A cousin of mine said that he had recently stopped going to his local masjid which is a ‘wahabi masjid’. I asked him why and he said that if someone entered during prayer, the majority of those praying would raise one hand to acknowledge their Salaam. He found this wierd and to be honest, this was the first time I had heard of such a phenomenon and found it strange too. But I looked into it, and subhanAllah… I found it was only strange because it was the first time I had heard of it…
Returning a Greeting by a Motion- Fiqh as-Sunnah 2.85 (Category: Prayer and What is Allowed During it.)
The one in salah who is greeted or spoken to may reply to the one who greets or speaks to him by making some motion.
Jabir said: “The Messenger of Allah sent me somewhere while he was going to the tribe of Mustaliq. I came to him and he was praying while on the back of his camel. [When] I spoke to him, he and Zubair motioned with their hands. I heard him reciting and saw him gesturing with his head. When he finished, he said: 'What have you done about the thing I sent you for? Nothing kept me from talking to you save that I was in salah.”’ This is related by Ahmad and Muslim.
'Abdullah ibn 'Umar narrates that Suhaib said: “I passed by the Messenger of Allah while he was offering salah. I greeted him and he responded to me by only signaling.” 'Abdullah said: “The only thing that I know is that he said he signalled to him woth his finger.” This is related by Ahmad and by At-Tirmidhi. The latter calls it sahih.
'Abdullah ibn 'Umar says: “I asked Suhaib: ‘How did the Messenger of Allah respond to the people when they greeted him while he was praying?’ He said: ‘He would signal to them with his hand.’” This is related by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, and Ibn Khuzaimah and its isnad is sahih.
The same applies to signalling with one’s finger or hand or by nodding the head. All of these actions have been related from the Prophet (s).
Never heard or seen or did this type of practice... are you sure its "wahabi" (a lot of people are calld "wahabi" so, must be some confusion) masjid and not something else?
I am not sure I will call this a "wahabi" thing. What I have generally seen is that muslims in India-Pakistan are generally very rigid in terms of distractions during namaaz. No extranous movement is tolerated. Thats just the way we have been raised up, that during namaz your entire focus should be on namaz and don't get distracted by anything. Most people will keep their eyes firmly fixed on the place of sajda throughout the namaz.
Arabs, on the other hand, seem fairly relaxed. They will carry their kids in their laps during namaz. In one instance an Arab guy in the middle of a rakaat (during a jamaat prayer) walked quietly to the door and opened it to let another guest come in and then rejoined the rakaat. They frequently make hand gestures to stop people from passing in front of them or to open a fan, stop a phone from ringing, "shush" people by putting a finger in front of their lips or to greet people who are entering. About the only rule they follow, or so it seems to me, is that they do not say anything during namaz to other people.
Hmmm well this is a small masjid two buildings from my cousins home and he's been praying there for years. Not just friday prayers, but daily. It was him who told me it was Wahabi. In any case, it was the action which was more significant than the fact that it was Wahabis :) As far as I can see, that is!
Do correct me if I'm wrong, inshaAllah :)
Yes, Faisal, you're right. Although it should be made clear that of the things which have been described as typical of the Arabs during prayer, all of them are permissible.
It's very interesting though, how in the Indian subcontinent, certain permitted actions are considered very strange or disliked. For example, praying occasionally only Fard, as opposed to Fard + Sunnah in every prayer. I know that as I was brought up to pray both equally (as such that Sunnah has become 'Fard')I feel incredibly guilty for ever leaving the Sunnah, but occasionally I leave it on purpose. I think more of my friends would offer salat more REGULARLY if they began by just committing to Fard.
It's not so much about the individual actions (prayer, gestures etc) it is more about the apprehension for something which is absolutely acceptable.
I will reserve my comments on the issue for I fear of being labelled as Barelvi
but just to keep things in perspective, there is a difference between the school of thought of Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal:rehm: and Imam Abu Hanifa:rehm: .. so please, dun go about saying just because people in sub-continent only do such things and since they do not match what Arabs do (as if they are the contractors of Islam), it makes it wrong
For those who don't even tolerate space between shoulders (of two people), feet (of two people while praying) and ankles covered would gesture and speak while praying?
We esp. in the subcontinent have been raised with a lot of rigidity about our religion. Whether, it's right or wrong is debatable but we(me and you and most) the desis tend to take small things very seriously and when it comes to practicality, we (most of us) forget what our Deen teaches...
Umer
I am not sure I will call this a "wahabi" thing. What I have generally seen is that muslims in India-Pakistan are generally very rigid in terms of distractions during namaaz. No extranous movement is tolerated. Thats just the way we have been raised up, that during namaz your entire focus should be on namaz and don't get distracted by anything. Most people will keep their eyes firmly fixed on the place of sajda throughout the namaz.
Arabs, on the other hand, seem fairly relaxed. They will carry their kids in their laps during namaz. In one instance an Arab guy in the middle of a rakaat (during a jamaat prayer) walked quietly to the door and opened it to let another guest come in and then rejoined the rakaat. They frequently make hand gestures to stop people from passing in front of them or to open a fan, stop a phone from ringing, "shush" people by putting a finger in front of their lips or to greet people who are entering. About the only rule they follow, or so it seems to me, is that they do not say anything during namaz to other people.
We esp. in the subcontinent have been raised with a lot of rigidity about our religion. Whether, it's right or wrong is debatable but we(me and you and most) the desis tend to take small things very seriously and when it comes to practicality, we (most of us) forget what our Deen teaches...
Umer
In the subcontinent, most of us are hanafis. The Hanafi madhab tends to be more strict on matters compared to the other 3 madhabs. There are not many Arabs that are hanafis, that is why you see them being more lenient.
We should look at all factors before talking like this :) Also, I would like to point out, when we become parents we should teach our children why we pray like the way we pray. It's not just because everyone prays like this, it's because this is how the Prophet prayed. That way we can teach our kids what the 4 madhabs are. I was never thought that we follow the hanafi madhab and that's why we pray like the way we do... but just a year a go I learnt this.. (18) /rant.
Just to clarify to a few who seem to have misunderstood, this does does not ever permit speaking to someone whilst you are in salah. Hence: gestures only. And this does not mean playing charades either :)
This thread was not to highlight differences in madhhabs at all. Perhaps I should not have started with 'Wahabi Masjids'. It was just to share what I had discovered recently and the discovery has encouraged me to further give others the benefit of the doubt and check the facts before assuming that because they are different, they are wrong... :)
