Salaah—the complete picture
The five daily prayers are very important in Islam. It is one of the five pillars. However, what’s also important, is the manner in which it is read. Otherwise, it could amout to being meaningless or even worse—a grave SIN.
Imagine cooking a delicious meal and then adding too much salt to it. The food becomes inedible, and a complete waste. So too, when we pray, we need to have certain checks and balances in place, if not it will be spoilt.
Being critical about the way we pray is not intended to ridicule prayer or the person praying, or even discourage prayer. On the contrary, it’s about promoting the correct manner in which to pray based on the teachings of our Holy Scripture so as to attain the pleasure of our Lord.
Beware!!! Praying so that others may think us pious is a very grave sin.
Firstly,
Islam teaches us that all our deeds will be rewarded according to our intentions. We have to understand that craving attention in such ways is a challenge that every one of us faces in everything we do. It is especially dangerous with regards to prayer. Mankind has an inbuilt craving for recognition which stems from our nafs. Knowledge, wealth, education, clothing, beauty, possessions, acheivements and most importantly, piety: these are just some of the instances wherein people crave recognition in. This is wrong.
Islam teaches us to overcome this greed for recognition because it amounts to self worship. We have to remove the “I did this” or “me” or this is “mine”, because everything in essence belongs to and is from Allah SWT alone.
“O brother, endure the pain of the lancet, that you may escape from the poison of your evil self (nafs),
For sky, sun and moon bow in worship to the people who have escaped from self-existence.
Any one in whose body the evil self has died, sun and cloud obey his command.
Since his heart has learned to light the candle (of spiritual knowledge and love), the sun cannot burn him…….
What is (the meaning of) to exalt and glorify God? To deem yourself despicable and (worthless) as dust.” Mathnawi.
So even if we pray all the time, we must think of it as Allah’s Grace upon us and not take credit for it. He could have so easily brought us into a non-believing family and we could have been non-believers, but He alone chose to make us Muslims.
Secondly,
there are two parts to prayer as it is in Surah Al Fatiha. The first part is praises to Allah SWT or worshipping Him.
The second part is about us seeking from Allah’s Bounty to fulfill our needs. Now in regards to this second part, from all things to seek, this surah teaches that guidance is the thing to pray and search for. Guidance!
Ponder over why Allah SWT created you… What is your purpose? Here too, if one does not get this right, our prayer and our life would end up being meaningless.
Now this second part of our prayer for guidance is the more important part. With regards to the first part, Allah SWT does not need our prayer and our worship. He is free from all such needs. What He wants is that we follow His guidance to develop our spirituality to become the enlightened beings He created us to be.
In this whole process of life and prayer, “knowing Allah SWT” or attaining “emaan” (faith) is central and this requires us to grow our spirituality.
The greatest praise to Allah SWT is therefore, to develop our spirituality, to know Allah SWT, to fulfill our purpose in life. Subhan-Allah! So prayer is just a means to bettering ourselves, and bettering ourselves is what really matters in the end.
“(Call to mind) when your Lord said to the angels, `I am about to create a human being from clay,
`When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit (inspired into him of My revelation) then fall down submitting to him.’ Al Quraan 38:71
A third important part to praying properly…
We have already disscussed praying for show and this is an important addition to this. We have to know and be aware that it is very difficult to realise that we are praying for show. In other words, we could be praying for show but we may not realise it. This is serious, and something to worry about! Be on guard about it and constantly seek Allah’s guidance and help in this matter.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “O Abu Bakr, polytheism enters your people more quietly (secretly) than the movement of ants.” Abu Bakr asked, “Is there a kind of polytheism besides associating anything with Allah?” The Prophet (ﷺ) said,” By him who has my life in His power, polytheism is more concealed than the movement of ants.”
The Holy Prophet (ﷺ) then said: “Shall I not teach you something which if you say will eliminate minor or major (polytheism)?” He then said, “Say `O Allah! I seek refuge in you lest I associate anything with you while I know it, and I seek your forgiveness for what I do not know.’” Ameen!
Fourthly:
worldly distraction during prayer. We are in the midst of prayer, but our thoughts are on our buisness or this weekends fishing trip. Ask yourself, are you praying? Can you call this prayer? On the flip side, whilst working or whilst fishing, you are thinking of your Creator. Is this not prayer?
“Men who celebrate the praises of Allah, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth, (With the thought): “Our Lord! not for naught Hast Thou created (all) this! Glory to Thee! Give us salvation from the penalty of the Fire.” Al Quraan 3:191
Fifthly:
In recent times, prayer and pious dress has been used as a cover up to cause dissention in Islam. These, so called, pious-acting people do not teach in a positive manner but instead pick faults in the way others practice the religion. They have caused huge problems amongst Muslims. Those on top of this movement do it knowingly and purposely to destroy Islam, while those at the bottom follow foolishly.
As mentioned previously, thinking of ourselves as being pious is a sin. It is self worship (shirk). It is also a sin to think poorly of someone else. It is also a sin to hurt people in the name of religion. Allah SWT, alone, is the judge. Let’s worry about correcting ourselves and our families. This is what we need to get right first. Correcting and guiding others and doing “dawah” is the duty of Allah’s chosen ones, not ours.
“It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces Towards east or West; but it is righteousness- to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity; to fulfil the contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth, the Allah-fearing.” Al Quraan 2:177
END.
Click link below to watch a lovely video from an external source on the same subject matter.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DU8NBWeko6E/
Peace and Blessings be upon our Holy Prophet Muhammad Salallahu Alayhe Wasallam.
Published by Anjuman e Waris e Mohammedi.
Anjuman e Waris e Mohammedi was founded by Dr/Hakim Hazrath Khwaja Sayed Shareef Ahmed Ali Shah RA, (lovingly known as Hazrath Poona Wale Shah Saib RA).
Author: Mahomed Hassan Gaffoor
His WhatsApp: +27 84 910 1486
Follow us on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram to see what we’re up to!