وَ أَقِمِ الصَّلاَةَ إِنَّ الصَّلاةَ تَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَ الْمُنْكَرِ وَ لَذِكْرُ اللٌّهِ أَكْبَرُ
“And keep up prayer; surely prayer keeps (one) away from indecency and evil. And the remembrance of Allah is the greatest.”
Noble Qur’an, Suratul `Ankabut, Verse 45
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللٌّهِ )ص):عَلَمُ الإِسْلاَمِ الصَّلاةُ فَمَنْ فَرَّغَ لَـهَا قَلْبَهُ وَ حَافَظَ عَلَيْهَا بِحَدِّهَا وَ وَقْـتِهَا وَ سُـنَـنِهَا فَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ.
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his progeny) said: “The prayer is the standard of Islam. Whosoever loves prayers, and observes their limits, timings and methods, is a true believer.”
قَالَ النَّبِيُّ )ص(: مَنْ تَرَكَ صَلاَتَهُ حَتَّى تَفُوتَهُ مِنْ غَيْرِ عُذْرٍ فَقَدْ حَبِطَ عَمَلُهُ، ثُمَّ قَالَ: بَيْنَ العَبْدِ وَ بَيْنَ الكُفْرِ تَرْكُ الصَّلاَةِ.
The Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) has said: “The good deeds of one who, without any appropriate excuse does not offer his prayer until its time passes away, are annulled.” He then said: “The divide between a believer and disbelief is the abandonment of prayers.”
قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللٌّهِ (ع): صَلاَةٌ فَرِيضَةٌ خَيْرٌ مِنْ عِشْرِينَ حَجَّةً وَ حَجَّةٌ خَيْرٌ مِنْ بَيْتٍ مَمْلُوءٍ ذَهَباً يُتَصَدَّقُ مِنْهُ حَتَّى يَفْـنَى.
Imam As-Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: “One obligatory prayer is better than performing Hajj twenty times, and the performance of one Hajj is better than giving away a house full of gold.”
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللٌّهِ )ص): لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَجْهٌ وَ وَجْهُ دِينِكُمُ الصَّلاَةُ فَلاَ يَشِينَنَّ أَحَدُكُمْ وَجْهَ دِيْـنِهِ.
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his progeny) said: “For every thing there is a face and the face of your religion is prayers. So see to it that none from amongst you damages and disfigures the face of his religion.”
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللٌّهِ )ص):مَثَلُ الصَّلَوَاتِ الْخَمْسِ كَمَثَلِ نَهْرٍ جَارٍ عَذْبٍ عَلى بَابِ أَحَدِكُمْ يَغْتَسِلُ فِيهِ كُلُّ يَومٍ خَمْسَ مَرَّاتٍ فَمَا يَبقَى ذٌلِكَ مِنَ الدَّنَسِ.
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his progeny) said: “The example of the five (daily) prayers is like that of a clear-water river flowing in front of your houses in which a person washes himself five times a day – cleansing him from all dirt.”
عَنْ رَسُولِ اللٌّهِ )ص): قَالَ اللٌّهُ تَعَالـى:إِفتَرَضْتُ عَلى أُمَّتِكَ خَمْسَ صَلَوَاتٍ وَ عَهِدتُ عِنْدِي عَهْداً أَنَّهُ مَنْ حَافَظَ عَلَيْهِنَّ لِوَقْـتِهَا أَدْخَلْـتُهُ الْجَـنَّةَ وَ مَنْ لَمْ يُحَافِظْ عَلَيْهِنَّ فَلاَ عَهْدَ لَهُ عِنْدِي.
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his progeny) states that Allah, The Exalted has said: “I have made the five prayers obligatory upon your Ummah and have made a covenant with Myself that one who maintains his prayers with respect to their timings, I shall place him in Paradise. As for the one, who does not maintain the timings, I have no covenant (with him).”
قَالَ الْبَاقِرُ )ع):ذِكْرُ اللٌّهِ لِأَهْلِ الصَّلاَةِ أَكْبَرُ مِنْ ذِكْرِهِمْ إِيَّاهُ أَلاَ تَرَى أَنَّهُ يَقُولُ }فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ{
Imam Al-Baqir (peace be upon him) has said: “Allah’s remembrance of ‘people who pray’ is greater and superior to their remembrance of Him. Do you not observe that He has said (in the Noble Qur’an): {Remember Me and I shall remember you.}”[8]
قَالَ الصَّادِقُ)ع): إِنَّ مَلَكَ الْمَوْتِ يَدْفَعُ الشَّيْطَانَ عَنِ الْمُحَافِظِ عَلى الصَّلاةِ وَ يُلَقِّـنُهُ شَهَادَةَ أَنْ لاَ إِلٌهَ إِلاَّ اللٌّهُ وَ أَنَّ مُحَمَّداً رَسُولُ اللٌّهِ فِي تِلْكَ الْحَالَةِ الْعَظِيمَةِ.
Imam As-Sadiq (peace be upon him) has said: “Surely the Angel of Death repels Satan from the proximity of one who had adhered to and guarded his prayers, and makes him speak out the testimony of ‘There is no God except Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah’ during that terrifying and frightening state (of death).”
عَنِ الْبَاقِرِ )ع) قَالَ: إِنَّا نَأْمُرُ صِبْيَانَنَا بِالصَّلاَةِ إِذَا كَانُوا بَنِي خَمْسِ سِنِينَ فَمُرُوا صِبْيَانَكُمْ بِالصَّلاَةِ إِذَا كَانُوا بَنِي سَبْعِ سِنِينَ.
Imam Muhammad Al-Baqir (peace be upon him) advised: “We command our children to offer prayers when they are five years old, so you too order your children to offer prayers (but only) when they are seven years of age.”
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللٌّهِ )ص):أَحَبُّ الأَعْمَالِ إِلـى اللٌّهِ الصَّلاَةُ لِوَقْتِهَا ثُمَّ بِرُّ الْوَالِدَينِ ثُمَّ الْجِهَادُ فِي سَـبِيلِ اللٌّهِ.
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his progeny) has said: “The most beloved of deeds in the eyes of Allah are: offering prayers at the stipulated times; (then) goodness and kindness towards parents; (and then) Jihad in the way of Allah.”
As a person who accepted Islam as my guide and faith, I observe salat as my personal moment and conversation with Allah SWT. Although we may speak to our Creator any time, salat has been enjoined on muslims, at specified times, teaching us to take a break for giving time back to Allah SWT, to refresh, to introspect life, to reflect, to realise and to show obeisance and obeyance to a creed. The salat is the difference between a believer and disbeliever of Islam as the last revealed Guidance for mankind. In salat we remember that we are part of a bigger scope of existence,when we humble ourselves in Allah Ta’ala’s Presence.
How salat is of such importance to me:
All my life, I wished to worship God and in salat, I have found such perfect communication and worshipping Him has been my saving path, my breath of life, my shine, my light; to have salat in my life is to show my loyalty to Allah Ta’ala.
For to no others will I remain standing still or in prostration except to the One in whose Hands is my life.
I expel hatred, anger and all bad negativity through remembrance of Him, who is Love and keep on encouraging that salat is the pillar of faith that enables other devotions to be realised.
As age creeps up, strength diminishes,physical energy lessens, salat is the devotion that keeps all the faculties intact and keeps life in perspective.
Hypocrisy in devotions are seen through sincerity of words and actions; salat helps us attain sincerity and loyalty. Prescribed salat helps us learn commitment and consistence. Salat helps us learn focus. It enables us the opportunity to break from the world with it’s stresses and difficulties; it offers us opportunity to ask only from Allah Ta’ala for whatever we want and need. It is enjoined on muslims to offer salat in the Holy Qur’an and hadiths. So, if one who says he is a believer, chooses not to offer salat,which is a command, then that person is ordained a hypocrite or disbeliever. They are not among the ummah of Rasulallah 
saaw, nor will they receive a drink from the Fountain of Kautsar. May Allah Ta’ala protect us from abandoning our salat.
I found salat in my life a saving gift, a wisdom, a need, like a thirst and when I learnt to submit myself to Allah Ta’ala by showing my need for salat, my thirst was quenched. I felt revived and refreshed. According to my interpretation of life, life must be surrounded by the basic need to offer thanks and worship. Life should be lived around prescribed salat. Salat is the main priority of life and in between those prescribed times of worshipping and remembrance, we fit in other daily activities of life. I wish to surround myself with those like myself, who make salat the ultimate devotion and focus of life. It is the meditation, the ismudzat of the highest form. Applying to that, life also encompasses other devotions like zikirullah, reading Al Qur’an and supplementary salat on a daily basis. Charity when able. Fasting as prescribed, and for those like me who find fasting difficult, may Allah Ta’ala increase us in strength and also accept our compensations and Hajj to be possible. These are the pillars of Islam.
Ultimately, there is no recovery on knowingly missed salat and no compensation. It is such a great loss for a believer to miss a precious moment which benefits are countless, which price has no ceiling, which when abandoned or miss, for me, is similar to the loss of a body limb.
I keep praying for those I love, to be given this incredible gift of salat. To be bestowed this gift is to be given recognition by Allah Ta’ala as His humble servant. Inshaallah, may we all be blessed and forgiven.
The Rasul of our times, Muhammad ibn Abdillah, saaw, ascended to the Heavens, and received this command of salat directly from Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala. Allah Ta’ala has given this gift only to this ummah, this generation of humankind. Our venerable prophet of Islam, saaw, went through many hardships in conveying this last message to humankind. Rasulallah saaw, came as a mercy to the world. Rasulallah saaw, came to show us better ways.
May Allah Subhana wa Ta’ala raise our beloved’s saaw position and distinction to the highest level of all creation, The Nur of Muhammad saaw, shines with our salat, we offer salutations to him saaw , to his family, his descendants and to the companions.
All children should be taught from the age of seven about salat. This is their right to learn, and the duty of all believing parents to educate their children by showing the proper example. There is firmness and force to inculcate good values in our children, and piety towards the commands of Allah Ta’ala is a serious part of life.
May Allah Ta’ala guide us and help our children towards His Path of Guidance.
May we be in the company of those He loves on the day of Reckoning.
This will happen, read in the Holy Books, and Al Qur’an encompasses, teaches us in detail about life and death, that this life will end. That is a surety. It is easy to make all sorts of excuses why we forget to make salat, choice of faith comes with knowledge. This is hidayah and hikmah. May we all be rightly guided. Amiin.
Peace, Love & Light to all
( saaw) salallahu alaihi wa salam May Allah’s peace be upon him
~ Lorraine Nur Shufiya
