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Five Virtues of Prayer
by Iman bint Johari
"Verily, As-Salaah (the prayer) is enjoined on the believers at fixed hours." [Surah an-Nisa' 4:103]
Prayer occupies a great status in Islam. It is the pilar of our deen. In a hadeeth narrated by Mu'adh ibn Jabal radhiallahu 'anhu, the Messenger of Allah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said: "Shall I not tell you of the head of the whole matter and its pillar and top?" Mu'adh said, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah." He said, "The head of the matter is Islam, its pillar is prayer and its top is jihad." (at-Tirmidhi)
It is second in status to the testimony of faith. Rasulullah sallalllahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, "Islam is built on five: the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger, establishing prayer, paying zakaah, performing pilgrimage to the House, and fasting Ramadan." (al-Bukhari)
It is the first thing for which a person will be brought to account on the Day of Resurrection. Abu Hurayrah radhiallahu 'anhu said: I heard the Messenger of Allah sallalllahu 'alayhi wa sallam say: "The first deed for which a person will be brought to account on the Day of Resurrection will be his prayer. If it is good then he will have prospered and succeeded, but if it is bad then he will be doomed and have lost. If anything is lacking from his obligatory prayers, the Lord will say, 'Look and see whether My slave did any voluntary prayers, and make up the shortfall in his obligatory prayers from that.' Then all his deeds will be dealt with likewise." (an-Nasa'i & at-Tirmidhi)
There are numerous benefits that the Muslim derives from prayer and we will discuss five of the virtues in this write-up.
(1) Prayer increases one in imaan and keeps one away from sin
The prayer is a cure for our flawed and blemished souls. Hence, we must try to perfect our prayer. As the aforementioned hadeeth said, if one's prayer is good, then the rest of one's actions will be in order and if not, then the rest of his actions will be defective.
The prayer is a fortress, keeping sin at bay. Allah says (translation) in the Qur'an, "Verily, the prayer prevents one from shameful and evil deeds." (Surah al-Ankaboot 29:45)
In a hadeeth reported by Abu Hurayrah radhiallahu 'anhu, Rasulullah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, "When one of you is going to leave his house, then let him pray two rak'ahs; they will prevent you going out to evil. And when you enter your house, then pray two rak'ahs; they will prevent you from entering upon evil." (al-Bazzar & al-Bayhaqi)
Just as prayer increases one in imaan, the abandonment of it leads to shirk and kufr. Jabir radhiallahu 'anhu said that Rasulullah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, "Between kufr and imaan lies the abandonment of prayer." (at-Tirmidhi)
(2) Prayer wipes away one's sins
Human beings are prone to error and sin. However we can take comfort in the fact that prayer expiates what is committed between them so long as no major sins are committed. Abu Hurayrah radhiallahu 'anhu said that Allah's Messenger said, "The five daily prayers and the Jumu'ah to the Jumu'ah are an expiation of what is between them so long as one is not guilty of major sins." (Muslim)
The Prophet likens the prayer to a river in several ahadeeth. Just as the water cleanses one's body, the prayer purifies one's soul. A hadeeth from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri attests to this. In it, he says that the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam stated, "The five daily prayers are an expiation for whatever is between them." Then Allah's Messenger said, "Do you see if a man were employed to work and there was, between his house and his place of work, five rivers. So he comes to his work place and he works as Allah wills and becomes dirty or sweaty. Then whenever he came to a river, he bathed. What would remain of the dirt? So, likewise with the prayer - whenever he commits a sin, he supplicates and seeks forgiveness, so whatever came before is forgiven for him." (al-Bazzar & at-Tabarani)
Abu Hurayrah also reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam say, "Do you think that if there were a river at the door of one of you and he bathed in it five times a day, would any dirt remain upon him?" They said, "No dirt would remain upon him." He said, "That is how it is with the five daily prayers; through them Allah washes away the sins." (Bukhari, Muslim, at-Tirmidhi & an-Nasa'i)
We are reminded that in repenting, good deeds expunge evil ones and prayer is one of the best of deeds. From Abu 'Uthman who said: I was with Salman radhiallahu 'anhu beneath a tree. He took a dried twig from the tree and shook it until its leaves fell off. Then he said, "O Abu 'Uthman will you not ask me why I did this?" I said, "And why did you do it?" He said, "Allah's Messenger sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam did the same with me whilst I was with him beneath a tree. He took a dried twig from the tree and shook it until its leaves fell off, then said, 'O Salman! Will you not ask me why I did this?' I said, 'And why did you do it?' He said, 'When the Muslim makes wudhoo and does it well, then he prays the five daily prayers, his sins fall away just as these leaves fall away.' And he said, 'And offer prayers perfectly, at the two ends of the day and in some hours of the night. Verily good deeds remove evil deeds. That is a reminder for the mindful.' (Surah Hud 11:114)" (Ahmad, at-Tirmidhi & at-Tabarani)
(3) Prayer increases one in tranquility
Many people today suffer from mental and emotional turmoil. It seems that we are constantly searching for peace of mind, happiness and contentment... all of which seem to elude us. The root of our problems may be that we are not giving the prayer its due attention. We seem to find it a disruption to our daily activities when it is actually a respite from pressure and tension... a chance for us to renew our faith.
It is through prayer that we remain connected to our Creator. By constantly turning to Allah, we are reminded that we need to rely on only Him and truly achieve peace and comfort. In Surah ar-Ra'd (13: 27-28), it is said, "... Say, [O Muhammad], 'Verily Allah sends astray whom He wills and guides unto Himself those who turn to him in repentance.' Those who believe and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah. Verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest." Indeed, salah is remembrance of Allah.
Rasulullah confirmed that prayer gives peace and tranquility. He would say to Bilal radhiallahu 'anhu, the first muadhdhin, "O Bilal! Give the call for the establishment of prayer. Give us comfort by it!" (Ahmad & Abu Dawud) He also used to say, "Prayer was made the coolness of my eyes." (Ahmad, An-Nasa'i & others)
(4) Prayer allows one to draw close to Allah & seek His Help when one is in need
We are told in the Qur'an, "And seek help in patience and prayer and truly, it is heavy except for those who humble themselves (before Allah)." (Surah al-Baqarah 2:45-46)
The Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam used to always turn to prayer whenever he was distressed. The Muslim should thus do the same.
When a Muslim is in need of direction, he performs Salat-ul-Istikhara and makes du'aa to Allah, asking Him to guide him to that which is good: "... O Allah if you know that this affair is good for me in my religion, my livelihood and for the conclusion of my affairs, for the present and the future, then ordain it for me and make it easy for me, then bless me in it. But if you know that this matter is bad for me in my religion, my livelihood and for the conclusion of my affairs, for the present and the future, then turn it away from me and turn me away from it and ordain for me what is good, wherever it is and make me pleased with it." (al-Bukhari)
When a Muslim is penitent, he prays and supplicates to Allah and forgiveness is assured for him. Abu Bakr radhiallahu 'anhu reported that Allah's Messenger sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, "There is not a man who commits a sin, then stands and performs the purification, then prays and seeks Allah's forgiveness except that Allah forgives him. Then he recited the ayah, 'And those who, having done something to be ashamed of, or wronged their own souls, earnestly bring Allah to mind, and ask for forgiveness for their sins - and who can forgive sins except Allah - and are never obstinate in persisting knowingly in (the wrong) they have done.' (Surah al-i-Imran 3:135)" (at-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, an-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah)
A Muslim can have his need answered should he be regular in his night prayers. Jabir radhiallahu 'anhu said that the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, "Indeed in the night there is an hour in which no Muslim man encounters whilst asking Allah for the good of this world and the Hereafter but that He gives it to him, and that is every night."
(5) Prayer increases one in rank in the sight of Allah and earns one Paradise
Prayer is not merely a mechanical set of moves and recitations. If one performs one's obligatory prayers with full concentration and complements them with superogatory prayers, then he is promised the ultimate prize - a place in Paradise.
Abu Hurayrah radhiallahu 'anhu tells of a man who attained a high station on account of his prayers. He said, "There were two men from the tribe of Quda'ah who accepted Islam and joined Allah's Messenger sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam. Then one of them was martyred and the other died a year later. So Talha ibn Ubaydillah said, 'I saw the one who was delayed (in a dream) and he was entered into Paradise before the martyr so I was surprised at that. So I mentioned it to Allah's Messenger or it was mentioned to Allah's Messenger, so he sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, 'Did he not fast Ramadan after him and pray six thousand more raka'ahs, and such and such Sunnah prayers?'" (Ahmad)
There is a beautiful hadeeth that should encourage us to perform the Duha prayer. Abu ad-Darda radhiallahu 'anhu reported from the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam that "Whoever prays the Duha prayer as two rak'ah then he will not be written among the negligent. Whoever prays four will be written among the worshippers. Whoever prays six will be given sufficiency through it for that day. Whoever prays eight then Allah will make him among the obedient servants and whoever prays twelve then Allah will build a house for him in Paradise and there is no day or night except that Allah showers extra favours upon His servants and Allah has not favoured any of His servants with anything than that which He guides him to His Remembrance." (at-Tabarani)
Sources
1. Al-Qur'an
2. Before You Pray by Anas al-Gawz (Darussalam)
3. Establish Prayers & The Prize Is Paradise by Abdul-Malik al-Qasim (Darussalam)
4. IslamQa.Com
5. Rationale and Benefits of Salat (Islamic Prayer) by Dr. Norlain Dindang Mababaya (Darussalam)
6. Saheeh al-Bukhari
7. Saheeh Muslim
8. The Prayer Its Effect in Increasing Eeman & Purifying the Soul by Shaykh Husayn Al-Awayishah (Al-Hidaayah)