What does prayer represent for the Muslim? Why do we practise it and above all for what purpose should it be practised? It is the meanings and the secrets of prayer that we are going to try to explain to you with this text which, we hope, will bring a beneficial change into the daily life of as many of you as possible.
Origins of the word salat (prayer)
The word “salat” comes from the root silat, in Arabic, which means "bond", "connection", as with the term “silat ar Rahim”, expressing the ties of kinship.
It also comes from the word “salah” which comes from the dua (invocation), from the request, from the act of speaking to someone.
These are only some of the many meanings of the word salat (prayer) but we will concentrate on those in order to grasp the depth of the prayers that Allah asks us to perform five times a day.
They represent an invitation from the Most High, indeed renewed five times a day, and this, every day of our life from our childhood. An invitation to disconnect ourselves from the lower world in order to refocus on Him, to speak to Him since He calls us for that purpose.
Let us remember that prayer is an invitation to connect ourselves to Allah to speak to Him, to invoke Him, to hand over to Him all our worries and our wishes, and our way of practising it from that moment on will already have changed.
The purposes of prayer
A unique experience each day!
The essence of prayer does not lie in the gestures that we repeatedly make to discharge an obligation which can become heavy to fulfil for some. Moreover, it is heavy only for those who have not yet understood its meaning and its purpose, but it is not too late with this article, in sha Allah (read to the end!).
The purpose of prayer is therefore not just to be done, but to be lived because there is a real relationship with our Lord, the Living, that is at stake, and which we must not miss out on. The purpose of prayer is to put us in connection with Allah, the Only One Able to understand us, to help us in our visible and invisible affairs, the Only One Able to know what touches us and the Only One Able to find a solution to it.
Our prayers are a sort of training in humility for us servants; facing the Qibla, the orientation toward Mecca, it is Allah that one knows to be facing us. He answers us at each verse of the Fatiha recited, and it is for this that it is recommended to recite the Quran softly during our prayer. Allah answers it!
According to Abu Hurayra, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
Whoever performs a prayer without reciting the mother of the Quran (al-Fatiha) in it, his prayer is incomplete. It was then said to Abu Hurayra: “But we are (often in prayer) behind the imam”. He said: Recite this surah to yourselves for I heard the Messenger of God say:
God says: I have divided the prayer into two halves between Me and My servant, and My servant obtains what he asks for. When the servant says « Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds » God says: « My servant praises Me. » When he says « The Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful » God says: « My servant extols Me. » When he says « The Master of the Day of Judgement » God says: « My servant glorifies Me » (He also said: My servant entrusts himself to Me). When he says: « It is You we worship. It is You from whom we seek help » God says: « This is shared between Me and my servant, and My servant obtains what he asks for. » When he says: « Guide us on the straight path, the path of those whom You have blessed with favours, who do not incur wrath and who have not gone astray » God says: « This belongs to My servant and My servant obtains what he asks for.»
(Reported by Muslim - and also by Malik, at-Tirmidhi, Abu-Dawud, an-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah).
Allah, to Him the Glory and the Majesty, speaks to us during the salat, so how can one refuse to grant Him importance? How can one go quickly in prayer when He answers us?
It is up to us to question ourselves. What is our state at the end of each prayer? How do we feel?
For the question is not idle. From the answer that we will have given will come the solution to our problem.
If one feels good then the purpose of prayer is understood. And the Praises all return to Allah!
Otherwise it means that we must reconnect ourselves to our Lord.
Five times a day a beautiful invitation is made to us. An invitation to happiness renewed five times a day, for this is another purpose of prayer.
The prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was always very happy at the end of prayer. His concerns and his fears, just like his joys, were placed into the Hands of Allah. He taught the Companions and his Wives, may Allah be pleased with them all, to recite the verses of the Quran softly and to bow, rise, and prostrate softly until stillness.
Such was their prayer.
When Bilal, may Allah be pleased with him, called to the prayer, the prophet would say to him:
Give us rest with it (the prayer), O Bilal!
A rejoicing of the heart due to a confidence between the Master of the Universe and the Servant, whom nothing can rejoice more than His Love and His Presence.
If only one strove to seek it through prayer.
With the call to prayer precisely, it is not just to happiness or to peace that Allah invites us. The muezzin (the one who climbs the minaret to call the faithful to prayer) cries out: “Come to prayer, come to success!”
We understand well that true success lies in prayer. Success on this Earth and in the Hereafter are accessible only by passing through the "prayer" stage, this invitation of the Lord of the Worlds that one hears (for those who have the good fortune to hear it every day) and to which one responds by hastening to pray.
The remembrance of Allah
Prayer is the best means to remember one's Lord as Allah tells us in the Quran in Surah Taha verse 14:
(...) Worship Me and establish the Salat for My remembrance.
Prayer is therefore the greatest form of remembrance. To pray is to make Dhikr par excellence, just like reciting or reading the Quran. The Quran is the Word of Allah and during prayer we recite it. To pray is Dhikr. The means to draw closer to Him.
How can we remember someone whom we push away from us? It is not possible.
The purpose of prayer is therefore not to forget that Allah must be our priority, our aim on Earth, our destination and our return.
To pray is to remember Him.
Protection from sins
Allah says in the Holy Quran in Surah Al-Ankabut verse 45:
“In truth prayer preserves from indecency and from what is blameworthy”
Many people tend to believe that they make too many faults to take up the path of prayer again, and they delay this moment of intimacy with their Lord thinking they are doing right. In truth it is only a whispering of the devil to keep them away from this treasure that prayer holds.
But his scheme is weak. The believer who often remembers Allah by holding fast to his prayer will not be tempted by his bad deeds, or only very little.
And it is a promise of Allah the Wise.
When our heart is filled with the mention of Allah, with happiness and tranquillity of the mind, how could the latter be inclined to do evil ?
Prayer keeps away from sins, from bad suspicion, from fears and from the whisperings of the cursed one. That is why the companions and his wives, may Allah be pleased with them all, report to us that when the prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was tormented by something or when a change in the weather worried him, he would turn to prayer.
It was the coolness of his eyes!
How to observe prayer?
When one is invited to the home of someone dear, do we hasten there in a neglectful state? That would be indecent, disrespectful.
And to Allah belong the best examples.
A preparation is thus required to validate the acceptability of prayer:
- to pray at the determined times
- to have a sincere intention of observing the prayer for Allah
- to cover one's private parts, which are the entire body for the woman ( with the exception of her face and her hands according to the majority of scholars) and from the navel to the knees for men
- to wear a garment and to check its cleanliness
- to perform the minor ablutions as the prophet taught us, in addition to what Allah has taught us in His Sacred Word.
- to check the cleanliness of the place where one prays
- to orient oneself toward Mecca
These practical aspects of the salat will be addressed later in another article, with the permission of Allah.
Prayers are of several types:
- the obligatory prayers, five in number, which are a pillar of Islam:
Fajr, that of dawn
Dhuhr, that of the early afternoon
Asr, that of the middle of the day
Maghrib, that of sunset
Isha, that of the evening
- the supererogatory prayers or Rawatib, twelve in number during the day:
2 before the Fajr
4 before the Dhuhr and 2 after
2 before the Maghrib
and 2 after the Isha
- the nawafil which are any prayer done voluntarily at the permitted times (it is indeed forbidden to pray after the Fajr before sunrise, and, after the salat of Asr)
- the Tahajjud prayer, Sunnah prayers of the night
- the prayer of consultation ( Salat Istikhara)
- etc
Conclusion
Allah compares guidance to water in the Holy Quran. In the same way that the latter is vital for our body, faith is just as much so for our heart.
That is why we pray several times a day in order to nourish our heart with the Word of the Almighty which brings us the elements essential to the survival of our faith.
Would it occur to us to drink only once a day and drink no more until the next day? Would that be enough to keep our body in good health ?
It is the same for our soul.
May He keep us on the Straight Path, firmly, and grant us His Forgiveness for our shortcomings. Amin
Share the love of prayer around you, by sharing this article!