Bilal’s

Guide

My Salaat

Assalamu Alaikum I‟m Bilal, and this is my Salaat guide. In it we‟re going to take a

trip through the words of our daily Salaat so we can understand what we‟re

saying when we pray. You know how I got to know about this all? Well, that‟s a

long story but I think I‟ll tell you guys even though I‟m a little embarrassed by it.

You see, it all started last year when I was visiting my Nana, my Mama‟s mom. I

was busy trying to catch frogs in her garden when the Imam Sahab started to give

the azaan. I knew it was time for the Asr prayer, but I just kept on trying to catch

my prey. After a little while my Nana came out with a glass of juice for me. She

looked at my hands all covered in mud and asked, “Bilal what are you up to?”

“I‟m trying to catch frogs Nana.” I told her proudly. “Well how many have you

caught yet?” she asked excitedly. “None yet Nana, though I‟ve been trying for so

long.” I complained. “Oh my, well why don‟t you try praying to Allah for help.”

She replied. “That‟s what I do when I have some tough task.” Her encouragement

was enough to get me moving. I quickly washed my hands in the nearby tap and

then returned to drink my juice.

Nana looked at me and said, “Why didn‟t you do wudu to pray Bilal? The prayer

mat is right here and you can do your wudu from the tap. Maybe Allah will help

you catch a frog.” At this I ran off to the tap once again. I quickly did my wudu,

and hurriedly started to pray. I wanted to finish quickly so I could get back to my

frog hunting and I prayed super fast. As I finished my prayers and turned to Nana

I noticed she looked sad. “Why are you sad Nana?” I asked. “It‟s nothing Bilal” she

replied, but I could see she was not happy about something. “Nana you look upset.”

I said and gave her a hug. “Oh Bilal!” she exclaimed. “Can I tell you something if

you have a minute? I know you‟re very busy and are in a hurry right now.”

Nana said looking at me with a sad smile. “Nana I always have time for you, why
would you think I am too busy for you!” I replied hugging her again. “Well, you

were in such a hurry when you were talking to Allah that I felt you would be too

busy to listen to me too.” Nana said.

My face turned red and I realized that I had been wrong to pray in such haste.

“I‟m so sorry Nana, I realize now that I did wrong.” I said sheepishly. Now it was

Nana‟s turn to hug me and she just gave me a little kiss on my head, “Bilal my

little love, It‟s Ok now that you realize your mistake, but the next time you pray,

try to be calm and understand what you‟re saying when you‟re talking to Allah.”

She explained. “But Nana, how can I understand what I‟m saying? The Salaat is in

Arabic and I don‟t know what it really means! I just memorized the words.” I told

her.

“Hmmmm” said Nana “You do have a point! Maybe tonight at story time we can

both read the meanings of the words you have memorized. That way the next time

you‟re standing before Allah, you‟ll know what it is you‟re saying. After all, if you

don‟t even know what you‟re saying, how can you expect to have a good

conversation with Allah?”

“Wow, can we do that?” I was excited about learning the meanings now and I

wanted to know what I was actually saying when I was standing before my best

friend, my Allah! “Let‟s do that now Nana” I said, “I can catch frogs later.” Nana

laughed softly and shook her head. “You‟re just like your Mama!” she patted the

chair next to her and motioned me to sit there.

As I took my seat she started explaining. “The first words we say when starting

our prayers are, ‫ َد ُد َد ْد َد ُد‬this means „Allah is the Greatest‟. We start our Prayers by

accepting how powerful Allah is.” I nodded as she continued, “Then we read ‫ُدس ْد حَد ا َد َد‬

‫ ال ُد‬which means Glory be to You, O Allah (SWT), ‫ َد ِدحَد ْد ِد َد‬and all praises are due
unto You, ‫ َد َد َدا َد َد سْد ُد َد‬and blessed is Your name, ‫ َد َد عَدااَدى َد ُّد َد‬and high is Your majesty, ‫َد َد‬

‫ ِداَد َد َد ْد ُد َد‬and none is worthy of worship but You.”

“Isn‟t that a beautiful way of starting our conversation with Allah?” she asked. I

was so awed to learn the meanings of these first words! “It‟s like we‟re telling Allah

how amazing He is before we start to say anything else! That‟s just how I start

talking to Mama when I want something from her, and she almost always lets me

have it.” I confided in Nana. She chuckled and said, “You‟re a clever boy Bilal” Well

the next words we say are, ‫ِد ْد ِد‬ ‫ َد ُد ْد ُد ِدا ِد ِد َد ال ْد َد ِد ا‬I seek Refuge with Allah from Satan,

the accursed. And then, ‫ِد ا حْد ِد ا ِد‬

‫ح‬ ‫ ِدسْد ِد‬which means In the Name of Allah, the
Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.”

“Oh I say these every time I read the Quran with my Imam Sahab, and I also

know what Surah al-Fatihah means! My Imam Sahab told me, and isn‟t it such a

beautiful dua Nana?” I cried out excitedly. As Nana nodded I started telling her the

meanings of Surah al-Fatihah. ‫ ْداحَد ْد ُد ّد ِد َد ِّب ْداعَدااَد ِد َد‬All the praises are for Allah, the

Sustainer of all the worlds. ‫ ا حْد م ِد ا ِد‬The Beneficent, the Merciful

‫ح ِد‬ ‫ َدااِد ِد َد ْد ِد ا ِّب ِد‬Lord
of the Day of Judgment ‫ِد ا َد َد سْد َد ِدع ُد‬ ‫ ِد ا َد َد عْد ُد ُد‬You alone do we worship and You alone do

we ask for help ‫ل َد َد ا ُدس َد ِد َد‬

‫ ه ِد َد مممما ا ِّب‬Lead us along the straight path ‫لِد َد َد ا ِد َد َد َدع مَد َد َدل ِد ْد‬

The path of those upon whom You have bestowed Your favours ‫ِد َد لَد ِد ْد َد‬ ‫َد ِد ا َد ُد‬
‫غ‬

‫ اغااِّب َد‬Not of those who incurred Your wrath, nor (of those who) went astray.”

Nana‟s eyes filled up with tears and she kissed me on my forehead. “I‟m so proud

of you Bilal” I smiled shyly and said “I love you Nana” She wiped her eyes with her

handkerchief and replied “I love you too Bilal.”

“Do you know what the next words mean?” Nana questioned. I shook my head

from side to side as she started telling me, “The next words which you read in the

ruku are very lovely Bilal, we say, ‫ ُدس ْد حَد ا َد َد ِّب ىَد ْدا َدع ِد ْد ِد‬Now do you know that ‫ ُدس ْد حَد ا‬means
Glory be to and ‫ ْدا َدع ِد ْد ِد‬means the Almighty but the loveliest part is when we say ‫َد ِّب ىَد‬

it means My Lord. It‟s like you‟re bowing before Allah and telling Him that you‟re

accepting that He is your Lord!” “Like when Mama says to me, My Bilal and she

wants to tell me that she loves me a lot!” I exclaimed.

“And what do you think the reply should be to such a loving way of calling upon

someone?” Nana asked. I feel loved and listen immediately when my Mama calls

me like that and that‟s exactly the kind of reply we get for our call in Salaat. Nana

told me that ‫َّللاُ لِ َم ْه َح ِمدَه‬

‫ َس ِم َع ه‬means that Allah hears those who praise Him. Isn‟t that

super? We call on Him with love and instantly we‟re told that He‟s heard us! It

always makes me feel happy when I read this. The other part of this is what Nana

called an Affirmation. That‟s when we say something again to show how important

it is. She said “After we say that Allah hears those who praise Him, we say ‫ك‬
َ َ‫َربهنَـا ل‬
‫ ْل َ ْم ُد‬which means Oh our Lord, all praise is to You.” That‟s like we‟re saying I love

you twice to Allah, and two times is like we‟re insisting on it right?

After this when we go in Sajdah we show more love for our Allah. Nana asked me

to guess what ‫ ُس ْب َانَ َربِّ َى ألَ ْعلَى‬meant and I told her I understood the first part but

not the last. “We‟re saying again that Glory be to My Lord but what does the last

part mean?” I asked her. “It means the Most High. We put ourselves completely on

the floor in front of Allah to show Him how He is above everything and then we

even say that He‟s the most High.” So next time you‟re doing sajdah remember

how you‟re just saying and showing that you‟re present before Allah who is so

Mighty and Powerful and He‟s above us all.

I was still thinking about how amazing this is when my Nana started telling me

about the next part of Salaat. “After this we sit down and start reading the

Tashhahud, ‫هاا‬
ُ ِ ‫ َلله‬is All compliments, we say that all these are ِ ‫ ِ ه‬for Allah. ‫صلَ َو ا‬
‫َو ل ه‬

that is all prayers and ‫اا‬

ُ َ‫ َو لله ِب‬all beautiful expressions are only for Allah.”
“After we have praised Allah we now send blessings for our beloved Prophet ‫ﷺ‬

ُ‫ِب َا َا َر َ ااُو‬ ‫ اَاا َّنل َا ُة َا َا ْح َا اَا ُّي َا االَّن ِب ُّي َا َا ْح َا ُة‬Peace be on you, O Messenger, and God‟s mercy and

blessings. Then we send blessings on all the believers. َ‫ َل هل َ ُ َعلَ ْنَا َو َعلَى ِعبَا ِا َّللاِ لصهالِ ِ ْه‬Peace

be on us and on all righteous servants of God. Then we repeat our testimony of

faith ُ‫َّللاُ َو َ ْ َ ُد َ هن ُ َ هم ًدد َع ْب ُدهُ َو َرسُوْ لُو‬

‫ َ ْ َ ُد َ ْن ه ِلَوَ ِ ه ه‬I bear witness that no one is worthy of

worship except God. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and

Prophet. Do you know Bilal that these words are very special words? These were

taught specially by the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬himself to his companions. Imagine repeating

the exact words said and taught by our beloved Prophet ‫ﷺ‬. It‟s like you say the

words he ‫ ﷺ‬said and you‟re doing just as he ‫ ﷺ‬told his sahabah® to do!”

You know, now my heart becomes a little mushy when I read these words in

Salaat you know, because I just keep on thinking how they must have sounded

from the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬.

Nana also told me that‟s why we follow it up with durood or prayers for our

beloved Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬and we say ‫َد لَدى ِد ُد حَد ٍد َد َدما لَدل ْدمَد َد لَدى ِد ْد َد ِده ْد َد َد َد لَدى ِد ِد ْد َد ِده ْد َد‬ ‫ل ِّب َد لَدى ُد حَد ٍد‬
‫َدال ُد َد‬
‫ِد ْد ٌد‬ ‫ ِد َد حَد ِد ْد ٌد‬My God, honor Muhammad and Muhammad‟s family as you honoured

Abraham and Abraham‟s family Surely, you are praiseworthy, the Great.

‫ِد ْد ٌد‬ ‫َد لَدى ِد ُد حَد ٍد َد َدما َدما َد َد ْد مَد َد لَدى ِد ْد َد ِده ْد َد َد َد لَدى ِد ِد ْد َد ِده ْد َد ِد َد حَد ِد ْد ٌد‬ ‫ َدال ُد َدما ِد ْد َد لَدى ُد حَد ٍد‬My God, bless

Muhammad and Muhammad‟s family as you blessed Abraham and Abraham‟s

family Surely, you are praiseworthy, the Great.

Now comes the part which I‟ve been waiting for! After all this love and praise, we

get to ask Allah for things in return! Isn‟t it awesome? Even in our Salaat we get

to ask for ourselves too? My Mama taught me two awesome duas from the Quran,

she said these will get me everything I want and everything I need! I love them!
 The first is ‫ِد َد ا َد َد َد ا ا ِد‬ ‫آل َد ِد حَد َدس َد ًة‬
‫َد َد ا ِد َد ا ِدىْد ا ُّد ْد َدا حَد َدس َد ًة َد ِدىْد ا ِد‬ Our Lord! Give us in this world

that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good and protect us from

the punishment of the Fire. Nana told me something really interesting about this

dua. She said that it is from Surah Al-Baqarah and it is a dua given by Allah

Himself. Allah mentions those who ask for the good things of this world only, and

then those who ask for the good things of both worlds by reading this dua, and

then Allah tells us that those who ask with this dua are the ones who will get the

real advantage! That‟s why I love reading this dua, because this gets me everything

I want. Yay! Can you imagine reading a dua which Allah Himself says gets you the

real goodies? Amazing isn‟t it? I can just feel the power of this dua already!

The next dua is one which Nana said gets me everything I need. This is also from

the Quran and it‟s actually the dua of our beloved Prophet Ibrahim allaihi salam.

He asked Allah for blessings with these words, imagine saying the same words he

did! ‫حسَدا ُد‬

‫َد اِد ْدل ُد ْد ِد ِد َد َد ْد َد َد ُد ُد ْدا ِد‬ ‫ُد ِّب ِدى ۚ َد َد ا َد َد َد ْد ُد َد ا ٓا ِد َد َد ا ْد ِد ْد اِدى َد اِد َد ٰواِد َد‬ ‫ْد َدع ْدل ِدى ُد ِد َد اللَد ٰو ِد َد ِد‬ ‫“ َد ِّب‬My Lord,

make me an establisher of prayer, and from my descendants. Our Lord, and

accept my supplication. Our Lord, forgive me and my parents and the believers the

Day we shall be held accountable.”

After these beautiful duas Nana said we finish our prayers with greetings for the
angels who are sitting by our shoulders writing all our actions and prayers. We say
‫ِد‬ ‫ َداس َد ُد َد لَد ُد ْد َد َد حْد َد ُد‬God‟s peace and blessings be upon you.

That‟s what my Salaat means and I really enjoyed Nana telling me about it, after

all if I‟m reading it 5 times a day, I should understand what I‟m saying when I

stand before Allah, right? Anyway, by the time Nana and I finished the meanings

of the Salaat, it was almost time for the Maghrib salaat and we got up to go
inside. Just as I was picking up the jar I had brought to catch frogs, a little frog

jumped right on to the lid! Ooooh, I was so happy! I even got to catch a frog and

then Nana helped me take it inside so I could look at it for a while before I let it go

at night. What a treat that day was!