Why do I pray?
Many people have started to neglect Salat in our times and see it as a heavy burden. So, were you to remind them of it, some would look for excuses to justify themselves, saying they are busy now with some important matters.
- Categories: Fiqh of Prayer -
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the most Beneficent.
His companion said to him in his discourse with him: “Your case is surprising, how acute is your scrutiny, and how frequent is your criticism! Why do you find it strange that these two men? With their close attachment, and their united word; one of them would love to give his heart to the other, while the other wishes to offer his own soul between the other’s hands in sacrifice. Do you know who they are? Father and son. A caring father and a devoted son, does this link between them please you?”
He said: “Yes, by Allah it does! What can be greater than a relationship that fortifies hearts, unites people and stands tall as an evidence of favour recognition and thankfulness for endowments? And how can a human being go through life without kinship, neighbourship, friendship and companionship? Isn’t he a social being by nature, and since his creation?”
His companion replied: “I see you are certain that relationships amongst people need to be based on mutual sympathy and support, as well the recognition of favours and benevolence.”
He said: “That is right.”
He asked: “What if somebody denies favours and does not acknowledge courtesies?”
He said: “Can a man with even a bit of shame and an atom of conscience?”
He replied: “Yes, you do!”
He then got red with anger, and was about to jump him, but he backed up, shrunk and said: “What do you mean?”
His friend replied: “Because you deny the favours and graces Allah has bestowed on you.”
He asked: “How so?”
He said: “Does not Allah grant favours and give generously?”
He replied: “Certainly.”
He then asked: “Do these favour deserve thankfulness?”
He replied: “Yes, they do.”
He asked: “And how do we thank him?”
He then kept silent for a moment going through his thoughts but it didn’t help him much.
He said: “I don’t know.”
He felt ashamed, stopped for a moment and said: “Show me the way to show this gratefulness.”
He said: “There are two inseparable ways to achieve this thankfulness:
The first: is acknowledging his favours and grace from the bottom of your heart, not only through your tongue, and prove it by putting your forehead on the ground in a sign of prostration and submission to him.
The second: to take care of these favours and only use them where Allah pleases.”
He said: “Your words are truthful and honest, and you have my word and a promise before Allah not to forsake Salat (prayer) as long as I am alive. However, I have a dear friend whose circumstances regarding Salat are no different from mine, so would you write a word on this matter for me to deliver to him? May Allah make his guidance through your hands and re-establish with his Salat his cut link with Allah, and you would get a huge reward because of this.”
He said: “I will be glad, delighted and honoured to do so!”
And he wrote:
Dear friend,
Peace be upon you, I have heard some marvellous words and I wanted to express them as a letter on this piece of paper. My hope is for it to have the same effect on your soul as it has had on mine, and peace to you.
Many people have started to neglect Salat in our times and see it as a heavy burden. So, were you to remind them of it, some would look for excuses to justify themselves, saying they are busy now with some important matters. They claim that some of their garments are not clean disabling them from praying and that they’d change them once they get home and then pray, while in reality they’re simply lying. Some, on the other hand, recognize their negligence and repeat the expression of “May Allah guide us”. While there is also another insolent group who show their disobedience blatantly and meet Allah’s favours with denial, they belittle prayer and praying people and still claim they are Muslims. So what is wrong with them that when Allah is mentioned alone, their hearts repulse it and if they are called to Allah they say we hear and we disobey?
“Then what is [the matter] with them that they are, from the reminder, turning away (49) As if they were alarmed donkeys (50) Fleeing from a lion?”[Al-Muddathir 74:49-51]
{فَمَا لَهُمْ عَنِ التَّذْكِرَةِ مُعْرِضِينَ ﴿٤٩﴾ كَأَنَّهُمْ حُمُرٌ مُّسْتَنفِرَةٌ ﴿٥٠﴾ فَرَّتْ مِن قَسْوَرَةٍ}
المدثر: 49-50
Transliteration: Fama lahum AAani alttathkirati muAArideاena (49) Kaannahum humurun mustanfiratun (50) Farrat min qaswaratin
So come, brother, let’s analyse their positions and search for the reasons making them forsake prayer:
Is prayer is a fine that the human being pays off the way he unjustly does with his taxes?
Is prayer a waste of time, while the human being has no spare time to waste?
Is prayer a compulsory principle on which the human being is obliged the way he is obliged to accept some political principles in dictatorial states?
Is prayer a subjugation of the human being’s absolute freedom and an obstacle against its exercise?
Is prayer a permissible matter which can be done by whoever wills without receiving any reward, and forsaken by whoever wills without entailing any fault?
Is Allah in need of our Salat?
What is the benefit a human being can gain from Salat?
And what loss does its forsaking involve? How...? And why...?
Many questions are that take place in one’s mind dictated to him by his desire, the devil within him and concupiscence. Considering his inability to find their answers as a proof, and weakening and succumbing, and letting these questions affect the emptiness in his mind, embellish his bad actions until he sees them as good, approve his wrong opinion until he adheres to it, supplying him with futile arguments and suggesting distant hopes, and so on until he crumbles into the hellfire for seventy years where he least expected it. While if he gives a good answer and rebukes his, implementing good judgment and logic, he proves them wrong and makes them lose and fade.
So let’s start now rebuking these questions one by one and answering them in a way that leaves no doubt for the sceptical, ad whoever turns his back after this then those are the unjust.
First:
No my friend, Salat is not a fine or a tax, it is rather a recognition of a right and thankfulness of a favour, and a proof of the clearness of intentions by obeying leaders and carrying out their commands, and an expression of the love and appreciation for Allah contained by the heart.
Can you see that all people truly praise those they consider above them in terms of power and benefit? They seek refuge in them in times of distress, request their help when they struggle with difficulties, ask for their blessings in special occasions, and choose a symbol to serve as a reminder every time they may lose sight of them.
Why do Christian deify the Messiah son of Mariam (May peace be upon him), and use the cross as a symbol they raise on churches, hang on their chests and haste to churches to pray?
And why do Jews venerate ‘Uzair (Ezra) – May Allah be exalted from what they ascribe to Him – and gather around a mausoleum-shaped building, light candles, read the Torah and pray? And the religious ones among them wear small caps (Kippot) on the heads’ rears? And since they established their state on Palestinian land, they have taken the hexa pointed star as a symbol for it?
And why do Zoroastrians worship fire? And Hindus worship cows and monkeys? And some sects of Batiniya worship Satan? All these worship and sanctify a deity different to Allah, praying and sacrificing to it, while it is as false as their hollow ideas, not possessing any gain or loss for them. And still, you do not reproach them for their prayer and reproach me for mine with its rightfulness, value and benefit?
What gain do all these obtain from their different ways of worship? And what difference do their objects of worship make for them? Do they answer their calls? Do they understand their words? Do they know what is good or bad for them? Do they provide for them? Do they give them life? Do they heal them? Do they protect them from harm? Do they make rain fall and grow crops with it? No, it does not ever do any of that. In spite of that, they still worship them, they hold their sanctity and grace in depths of their hearts, and prove this acknowledgement through prayer.
You see, if someone offered you a sweet, helped you to carry your luggage, gave you directions, pushed your broken car with you, or handed you something you dropped, do you not say “thank you” to him, respect him, appreciate his deed and wish to reward his favour with a greater one? Yes you do.
And I am a human being like you, I take favours into account, I acknowledge benevolence, I recognize bounties and I thank gifts. And the bigger the favour is upon me, the greater my thankfulness is. So is there any bountiful giver greater than Allah (May He be exalted and glorified), the One who has given me a mind and senses, and has overwhelmed me with pure provisions, bestowed on me health and soundness, guided me to the correct religion, granted me a family and offspring and settled me in a good place with noble friends and benevolent neighbours?
No, there is completely no other who has cherished me the way Allah (May he be exalted and glorified) did. How can I not thank Him for all these bounties when I do thank others for the least favours they may offer me? Undoubtedly, you must agree with me and encourage me to thank Him, and even reproach me if I do not carry it out properly, since you do not want me to be an unthankful individual who denies favours and does not recognize benevolence. Thankfulness proportionately suits the value of the given gift and the giver. So my thankfulness towards the one who gives me a sweet is not the same as that to the one who offers me a box of sweets. And my word to a boy who hands me a pen I dropped is not the same as my thankfulness to a person of majesty who may have handed it to me. Moreover, the specific way through Allah which wants me to thank Him is that of putting my forehead on the ground, recognizing His Lordship, sanctifying His Divinity and acknowledging His bestowals.
People are inclined before their idols and false deities who in reality have no favour upon them, rather stray them from truth and guidance. Many of them incline themselves before their leaders in a sign of respect and glorification, even though they might be the worst of Allah’s creation. Why shouldn’t I then incline myself before the Owner of Sovereignty, the Creator of the Universe, the Lord of the heavens and the earth, the one who benefits and harms, gives and takes, gives life and death and shall judge us for the tiniest most minute matters.
Second:
Prayer is not a waste of time either, since when a person leaves his hectic work behind along with the coming and going of passersby, and runs away from giving and taking, buying and selling, arguing and bargaining, teaching, learning and the discussing, and he stands in his prayer spot getting rid of all these annoyances, his soul calming down and his heart entering in tranquillity, relaxing his body and putting off his anger, restraining his base instincts, and remains for a few minutes conversing with the One he loves.
Since the greatest of loves are fortified with solitude, asking the loved One for help and support, and asking for strength for the sake of good, steadfastness in the struggle, forgiveness in case he wronged anyone with a frowning look, hurting words or rough behaviour, these minutes acting as a recharge for the reserves and the cooling of the engines.
Based this high basis, Allah’s messenger used to hasten to prayer every time a matter would be sadden him, and when he returned exhausted from fighting enemies, he would say: “Oh! Bilal, establish Salat and give us some rest.” [Considered Sahih by Al-Albani],
‹‹يا بلال أقم الصلاة، أرحنا بها››
صححه الألباني
In other words, call to prayer in order to find in it our rest from life suffering and troubles.
The human being is a weak being with limited power, not able to work continually; he imperatively needs physical and mental rest. This is not possible except in prayer and resting half of his life. Therefore, Allah (May He be exalted and glorified) made night a refuge and sleep a rest and repose. How long does a praying person spend praying? Even if prayer is lengthy and extended, it will not take more than a quarter of an hour. Do you then withhold from yourself a few minutes from time to time throughout the day to obtain all these benefits, while you spend lengthy hours you waste in vane on visits and entertainment.
Third:
And Salat is not a political principle obliged by an unjust dictator imposing his ideas both willingly and forcefully. It is rather the application of a religion embraced by people out of conviction and agreement, without any imposition or compulsion
“There is no compulsion in religion.” [Al-Baqarah 2:256].
{لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ ...}
البقرة: 256
Transliteration: La ikraha fee alddeeni
And it is not a political principle that changes with the changing of circumstances following the opinions of rulers. Nor is prayer an artificial law redacted today as a draft to be discussed definitively the next day, modified the day after and then be totally up-rooted because of exceptional circumstances or delay its execution until we gather enough responsibles for it or until the highest authority in the country approves it. It is a pillar of the pillars of Islam; rather it is the greatest pillar after the declaration of faith. And since you have agreed – Oh, Muslim – to this religion voluntarily and you were not obliged to embrace it, then you have to wholly carry out its precepts. Don’t you agree that a citizen of a given country is obliged to comply with its laws? And in case they refuse, then they have two options: Either to be humble himself and apply that law, or give up his citizenship and move from that state.
I just do not understand how a person can fear a police officer and not fear the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Don’t you see how a red light can make tens and hundreds of cars stop no matter how powerful a driver can be amongst them? So why can the son of Adam never go against this traffic light, and still they can disobey the orders of Allah (May He be exalted and glorified), defy him with sins and filthy deeds and trespass the limits he drew for them? Is this a sign of their minds’ perfection or its imperfection? Be just and judge by yourself.
Fourth:
Salat is not a subjugation of personal freedom nor is it an obstacle for the human being’s against the exercise of their liberties.
People in their human societies are in agreement on the fact that they are not mere animals living on the face of the earth like animals in jungles, rather they have liberties, and that their liberties are absolute regarding belief, speech and work, and limited when it comes to public order and conventional laws. Otherwise, no nation would know order or prosperity, nor would interaction and the exchange of goods amongst people be straightened up, it would not allow humankind to perpetuate itself.
Hippie that do whatever comes to their minds and live on the streets like stray dogs cannot violate the orders of authority or the precepts of laws. And even their friends, the animals in the jungle, have a system they follow. And were you to ask a specialised zoologist, they would confirm that what authenticity of what I said. The clearest example I will give you is the collaboration you can see with your own eyes among bees of the same hive, or how ants help each other dragging food crumbs.
You – Oh Muslim – are free at you private matters, eating or fasting, sleeping or awaking, staying or travelling, selling or buying. This whole freedom is surrounded by the divine system and limited by the boundaries of legislation. Also it is among your liberties to leave your work for a few minutes to sit in the masjid, refresh yourself and regain your strength and then leave it armoured with new reserves of divine support and continue your work and struggle.
Among your liberties is to be bound by the divine system that has prepared for you all the causes of happiness and tranquillity in your worldly and heavenly lives.
Among your liberties is not to be subjugated by any other force on earth as long as Allah’s power is with you.
And among your liberties is to say what you wish, do what you feel like doing, write what you like and commerce with what you want, as long as you do not trespass you limits transgressing other’s rights and limits. And this is what Islam has made unlawful and human laws warned against.
Fifth:
Prayer is not just a permissible daily-life thing that can be performed without receiving a reward, or abandoned without entailing any faults, rather it is a crucial and decisive matter. It has a determined timing, a special proceeding, a distinguished manner, and a traced plan, you do not have any right to manipulate it neither by adding or taking, and you do not have an option to modify it by anticipating or postponing it. It is like a mouthful that you put in your mouth and not in your ear, and it is like air that comes into the lung through the nostrils or the mouth and not the sole of the foot. And had you had a choice regarding the heart’s contractions and dilations, or the expansion of your lungs, you would have a choice regarding Salat.
Salat is like your employment – if you are an employee – or your commerce if you are a merchant, so if you have regularity in your work and responsibility carrying out your duties, you will be rewarded at the end of the month receiving your salary and fill your pockets with your benefits. While, on the other hand, if you are absent from your work and neglect your duties, an amount will be deduced from your salary equivalent to your absenteeism and negligence, and you will lose the benefits you were aiming to gain.
Often, the individual is held accountable for permissible matters as well as obligatory ones. Don’t you see that if you try to play a radio set out loud in the middle of the night, or started to sing yourself at the top of your lungs, your neighbours would be annoyed and reproaching you. May the police would knock on your door asking you to turn off your radio or lower your voice or else you would be punished. Isn’t your playing the radio a permissible matter that you can do whenever and however you want? So why then is your freedom bound?
The answer: it was bound by a general or specific rule that cannot be violated, so what about that which Allah has ordained on those of his servants that have believed in his lordship and divinity and have agreed on his laws and religion, are they free in their worship of his and prayers to him? Or are they bound by his commands and obliged to apply them?
Sixth:
Yes, Salat is an indispensable necessity required in human life just like eating and drinking are required; and that is because food and beverages are sustenance for the body and an element of subsistence, while Salat is sustenance for the soul and an element of peace of mind, it rises the praying person above absurdities and makes them straighten up the matters of their life before his Lord at prayer.
And prayer is the discerning criterion between belief and disbelief. Part of the hadeeth says: “between Kufr (disbelief) and Iman (belief) there is Salat” [Narrated by At-Tirmizi, and considered Sahih by Albani]
What does Islam benefit from those false Muslims if they break its commands? Are they not like a disobedient child who belongs to his family in terms of lineage and contradicts them in terms of behaviour? And how can we except any good from those who do not expect any good from themselves?
We, Muslims, do not want to be like the spume floating on rainwater, counted by the hundreds of millions while the righteous ones are does not exceed tens of them.
One bullet filled with gunpowder that kills your enemy is better than a pile of empty bullets. And a tent can have a thousand pegs but it will not be erected except if it has its main support. And the central support of Islam is Salat.
Prayer is a vital necessity for the human being, it disciplines his behaviour and polishes his manners, and it protects him from the sources of corruption and deviation, from filth and obscenities. And how can he fall in sin when he knows that he would face his Lord (May He be exalted and glorified) within minutes, and that He would not accept from him this prayer unless he is pure within his heart, soul and body? Haven’t you not seen how fast most Muslims ceased from drinking alcohol when Allah (May He be exalted and glorified) revealed:
“O you who have believed, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated” [An-Nisa 4:43]
Transliterations: Yaayyuhaallatheenaamanoo lataqraboo alssalata waantum sukara
How can they come close to prayer being guilty of being drunk? While they must approach it since it repeats itself five times a day. Therefore, alcohol has to be completely forsaken in order for them to be always prepared to face Allah (May He be exalted and glorified).
Prayer, my companion, is a scale that weighs for the human being his deeds he has carried out between every two prayer, just like a doctor measures his patient’s temperature from while to while. So when his deeds are righteous, it will tell him to struggle and advance, and when they are otherwise it tells him to go back up and straighten them up. When he hears the call to prayer proclaim that “Allah is the greatest”, he awaken to his circumstance and understands that Allah is greater than whatever else that keeps him occupied. So he slips away from his whole world and fulfills the call to prayer.
Be completely certain that a praying individual is a person from whom you can hope for good and righteousness, even if you find him deviant in many of his circumstances, because it is inevitable that one day his prayer will stop him from his deviation, since he recites Quran in his prayers, and no matter how distracted he might get in it, he will definitely have moments during which he will consider the meanings of his recital which would strike the cords of his hearts and awaken the torrents of goodness inside him. This is indicated when Allah (May He be exalted and glorified) says:
“Recite, [O Muhammad], what has been revealed to you of the Book and establish prayer. Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing…. “[Al-‘Ankabut 29:45].
Transliterations: Otlu ma oohiya ilayka mina alkitabi waaqimi alssalata inna alssalata tanha AAani alfahshai waalmunkari
As for the one who does not pray, does not recite Quran and he offers nothing to benefit from, he will remain going astray in his deviation, drowning in his sins.
Seventh:
Certainly Allah (May He be exalted and glorified) is in no need of our prayer, it is instead us who are in need to pray to Him, He is Self-Sufficient, and all his creation are dependent on Him:
"O mankind, you are those in need of Allah, while Allah is the Free of need, the Praiseworthy. (15) If He wills, He can do away with you and bring forth a new creation. (16) And that is for Allah not difficult." [Fatir 35:15-17]
And it is not a political principle that changes with the changing of circumstances following the opinions of rulers. Nor is prayer an artificial law redacted today as a draft to be discussed definitively the next day, modified the day after and then be totally up-rooted because of exceptional circumstances or delay its execution until we gather enough responsibles for it or until the highest authority in the country approves it. It is a pillar of the pillars of Islam; rather it is the greatest pillar after the declaration of faith. And since you have agreed – Oh, Muslim – to this religion voluntarily and you were not obliged to embrace it, then you have to wholly carry out its precepts. Don’t you agree that a citizen of a given country is obliged to comply with its laws? And in case they refuse, then they have two options: Either to be humble himself and apply that law, or give up his citizenship and move from that state.
I just do not understand how a person can fear a police officer and not fear the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Don’t you see how a red light can make tens and hundreds of cars stop no matter how powerful a driver can be amongst them? So why can the son of Adam never go against this traffic light, and still they can disobey the orders of Allah (May He be exalted and glorified), defy him with sins and filthy deeds and trespass the limits he drew for them? Is this a sign of their minds’ perfection or its imperfection? Be just and judge by yourself.
Fourth:
Salat is not a subjugation of personal freedom nor is it an obstacle for the human being’s against the exercise of their liberties.
People in their human societies are in agreement on the fact that they are not mere animals living on the face of the earth like animals in jungles, rather they have liberties, and that their liberties are absolute regarding belief, speech and work, and limited when it comes to public order and conventional laws. Otherwise, no nation would know order or prosperity, nor would interaction and the exchange of goods amongst people be straightened up, it would not allow humankind to perpetuate itself.
Hippie that do whatever comes to their minds and live on the streets like stray dogs cannot violate the orders of authority or the precepts of laws. And even their friends, the animals in the jungle, have a system they follow. And were you to ask a specialised zoologist, they would confirm that what authenticity of what I said. The clearest example I will give you is the collaboration you can see with your own eyes among bees of the same hive, or how ants help each other dragging food crumbs.
You – Oh Muslim – are free at you private matters, eating or fasting, sleeping or awaking, staying or travelling, selling or buying. This whole freedom is surrounded by the divine system and limited by the boundaries of legislation. Also it is among your liberties to leave your work for a few minutes to sit in the masjid, refresh yourself and regain your strength and then leave it armoured with new reserves of divine support and continue your work and struggle.
Among your liberties is to be bound by the divine system that has prepared for you all the causes of happiness and tranquillity in your worldly and heavenly lives.
Among your liberties is not to be subjugated by any other force on earth as long as Allah’s power is with you.
And among your liberties is to say what you wish, do what you feel like doing, write what you like and commerce with what you want, as long as you do not trespass you limits transgressing other’s rights and limits. And this is what Islam has made unlawful and human laws warned against.
Fifth:
Prayer is not just a permissible daily-life thing that can be performed without receiving a reward, or abandoned without entailing any faults, rather it is a crucial and decisive matter. It has a determined timing, a special proceeding, a distinguished manner, and a traced plan, you do not have any right to manipulate it neither by adding or taking, and you do not have an option to modify it by anticipating or postponing it. It is like a mouthful that you put in your mouth and not in your ear, and it is like air that comes into the lung through the nostrils or the mouth and not the sole of the foot. And had you had a choice regarding the heart’s contractions and dilations, or the expansion of your lungs, you would have a choice regarding Salat.
Salat is like your employment – if you are an employee – or your commerce if you are a merchant, so if you have regularity in your work and responsibility carrying out your duties, you will be rewarded at the end of the month receiving your salary and fill your pockets with your benefits. While, on the other hand, if you are absent from your work and neglect your duties, an amount will be deduced from your salary equivalent to your absenteeism and negligence, and you will lose the benefits you were aiming to gain.
Often, the individual is held accountable for permissible matters as well as obligatory ones. Don’t you see that if you try to play a radio set out loud in the middle of the night, or started to sing yourself at the top of your lungs, your neighbours would be annoyed and reproaching you. May the police would knock on your door asking you to turn off your radio or lower your voice or else you would be punished. Isn’t your playing the radio a permissible matter that you can do whenever and however you want? So why then is your freedom bound?
The answer: it was bound by a general or specific rule that cannot be violated, so what about that which Allah has ordained on those of his servants that have believed in his lordship and divinity and have agreed on his laws and religion, are they free in their worship of his and prayers to him? Or are they bound by his commands and obliged to apply them?
Sixth:
Yes, Salat is an indispensable necessity required in human life just like eating and drinking are required; and that is because food and beverages are sustenance for the body and an element of subsistence, while Salat is sustenance for the soul and an element of peace of mind, it rises the praying person above absurdities and makes them straighten up the matters of their life before his Lord at prayer.
And prayer is the discerning criterion between belief and disbelief. Part of the hadeeth says: “between Kufr (disbelief) and Iman (belief) there is Salat” [Narrated by At-Tirmizi, and considered Sahih by Albani]
‹‹بين الكفر والإيمان ترك الصلاة››
صححه الألبانى
What does Islam benefit from those false Muslims if they break its commands? Are they not like a disobedient child who belongs to his family in terms of lineage and contradicts them in terms of behaviour? And how can we except any good from those who do not expect any good from themselves?
We, Muslims, do not want to be like the spume floating on rainwater, counted by the hundreds of millions while the righteous ones are does not exceed tens of them.
One bullet filled with gunpowder that kills your enemy is better than a pile of empty bullets. And a tent can have a thousand pegs but it will not be erected except if it has its main support. And the central support of Islam is Salat.
Prayer is a vital necessity for the human being, it disciplines his behaviour and polishes his manners, and it protects him from the sources of corruption and deviation, from filth and obscenities. And how can he fall in sin when he knows that he would face his Lord (May He be exalted and glorified) within minutes, and that He would not accept from him this prayer unless he is pure within his heart, soul and body? Haven’t you not seen how fast most Muslims ceased from drinking alcohol when Allah (May He be exalted and glorified) revealed:
“O you who have believed, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated” [An-Nisa 4:43]
{يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَقْرَبُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَأَنتُمْ سُكَارَى...}
النساء: 43
Transliterations: Yaayyuhaallatheenaamanoo lataqraboo alssalata waantum sukara
How can they come close to prayer being guilty of being drunk? While they must approach it since it repeats itself five times a day. Therefore, alcohol has to be completely forsaken in order for them to be always prepared to face Allah (May He be exalted and glorified).
Prayer, my companion, is a scale that weighs for the human being his deeds he has carried out between every two prayer, just like a doctor measures his patient’s temperature from while to while. So when his deeds are righteous, it will tell him to struggle and advance, and when they are otherwise it tells him to go back up and straighten them up. When he hears the call to prayer proclaim that “Allah is the greatest”, he awaken to his circumstance and understands that Allah is greater than whatever else that keeps him occupied. So he slips away from his whole world and fulfills the call to prayer.
Be completely certain that a praying individual is a person from whom you can hope for good and righteousness, even if you find him deviant in many of his circumstances, because it is inevitable that one day his prayer will stop him from his deviation, since he recites Quran in his prayers, and no matter how distracted he might get in it, he will definitely have moments during which he will consider the meanings of his recital which would strike the cords of his hearts and awaken the torrents of goodness inside him. This is indicated when Allah (May He be exalted and glorified) says:
“Recite, [O Muhammad], what has been revealed to you of the Book and establish prayer. Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing…. “[Al-‘Ankabut 29:45].
{اتْلُ مَا أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ ۖ إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ تَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ...}
العنكبوت:45
Transliterations: Otlu ma oohiya ilayka mina alkitabi waaqimi alssalata inna alssalata tanha AAani alfahshai waalmunkari
As for the one who does not pray, does not recite Quran and he offers nothing to benefit from, he will remain going astray in his deviation, drowning in his sins.
Seventh:
Certainly Allah (May He be exalted and glorified) is in no need of our prayer, it is instead us who are in need to pray to Him, He is Self-Sufficient, and all his creation are dependent on Him:
"O mankind, you are those in need of Allah, while Allah is the Free of need, the Praiseworthy. (15) If He wills, He can do away with you and bring forth a new creation. (16) And that is for Allah not difficult." [Fatir 35:15-17]
{ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ أَنتُمُ الْفُقَرَاءُ إِلَى اللَّـهِ ۖ وَاللَّـهُ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ ﴿١٥﴾ إِن يَشَأْ يُذْهِبْكُمْ وَيَأْتِ بِخَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ ﴿١٦﴾ وَمَا ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى اللَّـهِ بِعَزِيزٍ}
فاطر: 15-17
Transliteration: Ya ayyuha alnnasu antumu alfuqarao ila Allahi waAllahu huwa alghaniyyu alhameedu (15) In yasha yuthhibkum wayati bikhalqin jadeedin (16) Wama thalika AAala Allahi biAAazeezin
He created them naked, barefooted, empty-handed, physically weak and mentally barren, not able to distinguish a date from an ember, not capable of benefitting or harming themselves. So He fed them, strengthened them, granted them health, minds, wealth, acclimatized the heaven and the earth for them, and covered them in his favours, both apparently and subtly. Do you think that He will need our prayers, after immensely giving all these bounties, and He is the Owner of sovereignty and in His hands are the reserves of the heavens and the earth?
No, rather, our prayers are an unequivocal declaration of our love to Him, our recognition of His favours and thankfulness for his bounties.
Those who neglect the importance of Salat have been given the same amount of provisions and favours as we have given, perhaps more. However, we recognize his concessions and they deny them, forgetting the day they were born, and how they owned nothing. They have lost sight of the day of their death, the day they leave for their heirs all that which they acquired with the purpose of enjoying it, only to be held accountable for it. They have dared against Allah and were too proud to worship Him, so let them meet their perdition
“And your Lord says, "Call upon Me; I will respond to you." Indeed, those who disdain My worship will enter Hell [rendered] contemptible.” [Ghafir 40:60].
{وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ}
غافر:60
Transliteration: Waqala rabbukumu odAAoonee astajib lakum inna allatheena yastakbiroona AAan AAibadatee sayadkhuloona jahannama dakhireena
To the one who leaves prayer, why did you count yourself as a Muslim if you were not in need of it? Why don’t you pray when you are certain of it? Does it offend you to be regarded as a religious person who fears Allah? Does it please you to be called a libertine who rebels against Allah? How can you obey your rulers’ orders and disobey Allah’s? Are your rulers’ greater in appreciation and respect for you than Allah? Allah is mightier and more glorious.
Husain Ibn Ubaid-Ulah came to Allah’s messenger (Peace be upon him) reprimanding and reproaching him for defying the unbelievers in Quraish, belittling their dreams and desecrating their gods. So the prophet (peace be upon him) established proof against him and defeated his falsehood with words of truth, and thus, even if his heart (Husain’s) was harder than stone, he humbled himself and believed. The prophet (peace be upon him) said to him: “Oh Husain! How many gods do you worship?” He said: seven on earth and one in heaven. He then asked him: “and when you are afflicted with harm who do you call upon?” He then replied: “The one in heaven”, he asked: “When your wealth is gone, who do you call upon?” He said: the one in heaven. The prophet (peace be upon him) then replied: “How can you join them with Him, when he alone answers your calls?” [Related by Imran Ibn Husain – ref. Khulasat Ad-Darajah: He indicated that this hadeeth is saheeh with a sound chain of narration – the narrator is Ibn Khuzaimah]
‹‹قال حصين: ما هذا الذي يبلغنا عنك أنك تشتم آلهتنا وتذكرهم ، وقد كان أبوك جفنة وخبزا ؟ ، فقال : يا حصين إن أبي وأباك في النار . يا حصين : كم إلها تعبد ؟ قال : سبعة في الأرض ، وإله في السماء ، قال : فإذا أصابك ضر من تدعو ؟ قال : الذي في السماء ، قال : فإذا هلك المال من تدعو ؟ قال : الذي في السماء ، قال : فيستجيب لك وحده وتشركهم معه››
أشار ابن خزيمة في المقدمة أنه صح وثبت بالإسناد الثابت الصحيح
And I say to you, prayer-forsaking Muslim, unconscious of the One who observes and awaits you: Pray and you will be saved from a tremendous torment. It is such a flaw from you to call upon Allah in times of hardship and forget Him in times of prosperity.
Eighth:
As for what you obtain from you Salat, it is nothing but pure goodness, benefitting from it along with your Muslim brothers. Wouldn’t you love Allah to forgive the sins you have committed?
Allah’s messenger (peace be upon him) said: “Shall I show you that with which Allah erases sins and elevated ranks?” They said: Yes, O Messenger of Allah. He said: “The perfection of wudu (ablution) in adverse conditions, waiting after one prayer for the next prayer, for that is the firm hold” [narrated by Muslim]
‹‹ألا أدلكم على ما يمحو الله به الخطايا ويرفع به الدرجات ؟ " قالوا : بلى . يا رسول الله ! قال " إسباغ الوضوء على المكاره . وكثرة الخطا إلى المساجد . وانتظار الصلاة بعد الصلاة . فذلكم الرباط " . وليس في حديث شعبة ذكر الرباط . وفي حديث مالك ثنتين " فذلكم الرباط . فذلكم الرباط››
صحيح مسلم
And if Allah forgives your sin, your brothers will rejoice for you, since they love for you that which they love for themselves.
The benefits of prayer are indeed are too numerous to be than counter or written down by the pen, since it is a divine order, established to Allah’s servants as a worship to Him:
“[O Muhammad], tell My servants who have believed to establish prayer ” [Ibrahim 14:31]
{قُل لِّعِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا يُقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ...}
إبراهيم:31
Transliteration: Qul liAAibadiya allatheena amanoo yuqeemoo alssalata
He gathered all goodness in it with the shortest sentence yet the most eloquent expression: “Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing,” [Al-‘Ankabut 29:45].
{...إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ تَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَر...}
العنكبوت:45
Transliteration: inna alssalata tanha AAani alfahshai waalmunkari
So one can enumerate all the virtues he may within this frame, and if we are unable to delimitate all of them, then the least we can do is mention some of them.
If you eliminate the evil of indecency from yourself, and uprooted it from your behaviour, then your religion will be pure, your soul cleansed, your heart straightened up, your parts and limbs sound, and your life reconciled, and if you removed filthy deeds and cut their vital cords, then you would have eradicated the deadly germ in your society, and thus you’d conquer safety for your religion, yourself and your family.
Prayer is a helping friend during hardships, and a solution for complex problems
“Andseek help through patience and prayer, and indeed, it is difficult except for the humbly submissive [to Allah] “[Al-Baqarah 2:45].
{واسْتَعينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ والصَّلاةِ وإِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ إِلاَّ عَلَى الْخَاشِعِينَ}
البقرة:45
Transliteration: WaistaAAeenoo bialssabri waalssalati wainnaha lakabeeratun illa AAala alkhashiAAeena
It is a rest for your body and mind from life’s businesses and work’s tiresome matters. It is also a basic factor in fortifying relationships between Muslims and establishing justice amongst people, a way to maintain order, to transcend everything in this life, emptying the heart from desires, purifying the soul from animosity and hatred, monitoring the tongue, guarding our gaze and ears, humbleness and politeness, to become accustomed to give right and fulfil duties under any circumstance.
It undoubtedly has its health benefits, produced by the different positions exclusive to Salat such as standing, inclining and prostrating, in the way through which Allah has commanded us to worship Him.
The first Muslims used to obey Allah’s commands without looking for their reasons or motives, without asking about them or questioning them. However, the weakening religious consciousness made preachers, in order to guide the new generations, rationalize, extract and show some of the virtues and characteristics of the Islamic religion. Putting them before their eyes as a coin in their hand, and still few are those who learn from it, and scarcely do they show thankfulness.
Oh Muslim: My advice to you is to pray and keep your prayers at their due time, for by Allah, nobody will interfere between you and Allah, and no bearer shall bear your burden, nobody will advocate for you before Allah, nor will they prevent your calamities once they befall you, nor will your money and offspring serve you, nor will your youth or status be forever, and you will regret your carelessness the day regret will be useless, and death will snatch you suddenly, while you are unconscious of it, therefore, prepare your provision, consider your state, and take those dead before you as your best example.
Be certain that the first thing you will be asked about on the day of judgment is prayer, if it is correct then you will be asked for whatever is next such as Zakat, fasting and pilgrimage, but if it is refused you will not be further questioned about any other good deeds, even if you have paid your Zakat, fasted and performed pilgrimage.
And know that whoever forsakes Salat on purpose, no longer belongs into the covenant of Allah and his messenger (May peace and blessings be upon him).
And beware from being neither amongst those false Muslims who pray for one times and forsake it for times, nor amongst the hypocrites who whenever they get up for it, they do so in laziness, bragging about it, not remembering Allah but a little.
Also beware of having Shaytan pronounce through your tongue what he pronounces through the tongues of many fake Muslims who say: “Salat does not make a difference, what does make it is the heart pureness and not cheating on people.” Claiming that even if they are not praying, they still do not hurt anybody. By Allah they are lying, they are wronging Allah and his Messenger: “Indeed, those who abuse Allah and His Messenger - Allah has cursed them in this world and the Hereafter and prepared for them a humiliating punishment. (57) And those who harm believing men and believing women for [something] other than what they have earned have certainly born upon themselves a slander and manifest sin” [Al-Ahzab 33:57-58]
{إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ اللَّـهَ وَرَسُولَهُ لَعَنَهُمُ اللَّـهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمْ عَذَابًا مُّهِينًا ﴿٥٧﴾ وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ بِغَيْرِ مَا اكْتَسَبُوا فَقَدِ احْتَمَلُوا بُهْتَانًا وَإِثْمًا مُّبِينًا}
الاحزاب:57-58
Transliteration: Inna allatheena yuthoona Allaha warasoolahu laAAanahumu Allahu fee alddunya waalakhirati waaAAadda lahum AAathaban muheenan (57) Waallatheena yuthoona almumineena waalmuminati bighayri ma iktasaboo faqadi ihtamaloo buhtanan waithman mubeenan
What can be a greater wrong to Allah than disobeying Him? What can be a greater harm to the Messenger than violating his way, and what offense greater to the believers than mocking their religion and following a path different to theirs?
If you see some people pray and commit sins, then know that they are not infallible, and their sins are not a product of their prayer, and you are not to hold them accountable, nor to be held accountable for them. And be sure that one day they will leave their bad behavior, and be better than them, an example and an adviser for them, be amongst those whose prayer prevents them from sin, and do not be amongst those whose prayers do not draw them except further from Allah.
Pray if you are reasonable, for by Allah no reasonable person has forsaken it. Beware of being those who do not use their minds and senses in what benefits them, rather they follow their desires and their evil ones, for Allah (may He be exalted and glorified) labeled and censured them when he said:
“They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. Those are like livestock; rather, they are more astray. It is they who are the heedless.” [Al-A’raf 7:179]
{...لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ لَّا يَفْقَهُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ أَعْيُنٌ لَّا يُبْصِرُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ آذَانٌ لَّا يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا ۚ أُولَـٰئِكَ كَالْأَنْعَامِ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ ۚ أُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْغَافِلُونَ}
الاعراف:179
Transliteration: lahum quloobun la yafqahoona biha walahum aAAyunun la yubsiroona biha walahum athanun la yasmaAAoona biha olaika kaalanAAami bal hum adallu olaika humu alghafiloona
Pray if you are among those who love Allah, for the one who loves enjoys conversing with his loved one, let your prayer be part of your conversation.
Pray if you fear Almighty Allah, for He has menaced those who do not pray with hellfire, and you, poor one, cannot take the heat of the sun, let alone the heat of hellfire. And the earthly fire is a seventieth of the hellfire’s fire, which is black and full of darkness, a man will fall into it seventy years until hitting its bottom.
Does it please you, my friend, to be said of you on the Day of Judgment that you are amongst the criminals because you were not praying? Does it please you that Allah in revenge will say to the strongest Angels:
“[Allah will say], "Seize him and shackle him. (30) Then into Hellfire drive him. (31) Then into a chain whose length is seventy cubits insert him." [Al-Haqqah 69:30-32].
{خُذُوهُ فَغُلُّوهُ ﴿٣٠﴾ ثُمَّ الْجَحِيمَ صَلُّوهُ ﴿٣١﴾ ثُمَّ فِي سِلْسِلَةٍ ذَرْعُهَا سَبْعُونَ ذِرَاعًا فَاسْلُكُوهُ}
الحاقة:30-32
Transliteration: Khuthoohu faghulloohu (30) Thumma aljaheema salloohu (31) Thumma fee silsilatin tharAAuha sabAAoona thiraAAan faoslukoohu
Do you agree with me that leaving prayer is disobedience? Then why do you leave it? And do you possess any document from Allah (may he be exalted and glorified) saying that he will forgive you? Didn’t you hear his guidance to his Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him):
“Say, "Indeed I fear, if I should disobey my Lord, the punishment of a tremendous Day."”[Al-An’am 6:15]
{قُلْ إِنِّي أَخَافُ إِنْ عَصَيْتُ رَبِّي عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ}
الأنعام:15
Transliteration: Qul innee akhafu in AAasaytu rabbee AAathaba yawmin AAatheemin
So are you nobler to Allah than his Messenger? And in your opinion, if his Messenger is nobler, which is the case, then how can it be that he fears his lord and you don’t?
Righteous one, had a police officer threatened you, you would have taken him into consideration, had a ruler admonished you, you would not reconcile your sleep from his fear, and had your country’s highest authority menaced you, you would be shivering of fear and terror. So what about the threat of the Almighty, where will you go and who will protect you? Will your sorrow and tears save you once you suffer the hellfire? And what benefit are you saving for your hereafter if you are not praying? And what loss will befall you if you pray? And which one is more pleasing for you: to be amongst the rejoicing ones in paradise, or to be amongst the miserable ones in the hellfire.
Pray, because you cannot do without Allah (May He be exalted and glorified), and know Allah at times of ease and He will know you in hardships.
Pray and do not be a Muslim claiming to belong to Islam while it is innocent from you. And beware of being an axe for its destruction and demolition. Be proud of your Islam as the one who said:
My father is Islam, I have no other father
While others boast of Qays and Tameem
Pray and you will be a shield for your pure brothers, increasing their number, backing them, smothering their enemy, and diminishing the numbers of hypocrites.
Pray and you will please the Most Merciful, make Shaytan wrathful and frustrate the plots of plotters.
Pray, for prayer is a light that makes the obscurity of falsehood and impiety vanish, plants truth and guidance into the heart, enlightens your graves darkness, and shines on your forehead on the day of judgement.
Pray, for prayer is the greatest factor capable of stopping you from sins, and the toughest shackle for Shaytan and desires.
Pray, for judgement is strict and the judge is Almighty, and know that when animals will see the hardship and horrors prepared for humankind for the day of judgement it will say: Oh, children of Adam, we thank Allah that he didn’t put us amongst you, neither do we long for paradise nor fear hellfire, and then the wrongdoers will wish they were turn back to dust.
And finally, pray my Muslim brother, because I pray and I wish you the same good I wish for myself, since you are my brother in Islam.
Pray in obedience of Allah who says: “Maintain with care the [obligatory] prayers and [in particular] the middle prayer and stand before Allah, devoutly obedient.”[Al-Baqarah 2:238]
{حَافِظُوا عَلَى الصَّلَوَاتِ وَالصَّلَاةِ الْوُسْطَىٰ وَقُومُوا لِلَّـهِ قَانِتِينَ}
البقرة:238
Transliteration: Hafithoo AAala alssalawati waalssalati alwusta waqoomoo lillahi qaniteena
and out of fear of being gathered amongst the non-believers on the day of judgement, because Allah’s messenger says in a sound hadeeth: “The covenant distinguishing between us and them is Salat”.[Considered Sahih by: Ahmed Shaker].
‹‹العهد الذي بيننا وبينهم الصلاة, فمن تركها فقد كفر››
صححه احمد شاكر
Pray, for by Allah, who is alone worth worshipping, I am a good adviser for you. May Allah make us among those who listen to speech and follow the best of it. And may Allah send peace and blessings upon Muhammad, his family and companions. And all praise is to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
Translated by Wathakker.info website