What is Prayer?

 Prayer:

          Islam is a finished and extensive arrangement of life.He does not limit himself to giving his followers only a few beliefs, rather he prescribes a system of worship to mold their entire life into the mold of these beliefs. It includes Namaz, Zakat, Fasting and Hajj. Regarding the first and most important part of prayer, Allah Almighty says in the Holy Qur'an:

Surah Al-Rum verse 31:

Translation:

   Establish prayer and do not be among the polytheists.

Many hadiths of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) contain emphasis on prayer. One of them is this.

 Translation:

                The main foundation of religion is to surrender before God and the Messenger and the pillar of this building is prayer.

The word As-Salaata has been used in the Qur'an for prayer, which literally means prayer. But in the Shariah term, prayer is the name of worshiping in a special way, which was taught to us by Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and he said about it:

Translation:

              Prayer is the pillar of religion.

Emphasis of prayer:

                            Since prayer is the most important part of religious education, it has been obligatory on every Ummah and all the Prophets have been exhorting their Ummahs to pray. Prayers have been repeatedly recommended in the Holy Quran. The Qur'an says that those who establish prayer will prosper and those who abandon it will suffer humiliation. It is mentioned in a verse that when the angels of punishment will ask the people of Hell about the reason for their punishment, they will tell the reason for their being thrown into Hell.

 Surah Al-Mudasir verse 43:

Translation:

They will answer that we did not pray.

 After accepting Allah as God with heart and tongue, deviating from the most important order of prayer is in a way equivalent to refusing to accept Allah as God.

Therefore, the Prophet said:

Translation:

              The one who intentionally left the prayer, he adopted the attitude of infidelity.

Prayer is the most effective means of getting close to God. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:

Translation: 

                When one of you prays, it is as if he is secretly talking to his Lord.

In view of this importance, the first prayer will be counted on the Day of Resurrection.

 The Prophet (PBUH) said:

Translation: 

(On the Day of Resurrection) First of all, a question will be asked about prayer.

Benefits of prayer:

(1) The presence of a servant five times a day in front of Allah Ta'ala keeps fresh in his heart the feeling that he is the only servant of Allah. This feeling of servitude becomes the  nature of a Muslim by praying regularly and his whole life becomes a practical example of obeying God's commandments.

(2) Feeling close to God five times a day assures a Muslim that Allah is with him at all times. He never feels alone. The feeling of being with Allah prevents him from committing sins and removes all kinds of fear and sorrow from his heart.

(3) The effects of prayers continue even in the interval between prayers. If the thought of sin comes after the prayer, then the servant thinks that now I have prayed to my Allah to avoid sins, and if I commit a sin now, what will I do in front of Him after some time? This thing keeps him permanently from sin.

 

(4) Love is generated between those who meet five times in connection with the worship of Allah and seeking His pleasure, which benefits all.

(5) Seeing the worshipers coming and going in the mosque motivates the non-prayer and they are also attracted towards the prayer.