3.23. PRAYER : OPTIONAL (concluded)

God says

Nay – who is it that responds to the distressed when he calls out to Him, and who removes the ill [that caused the distress], and has made you inherit the earth?*… Q.27:62
*God having caused man to “inherit the earth” endowing him with specific faculties and abilities is an implicit denial of man’s claim that he is independent and “master of his fate”.
In fact, man should thank Him through optional prayer for the status and the facilities which have been accorded to him as inheritor of the earth, and should try to live up to his status by following the example of His Apostle as mentioned in 33:21: “Indeed in the messenger of God you have a good example for everyone who looks forward [with hope and awe] to God and the Last Day, and remembers God unceasingly”.


Prophet said

“Almighty God said…and My servant continues to seek nearness to Me through optional prayers until I love him. When I love him, I become his ear with which he hears, and his eyes with which he sees, and his hands with which he holds, and his legs with which he walks”* -- Hadith Qudsi: Bukhari. N: Abu Huraira.
*I.e., the God-given abilities, all of them, are used always and only as God wanted.

CATEGORIES OF PRAYER:
The five times prayers every day and Friday prayer are canonical or obligatory; traveler’s prayer is obligatory; prayer in time of danger is obligatory; sick man’s prayer is obligatory; vitr prayer is incumbent; taravih Prayer is sunnah and funeral prayer is compensatory. Besides, there are certain optional prayers, some to be performed daily and some for the occasion. Some of these are given below in alphabetical order:

AWABEEN : prayer after Maghrib.
HAAJAT: prayer in need.
ISHRAAQ: post sunrise prayer.
ISTIKHRA: prayer to seek divine guidance.
ISTISQUA: prayer for rain.
SALAT-UT-DUHA (CHASHT): forenoon prayer.
SALAT-UT-TASBIH: a very meritorious prayer.
TAHAJJUD: late night prayer, (very important)
TAHITA-UL-MASJID: prayer upon entering a mosque.
TAHITA-UL-VUZU: prayer after ablution.