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Prayer (Salat) (Five
Times a Day) - 2nd Pillar of Islam |
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The five daily mandatory prayers
are the 'Pillars of Islam'. Referred to as Salat (Namaz),
the Muslim form of prayer comprises of a series of
postures in which Qur'anic verses are recited and Allah
Almighty is praised and supplicated.
The primary purpose of prayer is to instill
Allah-consciousness in an individual. It is our duty as
a creation of Allah to worship Him at any time or under
any circumstances. It will make a Muslim more
disciplined and help him avoid committing deeds that are
forbidden by Allah.
Prior to performing prayer, the Muslim purifies
himself/herself. He/she must be clean and pure from any
najaasat or impurities before performing the prayer. The
purification process, via ablution or a complete bath,
is with water. In the absence of water, one can perform
the tayammum with sand or other alternative substances.
The five obligatory prayers that Muslims perform every
day are Fajr, Zuhr ,Asr, Maghrib and Ishaa. In countries
where there are large Muslim communities, the call to
prayer (azaan) is announced loudly from the mosques to
indicate the time of each prayer. That is followed by
the iqaamah which denotes that the prayer is about to
begin. The command concerning prayer is contained in the
following Qur'anic verse:
"Verily! I am Allah! None has the
right to be worshipped but I, so worship Me, and perform
As-Salat for My Remembrance." [Taaha: 14]
While in prayer, a state of full concentration or
khushoo should be attained to ensure that the person's
heart is attuned to make his/her act a true remembrance
of Allah Almighty and is turned to Him for forgiveness.
When khushoo is attained, the worshipper feels a kind of
calmness and strength to obey Allah and to avoid what He
forbids.
There are several blessings that Muslims should notice
while performing their prayers. Prayer makes us fully
aware that we are servants of Almighty Allah and thus we
should adore and obey Him by performing what has been
prescribed to us. That is why the prayer has been
described as 'remembrance' in the Qur'an - its true
meaning and purpose lie in remembering Allah.
Regular establishment of prayer makes one constantly
aware that we live in His presence and His love, and at
the same time fear His power so as to avoid whatever
that may displease Him. This is emphasized in the
following Qur'anic verse:
"Recite what is sent of the Book
by inspiration to thee; and establish regular Prayer,
for Prayer restrains from shameful and unjust deeds; and
remembrance of Allah is the greatest (thing in life)
without doubt. And Allah knows the (deeds) that ye do."
[Al-Ankaboot: 45]
On the importance of prayer, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
said:
"The first matter that the slave
will be brought to account for on the Day of Judgment is
the prayer. If it is sound, then the rest of his deeds
will be sound. And if it is bad, then the rest of his
deeds will be bad." [Bukhari]
Apart from the daily five, there are also several
recommended prayers that Muslims can perform in order to
please Allah Almighty and to gain rewards in the
Hereafter.
The other Arabic word that can be translated as prayer
in English is du'aa, which means supplication or asking
assistance from Allah to fulfill a specific need of this
life or in the Hereafter. In Islam, worship means to
revere, serve and obey Allah in one's life wholly and
completely. The word du'aa indicates a direct
relationship between the worshipper and his Creator.
Affirming this, the Prophet (pbuh) said:
"Du'aa is worship." [Abu Dawood]
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(From VisionIslam) |
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