Sami Allahu Liman Hamidah

A young man's unique act outside the mosque....

Just last Sunday, after the Asr prayer, we came to the shelf to pick up our sandals,
when we saw a healthy, well-dressed young man standing in the exit corridor, asking people some questions.
We stopped there
and took a detailed look at the boy's appearance...,
he didn't look like a beggar from anywhere...,
then we brushed aside our thought that we see such people begging on the streets every day.

We saw that the boy asks a question to the person passing by him
and people give him a brief answer and move on.
No one gave him anything,
because he was wearing a mask.
We decided that he should be explained that begging is not a good thing.

And with this intention, we started walking on the corridor while staying close to him.
Seeing us approaching, he greeted us
and when he asked my name, I told him my name is *[[TOKEN_NAME]]*
Then he asked that
I wanted to ask something...?
I said yes, ask.
He said,
'Sami Allahu Liman Hamidah,
what does it mean...?
We asked in surprise,
Don't you know...?

He said with great respect,
If you know, then tell me, otherwise it doesn't matter.
I said,
'Son, it means
"Allah listens to the one who praises Him,"
then I moved on.

Now we had good feelings for him in our hearts that he was not a beggar....,
Before leaving the mosque, we turned back and saw that the boy was still standing there.
We found this strange,
we moved away from the gate and stood there
to keep an eye on him.
He was asking people questions in the same way,
this time we observed that he was also noting something on a slip.

We sat near the gate so that when he is free from his work, we will find out from him that
when we told the meaning,
then why is he asking other people...?
Does he not agree with the meaning we told him...?
Or is there something else going on...?

Not even five minutes had passed when he reviewed his slip
and wrote something brief on it and put it in his pocket...
and picked up his sandals and started walking
so I stopped him,
'Son! Can you give us five minutes...?
'Yes sir, please tell me',
his manner was polite,
I said,
Can we know that from us
"Sami Allahu Liman Hamidah"
after knowing the meaning of, what were you asking other people...?

Sir!
I was also asking them
"Sami Allahu Liman Hamidah"
the meaning of,
I said,
Are you not satisfied with our answer or do you consider it wrong...?
No, it's nothing like that.
I knew the meaning
and the same as you told
but I was conducting a survey that *how many people pray with understanding*

If you are interested, I will tell you the results of my survey,
I said sure,
He took out the same slip from his pocket and said,
'I asked this question to 27 worshippers.
My target were those people
whom I see praying regularly.
15 people said
"Ask the Imam Sahib"
Seven (7) people said
"Don't you know
and passed by..."

Three (3) suggested that
"See the prayer book"
and two (2) clearly said "Don't know correctly..."

Many people, perhaps fearing,
did not even listen to the matter lest they be asked for financial help,
We asked the young man,
'Why did you need this survey...?
He said that it was because we had seen theft in people's prayers....
So we got the idea to see if they even know what prayer is after all...?
The young man's attachment to prayer was evident from his conversation.....
When he used the term theft in prayer,
I said 'Well done!
Mashallah, you have surprised me. But this turned out to be a very disappointing situation.
What are your intentions now...?
The young man told us his intention in a very emotional way,
Sir, my intention is that without revealing anyone's name,
inform the Imam Sahib of the mosque of these results
and advise him to teach the worshippers the correct prophetic prayer,
with its meaning
because there is a hadith of the Prophet ﷺ in Sahih Bukhari that
"Pray as you have seen me praying"
So would you ﷺ pray without understanding...?
Obviously, that is not the case at all,
so do we also not need to understand and pray...?
We once again openly praised the young man's such excellent and positive thinking, method and intention at this young age,
and assured our full cooperation if needed.

🤲 May Allah Almighty grant us the ability to pray and understand our prayers according to the Sunnah.
Amen, O Lord of the worlds.