Majlis Talim Al-Rahman Secrets of Prayers. Reflections of reading Rahsia Solat by the late Kiyai Zen Syukri.

By Muhsin Hamzah

Alhamdulilah last week we manage to finish reading chapter two from the book Rahsia Sembahyang By K.H.M Zen Syukri. Ten weeks have passed by and here are some of my thoughts of conducting the Majlis. Kiyai Zen begins the book by giving us the definition of Solat which is anything from Takbir till Salam. We begin the lesson by asking all who came about what was their intention in reading this book. Almost all answered We wanted to disconnect to re connect without realizing that this is the way to understanding the Secret of Solat, from disconnecting from the self and connecting to the real Self. This is the power of Solat it is the process of slowly closing the gap between us and Allah through the movements taught to us by the Prophet . Kiyai Zen mentions that when Solat is able to cleanse the heart and open the doors of the unseen to know Allah we should be thankful to Allah because He has shown us wisdom in getting close to Allah and knowing Him. Kiyai Zen also mentions that we should be a clean vessel and Solat is the main Zikir to cleanse our hearts. This was the intention set by Kiyai Zen and this is the beat we have been following weekly in understanding the Secrets of Prayer found in Kiyais book. As the weeks passed by we seen many different faces come and go and exchanges of thoughts and experiences. Slowly we found that the knowledge shared by Kiyai Zen in this book had opened up many new dimensions of Solat for us. Solat has now become an opening, a vista for us to uplift ourselves and has opened up a door of attraction for us the seekers who come to Allah

through his most loved act, Solat. Kiyai Zen then introduced us with the wisdom of Isra and Solat by mentioning firstly the importance of being a servant just like the most beloved Servant of Allah our Beloved Sayidina Muhammad . Here Kiyai Zen draws for us the picture of the night journey for us and the inner meanings of Buraq and how it relates back to our Aqal intellect and how sometimes we allow it to cloud our belief and that the main cure for this is allowing the presence of the Beloved Prophet riding on the Aqal and to control. This lesson is much needed in this day as we have allowed our study of the Deen to be void of Suluk or journeying to Allah which requires the guidance from the Prophet (saw). An important lesson that Kiyai Zen mentions in this book is the focus of our beloved Prophet in his night journey and that he is not swayed by what he saw from his travel from Makkah Masjidil Haram to Masjid Al-Aqsa. This is a great lesson for us as not to be distracted by the calling of the Nafs and that the focus only comes when we have the knowledge of who we are worshipping as the Prophet mentions The beginning of the Deen is to know Allah. The more we know who we are and who we are worshipping the more the focus and attraction towards Allah would grow within us. Then Kiyai Zen mentions that everything that we do in life we must relate it back to Solat. That, Solat is our purpose in life and that through Solat we realize the existence of Allah, Prophet and those that came before him, the Angles the importance of maintaining good relations with all. Solat is life and to Solat we should return. Kiyai Zen also gives us four things that we need, to know Allah.They are Iman (Belief), Ilmu (Knowledge), Yakin (Certainty), Hikmah (Wisdom). We need to bring this four with us each time we do our Solat and plant these four seeds

within us and each time we Solat we ask Allah to shower His Nur upon us and let these four seeds grow within us and slowly. This can only be done by seeking the help of Allah through Solat. Kiayi Zen also gave us the example of how the water that we take Wudu or ablution with, is a Mercy from Allah and that each time we wash ourselves we are enveloping ourselves with Allahs Mercy and we enter into Allahs presences and witnessing Mushahadah the Nur Hidayah which is the Nur Muhammad . Lastly Kiyai Zen mentions the importance of the milk chosen by the Prophet before Miraj and this shows the importance of have a belief which is pure and which would give us strength in travelling towards Allah through Solat and that this requires one to be steadfast in the revealed law or Sharia and slowly combining the Sharia with the Reality but never leaving the Sharia as it shows that we are still a servant in need of Allahs Mercy and Forgiveness. These are just some of the knowledge discussed during Majlis Talim AlRahman and I have truly benefitted from organizing this gathering and the presence and gifts that all of you have brought to our weekly gathering. I am truly humbled by the love, care and dedication all of you including my family has shown in this past ten weeks of our journey in reading this text from Kiyai Zen. I end with an invitation to all of you who wish to join us in our humble journey with this text and I leave with the supplication of Salam. Muhsin Hamzah Majlis Talim Al-Rahman (Singapore) 22 July 22, 2013 , 13th Ramadhan 1434

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