Why is salaah so important? What is the point of doing this physical ritual daily?
Salaah is du'aa. Du'aa means to call out, and praying to Allah is really calling out to Allah. Salaah also comes from 'silah', which means to come close to. We come close to Allah by calling out to to Him, talking to Him, and that is salaah.
Our salaah is a physical act of worship, much like other acts of worship like fasting or hajj, for Islam is a religion in which we submit to Allah by our hearts, tongues and limbs. This, however, means that we shouldn't forget the tongue and heart aspect of salaah. We recite many adhkaar (remembrance of Allah), du'aas and the Quran in salaah, and by doing so we remember Allah in our hearts and talk to Him, and by physically standing and bowing and prostrating, we submit our will over our limbs to Him as well.
Before starting any prayer, we intend to stand before Allah and pray that salaah, and intentions are in the heart. Then we say, Allahu Akbar- Allah is Greater, and raise our hands. This is our declaration of Allah's greatness by our tongues. Then we recite surah al fatiha, in which at first we speak of Allah's names and attributes, like that all praise belongs to Him and that He is the Most Merciful, the Continuously Merciful, that he is the Master of the Day of Judgment. Then, in awe of His names and attributes, we declare that we worship Him alone and ask Him to guide us to the straight path, instead of the path of those who got His anger or the lost. Then we recite the Quran, which is that very guidance from Allah that we asked for. Then, out of humility, we say Allahu Akbar- Allah is Greater, and bow in front of Him. In rukoo', we say subhaana Rabbi al-A'dheem (I glorify my Lord, the Magnificent One). Then as we stand straight from rukoo', we say sami'a Llahu liman hamidah, which means Allah heard who praised Him, and once standing we say Rabbanaa laka l-hamd, which means our Lord, to you belongs all praise. Then we declare Allahu Akbar and prostrate to Him, and say subhaana Rabbi al-A'laa (I glorify my Lord, the Most High). We sit between to prostrations and ask for Allah's forgiveness by saying Rabbi ghfir lee (my Lord, forgive me). Finally, we sit and say the tashahhud, a prayer taught by the prophet ﷺ in which we also declare that there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad ﷺ is His slave and messenger. After that, we send salutations upon the prophet ﷺ and make du'aa, and say salaam by looking at right first, then left, by which we pray for peace upon those on our right and those on our left, including the humans praying with us and the angels on our shoulders.
It should be noted that when praying, we should feel the things we say on our tongues and the things we do with our bodies in our hearts, for that is how you get khushoo', which is a prerequisite for prayer.
When we understand what the acts in salaah really mean, we start to appreciate the fact that we have to do it five times a day. After all, we were created to worship Allah, and du'aa and dhikr are worship. May Allah give us understanding and allow us to pray with khushoo'.
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Da'wah to Muslims
Non-FictionWe Muslims are humans too, and as such we are forgetful. It is natural to forget and make mistakes, but we must repent and follow the deen right. And this is a reminder for that.
