What is Islam
01- The Holly Kalimah
02- Salaah (The Prayer)
03- Zakaah
04- Soum (Fasting)
05- Hajj
06- Taqwaa (Piety)
07- Honesty in Dealing
08- Social Conduct & Mutual Relations
09- Good Manners & Nobel Qualities
10- Love of Allah, Nabi (SAWW)
11- Preaching & Propagation
12- Constancy
13- Jihad
14- Martyrdom
15- Life after Death
16- Heaven & Hell
17- Zikr
18- Dua
19- Durood Shareef20- Taubah
SALAAH
The
first and most important duty in Islam after one has brought faith in
Allah (Subhaanahu Wata'aalaa) and in Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu
Alaihe Wasallam) and borne witness to Divine Oneness and the
Apostleship of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam) is Salaah
(Prayers). It is a most special act of Divine worship which a Muslim is
called upon to perform five times a day. There are numerous verses of
the Holy Quraan and the Tradition of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihe
Wasallam) enjoining the Salaah on us. It has been described as the
pillar and the foundation of the Islam.
Salaah, if it is
offered with a sincere heart and proper devotion and mental
concentration, is particularly vested with the property of cleansing
the heart reforming one's life and ridding it of sins and impurities.
It generates love for piety and truth and promotes fear of Allah
(Subhaanahu Wata'aalaa) in man. Thus it is that Islam has laid greater
emphasis on it than on all other religious obligations. When anyone
came to the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam) to embrace Islam, the
first promise the sacred Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam) took from
him, after instructing him in Divine Oneness, was that he will offer
the Salaah regularly. In fine, after the Kalimah, Salaah is the bedrock
of Islam.
Traditions:
We
know from the Traditions that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihe
Wasallam) used to equate neglect of the Salaah with infidelity. He
denounced it as the way of the nonbelievers. He would say that those
who did not offer the Salaah had no share in the faith.
A
Tradition of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam) reads, "What
separates a believer from infidelity is simply the Salaah."
This Tradition clearly warns that if a Muslim will give up the Salaah,
he will get associated with infidelity; his conduct will become the
conduct of an infidel. In another Tradition the Prophet (Sallallahu
Alaihe Wasallam) has said, "He has no share in Islam who does not offer
the Salaah."
And here is another Tradition from which we can
imagine what a great act of virtue and felicity is it to offer the
Salaah regularly and how utterly fatal and ruinous is it to neglect it.
Once while urging upon the Muslims to be most particular about the
Salaah, the sacred Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam) is reported to
have observed:
"Whoever will offer the Salaah properly and
regularly, it will be for him on the Last Day a source of light, a
proof of his faith and a means to salvation. (On the other hand)
whoever will not offer it carefully and regularly, it will be for him
neither a source of light, nor a proof of faith, nor a means to
salvation, and the end of such a person will be with Qaaroon, Fir'aun,
Haamaan and Ubai-bin-Khalf."
Brothers! Let us now imagine what
our end is going to be if we failed to cultivate the habit of offering
the Salaah correctly and regularly.
The Ignominy and Disgrace of the Defaulters on the Last Day:
The ignominy and disgrace the defaulters of Salaah will have to suffer at the very outset on the Day of Judgment has been spoken of in these words in the Holy Quraan:
The day that the shin shall be laid bare, and the)' shall be summoned to bow in adoration, but the)' shall not be able, their eyes will be cast down, ignominy will cover them, seeing that they had been summoned aforetime to bow in adoration while they were whole (and had refused). [XI: 42]
The
verse tells that on the Last Day when the hour of judgment will arrive
(when all mystery will vanish and reality will be fully manifested) and
every man and woman born into the world from the first day to the last
will be raised up again and gathered together, Allah (Subhaanahu
Wata'aalaa) will reveal Himself to them in full glory and splendour.
Everyone will then be called upon to bow in adoration before Allah
(Subhaanahu Wata'aalaa). The fortunate and the faithful among them who
had been regular in their Salaah in the world and were, thus,
accustomed to kneeling down before Allah (Subhaanahu Wata'aalaa) will,
at once, bow down in adoration, but those who in spite of being healthy
and strong had not observed the Salaah in their lifetime will find that
their backs had suddenly grown stiff like a board and they will remain
standing with the infidels, unable to bend down and carry out the
prostration. They will be covered with ignominy, their eyes will be
downcast, they will not be able even to look up. Before the
chastisement of hell, they will have to bear this chastisement of
humiliation and disgrace. May Allah (Subhaanahu Wata'aalaa), by His
Grace, save us all from it!
In truth, a habitual defaulter of
the Salaah is a sort of a rebel against Allah (Subhaanahu Wata'aalaa)
and deserves all the humiliation and punishment that may be meted out
to him. According to some Jurisprudents of Islam, a Muslim who rejects
the Salaah is liable to be punished with death like an apostate.
Brothers! We must consider it thoroughly and well that without the
Salaah the claim to Islam is altogether meaningless. Salaah alone is
the Islamic act that joins us with Allah (Subhaanahu Wata'aalaa) and
makes us deserving of His grace.
Blessings of Salaah:
When
a person stands before the Almighty with his arms folded, five times a
day, and celebrates His praises and kneels down before Him and touches
the ground with his forehead and makes earnest supplications to Him, he
becomes worthy of His love and beneficence, his sins are forgiven with
every Salaah he offers, his heart attains enlightenment and his life
becomes pure. The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam) once gave an
excellent example to illustrate this truth. He asked his Companions, "
Tell me, if a stream flows at the door of anyone of you and he takes a
dip in it five times a day. Will there be left any grime on his body?"
The Companions replied, " No, Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam). No
grime will be left on his body". The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihe
Wasallam) said, " It is exactly the same with the five daily prayers.
Allah (Subhaanahu Wata'aalaa) removes all impurities and sins because
of their auspiciousness."
Superiority of Congregation:
It
appears from the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam)'s Traditions that
Salaah should be offered in congregation if one wants to derive full
benefit from it. The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam) was so very
particular about it that once while condemning the conduct of those who
avoided coming to the mosque to offer their prayers in congregation due
to laziness or indifference, he observed with anger that he felt like
burning down their homes.
This one Tradition is enough to show
how repugnant it is to Allah (Subhaanahu Wata'aalaa) and the Prophet
(Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam) if anyone does not offer his prayers in
congregation.
Another Tradition says:
"The reward on offering the Salaah in congregation is twenty seven times as much as on offering it alone."
Apart from the reward in the Hereafter, there are many other advantages
in offering up the Salaah in congregation. For instance, one acquires
the habit of punctuality by attending the mosque regularly to offer his
prayers in congregation. It enables Muslim brethren of the locality to
assemble at one place five times every day and this can be turned to
great benefit. The practice of offering the Salaah regularly in the
mosque congregationally makes a man thoroughly regular in his prayers
for it has been seen that those who offer their prayers individually at
home are often inclined to be neglectful. Yet another notable advantage
in offering the prayers in congregation is that the Salaah of each
participant becomes a part of the Salaah of the whole congregation in
which, along with others, there are also generally present some
venerable and virtuous servants of Allah (Subhaanahu Wata'aalaa) whose
Salaah are of a very high order. Their Salaah finds acceptance with
Allah (Subhaanahu Wata'aalaa) and the expectation from His Benevolent
Grace is that when He will grant acceptance to the prayers of some
members of the congregation. He will, along with them, accept the
prayers of the rest of the congregation, too.
Now, imagine
what rich rewards and blessing do we deprive ourselves of when do not
go to the mosque to offer our prayers in congregation without a valid
excuse.
Meekness and Humility:
The
offering up of the Salaah with meekness and humility means that,
believing Allah (Subhaanahu Wata'aalaa) to be Omnipresent and
All-seeing, the Salaah should be offered in such a way that the heart
is filled with His love and stricken with awe by the thought of His
Greatness and Magnificence as if a criminal was standing front of a
great judge or a mighty ruler. As a devotee stands up for Salaah, he
should visualise that he is standing in the presence of the Almighty
that he is standing out of reverence to Him. When he bows his head in
Ruku or kneels down to perform the Sajdah he should imagine that it was
all being carried out in front of Allah (Subhaanahu Wata'aalaa) and in
expression of his own utter worthlessness and humility. Better still,
whatever is recited during Salaah, whether while standing or in Ruku or
Sajdah, should be done with a proper understanding of its meaning. The
real joy and beauty of Salaah is experienced only when it is offered
with an intelligent appreciation of its contents. It is not, at all,
difficult to learn the meaning of the Surahs that are generally recited
in Salaah.
The devotion of the heart and the sentiments of awe
and humility, indeed, are the very soul of the Salaah. The ultimate
success and deliverance of believers who offer up such a kind of Salaah
is assured. Declares the Holy Quraan:
The believers must (eventually) succeed, those who humble themselves in their prayers.[XXIII-II]
Says
the Prophet (Sallallahu AlaiheWasallam), "Allah (Subhaanahu Wata'aalaa)
has made the five daily prayers obligatory. Whoever did the Wudhu
properly and offered them up at the right time and carried out the Ruku
and Sajdah as they ought to be, humbly and reverentially, for him the
promise of Allah (Subhaanahu Wata'aalaa) is that he will be pardoned;
and whoever did not do so (i.e., did not offer his prayers in this
manner), for him there is no such promise. Allah (Subhaanahu
Wata'aalaa) will pardon or punish him as He will please."