Emphatic Sunnah of the Rawatib

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدى يا رسول الله

My beloved master the Holy Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم said:

فَمَنْ رَغِبَ عَنْ سُنَّتِي فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي

Whoever turns away from my Sunnah then he is not of me

(Sahih al-Bukhari wa Sahih Muslim)

The Holy Prophet صلوات الله والسلام عليه regularly offered the Ratibah prayers; four rakaat before Zuhr, two after Zuhr, two after Maghrib, two after Isha and two before Fajr for a total of twelve,

مَنْ ثَابَرَ عَلَى ثِنْتَىْ عَشْرَةَ رَكْعَةً مِنَ السُّنَّةِ بَنَى اللَّهُ لَهُ بَيْتًا فِي الْجَنَّةِ أَرْبَعِ رَكَعَاتٍ قَبْلَ الظُّهْرِ وَرَكْعَتَيْنِ بَعْدَهَا وَرَكْعَتَيْنِ بَعْدَ الْمَغْرِبِ وَرَكْعَتَيْنِ بَعْدَ الْعِشَاءِ وَرَكْعَتَيْنِ قَبْلَ الْفَجْرِ

Whoever persists in offering twelve rakah from the Sunnah, Allah will build for him a house in Paradise; four rakaat before Zuhr, two rakah after it, two rakah after Maghrib, two rakah after Isha and two rakah before Fajr (Jami al-Tirmidhi)

If a person frequently skips these prayers he has certainly turned away from the Prophet’s regular and emphatic Sunnah and is therefore censurable and sinful.

Regrettably, in our time, there are false teachers, pretending to be scholars and preachers wearing the gown of knowledge and using social media to disseminate their poison throughout the Ummah, such as the antichrist Mirza of Jhelum, who instead of motivating the people to increase their worship of Allah and adherence to the Sunnah tells them it is not necessary. He lied when he said the Prophet never used the term “Sunnah” for prayers, nor is there any Hadith that uses the term, and that it is an invention of the later jurists, when in fact in the Hadith quoted above the Prophet said “twelve rakah from the Sunnah”. Those who teach it is not necessary to observe the Rawatib whatsoever often quote the Hadith about the Bedouin who said

الَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ لاَ أَزِيدُ عَلَى هَذَا

By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, I will not add to this [meaning to the five mandatory Salah called Maktubat, paying Zakah and fasting in Ramadan], to which the Prophet عليه السلام responded

مَنْ سَرَّهُ أَنْ يَنْظُرَ إِلَى رَجُلٍ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ فَلْيَنْظُرْ إِلَى هَذَا

Whoever would like to look at a man from the people of Paradise then look at this one (Sahih al-Bukhari)

Yet if one goes strictly by the wording of this Hadith then the mistaken result could be that we are not obligated to perform Hajj, though it too is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The fact of the matter is that when this Bedouin came to the Prophet عليه السلام the entirety of the divine commandments had not yet been revealed, especially the obligation of Hajj once in a lifetime for the one who possesses the capacity. One must interpret and derive understanding from the Hadith holistically, and this is the work of the scholars and jurist, not ignorant laymen.

Concerning the Rawatib, I have personally experienced that their regular performance brings light into the heart and makes one feel something of the Sakinah. Undoubtedly, a person who trivializes the Rawatib and other worship that hasn’t been technically obligated is serving the agenda of Iblis.