Importance of Salah

[sis muslimah]

THE IMPORTANCE OF SALAAH

Salaah is the second and one of the most important pillar of Islaam decreed by Allah after the testimony of the Shahada. Allah has decreed that we perform different types of Ibadah and Salaah is one of the actions that must be performed regularly. Salaah is the means to keep us on the straight path and prevents us from doing actions that will bring the displeasure of God.

Salaah is one of those actions that will increase our Imaan and bring the love and admiration of God upon us:

"Verily, the prayer keeps one from the great sins and evil deeds" (al-Ankaboot: 45)

Unfortunately we are living in a society where spirituality is looked down upon and materialism is pushed down our throat. This has led our hearts to be weakened and move away from performing Ibadah. As a result many people have or are gradually abandoning Islaam as they don’t see any tangible benefits to gain from it.

The Salaah is the opportunity for the worshipper to humble himself in front of his Creator and plead for forgiveness in areas where he has disobeyed. The Salaah is one of those actions that are beloved to our Messenger. The Salaah is the opportunity for the believer to communicate with His Lord and request from His Lord that which he desires.

The believers will be held to account about the Salaah on The Day of Judgement according to the hadeeth:

"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." Recorded in Tabaranee

Performing the Salaah with sincerity, taqwa and hope will only bring one closer to Allah and will be a stepping stone to perfect oneself with regards to their duties. It is imperative that we do not become like those that do not take heed and destroy our own souls:

"Allah has obligated five prayers. Whoever excellently performs their ablutions, prays them in their proper times, completes their bows, prostrations and khushu` [Khushu` in the prayer is where the person’s heart is attuned to the prayer. This feeling in the heart is then reflected on the body. The person remains still and calm. His gaze is also lowered. Even his voice is affected by this feeling in the heart] has a promise from Allah that He will forgive him. And whoever does not do that has no promise from Allah. He may either forgive him or punish him." [Recorded by Malik, Ahmad, Abu Dawud, al-Nasa’I and others.

The prayer should be regarded as a blessing for us as it’s a means of purification from all the sins that we accumulate. Allah has given us an opportunity to ask Him directly so that He may pardon us for our errors and increase in our good deeds. We should observe our prayers towards Him as though He is watching us at all times and this is a means of increasing our humility. If this action is done to impress others, then know that this is a grave error committed by the worshipper. The prophet said:

"If a person had a stream outside his door and he bathed in it five times a day, do you think he would have any filth left on him?" The people said, "No filth would remain on him whatsoever." The Prophet (peace be upon him) then said, "That is like the five daily prayers: Allah wipes away the sins by them." bukharhee & muslim

The Messenger Muhammad also said:

"The five daily prayers and the Friday Prayer until the Friday prayer are expiation for what is between them." (Muslim)