All praise is truly Allah's. We praise Him, seek His help and ask His forgiveness. We take refuge in Allah from the bad of our selves and from the evil of our actions. Whomever Allah guides, none can lead him astray. And whomever He leads astray, there is none to guide him. I testify that there is no one worthy of worship but Allah alone, without any partner to Him. And I testify that Muḥammad is His slave and messenger. May Allah's prayers and peace be upon our master Muḥammad, and upon his family and companions.
Now then:
Dear brothers and sisters! Know that nothing – apart from belief in Allah and His Messenger – will be more important to you throughout your entire life than the prayer (ṣalāh). The ṣalāh is the greatest pillar of this religion after the shahādah. It is the best and the most important of all the acts of worship done by the human body. Many Qur’ānic āyāt and ḥadīths demonstrate this point.
For example, Allah's Messenger ﷺ said in a ḥadīth qudsī that Allah ta‘ālā said:
"Indeed, I have made obligatory upon your ummah five prayers, and I have taken upon myself a promise that whoever is mindful about offering them at their appointed time, I shall admit him into Paradise, and whoever is not mindful about them, then there is no such promise from Me for him." (Narrated by Abū Dāwūd)
Thus, Allah may either forgive him or punish him. You don't want to risk being punished by the Lord of all existence, do you?
Also, what were the last counsel of the Prophet ﷺ before he left this world?
"The ṣalāh, the ṣalāh (i.e. be observant about ṣalāh, guard the ṣalāh, establish ṣalāh), and fear Allah regarding those whom your right hands possess." (Narrated by Abū Dāwūd, as reported by Sayyidunā ‘Alī (‘alayhi s-salām))
This was his last piece of advice for us before he breathed his last.
In the Qur’ān, Allah frequently describes the true believers and the successful as being those who would establish the prayer. The Qur’ān also mentions how when the believers are in Jannah, they will look down and see those in Hell and ask them,
"What put you into Saqar (i.e. Hellfire)?" (Qur’ān 74:42)
And so what's the first thing they'll say in reply?
"They will say, 'We were not of those who prayed.'" (Qur’ān 74:43)
We have many examples from the sīrah too. I'll only mention one. Now, how did the Prophet ﷺ usually receive commandments from Allah? Angel Jibrīl would come down from the heavens to the Earth with the message and deliver it to Allah's Messenger ﷺ. But with the commandment of ṣalāh, things happened differently. Instead of Jibrīl coming down from the heavens to Earth to deliver the commandment to the Prophet ﷺ, the Prophet ﷺ was now brought up from Earth to the heavens, where he would receive this mighty commandment – the commandment of ṣalāh.
Dear brothers and sisters, you've heard of the importance of the ṣalāh. So ensure that you remain regular with your prayers. Allah only asked that you do five. Just five. The initial command was fifty prayers a day. But He, out of His extreme mercy for you and me, reduced it to five. From fifty to five. So for those of you who aren't praying these five, come on – it's not a big ask. It won't take up more than 20-30 minutes of your 24 hour – or 1440 minute – day. How many minutes – or hours – do you spend on your phone per day? On the internet? On games? On social media? Sending and reading messages? And yet 30 minutes a day to offer ṣalāh and recite or listen to Allah's message for you is too much? 30 minutes a day to pray to your Creator is too much? So from this day on, let us resolve to get our five prayers right. If waking up for Fajr is your problem, try preparing from the night before. Sleep earlier. Don't have too much for dinner. Get an alarm and put it far from your bed. Do the dhikr before sleeping. Motivate yourself, for Fajr and for the other four prayers. And for those of us who are already praying the five, let's strive to go further. Pray more of the sunnah prayers, pray in congregation (for men), improve the quality of your ṣalāh, – don't pray like a bird pecking its head on the ground – learn the meanings of what you're saying, and so on.
I end with a ḥadīth where Allah's Messenger ﷺ said:
Now then:
Dear brothers and sisters! Know that nothing – apart from belief in Allah and His Messenger – will be more important to you throughout your entire life than the prayer (ṣalāh). The ṣalāh is the greatest pillar of this religion after the shahādah. It is the best and the most important of all the acts of worship done by the human body. Many Qur’ānic āyāt and ḥadīths demonstrate this point.
For example, Allah's Messenger ﷺ said in a ḥadīth qudsī that Allah ta‘ālā said:
إِنِّي فَرَضْتُ عَلَى أُمَّتِكَ خَمْسَ صَلَوَاتٍ وَعَهِدْتُ عِنْدِي عَهْدًا أَنَّهُ مَنْ جَاءَ يُحَافِظُ عَلَيْهِنَّ لِوَقْتِهِنَّ أَدْخَلْتُهُ الْجَنَّةَ وَمَنْ لَمْ يُحَافِظْ عَلَيْهِنَّ فَلاَ عَهْدَ لَهُ عِنْدِي
Thus, Allah may either forgive him or punish him. You don't want to risk being punished by the Lord of all existence, do you?
Also, what were the last counsel of the Prophet ﷺ before he left this world?
الصَّلاَةَ الصَّلاَةَ اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ فِيمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ
This was his last piece of advice for us before he breathed his last.
In the Qur’ān, Allah frequently describes the true believers and the successful as being those who would establish the prayer. The Qur’ān also mentions how when the believers are in Jannah, they will look down and see those in Hell and ask them,
مَا سَلَكَكُمْ فِي سَقَرَ
And so what's the first thing they'll say in reply?
قَالُوا لَمْ نَكُ مِنَ الْمُصَلِّينَ
We have many examples from the sīrah too. I'll only mention one. Now, how did the Prophet ﷺ usually receive commandments from Allah? Angel Jibrīl would come down from the heavens to the Earth with the message and deliver it to Allah's Messenger ﷺ. But with the commandment of ṣalāh, things happened differently. Instead of Jibrīl coming down from the heavens to Earth to deliver the commandment to the Prophet ﷺ, the Prophet ﷺ was now brought up from Earth to the heavens, where he would receive this mighty commandment – the commandment of ṣalāh.
Dear brothers and sisters, you've heard of the importance of the ṣalāh. So ensure that you remain regular with your prayers. Allah only asked that you do five. Just five. The initial command was fifty prayers a day. But He, out of His extreme mercy for you and me, reduced it to five. From fifty to five. So for those of you who aren't praying these five, come on – it's not a big ask. It won't take up more than 20-30 minutes of your 24 hour – or 1440 minute – day. How many minutes – or hours – do you spend on your phone per day? On the internet? On games? On social media? Sending and reading messages? And yet 30 minutes a day to offer ṣalāh and recite or listen to Allah's message for you is too much? 30 minutes a day to pray to your Creator is too much? So from this day on, let us resolve to get our five prayers right. If waking up for Fajr is your problem, try preparing from the night before. Sleep earlier. Don't have too much for dinner. Get an alarm and put it far from your bed. Do the dhikr before sleeping. Motivate yourself, for Fajr and for the other four prayers. And for those of us who are already praying the five, let's strive to go further. Pray more of the sunnah prayers, pray in congregation (for men), improve the quality of your ṣalāh, – don't pray like a bird pecking its head on the ground – learn the meanings of what you're saying, and so on.
I end with a ḥadīth where Allah's Messenger ﷺ said:
أوّل ما يحاسب به العبد يوم القيامة الصلاة، فإن صلحت صلح سائرُ عمله، وإن فسدت فسد سائرُ عمله
"The first thing that the slave will be brought to account for on the Day of Resurrection is the prayer. If it is good/sound, then the rest of his deeds will be good/sound. And if it is corrupt, then the rest of his deeds will be corrupt." (Narrated by al-Ṭabarānī)
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