ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Adab as-Salat: The Disciplines of the Prayer Second Revised Edition Chapter 2: Some Disciplines And Secrets Of Takbīrs In The Adhān And Iqāmah Know that, as the adhān (call to the Salat ) is the announcement of the presence [ hudūr ] of the external and internal powers of the soul in the Presence [ mahdar ] of Allah for the sake of praising His Sacred Essence according to all the Names, Attributes, Affairs and āyah s since the Salat , as has already been mentioned, is a comprehensive praising of the Sacred Essence according to the manifestation of the Greatest Name, which is the state of “the Collective Oneness of the Names” [ ahadiyyat-i jam'-i asmā' ] in His Unity [ hadrat-i wāhidiyyat ], and the state of manifestation through the collectivity [ jam' ] differentiation [ tafrīq ], overtness [ zuhūr ] and covertness [ butūn ] in the essences [ a'yān ] and essential names [ asmā'-i 'ayniyyah ] the sālik 's attention is first directed to the Majesty of the Sacred Essence according to this general affair [ sha'n-i jāmi' ].

So, at first, he introduces the said Greatness and Majesty to the invisible and visible powers of his own kingdom. Then, secondly, to the angels of Allah in charge of the invisible powers spread in the kingdom of the soul. Thirdly, to the beings of the invisible and visible worlds, and fourthly, to the angels of Allah in charge of the Kingdom of the heavens and the earths (lands = aradīn ).

So, through these four takbīr s (saying: “Allah is Greater”) he announces the Majesty of the Grand Name (Greatest Name) to all the dwellers of the invisible and visible worlds of the inward and outward kingdoms. And this, by itself, is an announcement of his being incapable of undertaking the duty of praising the Sacred Essence, and an announcement of his falling short of performing the Salat .

This, in itself, is one of the general affairs of the sulūk and of the comprehensive disciplines concerning praising and worshipping, which must be before the sālik 's eyes during the whole period of performing the Salat . That is why the takbīr is repeated in the adhān and the iqāmah , as well as in the Salat . It is also repeated when passing from one stage to another so that the sālik 's innate inability, and the Greatness and the Glory of the Sacred Essence are confirmed in his heart.

As such, its discipline, as it appears, is that the sālik should, in each takbīr , remind himself of his inability and Allah's Majesty.