The Importance of the Prayer - Sheikh Hafeezullah Khan

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنُؤْمِنُ بِهِ وَنَتَوَكَّلُ عَلَيْهِ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ سَيِّدَنَا وَمَوْلَانَا مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

أَمَّا بَعْدُ فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ

The Central Role of Salah in Islam

Dear brothers and sisters, the Quran and Hadith clearly state the importance of Salah. It is the pillar of Islam without which the building of Islam will not stand. And it is Salah that was first made obligatory among all types of worship.

We can see its importance from the fact that Salah is obligatory in every situation. For example, whether you are travelling or you are at home, whether you are in a state of war or at peace, whether you are healthy or unwell. But there are obviously different rulings and methods according to the situation.

And for those who refrain from praying, the Prophet ﷺ said about them that the difference between a person and kufr is only the Salah.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 246)

In another hadith, the Prophet ﷺ says that on the Day of Judgment, we will be questioned first and foremost about our prayers. If our prayers are perfect, then our other deeds will also be considered as perfect. And if our Salah is imperfect, then likewise our other deeds will be considered as the same.

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

What Does Perfection of Salah Mean?

So the question is — what does the perfection of Salah mean in this hadith? Brothers and sisters, we know that the deeds accepted by Allah are those which please Allah alone and those with which Allah becomes happy. The Prophets of Allah used to pray to Allah for such deeds.

As in Surah An-Naml, we can see the du'a which Prophet Sulaiman ﷺ made to Allah, where he said: O Allah, give me the opportunity to do deeds which please You.

The question is — what deeds does Allah will be happy with? No doubt, these will be those that are done to please Allah only. If we target to please others, then indeed, Allah will not be happy. Therefore, the acceptance of our every action and deed is conditional upon the intention made.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1; Sahih Muslim, Book 33, Hadith 4692)

As mentioned in the hadith — every action will indeed be judged on the basis of our intentions. So if we do something to please Allah, then indeed, He will be happy. And if we do something to please anyone else, then they will be happy, but Allah will be displeased. Therefore, for the perfection of our prayers, the first condition is that our intention is to please Allah only. And that is sincerity.

The Second Condition: Following the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ

The second thing which Allah is pleased with is that we perform acts and deeds as they have been ordered by Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. The correct method of praying has been shown to us through Muhammad ﷺ. As Muhammad ﷺ says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 631)

Pray as you have seen me praying. So the second condition is that prayer should be performed as taught by the Prophet ﷺ.

But the state of us as Muslims today is that some of us pray on the Eid day only, and some on Fridays only. There are very few that pray regularly five times a day. And among them, the majority follow the methods they have seen and learned from their parents. Many people don't bother finding out what the proper and acceptable method of prayer is.

In terms of sincerity in our prayers, mashaAllah, most of us do pray with sincerity. But most people don't give attention to the second condition — that Salah must be according to the Sunnah. Although the Prophet ﷺ clearly said: Pray as you have seen me praying.

So if we are regular in our prayers, then we must learn the proper method of prayer as taught by the Prophet ﷺ. It is amazing — praying is a command from Allah, it has been taught by the Prophet ﷺ, and the Prophet ﷺ has even said pray like I do. But still, we link our Salah to other scholars, to other peoples and ulama, saying that we pray like such-and-such imam and such-and-such scholar.

Brothers and sisters, we have to remember that the deen that we follow is the name of obedience — and whose obedience? Only the Prophet ﷺ. If we pray to please Allah, then we will have to be obedient and follow the method of the Prophet ﷺ. As Allah says:

Say to the Muslims: if you love Allah, if you want to show your love towards Allah through your prayers, then follow me — and Allah will love you and forgive your sins.

And if we pray according to our own desires — only because our heart does not want to change the way we have been following since our childhood — here we are following our desires and not following the Prophet ﷺ's method. Brothers and sisters, here we need to remember the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ — a very long hadith — which he told three companions who wanted to worship more than the Prophet ﷺ himself. He said to them:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5063; Sahih Muslim, Book 16, Hadith 3469)

By Allah, I am more submissive to Allah and more afraid of Him than you. Yet, I fast, I break my fast too, I do sleep, and I also marry. So he who does not follow my way, follow my Sunnah, is not from me.

The Third Condition: Khushu — Humility and Concentration

The perfection of Salah will not only be when we pray following the Sunnah physically — as we do sujood, ruku', and qiyam etc. — but if our heart and our mind are not fully concentrated on the prayers, then still the Salah will not be considered perfect. Because we are missing out on the purpose of Salah. And the purpose of Salah is the remembrance of Allah.

The person who purifies himself, remembers the name of his Lord, and prays shall indeed be successful.

And in another place, Allah says:

Therefore, the prayer that is without the remembrance of Allah becomes a little bit meaningless. And the remembrance of Allah will no doubt be in the Salah that is prayed with humbleness, with khushu, and full concentration. As Allah says:

Successful are the believers who are indeed humble in their prayers.

What is Khushu?

Khushu means calmness, tranquility, and humility. Khushu also means that the hearts stand before Allah in humility and submission.

Brothers and sisters, we need to remember that the Shaytan's biggest target is to lead astray those people who want to follow the straight path. He attacks them. The Shaytan doesn't need to target those who are already on the path of sins. As he said to Allah:

Because you have sent me astray, surely I will lie in wait for them on Your straight path. I will come to them from before them and behind them, from their right, from their left — and You will not find most of them as thankful ones.

So the Shaytan targets mostly those who do good deeds, who want to do good deeds — especially the Salah, the prayer. So one of his most significant plots becomes to divert people from Salah by all possible means, and to whisper to them during their prayer, so as to take away from them the joy of this worship and make them lose the reward for it.

As Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: The first thing you will lose from your religion is khushu. And the last thing you will lose of your religion is Salah.

How to Achieve Khushu in Our Prayers

Brothers and sisters, yes, it is easy to say that we should pray with humbleness, with khushu. But how do we achieve this and perfect our prayers?

First: Understand What We Recite

Whatever we say in our Salah, whatever we read in our Salah, we should understand what we are reciting. And this will enable us to feel it and be humble — from Allahu Akbar to taslim. If we understand whatever we read, then our heart will also prostrate along with our body.

Likewise, when Allah made alcohol haram stage by stage, one step was that when you come to pray, do not consume alcohol, or you will not know what you have read in your prayer. As Allah says:

Approach not Salah when you are in a drunken state, until you know the meaning of what you are saying in your Salah.

Brothers and sisters, this verse makes it clear that there is no benefit in offering the Salah in which you do not understand what you are reading, what you are saying, what you are asking. But still, it is very sad to know that we pray all our lives not knowing the meaning of what we say in our prayer. If we ask someone to learn the meaning of the prayer, they make the excuse that they are old now and it is too late to learn. Brothers and sisters, there is no age limit to learning about the deen.

Surah Al-Fatihah is a complete du'a. If a Muslim reads Surah Al-Fatihah with full understanding — in a five-times-daily Salah, if he is only praying the obligatory prayers, he will read Surah Al-Fatihah 17 times. When he asks Allah 17 times with full awareness, won't his du'a be accepted? When he says:

O Allah, show me the straight path — the path of those upon whom You have bestowed favours. He will say it with full awareness. But someone who has been praying for years yet is involved in different haram deeds and different sins — what is the reason? The words of اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ are not coming from the heart.

Second: Focus and Awareness During Prayer

Another way to attain humbleness is to focus in our Salah. As the Prophet ﷺ said: when you worship Allah, you should imagine that you are seeing Allah. And if you cannot imagine that, then you must believe that Allah is watching you. When we are praying, if our focus is on Allah, then Allah focuses on us too. But if we take our focus away from Allah, then Allah's focus will be away from us too.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 50; Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 8 — Hadith of Jibril)

Third: Offering Nawafil (Voluntary Prayers)

In addition to obligatory prayers, the offering of nawafil prayers also increases our humbleness. Praying nawafil is a way to get close to Allah and gain Allah's love. And indeed, whoever gains the love and closeness of Allah, he automatically becomes humble in his worship.

Why Islam Gives Such Importance to Salah

Brothers and sisters, you will have realized from this what importance Salah has in the life of a Muslim. And that the Prophet ﷺ reminded us about it before his death — he said this will be the first matter to be judged on the Day of Judgment, and the rest of our deeds will rely on the perfectness of our prayer.

The question is — why does Islam give such importance to Salah? We can say that the most important aspect of our life is the relationship that we have with Allah. If that relationship with Allah is not proper, is not strong — while we may have relationships with powerful and famous people in the world — then these relationships here are of no value or gain.

And how do we form the relationship with Allah? It can only be done through our Salah, through our prayer. And depending on the perfection of our Salah, our relationship with Allah will be stronger. Therefore, it is very important that we all realize exactly the place and importance of prayer in our life. And when we do realize that, we will try our best to improve our prayers and make our prayers correct and sound.

May Allah bless us all and guide us towards the straight path.

Salah — The Prayer Itself

The following recitations were made during the prayer: