Intentions of the prayer's acts
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1 To be in the closet state to Allah
The Messenger of Allah ( may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) said:
"The closest that the slave comes to his Lord is when he is prostrating, so invoke Allah much (in prostration)."
[ Muslim ]
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2 To protect my body parts that have the mark of prostration
It was narrated from Abu Hurairah ( may Allah be pleased with him )
that the Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: “The Fire will consume all of the son of Adam except the mark of prostration. Allah has forbidden the Fire to consume the mark of prostration.’”
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3 To accompany the Messenger of Allah ( may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) in the Paradise
Rabi'a bin Ka‘b ( may Allah be pleased with him ) said:
I was with the Messenger of Allah ( may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) at night, and when I brought him his water for ablution and what he required, he told me to make a request. I said, “I ask to accompany you in paradise.” He asked if I had any other request to make, and when I replied that that was all, he said, “Then help me to accomplish this for you by devoting yourself often to prostration.”
[ Muslim ]
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4 To have my sins forgiven
Ibn Umar ( may Allah be pleased with him ) reported:
The Messenger of Allah ( my the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) said, “Verily, when a servant stands to pray, his sins are placed on top of his head and shoulders. Every time he bows or prostrates, they fall away from him.”
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5 Allah elevates my rank and forgives my sins
Thauban ( May Allah be pleased with him ) said:
I heard Messenger of Allah ( may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) saying, "Perform Salah more often. For every prostration that you perform before Allah will raise your position one degree and will remit one of your sins".
[ Muslim ]
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6 Pointing with the index finger has a more severe effect on the devil than iron
Nafi‘ said that when ‘Abdallah bin ‘Umar ( may Allah be pleased with him ) sat during the prayer he placed his hands on his knees, pointed with his finger and gave his whole attention to it. He then said that the Messenger of Allah ( may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) had said, “It has a more severe effect on the devil than iron,” meaning the forefinger.
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7 To receive the reward for greeting all the righteous servants
Narrated `Abdullah ( may Allah be pleased with him ):
We used to say in the prayer: 'As-Salam be on Allah, As-Salam be on so-and so.' So one day the Prophet ( may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) said to us, "Allah Himself is As-Salam; when anyone of you sits during his prayer, he should say: 'at-tah, iyyatu-li l-lahi,' up to 'As-Salihin,' (All the compliments are for Allah ...righteous people) for when he recites this, then he says his Salam to all the righteous people present in the heavens and on the earth. Then he should say, 'I testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and His Apostle,' and then he can select whatever he likes to celebrate (Allah's) Praises."
[ Bukhari ]
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8 To attain the virtue of raising my words by the Angels
Narrated Rifa`a bin Rafi`( may Allah be pleased with him ):
One day we were praying behind the Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, When he raised his head from bowing, he said, "Sami`a l-lahu liman hamidah." A man behind him said, "Rabbana wa laka l-hamdu, hamdan kathiran taiyiban mubarakan fihi" (O our Lord! All the praises are for You, many good and blessed praises). When the Prophet completed the prayer, he asked, "Who has said these words?" The man replied, "I." The Prophet said, "I saw over thirty angels competing to write it first."
Bukhari
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9 To receive the virtue mentioned in this Hadith
Abu Huraira ( may Allah be pleased with him ) reported:
The Messenger of Allah ( may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) said: When the Imam says:" Allah listens to him who praises Him." you should say:" O Allah, our Lord yours is the praise." for if what anyone says synchronizes with what the angels say, his past sins will be forgiven.
Muslim
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10 To have my sins forgiven
Ibn Umar ( may Allah be pleased with him ) reported:
The Messenger of Allah ( may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) said, “Verily, when a servant stands to pray, his sins are placed on top of his head and shoulders. Every time he bows or prostrates, they fall away from him.”
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11 Allah answers my supplication
It was narrated from Hittan bin 'Abdullah that Al-Ash'ari ( may Allah be pleased with him ) said:
"The Messenger of Allah ( may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) addressed us and taught us our Sunnahs and our prayer. He said: 'When you stand for the prayer, make your rows straight, then let one of you lead the others. When he says the takbir, then say the takbir; when he says : "Wa lad-dallin" then say "Amin" and Allah (SWT) will answer you.
When I bow, I intend that bowing is one third of the prayer, therefore, if one performed the prayer properly, it will be accepted and all his deeds may be accepted. Otherwise, if the prayer is rejected all the deeds will be rejected.
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12 To have the past sins forgiven if my utterance of Amin coincides with the Amin of the angels
It was narrated from Abu Hurairah ( may Allah be pleased with him ) that:
The Prophet ( may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) said: "When the reciter says Amin, then say: "Amin" too, for the angels say Amin and if a person's Amin coincides with the Amin of the angels, Allah will forgive his previous sins"
[ Bukhari ]
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13 To act contrary to the Jews
It was narrated from ‘Aishah ( may Allah be pleased with her ) that the Prophet ( may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) said:
“The Jews do not envy you for anything more than they envy you for the Salam and (saying) ‘Amin’.”
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14 To have the gates of the Heavens opened for it
Ibn 'Umar ( may Allah be pleased with him ) reported:
While we said prayer with the Messenger of Allah ( may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) one among the people said: Allah is truly Great, praise be to Allah in abundance. Glory be to Allah in the morning and the evening. The Messenger of Allah ( may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) said: Who uttered such and such a word? A person among the people said: It is I, Messenger of Allah (who have recited these words). He (the Holy Prophet) said: It (its utterance) surprised me, for the doors of heaven were opened for It. Ibn 'Umar said: I have not abandoned them (these words) since I heard the Messenger of Allah ( may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) saying this.
Muslim
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15 The angels take the supplication and raise it to Allah
It was narrated from Mu'adh bin Rifa'ah bin Rafi' ( may Allah be pleased with him ) that :
His father said: "I prayed behind the Prophet ( may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) and I sneezed and said: 'Al-hamdu lillahi, hamdan kathiran tayiban mubarakan fih, mubarakan'alaihi, kama yuhibbu rabbuna wa yarda (Praise be to Allah, much good and blessed praise as our Lord loves and is pleased with.)' When he finished praying, the Messenger of Allah ( may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) said: 'Who is the one who spoke during the prayer?' But no one said anything. Then he said it a second time: 'Who is the one who spoke during the prayer?' So Rifa'ah bin Rafi bin Afrah said: 'It was me, O Messenger of Allah.' He said: 'I said: "Praise be to Allah, much good and blessed praise as our Lord loves and is pleased with.'" The Prophet ( may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) said: 'By the One in Whose hand is my soul, thirty-odd angels hastened to see which of them would take it up.'"