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SALAT (PRAYER). PILLAR OF RELIGIOUS LIFE. OUTLINE. Introduction. Importance of Prayer. The times of the Five Daily Prescribed Prayers. Kinds of Prayer. Adhan ( The Call to prayer ). Prophetic Sayings on SALAT. Verses from the Holy QUR’AN. Pillars of Islam.
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SALAT (PRAYER) PILLAR OF RELIGIOUS LIFE
OUTLINE • Introduction • Importance of Prayer • The times of the Five Daily Prescribed Prayers • Kinds of Prayer • Adhan ( The Call to prayer ) • Prophetic Sayings on SALAT • Verses from the Holy QUR’AN
Pillars of Islam • Shahadah (Declaration of Faith) (explained previously) • Salat (Prayer) • Zakat (Charity) • Sawm (Fast) • Hajj (Pilgrimage)
SALAT (Prayer), Pillar of Religious Life Since there is just the Creator and the Creation, there can only be one type of relationship between them ; this relationship is worship and prayer… The prescribed prayer prevents one from committing indecencies and other kinds of evil deeds (29:45). "The seven heavens and the earth and all that is therein, glorify Him and there is not a thing but glorifies His Praise. But you understand not their glorification. Truly, He is All-Clement, Most Forgiving." (17/44 )
Salat is the name for the daily prescribed prayers performed five times a day and the Jumu’a (Friday) prayer. It is the most important type of worship, for it displays a person’s sincerity and loyalty to God. In the words of God’s Messenger, it is the pillar or main support of religious life.
Importance of Prayer In prayer, there is comfort for the soul and mind. Nor is it difficult for the body With the right intention, all the deeds and conduct of one who prays become like worship. In this way, his little lifetime is spent for the sake of the eternal life in the other world An hour is enough for the prayers in a day. 23 hours for this world and 1 for here after and it is very profitable trade… By saying “You alone do we worship” and repeating “God is the Greatest” one becomes universal
To understand better, let us listen this parable. A mighty ruler gave each of two of his servants twenty-four (24) gold pieces and sent them to settle on one of his rich, royal farms two months’ distance away
“Use this money for your tickets”, he commanded them, “and buy whatever is necessary for your house there with it.
There is a station one day’s distance from the farm. And there is both road-transport, and a railway, and boats, and aero-planes. They can be benefited from according to your capital.”
The two servants set off after receiving these instructions. One of them was fortunate so that he spent a small amount of money on the way to the station. And included in that expense was some business so profitable and pleasing to his master that his capital increased a thousandfold.
As for the other servant, since he was luckless and a lazy, he spent 23 pieces of gold on the way to the station, wasting it on gambling and amusements. A single gold piece remained.
A single gold piece remained. “Spend this last gold piece on a ticket so that you will not have to walk the long journey and starve. Moreover, our master is generous; perhaps he will take pity on you and forgive you your faults, and put you on a plane as well.
Then we shall reach where we are going to live in one day. Otherwise you will be compelled to walk alone and hungry across a desert which takes two months to cross.” The most unintelligent person can understand how foolish, harmful, and senseless he would be if out of obstinacy he did not spend that single remaining gold piece on a ticket, which is like the key to a treasury, and instead spent it on vice for passing pleasure. Is that not so?
And so, O you who do not perform the prescribed prayers! And O my own soul, which does not like to pray! Think carefully.
The ruler in the comparison is our Sustainer, our Creator. And of the two travelling servants, one represents the devout who perform their prayers with passion, and the other, the heedless who neglect their prayers. The 24 pieces of gold are life in every 24 hours day. And the royal domain is Paradise. As for the station, that is the grave.
While the journey is man’s passage to the grave, and on to the Resurrection, and the Hereafter.
Men cover that long journey to different degrees according to their actions and the strength of their fear of God. Some of the truly devout have crossed a thousand-year distance in a day like lightening. And some have traversed a fifty-thousand-year distance in a day with the speed of imagination.
The ticket in the comparison represents the prescribed prayers. A single hour a day is sufficient for the five prayers together with taking the ablutions. So what a loss a person makes who spends 23 hours on this fleeting worldly life, and fails to spend 1 hour on the long life of the Hereafter; how he wrongs his own self; how unreasonably he behaves. For would not anyone who considers himself to be reasonable understand how contrary to reason and wisdom such a person’s conduct is, and how far from reason he has become, if, thinking it reasonable, he gives half of his property to a lottery in which one 1000 are participating and the possibility of winning is 1 in 1000, and does not give one twenty-fourth of it to an eternal treasury where the possibility of winning has been verified at 99%?
In our world Approximately 350 thousand people die everyday.
Approximately 15 thousand people die in every 1 hour.
Approximately 250 people people die in every 1 minute.
Most people do not expect dying and most of us are not ready.
Moreover, the spirit, the heart, and the mind find great ease in prayer. And it is not tiring (hard) for the body.
Furthermore, with the right intention, all the other acts of someone who performs the prescribed prayers become like worship. He can make over the whole capital of his life to the Hereafter in this way. He can make his transient life permanent in one respect…
Who is it applicable to? No Priests There is no hierarchical authority in Islam, and no priests, so the prayers are led by a learned person (Imam) who knows the Qur'an, chosen by the congregation. These five prayers contain verses from the Qur'an, and are said in Arabic, the language of the Revelation, but personal supplication can be offered in one's own language. Prayer is obligatory upon every sane Muslim who has reached the age of puberty. Only women having their menstrual period or post-children bleeding do not perform it.
Where is it performed? It is permissible to pray at home, at work, or even outdoors however , it is meritorious to perform it with another or with a group. Friday PrayersThe noon congregational prayer of Friday afternoon is mandated to be a collective and must be said in a Mosque, and is preceded by a sermon (Khutba).
The Meaning of SALAT (Prayer) Each salat stands for praising, glorifying, and feeling grateful to God. We glorify Him by saying subhan Allah (Glory be to God) by word and action in awareness of His Majesty. We exalt and magnify Him by saying Allahu akbar (God is the Greatest) through word and action in awareness of His Perfection. • We offer thanks to Him by saying al-hamdu lillah (All Praise be to God) with our heart, tongue, and body, in awareness of His Grace. • From this we conclude that the heart of prayer consists of glorification, exaltation, praise, and thanksgiving. Thus, these three phrases are present in every part of the prayers, in all the actions and words.
The times of the Five Daily Prescribed Prayers Prayers are performed at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and nightfall, and thus determine the rhythm of the entire day. Establish the prayer at the beginning and the end of the day, and in the watches of night near to the day. Assuredly, good deeds wipe out evil deeds. This is advice and a reminder for the mindful who take heed. (Qur’an 11:114)
Five Times a Day The time of Fajr (the early morning) was appointed for the morning prayer. The time of Zuhr (just past midday) The time of ‘Asr (afternoon) The time of Maghrib (sunset) The time of ‘Isha (nightfall)
The Meaning of Different Prayer Times Each prayer time is the opening of a significant turning point, so also is each a mirror to Divine disposal of power and to the universal Divine bounties within that disposal. Each prayer time is the opening of a significant turning point, so also is each a mirror to Divine disposal of power and to the universal Divine bounties within that disposal. Thus, more glorification and extolling of the All-Powerful One of Glory have been ordered at those times, and more praise and thanks for all the innumerable bounties accumulated between each of the times, which is the meaning of the prescribed prayers Thus, more glorification and extolling of the All-Powerful One of Glory have been ordered at those times, and more praise and thanks for all the innumerable bounties accumulated between each of the times, which is the meaning of the prescribed prayers
Kinds of Prayer Obligatory. The five daily prescribed prayers and the Jumu'a (Friday) prayer. Necessary (wajib). The 'Iyd (religious festive days) prayers and the with prayer Sunna (those performed or advised by the Prophet). Those performed before or after the daily prescribed prayers .Supererogatory and rewarded . Salat al-ishraq (performed some three quarters after sunrise), Salat al-duha (forenoon or broad daylight prayer, Salat al-awwabin (performed between the evening and late evening prayers), Salat al-tawba (performed before asking God to forgive us),etc…
An Audience with God Having faith, believers see in every event a door to the wealth of God’s Mercy, and knock on it via supplication. Realizing that their Lord and Sustainer controls everything, they take refuge in Him and place their trust in Him, and demonstrate their weakness and helplessness, humility and poverty by bowing humbly with the rest of the creation, saying: “Glory be to my Lord, the Mighty. ”. Prostrating in awareness of the undying Beauty and Grace of His Essence, His unchanging sacred Attributes, and His constant everlasting Perfection, they proclaim, through detachment from all that is not Him, their love and servanthood in wonder and self-abasement.
Adhan ( The Call to prayer ) The Adhan calls Muslims to prayer Even if one is performing the prayer alone, he or she is strongly advised to make it before beginning to pray. Words of Adhan; Allahu akbar (God is the Greatest)Ashhadu an la ilaha illa’llah (I bear witness that there is no deity but God)Ashhadu anna Muhammadan Rasululu’llah (I bear witness that Muhammad is God’s Messenger); Hayya ‘ala’s-salah (Come on, to prayer)Hayya ‘ala’l-falah (Come on, to salvation) Allahu akbar (God is the Greatest)La ilaha illa’llah (I bear witness that there is no deity but God)
Prophetic Sayings on SALAT "The five (daily) Salat (prayers) and the Friday (prayer) to the Friday (prayer) expiate whatever (minor sins) may be committed in between, so long as major sins are avoided.'' The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) asked his companions, "Say, if there were a river at the door of one of you in which he takes a bath five times a day, would any soiling (dirt) remain on him?'' They replied, "No soiling would left on him.'' He (PBUH) said, '' That is the five (obligatory) Salat (prayers). Allah erases all sins as a result of performing them.''
Verses from the Holy QUR’AN “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 God is the greatest (thing in life) without doubt. And God knows the (deeds) that ye do.” (Qur’an 29:45) “Glory be to God whenever you reach evening and whenever you rise in the morning. All praise is for Him in the heavens and on Earth in the late afternoon, and whenever you reach the noon.” (Qur’an 30:17-18)
