trying to avoid the dry heat searing my face, when the words of Hazrat Haatim Asam (R.A) came to my mind – his description of how he prayed Salah is well-known and oft-quoted. So, like his words, I could suddenly picture Hell to my left, and I could scarcely move at this rude awakening.

Try and concentrate on your Salah while getting a constant reminder of the hellfire, where one misstep on the Pul-e-Siraat would send you tumbling into its depths.

It was fleeting, the feeling, and nowhere near the intensity a Sahabi or a Mo’min from bygone eras could reach. It was weak, it was barely there, a trickle of some fear, some inclination to taqwa and the dread of a painful punishment; when a body cannot bear some distant, controlled heat, how can it bear being doused completely in tormenting fire and darkness? Astagfirullah.

It left me shuddering and disconcerted, but it was an important reminder. We let ourselves off too easy, too often. We should be afraid of becoming inhabitants of the fire.  Allahuma ajarni minan’naar (O Allah! Protect me from the Hellfire).

—

Somebody asked Haatim Asam R.A as to how did he say his Salaat:

He replied: “When the time for salat comes, I perform my wudhu and go to the place where I have to say my salat. I sit down for some time, till all parts of my body  are relaxed. Then I stand up for salat visualising the Ka’bah in front of me, imagining my feet upon the Bridge of Siraat, with Paradise to my right, and Hell to my left, and Izrail close behind me, and thinking that it may be my last salat. Then I say my salat with full sincerity and devotion. And I finish my salat between fear and hope about its acceptance.”

(pg 90, Fadhail-e-Amal)

***

Zaynab Academy Online Student