Shafaqna English- Commentary on Imam Sajjad’s (AS) Treaties of Right by Mohammad Sobhanie.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
وَأمّا حَقُّ إمَامِكَ فِي صَلاتِكَ فَــــــــــــــــــأَنْ تَعلَمَ أنّهُ قَدْ تَقَلَّدَ السِّفَارَةَ فِيمَــــا بَيْنَكَ وبَيْنَ اللَّهِ وَالْوِفَادَةَ إلَى رَبكَ، وتَكَلَّمَ عَنْكَ وَلَمْ تَتَكَلَّـــــمْ عَنْهُ، وَدعَا لَكَ وَلَمْ تَدْعُ لَهُ، وَطَلَبَ فِيكَ وَلَـــــــــــــــــمْ تَطْلُبْ فِيهِ، وَكَفَاكَ هَمَّ الْمَقَــــــــامِ بَينَ يدي اللهِ وَالمُسَـــــــــاءَلَةَ لَهُ فِيكَ وَلَمْ تَكْفِهِ ذَلِكَ، فَــــــــــــإنْ كَانَ فِي شَيْءٍ مِنْ ذَلِكَ تَقْصِيرٌ كَانَ بهِ دُونَكَ، وَإنْ كَانَ آثِمـــــــــــــاً لَمْ تَكُنْ شَرِيكَهُ فِيهِ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ عَلَيكَ فَضلٌ، فَوقَى نَفْسَكَ بنَفْســـــــــــــــِهِ، وَوَقَى صـَلاتَكَ بصَلاتِهِ، فَتَشْكُرَ لَهُ عَلَى ذلِكَ. ولا حَوْلَ ولا قُوَّةَ إلا باللهِ.
The Right of the Imam of the Congregational Prayer (30th)
Translation: And the right of your Imam who leads the congregational prayer is that you should recognize that he has taken on the role of a mediator between you and God and appeared in the presence of your Lord on your behalf. And he speaks for you, but you do not speak for him, and he supplicates for you, but you do not supplicate for him, and he has beseeched for you, and you do not beseech for him.
And he has spared you the anxiety of standing before God and the question of interrogation for your prayer, but you do not spare him that. Should he perform the prayer imperfectly, he is held responsible for that, not you, and if he makes a mistake during the prayer, you will not be his partner in it, and there is no superiority in this for him over you. Then he protected you through himself and your prayer through his prayer. Therefore, thank him for this. And there is no power nor any strength but in God.
Commentary: In Islam, we pray five daily prayers, which are highly recommended to be prayed in the congregation. In Surah Baqarah [1], the Qur’an asks the believers to establish prayer and bow with those who bow in worship. Most commentators stated that the verse refers to the congregational daily prayers.
In Islamic jurisprudence [2], the Imam of the congregational prayer should meet specific criteria such as adulthood, intellect, and justice. He should humbly lead the congregational prayer and clearly understand the religious practice. The worshipers line up behind the Imam and follow his actions during the prayer, including bowing, prostrating, and standing up, just as he does.
Imam Sajjad (AS) stated that the Imam of the congregational prayer stands before the Lord and speaks, supplicates, and petitions for those who pray behind him. He bears the significant responsibility for ensuring the correctness and validity of the worshipers’ prayers. For instance, if the Imam performs the prayer incorrectly, makes a mistake, or becomes distracted during the prayer, he is accountable for the accuracy of the worshipers’ prayers. Fundamentally, the Imam assumes the responsibility of ensuring the correctness and acceptance of the prayer, thereby relieving worshipers of this concern.
The gravity of this task becomes evident when we recognize that the daily prayer is the first deed that will be examined on the Day of Judgment; if it is accepted, other deeds will also be accepted, and if it is rejected, other deeds will also be dismissed. Please refer to the Appendix for the text of the Hadith.
Despite this significant responsibility, the Imam has no superiority over the worshipers. Therefore, Imam Sajjad (AS) advised the worshipers to honor the Imam’s efforts with respect and gratitude.
Virtue of Praying in Congregation: Many narrations emphasize the importance of congregational prayer. One of such a narration is as follows [3]:
رُوِيَ عَنْ أَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ ( عليه السَّلام ) أنهُ قَالَ : قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ( صلى الله عليه و آله ) : أَلَا وَ مَن مَشى إلى مَسجِدٍ يَطلُبُ فيهِ الجَماعَةَ كانَ لَهُ بكُلِّ خُطوَةٍ سَبعونَ ألفَ حَسَنةٍ ، و يُرفَعُ لَهُ مِن الدَّرَجاتِ مِثلُ ذلكَ ، ….
The Prophet (PBUH) said: “Whoever walks to a Masjid to participate in the congregational prayer will have seventy thousand good deeds for every step and be raised in status like that…
The Prophet’s (PBUH) advice to a blind man who couldn’t go to the Masjid is a powerful example of the importance of participating in congregational prayer [4]. He suggested installing a rope between the house and the Masjid and using it to guide himself to the Masjid, ensuring he would not miss the blessings of the congregational prayer.
فقال له النبي صلى الله عليه وآله: شُدَّ مِنْ مَنْزِلَكَ إلَى الْمَسْجِدِ حَبْلَ وَاحْضُرِ الْجَمَاعَةَ.
Tie a rope from your home to the Masjid and attend congregational prayer.
The congregational prayer holds significant virtues. A narration [5] from the Prophet (PBUH) alludes that when two people stand for the congregational prayer (the Imam plus the person who follows the Imam), each Rakat of their prayer is rewarded as if they had prayed 150 Rakat. If three people join, each Rakat is rewarded as if they had prayed 600 Rakat, and the reward increases proportionally until eleven people participate (Imam plus 10 people who follow Imam). If the number exceeds eleven, the reward is beyond measure.
Appendix:
وَ رَوَى اِبْنُ بَابَوَيْهِ أَيْضاً فِي كِتَابِ مَنْ لاَ يَحْضُرُهُ اَلْفَقِيهُ بِإِسْنَادِهِ إِلَى اَلنَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اَللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ آلِهِ قَالَ: أَوَّلُ مَا يُحَاسَبُ اَلْعَبْدُ اَلصَّلاَةُ فَإِنْ قُبِلَتْ قُبِلَ مَا سِوَاهَا وَ إِنْ رُدَّتْ رُدَّ مَا سِوَاهَا.
Ibn Babawayh also narrated in the book “Man La Yahduruhu Al-Faqih” with his chain of transmission on the authority of the Prophet (PBUH)), who said: “The first thing for which a servant will be held accountable is the prayer. If it is accepted, everything else will be accepted, and if it is rejected, everything else will be rejected.”
Note:
[1] Baqarah, 2:43 (وَ أَقیمُوا الصَّلاةَ وَ آتُوا الزَّکاةَ وَ ارْکَعُوا مَعَ الرَّاکِعینَ)
[2] https://en.wikishia.net/view/Imam_of_Congregational_Prayer
[3] https://www.hadithlib.com/hadithtxts/view/22008484
[4] https://lib.eshia.ir/11024/5/377/(ضرير)
[5] http://shiaonlinelibrary.com/(الكتب/1516_بحار-الأنوار-العلامة-المجلسي-ج-٨٥/الصفحة_16#top)
Part of a Series: Commentary on Imam Al-Sajjad’s (AS) treaties of right
Commentary on the Quran (Chapter 3:70-71)