Sajdah : Humility Yet Nobility

by Asma bint Shameem

Have you ever had a sudden, most uncontrollable desire to prostrate to Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’ala? When all else ceases to exist and nothing else matters…..All you want to do is fall down on your face and submit to your Rabb, the Lord of the Universe and the Lord of everything else that exists….Allaah Rabb al Aalameen.
When it hits you that you are nothing…..absolutely nothing…..you are just an insignificant little nobody who is just a part of a much bigger and wiser Ultimate plan of Allaah, the Almighty.
You sense and realize the Power of your Master…. His Greatness and His Majesty and you sense the insignificance of your own trivial, little soul. And you just can’t help but fall in sajdah to Him…….spontaneously.

One of my most beloved teachers, Muhammad ash-Shareef calls it ‘EMANRUSH’.
“A rush of blood to the mind and heart, causing tears, warm whispers of repentance, hair to stand on end and an overwhelming urge to prostrate to Allaah……”

You may get this feeling while listening to a lecture or the Jumuah Khutbah or it may be when you read a certain ayah of the Qur’aan even though you may have read that particular ayah many times before, but then suddenly it hits you…..BAM!!!
You realize the enormity of your sins……and the Magnificence of the One you have been disobeying.
Your heart trembles….Your skin gets goose bumps from the fear of Allaah.
Tears of repentance roll uncontrollably down your face …..fearing His Wrath…..yet hoping for His Mercy …..and you fall in sajdah to Allaah, Lord of the Worlds.
That is EMAN RUSH.

Have you ever thought about the position of sajdah… what a beautiful position, what an honorable posture it is??!!
The sajdah is the highest form of submission and yielding oneself to Allaah….when you put the most beloved , most honored part of yourself in the lowest, humblest position there can ever be…..on the ground…in the dust. You are kneeling down …on your knees, your face, forehead nose and all, upon the ground….feeling so poor, so weak in front of Allaah, begging for His forgiveness , submitting yourself…..your whole being to the One, the Only. You have no will, all that counts is what He wills. You have no desire except what pleases him.

And with this humble position comes Nobility.

The more a person submits to Allaah, the lower he humbles himself in front of the Almighty….the higher is the nobility. And the more submissive he is to Allaah, the more virtuous and righteous he becomes and the greater becomes his reward, and the more noble and nearer he becomes to Allaah.

Rasoolullah sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam said:
“Never does a person humble himself before Allah Subhaanahu wa Ta’ala, except that Allah Subhaanahu wa Ta’ala raises him.”

Allaah says that He created man and gave him nobility yet this nobility only comes with the obedience to Allaah Azza wa Jal. If there is no obedience, this nobility, this honor is taken away. Should man be filled with pride, Allaah will destroy him and will reject his deeds, as the deeds of the proud are never accepted.

The scholars say that even creatures like dogs are more beloved to Allah than the one who transgresses against Him, because the dog is obeying Allaah and doing what he is created to do, in contrast to the transgressor who is arrogant and disobedient to his Lord and is NOT doing what he is supposed to….which is to worship, obey and submit to Allaah.

So the true slave of Allaah submits to his Creator when he makes Sajdah to Him, promising to do ALL that pleases Him and trying his BEST to stay away from ALL that displeases Him…. with full submission, humility and meekness towards Allaah. He recognizes His Magnificence, His Sublimity, and His Perfection; and at the same time, he realizes his own weakness and fallibility.The more one recognizes this, the more humble he becomes.

Abû ad-Darda said, “That may face be covered in dust for my Rabb (is most loved by me), for that is the best kind of worship for Allaah.”

Ibn Qudaamah said: “Try to feel humility in your sujood because in such a position you have placed the soul in its proper place. In sujood you have returned the limbs to their place of origin, upon the dust from which they were created.”
The position of Sajdah is also one in which the slave is closest to His Lord, Subhaanahu wa Ta’ala.

The Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“The closest a person is to His Lord is when he is in prostration.” [Muslim]

This is why we have been commanded to increase our supplications while in prostration.

So go ahead…and truly submit to the One, the Magnificent, with your heart, mind and body. Bend that head and place it on the ground with humility and lowliness, upon the lowest of things and that is the dust. Along with this renew in your heart the Greatness of Allaah and say:

“Subhaana Rabbi al-Adheem”
Glorified is my Lord the Highest

Confirm your modesty and humility by repeating this a number of times.
Let none of you fear the dust, nor find it distasteful to make sajdah in it, for there is no doubt that every one of us came from it. We were all created from dust and back to dust we are going.

Next time you are in the honored position of sajdah think about the honor, the nobility, the greatness of your position that He has granted you and thank Him.

And remember, the one who places his face upon the dust for His sake is the one most honored by Him and the most beloved.

“Verily those who were given knowledge before it (the Qur’aan), when it is recited to them, they fall upon their faces in prostration, and they say, “Glorified is our Lord! Indeed the Promise of our Lord has been fulfilled.” And they fall upon their faces weeping, and it (the Qur’ân) increases them in humility.” [Surah al-Israa:107-109]