He remembered his grandmother's warning about praying on time: "My son,
you shouldn't leave prayer to this late time." His grandmother's age was
70 but whenever she heard the Adhan, she got up like an arrow and
performed Salah/Namaz/prayer. He, however could never win over his ego
to get up and pray. Whatever he did, his Salah was always the last to be
offered and he prayed it quickly to get it in on time. Thinking of
this, he got up and realized that there were only 15 minutes left before
Salat-ul Isha. He quickly made Wudhu and performed Salat-ul Maghrib.
While making Tasbih, he again remembered his grandmother and was
embarrassed by how he had prayed. His grandmother prayed with such
tranquility and peace. He began making Dua and went down to make Sajdah
and stayed like that for a while.
He had been at school all day and
was tired, so tired. He awoke abruptly to the sound of noise and
shouting. He was sweating profusely. He looked around. It was very
crowded. Every direction he looked in was filled with people. Some stood
frozen looking around, some were running left and right and some were
on their knees with their heads in their hands just waiting. Pure fear
and apprehension filled him as he realized where he was.
His
heart was about to burst. It was the Day of Judgment. When he was alive,
he had heard many things about the questioning on the Day of Judgment,
but that seemed so long ago. Could this be something his mind made up?
No, the wait and the fear were so great that he could not have imagined
this. The interrogation was still going on. He began moving frantically
from people to people to ask if his name had been called. No one could
answer him. All of a sudden his name was called and the crowd split into
two and made a passageway for him. Two people grabbed his arms and led
him forward. He walked with unknowing eyes through the crowd. The angels
brought him to the center and left him there. His head was bent down
and his whole life was passing in front of his eyes like a movie. He
opened his eyes but saw only another world. The people were all helping
others.
He saw his father running from one lecture to the other,
spending his wealth in the way of Islam. His mother invited guests to
their house and one table was being set while the other was being
cleared. He pleaded his case; "I too was always on this path. I helped
others. I spread the word of Allah. I performed my Salah. I fasted in
the month of Ramadan. Whatever Allah ordered us to do, I did. Whatever
he ordered us not to do, I did not." He began to cry and think about how
much he loved Allah. He knew that whatever he had done in life would be
less than what Allah deserved and his only protector was Allah. He was
sweating like never before and was shaking all over. His eyes were fixed
on the scale, waiting for the final decision. At last, the decision was
made. The two angels with sheets of paper in their hands, turned to the
crowd. His legs felt like they were going to collapse. He closed his
eyes as they began to read the names of those people who were to enter
Jahannam/Hell.
His name was read first. He fell on his knees and
yelled that this couldn't be, "How could I go to Jahannam? I served
others all my life, I spread the word of Allah to others." His eyes had
become blurry and he was shaking with sweat. The two angels took him by
the arms. As his feet dragged, they went through the crowd and advanced
toward the blazing flames of Jahannam. He was yelling and wondered if
there was any person who was going to help him. He was yelling of all
the good deeds he had done, how he had helped his father, his fasts,
prayers, the Qur'an that he read, he was asking if none of them would
help him. The Jahannam angels continued to drag him. They had gotten
closer to the Hellfire. He looked back and these were his last pleas.
Had not Rasulullah [saw] said, "How clean would a person be who bathes
in a river five times a day, so too does the Salah performed five times
cleanse someone of their sins?" He began yelling, "My prayers? My
prayers? My prayers?"
The two angels did not stop, and they came
to the edge of the abyss of Jahannam. The flames of the fire were
burning his face. He looked back one last time, but his eyes were dry of
hope and he had nothing left in him. One of the angels pushed him in.
He found himself in the air and falling towards the flames. He had just
fallen five or six feet when a hand grabbed him by the arm and pulled
him back. He lifted his head and saw an old man with a long white beard.
He wiped some dust off himself and asked him, "Who are you?"
The old man replied, "I am your prayers." "Why are you so late! I was
almost in the Fire! You rescued me at the last minute before I fell in."
The old man smiled and shook his head. "You always performed me at the
last minute, and did you forget?" At that instant, he blinked and lifted
his head from Sajdah. He was in a sweat. He listened to the voices
coming from outside. He heard the adhan for Salat-ul Isha. He got up
quickly and went to perform Wudhu.
"Say Your Prayers Before Prayers For You Are Said."
Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed. Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.
