3.12. PRAYER (Salat)

God says

And bid your people to pray, and persevere therein. -- Q.20: 132

O you who believe! When the sound of prayer is sounded on the day of congregation,* hasten to the remembrance of God, and leave all worldly commerce: this is for your own good, if you but knew it. And when the prayer is ended, disperse freely on earth** and seek to obtain (something) of God’s bounty; but remember God often,*** so that you might attain to a happy state! -- Q.62: 9--10

* I.e., on Friday, when the congregational prayer at noon is obligatory. Nevertheless, as the sequence shows, Friday is not a day of compulsory rest in Islamic Law.

** I.e., “you may devote yourselves to worldly pursuits” (In devoting ourselves to worldly pursuits do we remember God often?)


[dwelling] in gardens [of paradise], they [the righteous] will inquire of those who were guilty: “What has brought you into hell-fire ?” They will answer: “We were not among those who prayed,” -- Q.74: 40-43



Prophet said

“Whoever gives up three Friday prayers by way of neglect, God will seal up his heart.’ – H: Abu Daud, Tirmizi, Nisai, Ibn Majah. N: Abu Ja`ad-az-Zumairi.

“Offer prayers when you remember me” – H: Bukhari . N: Anas

“Between a Muslim and disbelief (kufr) the distinctive mark is prayer” -- H: Muslim. N: Jaber.

The Prophet wrote to his governors: “Verily, the most important of your affair to me is prayer. Whoever protects* it and takes care of it protects his religion…” – H: Maalik. N: Omar-b-Khattab.

*I.e., prays regularly, with due rites, on time, and truly remembering God.

3.12. PRAYER (Salat)

God says


Be constant in (thy) prayer from the time the sun has passed its zenith till the darkness of night,* and (be ever mindful of its) recitation at dawn: for behold, the recitation (of prayer) at dawn is indeed witnessed.** -- Q.17: 78

*As is evidenced by the practice (sunnah) of the Prophet this verse fully circumscribes the five daily prayers laid down in Islam as obligatory for every adult man and woman.

** Most of the classical commentators take this to mean “witnessed by the angels of night as well as those of the day” since dawn is the time between night and day. Razi, however, is of the opinion that “witness” to which the Qur’an refers here is the spark of God-given illumination in man’s own soul – the heightening of his inner perception at the time when the darkness and stillness of night begins to give way to the life-giving light of day, so that prayer becomes a means of attaining deeper insight into the realm of spiritual truths and, thus, of achieving communion with all that is holy.


[God spoke to Moses] Verily, I – I alone – am God; there is no deity save Me. Hence, worship Me alone, and be constant in prayer, so as to remember Me! * -- Q.20: 14

*Thus conscious remembrance of God and of His oneness and uniqueness is declared to be the innermost purpose, as well as, intellectual justification, of all true prayer.



Prophet said

“Order your children to pray when they are boys of seven years, and at the age of ten if they do not pray, punish them…” -- H: Abu Daud. N: Amr-b-Shoaib from his grandfather.

“Whoever forgets to pray, or falls asleep, his expiration is that he shall pray when he remembers it” – H: Bukhari and Muslim. N: Anas


Salat is mentioned 82 times in the Quran.

3.11. ABLUTION (wuzu)

God says

O you who have attained to faith! When you prepare for prayer, wash your faces and your hands and arms upto elbows, pass your (wet) hands lightly over your head, and wash your feet upto ankles….. Q5:6

(Washing of mouth, throat and nose are sunnat of wuzu.)

Ablution is a transition to prayer: turning of mind to remembrance of God, while washing each part patiently and properly.

Start by saying ‘BISMILLAHI WAL HAMDU LILLAH’ (I begin with the name of God and all praise be to God) and at the end recite: ‘ASH HADU AL LA ILA HA IL LAL LAHU, WAH DAHU LA SHAREEKA LAHU, WA ASH HADU ANNA MUHAMMADAN ‘ABDU HU WA RUSOOLU HU.’

It is preferable to maintain silence, cleansing the mind from thoughts other than remembrance of God, in preparation of prayer.

…..If you are in a state of ceremonial impurity, bathe your whole body. But if you are ill or are traveling, or have just satisfied a call of nature, or have cohabited (your) women, and can find no water – then take resort to pure dust passing (your palms) therewith lightly over your face and your hands. -- Q.5:6


Prophet said

“Whoever performs ablution and performs it well*, his sins come out of his body till they come out even from under his nails” – H: Bukhari and Muslim. N: Osman.

* More than three times is forbidden.



Holy Prophet passed by Sa`ad while he was performing ablution and asked, “Why is this extravagance?” Sa`ad enquired: Is there any extravagance in ablution?

“Yes” said the Prophet, “Even though you may be doing it from a flowing rivulet.” -- H: Ahmed and Ibn Majah. N: Abdullah-b-Amr-b-al-‘Aas

Moral of this to be followed is that abundance of any resource, not only water, must not result in its abuse i.e., its excess.

God says

…God loves those who turn to Him in repentance, and he loves those who keep themselves pure. - Q.2:222

For action in the case of a state of ceremonial impurity, see Q.5: 6 next Friday.


To a happy state shall indeed attain he who causes his [self] to grow in purity, and truly lost is he who buries it [in darkness]. -- Q.91:7-10

* The reference to man and that which constitutes the “human personality”, as well as the implied allusion to the extremely complex phenomenon of a life-entity in which bodily needs and urges, emotions and intellectual activities are so closely intertwined
as to be indissoluble, follows organically upon a call to consider inexplicable grandeur of the universe (verses 1-6) – so far as it is perceptible and comprehensible to man – as a compelling evidence of God’s creative power.

** Lit., “and [consider] that which has inspired it with its immoral doings (fujraha) and its Gid-consciousness (taqwaha)”—i.e., the fact that human being is equally liable to rise to great spiritual heights as to fall into utter immorality is an essential characteristic of human nature as such. In its deepest sense, man’s ability to act
wrongly runs parallel with his ability to act rightly: in other words, it is this inherent
polarity of tendencies which gives to every “right” choice a value and, thus, endows man with moral free will.




Prophet said


“Cleanliness is half the faith*…” – H: Muslim. N: Abu Malik al Ashari

*Because faith destroys physical as well as mental impurities and also makes redemption of minor as well as major sins.


“Cleanliness is the key to prayer” -- H: Abu Daud, Tirmizi and Darimi. N: Ali. (Ibn Majah reported it from Abu Sayeed)


“God looks not at your appearance, nor at your wealth; but he looks at your hearts and deeds” – H: Muslim. N: Abu Hurairah

3.09. LOVING GOD AND HIS APOSTLE

God says

… those who have attained to faith love God more than all else. -- Q.2: 165

And when you have performed your acts of worship, [continue to] bear God in mind as you will bear your fathers in mind – nay, yet with a keener remembrance. -- Q. 2: 200

…God loves those who are conscious of Him.* -- Q. 9: 4

* “God-conscious”

Word ‘Muttaqeen’, (singular: Muttaqi) from Arabic ‘Taqwa’ appears again and again in the Qur’an vitally linked to a Believer’s life. Muhammad Asad uses ‘God-consciousness’ as the translation for ‘Taqwa’ and explains its comprehensive meaning below:

“Conventional translation of Muttaqi as “God-Fearing’ does not adequately render the positive content of this expression -- namely, the awareness of His all-presence and the desire to mould one’s existence in the Light of this awareness; while the interpretation adopted by some translators “one who guards himself from evil” or “one who is careful of his duty”, does not give more than one particular aspect of the God-consciousness.

(God said to the Prophet) Say: ‘If you do love God, follow me, God will love you and forgive you your sins.’ -- Q.3: 31

Say: “If it be that your fathers, your sons, your mates, your clan; the wealth you have acquired, the commerce in which you fear a decline; or the dwellings in which you delight- (if all these) are dearer to you than God and His Apostle and the struggle in his cause, then wait until God brings about His decision: and God does not guide the rebellious. ” -- Q.9: 24

Prophet said

A man came to the Holy Prophet and asked about the Day of Resurrection. The Prophet enquired him what preparation he had made for it. The man said: I am not prepared for it except that I love God and His Apostle. The Holy Prophet said, “You will be with those whom you love.” Muslims were never so happy as they were after hearing it. – H: Bukhari and Muslim. N: Anas

“Nobody has truly attained to faith till I become dearer than his parents, his children and all mankind.” – H: Bukhari and Muslim. N: Anas

“The best of you are those who, when seen, remind of God.” – H: Ibn Majah. N: Asm`a-b-Yezid

3.08. BASER PASSIONS

God says

Behold, Satan is a foe unto you: so treat him as a foe…. Q.35: 6

But as for anyone who chooses to remain blind to the remembrance of the Most Gracious, to him We assign an [enduring] evil impulse, to become his other self: whereupon, behold, these [evil impulses] bar all such from the path [of truth], making them think that they are guided aright! -- Q.43: 36--37

Most of you love the fleeting life of this world and give no thought to the life to come [and judgment Day]! -- Q.75: 20--21

But unto Him who shall have stood in fear of His Sustainer`s presence, and held back his inner self from base desires, paradise will truly be a goal! -- Q.79: 40--41

To a happy state shall indeed attain he who causes his [self] to grow in purity, and truly lost is he who buries it [in darkness]. -- Q.91: 9--10


Prophet said

“The most fearful of what I fear for my followers is baser passion and prolonged hope…” -- H: Baihaqi. N: Jaber

Fragment of a long Tradition quoted by Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Abu Hurairah: of the seven (catagories) of persons whom God will take under the shade of His Throne on the Day when there will be no other shade, one will be, the Prophet said, “Whom a young girl of accomplishment and beauty tempts and who says : certainly I fear God.”

3.08. BASER PASSIONS

God says

…. (O mankind!) follow not Satan’s footsteps: for, verily, he is your open foe, and bids you only to do evil, and to commit deeds of abomination, … Q.2: 168--169

And tell them [O Prophet] what happens to him to whom We conveyed Our messages and who discards them: Satan catches up with him, and he goes astray, like so many others, into grievous error.*Now had We so willed, We could indeed have exalted him by means of those [messages]: but he always clung to the earth and followed but his own desires…. Q.7: 175--176

*In the original this whole verse is in the past tense; but since its obvious purport is
the statement of a general truth (cf. Razi, on the authority of Qatadah, ‘Ikrimah and Abu Muslim) and not as some commentators assume a reference to a particular person, it is best rendered in the present tense. The kind of man spoken of here is one who has understood the divine messages but, nevertheless, refuses to admit its truth because – as pointed out in the next verse above – he “clings to the earth”, i.e., is dominated by a materialistic, “earthly” outlook on life.


Prophet said

“The (Hell) fire is surrounded by passionate desires” – H: Bukhari and Muslim. N: Abu Hurairah