Angels in Your Presence
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Episode 21: The First Rows
What is the significance of the first rows in the Masjid? Are they physically the first rows or do they encompass something deeper?
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. So I never liked the denigrating of the masjid uncle or the auntie for several reasons. But one of the things that I think we really really need to take into consideration is that if you go to the masjid, who are the people that are usually in the front row? And who are the people that are usually staying behind to clean up after everyone has left? And it's usually that uncle that's being denigrated on some online commentators platform or that auntie that's being mocked. And particularly when it comes to those that love the masjid, which is one of the things that causes a person to be shaded by the throne of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam, and though the narration of Abu Sa'eed radiAllahu anhu is not the strongest, but it has a correct meaning that if you see a person consistent with the masjid, that if you see someone consistent with the masjid, then bear witness that that is a person with faith. And of course, Allah confirms that there are people that go to the masjid that want to that seek to be purified. What then of a person who makes it a point to always be in the first row? That person that's in the front row, Ashab al-saf al-awwal, and the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam said, inna allahu w malaikatahu yusalluna ala al-saf al-awwal That the Allah and his angels send their prayers upon the first row. Now, the first row is not actually about physically being in the first row. It's about how early you're coming to the masjid and the way that you've adjusted yourself to make it a point to always be that person that's there first. That's always there before the Imam says Allahu Akbar. And if you think about it, it's a mindset, because if you generally went to most masjid, you would see that the people that are usually in the first row are the same people all the time. And the people that usually catch the second, third, fourth rakah are usually the same people every time.
Right? Because just like you have some people that set their watches to five minutes in advance so that they're not late, or people that are very punctual with things that are important to them. There are people that have the mindset of always being in the first row. And the angels recognize those people and the angels always send their prayers upon them. And it's a category of people. When you read the books of the Salaf of the pious predecessors, one of the ways that you talked about someone who repented and changed their life was that they became from Ashab As-Safal Awal. They became from the people that were always in the first row. So that's one of the ways that you knew that a person's repentance was sincere and that they'd really turned back to Allah and they left behind another way of life. And it's not just that the angels love to send their prayers upon the people in the first row. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said that one of the blessings of this ummah is that Allah has established our prayer in the same way that the angels line up for their prayer. So the way that we make our rows and form our rows is the way that the angels form their rows before Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala as well. So when the angels see those people that are coming early to the masjid and that are lining up in the same way that they line up before their Lord, then they love to see those people. And there's also the hadith where the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said that the angels send their prayers upon those that are on the right side of the row. Now, that's not someone who just prays on the right. What this is referring to is when the when the row is imbalanced, it should be imbalanced slightly to the right if it's going to be imbalanced. So you want to have the imam as centered as possible, but a person who's even thinking about where the angels line up. And so the angels fill the right side before the left side and it all fills in together. That doesn't mean second row right is better than first row left. First row is always better. This isn't a sporting event. Okay, it's the people that are there first in front of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said the angels pray upon those who fill the gaps as well.
Okay, so when we line up like the angels for prayer, then they pray upon us. And when we come to our worship punctually on time, longing for it the way that the angels long to worship their Lord and the way that they line up, then they particularly take note of those individuals. And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala particularly takes note of those individuals.
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