Why do Muslims pray?
The religion of Islam is based upon the five basic pillars which include,
shahadah, salah( prayer), zakat, sawm( fasting), and hajj. Among them,
the second most important pillar is the salah which is obligatory for
Muslims. Therefore, Allah s.w.t has made it compulsory for all Muslims
to pray five times a day. Every Muslim must perform salah. He has
made prayer an obligation and every Muslim must perform it.
What is Salah(Namaz)?
Salah is compulsory and performed by every Muslim. Every single day a
Muslim prays. We Muslims pray five times in a single day after the
prayer call from mauzin (a person who gives adhaan). Muslims perform
namaz while facing the holy Kabah. They follow the imam if they are
praying at a mosque. For learning Salah Learners Quran Academy is also offering best Quran academy online courses for kids and adults.
Timing of prayer (namaz)
Everything in this universe has its particular way and timing likewise,
salah also has its timing depending upon the sun's movements. Every
namaz has its specific time and performing namaz at its fixed timing is
mandatory. It isn’t something that anyone can delay. The first prayer of
the day which is Fajr is performed just before sunrise, at the time of
midday dhuhr is performed, Asr is performed in the afternoon, Sunset
is the time to pray maghrib, and nighttime is the time of isha prayer.
There is plenty of hadith that shows the importance of performing
salah on time. One of them is,
Hazrat Abdullah asked the prophet s.a.w ‘’which deed is dearest to
Allah? The messenger of Allah replied ‘’to offer the prayers at their
early stated fixed times" (sahih al-Bukhari 527)
When did prayer(Salah) make compulsory?
Salah is one of the best ways to connect to Allah. It became mandatory
for every Muslim on the 27th of Rajab when Hazrat Muhammad s.a.w
took a journey towards heaven along with Jibril (A.S) which is known as
safar-e-Miraj. At that Safar-e-Mairaj, the Almighty Allah gifted prophet
PBUH with prayers. After that day, it became compulsory for every
Muslim male and female to perform namaz five times a day and there is
not any exception from prayer. Any person who doesn’t perform namaz
will be facing punishment by Allah s.w.t on the day of judgment
therefore, it is the duty of every Muslim to follow the command of
Almighty Allah and utilize the gift of namaz for the betterment of his
character.
Purpose of praying Salah
Islam is about the submission of Allah's will so when a person is
performing salah facing the Holy Kaaba for the ritual prayer five times a
day, leaving all his worldly work behind he shows his respect, love, and
gratitude towards Allah s.w.t. He has mentioned in the QURAN that
"Guard strictly on the prayers, and the prayer – the middle one, and
stand up for Allah devoutly obedient " (surah Al-Baqarah 2:238).
Moreover, Salah is a sort of communication between you and Allah. A
person is recognized as a true Muslim by praying five times a day and a
true Muslim worships none but Allah so the most important purpose of
praying is to connect yourself with the king of this whole universe Allah
s.w.t.The Salah binds all the threads which connect a person with his
lord, it is the path to his devotion and connects us with him in a better
way.
Pray with pure intention
Being Muslims, we are well aware that we should do every good deed
with a clean heart and the right intention. Salah is also one of the
obligatory good deeds which bring countless benefits with every sajdah
that we perform therefore, to achieve those precious bounties one
must have to be pure with his intentions. It means that one should only
perform Salah for the sake of Allah and the day of judgment. He
shouldn’t do anything for the sake of this world. A human being is made
weak and one can easily deviate from the right path therefore, one
should be only focused on namaz by ignoring all of the tricks of
Shaytaan. One should always seek Allah's help to refrain from evil
effects. Just keep your heart pure and intention right and after all, the
Almighty knows everything that’s in our heart.
As the holy prophet has also said;
The rewards of deeds are according to the intention and everybody will
get the reward for what he has intended
What does Quran say about salah?
Allah s.w.t has talked about everything in his last book. In the Quran, he
has described salah as the second pillar of Islam. he has mentioned
several times about salah in the Quran. He says;
‘’verily salah restrains oneself from shameful and unjust deeds" (29:45)
He has clearly said in the Quran that salah removes all of your shameful
act and bad deeds and replace them with the bounties of akhirah.
There is another quranic verse that says;
"you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer.
indeed, Allah is with the patient" (2:153).
For more quranic ayah with tajweed like these, you can avail of our best
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Benefits of praying
Physical exercise:
A lot of people go to the gym and do different exercises but the thing
which they are not aware of is that namaz itself is a form of physical
exercise because the movements an individual performs during namaz
are physically active positions that keep you healthy. A person can burn
around 80 calories if he is performing the salah in the right way.
Heals your heart and soul
Everything needs a detox or cleanup so is our soul. Salah is the best way
to cleanse your heart and soul from all the unnecessary and evil
thoughts. It fills your heart with the remembrance of Allah and trashes
out all the negativity of your heart.
Keep you clean and hygienic
As we know that before performing Salah, a person performs wudhu in
which he cleans himself or his body parts with clean water so, in this
process, a person automatically becomes more hygienic and clean. If a
person is doing the same thing five times a day, he will surely be safe
from all germs and bacteria and will live a healthy life.
Keeps your vitals good
It is shown that Salah can improve your blood flow and help in digestion
as the posture an individual forms while performing it is a way to
improve many things in a body and keeps the vital functions in control.
Keeps you away from sins
When a person performs namaz he stays away from the sins as his
heart becomes closer to Allah. This keeps him forbidden from
performing any bad deed and praying five times a day will fill his heart
with good thoughts and evilness will leave his heart.
Relaxes your mind
When a Muslim does the dhikr of the Almighty Allah, all of his stress
goes away and he fills immediately relaxed. likewise, if one performs
salah it will take away all his worries and will ease and soothes his
mind. Studies have shown that many Muslims around the globe
accepted that they feel less stressed and more relaxed after performing
salah.
Here are the answers to some of your FAQs;
Where can I perform my prayer?
You can perform it in a mosque, home, and any place which is clean
and pure. You can perform your namaz anywhere while facing Kabah
but make sure to choose a place where one can cross you or walk from
in front of you.
What are sunnah, farz, and nawafil?
Sunnah is the part of the namaz performed by our holy prophet, farz is
the obligatory prayer that we can not leave and nawafil are the gift
prayers that we can perform by our own will.
Can I perform more prayers other than five?
Yes, you can. There is a lot of namaz which you can perform like
tahajudd, ishraaq, and chaash. Moreover, you can also perform as
many nawafil as you want.
From where I can learn to pray and quranic ayah which is
recited in salah?
You can search best Quran academy online courses on the internet and
can easily find academies that teach the Quran and the way of namaz.
However, you can also consider learning from the "learners Quran
Academy " which teaches in a very effective way and offers the best
Quran academy online courses for kids and adults.
Conclusion
To conclude it all, Namaz/salah is the basic pillar of Islam and a great
way to connect to Allah. It is obligatory for Muslims to perform it that’s
why Muslim pray namaz. As Muslims, we should learn namaz well and
perform it with good intentions to get success in both worlds.
Learners Quran Academy is also offering best Quran academy online courses for kids and adults.
