Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalamu alikum,

My question is ,is it compulsory to cry while making dua after every farz/nafeel Namaz.should we cry every time we pray.i personally think that it will become an acting if we make it compulsory to cry every time we pray.please enlight me on this

Thanks

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Answer:

Crying in prayer

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Dear and beloved brother in Islam, the emotion of crying is directly related to the natural emotion and condition which one’s heart develops when faced with certain situations….thus the crying for the love or fear of Allah is not something which one can try or practice to do; but these tears are something which develop naturally in one’s eyes when one’s heart is so convinced and becomes so overfull with the love and the fear of their Lord Most Gracious Most Merciful….When such a being is reminded of the Signs or Revelations of their Lord Most High, their hearts automatically melt and as a direct result of such abject humility and awe unto their Lord Creator, tears begin to develop and overflow from their eyes.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 19 Surah Maryam verse 58:

58 Those were some of the Prophets on whom Allah did bestow His Grace of the posterity of Adam, and of those whom We carried (in the Ark) with Noah, and of the posterity of Abraham, and Israel, of those whom We guided and chose; whenever the Signs of (Allah) Most Gracious were rehearsed to them they would fall down in prostrate adoration, and in tears.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 17 Surah Israa verses 106-109:

106 (It is) a Qur'an which We have divided (into parts) in order that thou mightest recite it to men at intervals: We have revealed it (the Quran) by stages.

107 Say: "Whether ye believe in it or not it is true that those who were given knowledge beforehand when it is recited to them, fall down on their faces in humble prostration"

108 And they say: "Glory to our Lord! Truly has the promise of our Lord been fulfilled!"

109 They fall down on their faces in tears and it increases their (earnest) humility.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 83:

83 And when they listen to the Revelations received by the Messenger, thou wilt see their eyes overflowing with tears for they recognize the Truth: they pray: "Our Lord! We believe; write us down among the witnesses.”

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 1310 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Abbas

Ibn Abbas heard the Prophet (saws) say: ‘The Fire will not touch two pairs of eyes: The one that sheds tears out of fear of Allah, and the other that keeps watch through the night in the Cause of Allah.’

When reminded of the Signs or when the Revelations of the Lord Creator are rehearsed in front of one who professes belief, and neither does his heart melt, nor tears gather unto his eyes….such a person should re-check their state of emaan or faith; for it is just not possible that one has sincere faith in their hearts, and their eyes do not respond when the Revelations of the Lord are recited unto them!

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 2.504 Narrated by Abu Huraira

The Prophet (saws) said, "Seven (categories of) people will be shaded by Allah under His Shade on the Day when there will be no shade except His. They are:

(1)   a just ruler;

(2)   a young man who has been brought up in the worship of Allah, (i.e. worship Allah Alone sincerely from his childhood),

(3)   a man whose heart is attached to the mosque (who offers the five compulsory congregational prayers in the mosque);

(4)   two persons who love each other only for Allah's sake and they meet and part in Allah's Cause only;

(5)   a man who refuses the call of a charming woman of noble birth for an illegal sexual intercourse with her and says: ‘I am afraid of Allah’;

(6)   a person who practices charity so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand has given (i.e. nobody knows how much he has given in charity).

(7) a person who remembers Allah in seclusion and his eyes get flooded with tears."

Such is this state of devotion and humility loved by Allah Subhanah, that Allah Subhanah has promised to honor the ones who remember Allah Subhanah in seclusion and their eyes are flooded with tears with His Shade on that Day, when there will be no shade except His!

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan