Salah: The Cornerstone of a Believer's Life and Success

The Transformative Power of Salah

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. We praise Him and send blessings upon His Noble Messenger. Allah, the Exalted, has said in His Noble Book, after we seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:

When you have finished your prayer, remember Allah while standing, sitting, and lying on your sides. When you have calmed down, establish prayer. Indeed, prayer is a prescribed duty for the believers.

And Allah, the Exalted, said:

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 from Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, he said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 413)

The first thing the servant is held accountable for on the Day of Resurrection is his prayer. And if it is done right, he has succeeded. And if it is corrupted, he has lost.

The Cornerstone Action

We see that in our lives today, there are many different actions that we do — whether inconsistently or on a routine basis. And the rate at which we do these actions is based upon the varying levels of importance these actions have in our eyes. For example, for a certain individual, he goes to work. And now, this is the cornerstone action of his routine — that every single action that he does revolves around him going to work. That if one day he has to work overtime, he has to work extra hours, he is ready to do that. That every single thing besides working becomes flexible. He is ready to give up time with his family, he is ready to give up his time alone, or whatever it may be, to sacrifice it for that one pivotal action that he sees.

And what is considered that cornerstone action varies from person to person. For example, for a student, the most important thing might be studying. That if he has a test, he may spend long hours into the night studying, sacrificing sleep, maybe even forgetting to eat.

And now, when we dive into the lives of the sahabah, we see what was this cornerstone action for the sahabah and for Rasulullah ﷺ.

The Salah of the Sahabah

Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr and the Snake

When we look at the life of Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr رضي الله عنه — a sahabi known for being courageous, known for being a person who worshipped a lot — that one day he was in his house and he was performing salah. While he was performing his salah, a snake came from the roof. And his young son, Hashim, was sitting on the side. The snake came and it coiled around his son. Now, obviously this raised alarms, and they were shouting as the other family members tried to take that snake away so that it would not kill the son.

And while this entire commotion was going on, Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr رضي الله عنه remained in his salah. He continued praying. And this wasn't because he saw his son was in danger and decided to ignore that. Rather, Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr رضي الله عنه was so engrossed in his salah that he was not mentally aware of what was going on around him.

And this is not just with Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr رضي الله عنه or one specific sahabi. There are countless stories like this in the lives of the sahabah رضي الله عنهم which show the importance they gave to salah — how much concentration and devotion they had in their salah.

'Abbad ibn Bishr and the Three Arrows

In an expedition when Nabi ﷺ and the sahabah رضي الله عنهم were coming back from Dhat al-Riqa', on the way back they stopped and set up camp. It was nighttime, so Rasulullah ﷺ asked, "Who will stand guard in the night in case any enemy approaches?" Two sahabah رضي الله عنهم — 'Abbad ibn Bishr and 'Ammar ibn Yasir رضي الله عنهما — volunteered for the task.

And 'Abbad ibn Bishr رضي الله عنه said to 'Ammar رضي الله عنه: "I'll stand guard first for the first half of the night. You can go to sleep, and then we'll switch off." So seeing that he had a few hours in front of him, he began to pray — Tahajjud salah.

And as he was praying his salah, he did not notice an enemy creeping up behind him. The enemy saw that he was just standing there, knocked an arrow, and shot it. The arrow struck him — but to the enemy's amazement, he just kept praying. Confused, perhaps thinking the arrow had missed, he shot a second arrow. Once again, nothing. No response. No reaction. And when he shot that third arrow, 'Abbad finally broke his salah. He broke his salah and woke up 'Ammar ibn Yasir رضي الله عنه, telling him there was an enemy nearby and to wake up the other Muslims.

And 'Ammar ibn Yasir رضي الله عنه, seeing that he was bleeding profusely, said, "Why did you not wake me up earlier?" — amazed by the scene in front of him, with three arrows lodged in his body. So 'Abbad ibn Bishr رضي الله عنه responded: "I didn't break my salah because I was in pain or any of those reasons. Rather, I was experiencing so much laddah — so much pleasure — in my salah that I actually wanted to continue, despite that third arrow being shot. But the only reason I broke my salah was out of fear that I may lose my life because of blood loss. And if I lost my life, then I would not be fulfilling the responsibility Rasulullah ﷺ had given me of guarding the Muslim camp. Otherwise, if it had not been for that, I would have continued praying."

The Vast Disparity Between Our Salah and Theirs

Now when we hear stories like this, we are shocked. We hardly believe it. How can they be so engrossed in their salah? How can they have so much concentration in their salah? And we think, we introspect, we think about our own salahs, and we see the vast disparity between the sahabah رضي الله عنهم and our salah. That even if a fly were to come on us, that distracts us from our salah. Someone talking behind us distracts us.

And now we see examples like this — this vast difference between our own salahs and the salah of the sahabah رضي الله عنهم — and we begin to think: what is the reason? Why is there this vast difference between us? We also pray five times a day; the sahabah رضي الله عنهم prayed five times a day. What is causing this vast difference?

Although we might do the same action as the sahabah — although we might also come for Fajr, Asr, Maghrib, whatever salah it is — the baatini aspect, the inner aspect of the salah, is completely different. That when I start praying my salah and I say الله أكبر and I raise my hands, do I actually feel like I have taken the dunya and thrown it behind my back?

Salah is dialogue — munajat — it is a close conversation between us and Allah. How can we ever have a close dialogue with Allah if we are still thinking about the dunya? If we are still thinking about what we did five minutes ago? If we are still thinking about what we are going to eat after salah, what we are going to do after salah?

And every single posture of salah is submission to Allah. That if I am simply doing the actions but my heart is not there, my heart is not present, my heart is somewhere else, then how is that true submission to Allah? Imagine that we are in ruku', that we are in sujood — we are putting our face, the most honorable part of our body, on the floor before Allah. Or at least it should be before Allah. But when I am in my sajdah, am I truly thinking about Allah? Or am I thinking about something else? If I am not thinking about Allah, if I do not feel like I am humbling myself before Allah in my sajdah, then who are we making sajdah for?

When we are praying our salah, it should feel like this type of dialogue. It should feel like everything else has left and we are standing before Allah. And we saw this in the stories of the sahabah رضي الله عنهم, and we see it in the life of Rasulullah ﷺ himself.

Rasulullah ﷺ would be at home, talking normally with his family. And then the adhan would be called. And when the adhan would be called, Rasulullah ﷺ would get up and go towards salah, walking through them as if he did not even know them. And what changed? One second ago he was smiling, joking, and the next second he's walking as if he does not even recognize them — because he heard the adhan, the call towards Allah, and the high importance that had. He dropped everything else and he left.

Rasulullah ﷺ's Du'a at the Battle of al-Ahzab

And we see Rasulullah ﷺ, who was sent as رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ. In a hadith, Rasulullah ﷺ mentions:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2599)

"I have only been sent as a mercy." Now Rasulullah ﷺ, who would leave no stone unturned in giving hidayah and making du'a for people — we see one of the few times where he sent la'na, where he made du'a against a group of people. In the Battle of al-Ahzab, the Muslims were locked in battle against the kuffar, and the battle was so intense that they were not able to break away and perform their salah. And because of the heat of the battle, the entire salah time expired. And then Rasulullah ﷺ remarked:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 596; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 627)

"May Allah fill their houses and their graves with fire, because they held us back from salah." That was the high regard they had — that every single thing in their life revolved around salah.

Making Salah the Cornerstone of Our Lives

Now we have to think: yes, our job is important, all these other needs that we have are very important — but what is the cornerstone of our life? Is it that I'm at work, I'm with my family, and if I have time to pray, if I have time to come to the masjid, then I'll do it? Or is it that I must come to the masjid, so I must make time to go?

It's a very small difference, but it's a very important difference. In one, we're making time for the salah — the salah times are flexible. If I have time for it, then I'll pray; if I don't, then I'll just pray at home or if I have time. In the other, it is that I must pray — that I must make time, whether I think I can or cannot. I must make some time for my salah, I must make some time to come to the masjid. And when this perspective changes, then we'll begin to see a change.

Allah Ta'ala says in the Qur'an:

Indeed, salah prevents you — it stops you from going toward lewdness, it prevents you and stops you from going towards those things which are wrong. And there is a very famous hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ — that a man came to Rasulullah ﷺ and said: "O Rasulullah, what do you say about a person who prays salah, but then after that he goes and steals?" And Rasulullah ﷺ said in response:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 7816)

"His salah will stop him from doing that action."

Now, when we hear this, we might become puzzled: I'm praying my salah, but I'm still finding it hard to leave this habit — I'm still finding it hard to do this, I'm still finding it hard to do that. And the ayah is saying that if a person prays, then it will stop him from doing those things which are wrong. But we're missing a key factor which is necessary for that: the salah must be in its proper place, performed in the way it's supposed to be performed.

All throughout the Qur'an we see: أَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ — establish the salah — how? عَلَىٰ هَيْئَتِهِ الْمَعْهُودَةِ — in the way that you have been commanded to do it. That with khushu' and khudu' — meaning that your limbs are exactly where they're supposed to be. You're looking where you're supposed to look. Your feet are exactly how they're supposed to be. Your hands are where they're supposed to be. That's khushu' — outwardly.

But then there's khudu' — inwardly. That a person in his heart is concentrating towards Allah. It is as if he knows that Allah Ta'ala is seeing me — he is aware of that every single moment of his salah.

When a person performs his salah with khushu', when a person performs his salah with khudu' — these two aspects — then that salah will be life-transforming. It will begin to seep into all of his other actions, and his life will transform. But if a person just thinks of salah as up-and-down actions, and when he's praying his salah his heart is somewhere else, then that salah won't necessarily have the same effect.

And when we look into the lives of the sahabah رضي الله عنهم — seeing the huge feats they were able to perform in terms of ibadah, reading entire khatms in one night, performing 100 rak'ahs in one day — it boggles our mind. But then it starts to make sense: because their salah was so perfect, that seeped into every single one of their actions, and when that seeped into every single one of their actions, their lives transformed.

And this links back to the hadith which Rasulullah ﷺ mentions, reported in Tirmidhi on the authority of Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 413)

The first thing a person will be asked about on the Day of Judgment will be his salah. فَإِنْ صَلُحَتْ فَقَدْ أَفْلَحَ وَأَنْجَحَ — if it is found to be sound, then he is successful. Why? Because if his salah is sound, the effect will seep into all of his other actions, and all of his other actions will also be correct. But then the hadith goes on: فَإِنْ فَسَدَتْ فَقَدْ خَابَ وَخَسِرَ — if it is fasid, if it is not proper, then if this person cannot even perform salah properly, the effect that will seep into the rest of his actions will be just as lacking.

How to Fix Our Salah

So now, when we hear this, we think: okay, how can I begin to fix my salah? How can I make it closer to the salah of the sahabah, the salah of Rasulullah ﷺ? We need to actively make an effort for this.

When we are performing our salah, we cannot think of salah just by itself in a vacuum. Rather, there are certain prerequisites for salah. For example, a person will walk to salah, he will perform wudu. So when a person is performing wudu, he is getting ready for salah — he should already be in the mindset as if he is already in salah. What do I mean by that? That while he is making wudu, he should only be focusing on Allah. He should be thinking that every single limb he is washing — as the water falls, his sins are falling. That when he is already sitting there before salah, maybe just 2–3 minutes, he begins to think about Allah. He begins to remove all the thoughts of whatever he was doing before, whatever he is going to do after — he starts to slowly filter that out. So that now when the salah starts, he is already in the zone, he is ready. Right when he says الله أكبر, he has already thrown the dunya behind him, and he is thinking: I am in front of my Lord, Allah.

Learning the Meaning of What We Recite

Another thing that we can try to implement is learning what we are saying. Many times we are reciting these surahs — we are reciting قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ, قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ, إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ — but we have no idea what that means. If we take the extra step to learn what these verses are saying, that will create an extra connection in our salah. We will know what Allah is actually saying to us.

And beyond that, when we are trying to learn — how do we go about that? We can pick up translations, we can attend different programs of ulama. Our prime opportunity is right here at Dar al-Salam, where the Tanweer Intensive will be starting. We have different programs on the weekend. The Tanweer Intensive will focus for one year on learning Arabic — students learning the Arabic language intensively, learning the meanings of the Qur'an, learning the meanings of different ad'iyah. Not only that, but they go into books of fiqh, where they learn the different matters of halal and haram — what breaks the salah, what is considered mustahab, what is considered necessary for the salah such that if you don't have it, the salah will break, and what is considered something which is good to have. Not so that you can leave it, but so that you can add it to your salah.

Maintaining the Habit of Salah — Making Up Missed Prayers

Another thing is: how do we continuously pray our salah? One thing is the quality of our salah, but the second thing is how do we continuously maintain the habit of never missing a single salah?

Number one is that, yes, the importance has to be there. But if a person has no qada' salahs, no salahs to make up, then it is very easy — because he knows his slate is clean. If my slate is clean, how can I go and miss a salah? The importance will always be there.

But what if a person has a lot of missed salahs? Then what does he do? Number one, he starts making those salahs up. Because now he is building the same level of importance — that every single salah I miss, I will slowly start making that up. And so he will be discouraged from ever missing a salah. And if he does miss a salah, he will make it up right away. How will a person estimate that? He can just look to see: okay, I didn't pray salah from this year to this year, I didn't pray salah from this month to this month. He can just estimate — it doesn't have to be an exact number — but he estimates how many salahs he's missed and he slowly starts making them up, building that importance for salah.

So when he builds his importance for salah, and he continuously — number one — starts praying his salah, and number two — builds the quality of his salah, then that salah will have a transformative effect on his entire life.

Closing Du'a

So may Allah grant us the ability to continuously improve in our salah and to gain this khushu' — this awareness of where every single part of our body should be — and this khudu' — where our heart is connected to Allah in our salah.

وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

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