Question: What does ta’dil-i arkan mean? What consequences will one suffer if one neglects to do it?
ANSWER
Ta’dil-i arkan means to remain for a while keeping all one’s limbs calm and motionless at five places in salat, namely, at ruku’ (bowing), at two sajdas (prostrations), at qawma (standing upright after ruku’), and at jalsa (sitting between two sajdas). One’s salat is nullified according to Imam-i Abu Yusuf if one does not do ta’dil-i arkan deliberately. According to Imam-i A’zam and Imam-i Muhammad, salat is not nullified, but it is wajib upon one to repeat that salat as one deliberately left out a wajib element of salat. If one forgetfully leaves it out, then one has to do sajda as-sahw (prostration for forgetfulness).
Some harms of omitting ta’dil-i arkan are listed in the book Ýslam Ahlaký (Ethics of Islam). If a person omits ta’dil-i arkan:
1. It causes poverty.
2. It removes his ‘adaalah (his being an adil Muslim), and his testimony will not be accepted in Islamic matters.
3. The place where he performs salat will bear testimony against him on the Day of Judgment.
4. It causes him to die without faith.
5. He will be the thief of his salat.
6. His salat will be flung back at his face like an old rag on the Day of Judgment.
7. He will be deprived of the mercy of Allahu ta’ala.
8. His omitting ta’dil-i arkan will neutralize the rewards of his other acts of worship.
9. He will cause the layman to omit ta’dil-i arkan, too. For this reason, the sin committed by a man of religion brings about much severer punishment. [If a man of religion, for example, performs salat without a taqiyah, his act will be much more detestable compared to those of the others because he will be a role model for the layman.]
10. He will incur the wrath of Allahu ta’ala.
11. He will make the Devil happy.
12. He will be distant from Paradise and close to Hell.
13. He is wronging himself.
14. He offends the angels on his right- hand side and left-hand side.
15. He upsets our Master the Messenger of Allah.
16. He causes all creatures harm because there may be a cessation in rainfall due to his sin, or it may rain unseasonably, thus causing harm rather than benefit.
qawma: standing upright after ruku’
jalsa: sitting between two sajdas
Question: What should we do to fulfill ta’dil-i arkan in salat?
ANSWER
Ta’dil-i arkan means to remain for a while keeping all one’s limbs calm and motionless at ruku’, at sajda, at qawma, and at jalsa. For example, when you bend down for ruku’, you should not straighten up immediately, but remain in this position for a while. The same rule applies to qawma, too. That is, you should, after straightening up from ruku’, remain upright for a while. So is the case with when you rise from sajda. These are called ta’dil-i arkan. Recitations and tasbihat are not a hindrance to remaining motionless at these places in salat. When we say tasbihat three times in salat, we are considered to have done ta’dil-i arkan automatically. We should not wait more than this duration. When we say “Rabbana lakal hamd” at qawma, we are considered to have met the requirement of ta’dil-i arkan.
Question: Some people perform salat very fast. Is a salat performed very fast valid?
ANSWER
If the recitation of such a person is correct and if he fulfills the requirements of ta’dil-i arkan, his salats will be valid. However, as a general rule, a person who performs salat fast cannot fulfill ta’dil-i arkan. He cannot stand upright at qawma and jalsa. It is wajib to perform ta’dil-i arkan in salat. If one deliberately leaves out one of the wajib elements of salat, it will be wajib upon one to repeat that salat.
For this reason, we should perform salat without hurrying and by doing its fard, wajib, sunnat, and recommended acts. Some of the pertinent hadith-i sharifs written in the book Wasilat-un najat are as follows:
(The worst of thieves is the one who steals from his own salat. That is, he does not observe its requirements and not do its rukus and sajdas correctly.)
(A person who has performed salat for sixty years but not a single salat of his is accepted is the one who did not do rukus and sajdas properly.)
(Many a person performs salat, but nothing of his salat is recorded to his credit except one-tenth. What is recorded of every person’s salat is the parts where his heart was present.)
(Allahu ta’ala does not look at a salat performed without the heart’s presence. Salat is the head of faith, pillar of the
religion, ascension of the Believer, light of the sky, and a savior from Hell.)
Then when we perform salat, the pillar of our religion, we should extricate ourselves from ghaflah (negligence, heedlessness) and perform it without hurrying.
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