Salaat - The gift of Meraj

[Salaat is the gift which the Ummah received through the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) received on the night of Meraj.  Herein, we present details regarding Salaat, the best form of remembrance of Almighty Allah. Excerpted from Anwaar-e-Khitaabat, Vol. 7]

Almighty Allah has not only created us but also has informed us of the purpose of our creation and has exhorted us to maintain a strong relation with Him.  The Prophets (May peace be upon them) also carried forward this mission and attached the slaves of Allah Most High to Him.  Their methods of course varied but the objective given was one, to worship the Lord Almighty who is without any partner.  When the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) gave the call of truth, as the Companions embraced Islam, they also became aware of their Lord Almighty.

 

Among the great gifts that were granted to the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) in Shab Meraj, is Salaat (Namaaz).  Fasting, Zakaat, Hajj, all were obligated on the earth and orders of them were given on the earth itself, but Salaat was obligated in the spiritual realm beyond the seven heavens.  The order for Salaat was given when the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) was engrossed in the vision of Almighty Allah.

 

Every Muslim knows that there are 5 articles of Islam.  The most basic article among all of them is the belief in unity of Allah Most High and the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).  After Salaat, fasting, Zakaat and Hajj come.  If the first basic article is not strong enough then all the later ones will be wasted.  It should be remembered that in the whole system of Islamic worship, the most important is Salaat.  Innumerable distinctions and excellence of Salaat have been expressed in the Holy Quran and the Hadith.  Fasting, Zakaat and Hajj are obligatory only once in a year.  For fasting, the body should be strong enough.  For Zakaat, owning the minimum amount of wealth is necessary.  For Hajj, only the 5 days of Dhul Hijjah are fixed.  The performance of this is also dependent on one’s monetary ability.  However, Salaat is obligatory 5 times in a day.

 

Salaat includes all the forms of remembrance of Allah.  It has both audible remembrance of Allah and also inaudible remembrance.  It has the recitation of the Holy Quran as well as Durood.  It is offered collectively as well as individually.  Salaat teaches us the manner of supplication.  It is a means of descent of mercy as well as a means of forgiveness.

 

“Salaat” is an Arabic word.  It means supplication, mercy and repentance.  This form of worship is called “Salaat” that it includes all the above in it.  Supplications are made in Salaat.  Divine mercy descends because of Salaat and in Salaat, a bondsman finds the forgiveness of his or her sins..

 

Salaat is the most excellent among all forms of worship.  It is a pillar of Islam.  If those who offer Salaat get a taste of the pleasure of Salaat, they will never want to end it.  It is a form of intimacy between the Lord Almighty and His slave.  Through this, a bondsman presents himself/herself before the Lord Almighty.  It is an expiation of sins.  It is distinguishing factor between a believer and a disbeliever.  It is hard on the hypocrites.  It is the ascension (Meraj) for the believers.  Salaat is the solace of the blessed eyes of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).  It wipes away sins from the record of deeds.  It habituates one to cleanliness and purity.  It calms the wrath of Almighty Allah.  A person offering Salaat will be given the status of the truthful and the pious.

 

Salaat – Primary article of Islam

 

Salaat is such a form of worship that it was obligated before anything else.  It is the most important obligation of Islam.  Each Muslim has to offer it 5 times a day, regardless of whether it is a man or a woman, old or young, rich or poor, healthy or ill, whether in a journey or whether at home, whether in peaceful conditions or whether in war.  No adult Muslim is exempted from it.  Whenever the time for any of the 5 Salaat comes, it is the responsibility of the Muslim to offer it.  Instead of this, some people talk about being busy and say that they don’t get time to do this because of business.  These are the times of lack of leisure.  Each and every person is busy.  In spite of all the busyness, all the engagements, we are fulfilling all the societal customs.  We are fulfilling all our educational and economic responsibilities.  Each person gives importance to the society and customs and that’s why he/she fulfills the responsibilities as per those customs.  Education and business are of value to him.  He considers them of importance and is anxious about fulfilling the tasks related to it.  Even though, engagements might be there, but that person will somehow find time for these things.  In the same way, a Muslim should realize the importance of something as valuable as Salaat.  Salaat is that form of worship which has been mentioned again and again in the Holy Quran. It has been ordered in different ways.  Almighty Allah says about it:

 

Guard strictly all the Prayers, especially the middle Prayer. And stand before Allah as an epitome of submissiveness and lowliness.  Surah Baqarah (2:238)

 

Salaat is so important that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) declared it as the distinguishing factor between Muslims and non-Muslims:

 

Translation: It is narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Jabir (May Allah be well pleased with him) that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  What demarcates belief from disbelief is abandoning Salaat.  (Jame’ Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 2827)

 

This Hadith shows that the person who offers Salaat has a sign that he/she is a Muslim and the person who doesn’t offer Salaat has no visible sign of being a Muslim.  Obviously, non-Muslims don’t offer Salaat.  Similarly, the person who doesn’t offer Salaat has done something that non-Muslims do.  By abandoning Salaat, that person has gone down the path of the non-Muslims.  Such a person should be punctual in Salaat so that the difference between Muslims and non-Muslims is made clear.  That person should become regular in Salaat so that non-Muslims are recognized by their not offering Salaat.

 

The person who denies Salaat is a disbeliever and the one who leaves it commits a grave sin.  With the Hanafi scholars, a person who abandons Salaat will be imprisoned until and unless that person becomes punctual in offering Salaat.  In the opinion of Imam Shafa’ee and Imam Malik (May Allah shower His mercy on them), such a person though not a disbeliever per se, deserves to be killed.  (Ash’atul Lam’aat, Vol. 1, Pg. No. 301)

 

Exhortation to offer Salaat – An integral part of upbringing of children

 

Children are like tender green shoots.  However they are taken care of, in whatever way they are molded, the tree will grow in that very manner.  After that, it isn’t possible for anyone to remold them is some other manner.  As Salaat is the way to present oneself before the Lord Almighty, Islam insists that children should be ordered to offer Salaat right from childhood itself.  The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:

 

Translation: Hadhrat ‘Amr bin Shu’aib narrates on the authority of his father that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  You command your children to offer Salaat when they are 7 years of age and punish them on not doing so at the age of 10 and let them sleep separately at that age.  (Sunan Abu Dawood, Hadith No. 495)

 

        At the age of 7, children are halfway to adulthood.  If they are made punctual in offering Salaat from this age, then by the time they reach adulthood, they will stay away from all indecency.  If children are made regular in Salaat, then its blessings will protect their hearts and minds.  Indeed Salaat is a worship which makes even indecent people the very epitomes of decency and modesty and stops them from sins.  Children are naturally modest and stay away from sins.  If they are made regular in Salaat from this age, their steps will not falter in that period when most people falter and stumble off the right path.  Almighty Allah has described this quality of Salaat that it stops people from indecency.  It is mentioned in the Holy Quran:

 

(O Esteemed Beloved!) Recite the Book which has been revealed to you and establish prayer. Surely, prayer prohibits indecency and impiety; and verily, the remembrance of Allah is the greatest. And Allah knows whatever (deeds) you do.  Surah ‘Ankaboot (29:45)

 

Salaat – Expiation of sins

 

Human beings are prone to errors and forgetfulness.  When their own desires and Satan move them, they end up sinning.  To wipe out sins, repentance is necessary.  However, the cover of heedlessness is so strong that most people never even get the thought of repenting.  In spite of all the Merciful Lord has made Salaat an expiation of sins.  The sins committed by a person from one Salaat to another are wiped out by the next Salaat, as mentioned in the Hadith:

 

Translation: It is narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (May Allah be well pleased with him) that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  The 5 Salaat, from one Friday to another, from one Ramadhan to another.  All these wipe out the sins between them, provided on stays away from major sins.  (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 574)

 

The 5 Salaat

 

The one who offers 5 Salaat in a day is like the one who bathes 5 times a day.  The person who does so will not have a trace of dirt or filth on his/her body.  Similarly, due to the 5 Salaat, no trace of sin remains on the body and the heart and sins are wiped out from the record of deeds of that person.

 

Translation: It is narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (May Allah be well pleased with him), he says that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  If a stream flows just beyond the door of any one of you and that person bathes 5 times in that stream, will any dirt remain on the body of that person?  The Companions said:  No.  No dirt will remain.  The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  The 5 Salaat are like this.  Almighty Allah wipes out sins through them.  (Sahih Bukhari, Hadith No. 528; Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 1554)

 

Salaat – A means of forgiveness of sins

 

There are innumerable worldly and spiritual benefits on Salaat.  These benefits are the lot of that person who offers Salaat with sincerity and devotion with the intention of gaining the pleasure and approval of Allah Most High and keeps one’s mind and heart under control while offering Salaat.  Thus, there is a Hadith in this regard:

 

Translation: It is narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Abu Dharr (May Allah be well pleased with him) that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) stepped out (of His house) in autumn when the trees were shedding leaves.  Hadhrat Abu Dharr (May Allah be well pleased with him) said: The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  O Abu Dharr!  I said:  O Prophet of Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), I am here.  The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  Indeed, if any Muslim offers Salaat only with the intention of pleasing Allah, then Allah Most High wipes out that Muslim’s sins the way these trees are shedding their leaves.  (Musnad Imam Ahmed bin Hambal, Hadith No. 22177)

Special arrangements on the Day of Judgment for those who are punctual in Salaat

 

On the Day of Judgment, the faces of the sinners will be black.  The darkness of sins in their hearts will be expressed on their faces.  How humiliating will it be!  All the human beings from the beginning of time to its end will be gathered.  Just think!  How embarrassing it would be before the Prophets and the saints.  In these dire straits, for the one who is punctual in Salaat, there will be radiance.  His/her face and body will be radiant as mentioned in the Hadith:

 

Translation: It is narrated on the authority of Hadhrat ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr bin ‘A’as (May Allah be well pleased with them) that once the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) spoke about Salaat.  Then He said:  For the one who is punctual in Salaat, on the Day of Judgment, there will be a radiance and a proof.  For the one who is not punctual about Salaat, there will neither be that radiance nor proof and will not be a means of deliverance either.  On the Day of Judgment that person will be along with Qaroon, Pharoah, Hamaan and Ubai bin Khalaf.  (Musnad Imam Ahmed bin Hambal, Hadith No. 6733; Shua’bul Iman, Hadith No. 2697; Sunan Daarimi, Hadith No. 2777)

 

In this Hadith, there are glad tidings for those who are punctual in Salaat and there is a strict warning for those who aren’t punctual that they will be along with the worst criminals.  Alas!  What a big loss this is!  How humiliating that will be!  May Allah protect all Muslims from this.

 

Salaat – Most loved form of worship with Allah Most High

 

After testification of the Unity of Allah Most High and the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), the most superior form of worship is Salaat.  Even angels offer Salaat.  Among the angels, there are some who have been offering Salaat right from the moment they were created.  Some are continuously in Ruku’ and/or in prostration.  Some are standing in Salaat (Qiyaam).  There is a Hadith in this regard:

 

Translation: Allah Most High has not obligated anything more beloved than Salaat after His own Unity (Tauheed).  If anything was more beloved than Salaat, then certainly the angels would have been doing it.  Some angles are in Ruku’.  Some are prostrating.  Some are Qiyaam (standing in Salaat) and some are sitting (Qaidah).  (Ihya ‘Ul Uloom, Vol. 1, Pg. No. 152)

 

Prostration – The pinnacle of closeness to Allah Most High

 

In Salaat, a slave draws closer to Allah Most High.  Each and every article and action of Salaat is a means of proximity of Allah Most High, but while prostrating, one is the closest to Allah Most High, as the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has said:

 

Translation: It is narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (May Allah be well pleased with him) that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  A slave is closest to Allah when he (or she) is in prostration.  (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 1111)

 

Hadhrat Imam Rabbani Mujaddid Alf Thaani (May Allah sanctify his secret) said:  The person who realizes what Salaat is will leave everything and stand up in Salaat to worship Almighty Allah.