Salah: The Central Foundation of a Believer's Life

The Centrality of Salah in Our Lives

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, the Exalted, has said in His Noble Book, after we seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan:

Recite what has been revealed to you of the Book and establish prayer. Indeed, prayer forbids immorality and evil. And the remembrance of Allah is the greatest. And Allah knows what you do.

And Allah, the Exalted, said:

So when you have finished the prayer, remember Allah while standing, sitting, and on your sides. And when you are secure, establish prayer. Indeed, prayer is a prescribed obligation upon the believers.

And from Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 413; Sunan al-Nasa'i, Hadith 466)

The first thing the servant is judged by on the Day of Resurrection is his prayer. And if it is good, then he has succeeded and prospered. And if it is bad, then he has failed and lost.

Our Pivotal Actions — What Truly Comes First?

When we look at our daily lives, all of us have different schedules, different ways we lead our lives. And we have different degrees of importance we place on different actions — that we all have different cornerstone actions upon which everything else throughout our day rests.

We have one foundational, one pivotal — or a few pivotal — actions, and everything revolves around those actions. For example, a person goes to work, and in this person's mind, his work, his job is the most important thing in his eyes. Such that he is willing to go the extra mile — whether he has to work overtime, whether he has to give up eating, whether he has to give up sleep. He is ready to do that because the importance he places on that action is above all of the rest of his actions throughout his day.

For a student, studying is the most important thing. Such that he is studying into late hours of the night until 1am, 2am. He is getting up a few hours later, he is giving up his food. He is spending 7, 8, 9 years of his life devoted to studying. And so on — everyone has these pivotal actions, these core actions which they view as the most important things in their lives.

What Was the Cornerstone for the Sahabah?

When we do a deep dive into the lives of the Sahabah, what do we see? What was the most pivotal action for them? Because we know the Sahabah are our role models. Rasulullah ﷺ has mentioned that if we stick to the ways of the Sahabah — specifically speaking about the Khulafa' Rashidun — that if you stick to their ways, the Sunnah of my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Khulafa' Rashidun al-Mahdiyyun, then you will be successful.

So what was the most pivotal action in the eyes of the Sahabah and in the eyes of Rasulullah ﷺ? We see that their entire lives revolved around submission and salah. The Sahabah — there was nothing more beloved to them than salah. For example, we know that between the time of Asr and Maghrib, we are not allowed to pray voluntary prayers. So the Sahabah, who had so much love for salah, that when the Maghrib adhan would be called, they would rush for the pillars of the masajid and they would begin praying nawafil. Because of this one hour they were not able to pray, they missed that connection they had with Allah, and they would rush for the pillars to pray.

And Rasulullah ﷺ was no different. Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Nasa'i, Hadith 3940; Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 12293)

The coolness of my eyes has been placed in salah.

I'm giving an example — a person who loves watching YouTube videos, loves watching a show, whatever he loves doing. We see that this person can sit for hours and do that. A person who loves basketball — he loves playing it. He can play for hours. He plays for one hour, two hours, he doesn't get tired. His feet are aching, his muscles are aching, you can see he's sweating, he's tired. He says, "Let's go for one more game." It's because the love for the game is in his heart.

We see that when a person truly loves something, no matter how much he does it — he might be physically tired, he might be mentally tired — but he wants to keep doing it. The love drives him forward.

Rasulullah ﷺ would stand up for salah at night, for tahajjud, and he would spend countless hours standing in the night, crying before Allah. Such that the feet of Rasulullah ﷺ would become swollen — and he would keep standing. We can't imagine this. Why is Rasulullah ﷺ standing for so long? His sins, if he were to have anything, had all been forgiven. But he was still standing up for so many hours at night. It's because of the love he had. That when we assimilate this with whatever things that we love, we get to understand why Rasulullah ﷺ, why the Sahabah were able to stand for so long. It's because the love that they had — no matter how physically tired they were, how mentally tired they were — they were able to stand. All their worries would get washed away.

The Example of Abdullah ibn Zubayr

Just to give a few examples — the example of Abdullah ibn Zubayr. Abdullah ibn Zubayr had such devotion and concentration in salah that one time he was praying in his house. And while he was praying, a snake fell through the roof. It had been on the roof and it fell through, came into the house, and started wrapping around his infant son, Hashim.

Imagine — his beloved son, and a snake is right there, that's death at the doorstep. The whole household is screaming, there is pandemonium in the back. Any of us would not be able to concentrate in our salah. But Abdullah ibn Zubayr continued praying. He continued praying while all the screaming and pandemonium was going on. And after his salah finished, his family asked him, "What are you doing? Did you not see what happened to your son?"

And it's not that he heard what was happening and chose to ignore it. Rather he said, "I didn't realize what was going on. I was so concentrated in my salah, so zoned in, so focused, that I didn't even notice what was happening in my surroundings."

The Example of Abbad ibn Bishr in Ghazwat Dhat al-Riqa'

In the Ghazwah of Dhat al-Riqa', the Muslims had been returning and Rasulullah ﷺ had sent two Sahabah to stand watch for night duty. These two Sahabah were Abbad ibn Bishr and Ammar ibn Yasir, may Allah be pleased with them both. Rasulullah ﷺ had stationed them in case any enemy spy or anyone came. They decided that one of them would pray while the other slept, and they would switch when half the night had passed.

So Abbad ibn Bishr got up and began to perform tahajjud. While he was praying, he did not notice the enemy creeping up from behind. The enemy crept up, knocked an arrow into the bow, and shot it. It lodged itself into the thigh of Abbad ibn Bishr. Imagine the excruciating pain — an arrow lodged into his thigh. But he continued to pray.

The enemy, confused — "Did I miss? What happened?" — knocked another arrow and shot again. The same thing: it lodged itself into his leg, but he continued praying. Finally, a third arrow was shot, and at this he broke the salah and woke up Ammar, saying there was an enemy attack and they needed to alert the Muslims.

Ammar looked at him: "You have three arrows lodged into your body — why did you not wake me up earlier?" He said, "I woke you up at this third arrow so you could alert the Muslims. And I did not break my salah because of the pain. I did not break my salah for any of those reasons. Rather, I wanted to continue praying. I was experiencing so much laddah — so much pleasure from my salah. Such a strong connection I was feeling to Allah. I did not even want to break the prayer. The only reason I broke the prayer was I feared that I might lose my life and not fulfill the responsibility Rasulullah ﷺ had placed upon my shoulders."

This was their concentration. This was the type of connection they had to Allah. This is the manifestation of their love for Allah. And that is why we see that their entire lives revolved around salah.

A Different Perspective — Salah First, Everything Else Second

For us, for example, we say: "I have my work, I have time with my family, I have X, Y, Z — and if I have time to go to the masjid, I will go. If my schedule permits, I will go." The Sahabah had a completely different mindset, even though it may have looked the same on the outside. Yes, they were working and they were going to salah. They had their families and they were going to salah — similar to us. But for them, it was: "I have my salah, and if I have time for my family, I will spend time with them. If I have time for my work, I will go to work." It was a completely different perspective.

It might have looked the same. They might have only been spending 45 minutes in the masjid per day. We might only be spending 45 minutes in the masjid per day. But for them, that was the cornerstone of their life. And we see what effect that had. A group of people living in the desert with nothing around them, once regarded as the lowliest of people, the worst of people — fast forward 20 to 30 years later, where the kings of Persia, the kings of Rome, they're quivering in their boots at the name of Umar ؓ. It was their submission to Allah that took them there.

We see that in every battle — at Badr, they're outmatched 3 to 1. We see so many instances where the Muslims are outnumbered, the odds are against them. But it's because they had Allah with them. And how do we draw closer to Allah? One of the best ways to do this is through salah.

The Battle of Ahzab and the Severity of Missing Salah

In the Battle of Ahzab, Rasulullah ﷺ and the Muslims were locked in battle against the disbelievers. The battle was so intense that they could not break away and spare even a moment to pray salah. And once the battle ceased, we know how merciful Rasulullah ﷺ was.

At the time of Ta'if, where he was tortured mentally and physically, having just lost his wife, having just lost his beloved uncle, with his entire tribe placed under a boycott and famine — and then going to Ta'if as his last hope before hijrah, calling the people, who then stoned him and rejected him — even at that moment, when Jibril came down, Rasulullah ﷺ chose to forgive them when anyone of us, given the chance for revenge, would have taken it. And in many other accounts, Rasulullah ﷺ forgave those who oppressed him, forgave those who wronged him.

But at the moment when the Muslims missed their salah due to the Battle of Ahzab, Rasulullah ﷺ said:

May Allah fill their graves and their houses with fire — they kept us away from the middle prayer.

Rasulullah ﷺ used such severe words because he saw the lofty status of salah. He saw these people had held him back from it, and he cursed them. So we see the tremendous emphasis the Sahabah and Rasulullah ﷺ placed on salah, and how important it was in their eyes. We should weigh this against our own salah.

The Closest Point to Allah — The Sujud

When these Sahabah would stand for salah, it was as if they were a straight board, a wooden board erected into the ground — anything that comes against it doesn't move it, it is rigid. That's how their salah was.

And there is a hadith:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 482)

The closest a person can be to Allah is while he is prostrating.

Think about it — the most honorable part of a person's body is his face. For example, when glass shatters nearby, what does a person automatically do? He ducks down and covers his face. The most honorable part of our body is our face. And in our salah, we place that most honorable part of our body on the ground before Allah. We are lowering ourselves before Allah, submitting ourselves before Allah.

But imagine if I'm standing in salah with my face down on the ground, but I'm thinking about something else. Yes, physically my face is down, physically I'm prostrating to Allah — but where is my heart? I may physically be in the masjid, but my heart is still at home, my heart is still at my job, my heart is still with my family. What is the point of such an empty, hollow sajdah toward Allah?

We need to work on our salah. The purpose of our salah is not just to come and go through some motions — to do some type of physical exercise and then leave. Rather, the salah is supposed to be a way to fix our entire life. That if I'm coming to salah, and in these 5 minutes, these 10 minutes, I'm able to put every single limb where it's supposed to be — my eyes focused on the ground, my heart connected to Allah, every single moment thinking about Allah — then similarly, I'm training myself to be like that outside of salah as well.

But if I cannot even manage that in salah — for these 5 minutes that are dedicated solely for that — how can I ever do that outside of salah? How can the help of Allah ever be with us when these 5 minutes, which are supposed to be dedicated solely to Allah, we cannot even manage?

How Can We Improve Our Salah?

It's not going to happen overnight. So how can we make our salah even a little bit closer to the Sahabah, a little bit closer to Rasulullah ﷺ?

1. Prepare Before You Pray — Treat It as a Package

We don't view salah as just a unit in and of itself. Rather, we view the wudu before, the walking toward salah, the drive toward salah — we view that as a package within salah. When I leave my house, let's say there's a 5-minute drive to the masjid — I leave and I'm already doing dhikr, slowly letting the dunya seep away from my body. I slowly start thinking about salah. If I come 2 to 3 minutes early, I sit down, I don't talk, I don't look at my phone — I put all that away, make sure my phone is on silent, and then I start thinking about Allah.

For example, when you see a fan running — slowly it starts, slowly, slowly, and then it starts going fast. That is similar to how we become in salah. When we come in, the dunya and our jobs and our family — everything we are thinking about outside — is still in our mind. That slowly needs to be unwound. But if we can do that effectively beforehand, then we can start concentrating on Allah from the very first rak'ah instead of the third.

2. Elongate Your Salah and Pre-Plan What You Will Recite

We try to elongate our salah. We don't just pray the same short surahs every time — إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ and قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ — but rather we pre-plan what we are going to recite. We read longer surahs, maybe Surah al-Mulk. We dedicate one salah in the day in which we are going to try to recite one page, two pages — however much we know — and we dedicate that time for Allah.

Similarly with wudu — while we are doing our wudu, when I'm putting water on my arm, I imagine that my sins on my arm are falling off. If it's hard for us to imagine at first, we slowly work toward it.

3. Train Yourself Gradually — Don't Give Up

If a person can't concentrate on his salah, that's fine — but if he's not even working on his salah, then that is a problem. If I can't concentrate, that when I say Allahu Akbar I start thinking about something else, I get distracted by the waswas and the whispers Shaytan is putting in my mind — then I slowly train myself. No one said it was going to be easy. When I pray my salah and I start thinking about anything else, I slowly divert my attention back to Allah. I get distracted again, then I try again. And slowly, slowly, you exercise and train yourself to only think about Allah in your salah.

For example, Thabit al-Bunani, a famous tabi'i, he said: "I worked on my salah for 25 years." For 25 years he worked on his ruku', worked on his connection to Allah. And after those 25 years he said: "When I said Allahu Akbar, it was as if I threw everything behind me. It was as if I was standing on top of my grave. It was as if Jannah was on my right and Jahannam was on my left. It was as if I was standing on the bridge of Sirat." We can barely understand what that even truly means — but we see the effort he put in over 25 years trying to perfect his own salah.

4. Do Not Miss a Single Salah — And Make Up What You've Missed

We try not to miss a single salah. Because if we're missing salah, the importance of it will never be built up in our hearts. If a person has 500 missed prayers in his account, it's very easy to think: "What's one more?" If he has 600, "What's one more?" If he has 3,000, "What's one more salah to miss?" But if a person makes an active effort to make up the qada and missed salah that he has, then that importance will come back. A person who has zero missed prayers in his account — how can he miss even a single one?

So we make a schedule to make up our missed salah. We miss our salah and we shouldn't have done that — but we try to show Allah: "Ya Allah, I made a mistake, but I am trying to rectify it. Even if I die while making up my salah, Ya Allah, at least I died trying." We're not saying to make up 100 salah per day — but rather, let's say after every Dhuhr, we make up one Dhuhr. After every Asr, we make up one Asr. And slowly, whether it takes one year, two years, or three years, we make up those missed prayers. Just two or three missed salah per day, but on a consistent schedule.

And how do we know how many missed salah we have? Some of us may have years' worth of missed prayers, some may have months. We estimate. We sit down and think: "In this year, I prayed maybe half my Fajrs. I definitely prayed all my salah in Ramadan, so we exclude that." We sit down and meticulously calculate it. Do not try to overestimate — don't just say, "I missed all those years, let me put all of them down." Rather, really sit down and think: "I prayed all my salah in Ramadan. Yes, those Eids, I prayed my salah. On Jumu'ah, I prayed my Jumu'ah." Try to calculate all the salah you missed, sit down, really think about it, and make a consistent schedule — even if it's only a few salah per day. It is better than nothing. The point is to try to make them up and show Allah that we are making an effort.

So may Allah grant us the ability to hold salah in the highest importance and make up all our missed prayers. And the last prayer is, Alhamdulillahi Rabbil 'Alamin.