Remembering to Pray

[Jesse]

Hi,
i respect how muslims are very diligent in their prayer practices. My question is how do you remember to pray at certain times each day, and what if you are busy and in a situation where it is impossible to pray?
thank you

[greenhill]

Not all muslims....are diligent, mind you. +o(

There is such thing as replacement if you miss (a prayer). Best if we don't.

The thing is, we pray at the given times because we want to fulfill our obligations to Allah. How could we expect His mercy if we ignore His command?


:peace:

[gby247]

There are apps of the Athan you can download. For Muslims who live in Islamic countries the Athan can be heard loudly and everyone stops and prepares for prayer. In the western country or non Islamic countries, you have your app. We carry our prayer rugs in our car, so no matter where you are at you can pray, have a bottle of water for wudo. At work I excuse myself as if going to the facilities find an empty room and use app with compass and pray.

[BeTheChange]

Hi Jesse,

Welcome to the forum.

Our 5 daily prayers are spread throughout the day and night.

One EXCELLENT way of reminding us to pray is our call to prayer - In Muslim countries you will find this announced throughout the land to remind people to pray. If you are not living in a Muslim land you can buy a speaker at home which does exactly the same thing. We have one at home. It's very good.

Basically the azaan (call to prayer) is in Arabic. However, the English translation can be found below;

4x	الله أكبر	Allāhu akbar	Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest.
2x	أشهد أن لا اله إلا الله	Ash-hadu an-lā ilāha illā allāh	I bear witness that there is no God but Allah.
2x	أشهد أن محمدا رسول الله	Ash-hadu anna Muhammadan-Rasul ullāh	I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
2x	حي على الصلاة	Hayya'alas-ṣalāh	Hasten to worship (salah).
2x	حي على الفلاح	Hayya ʿalal-falāḥ	Hasten to success.
2x 1	الصلاة خيرٌ من النوم	As-salatu Khayrun Minan-nawm	Prayer is better than sleep. 2 (Only In Fajar Prayer's Azaan)
2x	الله أكبر	Allāhu akbar	Allah is greatest.
1x	لا إله إلا الله	Lā ilāha illā-Allāh	There is no God but Allah. 3

When i wake up, everyone has a list of things they need to do in their mind and my 5 prayers is always on my mind on a daily basis. Because it is spread out you can definitely make time for prayer and it doesn't take long. We have to pray to remind ourselves of who we are and our purpose of life and try and control our destiny in the next life as much as we can.

Another good way of reminding yourself is setting alarms, being in the company of good friends is a HUGE bonus and highly recommended by pious people, your conscious or your family.

Islam is very easy to implement and no situation is impossible. Islam is never a burden on people, Islam was introduced to mankind to make life as easy as possible and for us humans to live with good ethics and morals.

Only people mind's and tongues make things impossible. If you are a traveler, we are advised to shorten our prayers, if there is no water around you, you can purify yourself before prayers using a method called Tayammum in Arabic where you can use a stone or leaf to clean yourself, instead of water.

I was going to write more but my sister is distracting me and is also wanting me to us this icon >> :p :raging: so there we go guys

Hope that helps!

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[Signor]

Hello Jesse

i respect how muslims are very diligent in their prayer practices.

Despite of my fair share of disagreements,I holds the same respect for your practices.Its touching how Buddha left not only throne but also his young wife and child after looking at the sufferings of our world.

I also found Buddhist of very spiritual nature.Out of curiosity,Have you ever looked into how Islam views spirituality and our dealing with material world?:)

My question is how do you remember to pray at certain times each day,

The times of the prayers were mentioned by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in the hadeeth: “The time for Zuhr is from when the sun has passed its zenith and a man’s shadow is equal in length to his height, until the time for ‘Asr comes. The time for ‘Asr lasts until the sun turns yellow. The time for Maghrib lasts until the twilight has faded. The time for ‘Isha’ lasts until midnight. The time for Subh (Fajr) prayer lasts from the beginning of the pre-dawn so long as the sun has not yet started to rise. When the sun starts to rise then stop praying, for it rises between the two horns of the Shaytaan.” (Narrated by Muslim, 612).

Detailed answer can be found in this link.

All those Muslims who pray know the time frame in their respective standard time settings,so they don't necessarily have to look for movements of sun.

what if you are busy and in a situation where it is impossible to pray?

If an obligatory prayer could not be offered at a prescribed time due to some reason,it is said to have been rendered Qada' or making up prayers, and has to be offered later(with the exception of forbidden time).

[Insaanah]

Welcome to the forum Jesse.

My question is how do you remember to pray at certain times each day

I don't usually answer a question with a question, but how do you remember to eat at certain times of the day? How do you know to have breakfast at breakfast time, lunch at lunchtime, and dinner at dinnertime? In the same way that human existence depends on eating, i.e. we have to eat, similarly prayer is fundamental to the existence of a Muslim, and Muslims have to pray. Our prayer nourishes us spiritually, but also enables us to maintain a constant connection to God, and to establish remembrance and praise of our Lord, Sustainer and Creator, Exalted and Glorified be He. It makes us constantly conscious of Him, and this helps to keep us away from evil deeds.

The five compulsory daily prayers are before sunrise, in the early afternoon, late afternoon, just after sunset, and at night time, and there are other optional extras we can pray apart from those too. As Muslims, the prayer time periods are intrinsic to our lives, though, being humans, there are times when we may just forget. There are prayer timetables so we know when the time of each prayer has started.

Hope that helps a bit, as well as the other responses given.

[Jesse]

Thank for the helpful replies everyone!
The way in which muslims put their faith at the forefront of their daily lives is very commendable and something that any people from other religions can draw inspiration from.
The prayers for each different time if the day are different? For a different purpose i mean.
can you add your own personal prayers such like christians do?
thanks again

[Jesse]

When i wake up, everyone has a list of things they need to do in their mind and my 5 prayers is always on my mind

this is a great way of thinking!

[Lisa921]

May Allah make us steadfast in prayer always. Ameen
I remember prayers mostly by an athan. I wish I was in one of those places where athan was heard everywhere live. Insha Allah one day

[Cautatorul]

I know that you pray five times a day, but what do you say on those prayer times? You have specific words or phrases or you just say what you feel, what do you say while praying? How many minutes has to last one of those five prayers?

[Lisa921]

U say specific phrases that are found here: http://www.howmuslimspray.com/


You can also make dua ( silently ask Allah for forgiveness or something else).

Prayer makes me feel calm but I'll admit I don't always make it on time

[Ummshareef]

This is an old thread but the questions raised are important and enduring.

can you add your own personal prayers such like christians do?

This is a good question and the answer is an enduring YES. They are known as dua and can be prayed in your own words in your native language.

Our dua are optional and there is no blame attached if you decide not to make dua at any time. That said, most Muslims love to make dua at the end of their obligatory prayers and at other special times of the day and night, perhaps when they feel they need a little help or have a special request. An important dua we can make is to ask Allah for a place in Jannah (Heaven).

Another important types of dua is the prayer for forgiveness, which entails acknowledging our sins, resolving before our Creator that we will not repeat them and requesting forgiveness. As Muslims, we are aware that while Allah is inclined towards forgiveness, we cannot take his forgiveness for granted and we are risking His punishment every time we sin. Full sincerity is required when we talk with Allah about our sins and so it is very common for us to cry during our prayer.

There are also a number of dua that were used by our Prophet Muhammed sallallahu alaihi wasallam for particular activities such as before eating, going to the bathroom, entering the mosque, going to sleep, etc.