SOME SAY THAT the repeated mention of establishing the prayer in the Qur’an is an indication of its importance. Whilst salah is undoubtedly important, I find that explanation falls short.
For instance, the obligation of fasting is only mentioned once in the Quran in surah Baqarah. Does this mean that it is less of an obligation than salah? No one would say that. Rather, what is fard/obligatory is obligatory whether it is mentioned once or a hundred times.
A more plausible explanation that I have come across about the repeated emphasis on salah is that constant reminders are given because salah is the obligation that is more likely to slip.
There is certainly truth to that in what we observe. Despite only one mention, come Ramadhan very few miss fasting. Even those who don’t pray the rest of the year come out and fast!
This is an important point to bear in mind regarding our children (and of course ourselves). We need to be reminding ourselves of the prayer often as this is the one that is more likely to slip.
I brought it up the other day on the school run with the children.
‘How do you feel if you miss the salah?’ I asked.
‘Not right,’ one replied.
‘Like something is missing,’ the other said.
‘Yes. Definitely, something missing. A sense of disappointment too,’ I replied. ‘But why should we feel that way?’
‘Well if we pray, Allah will be pleased and then we get to meet him in Jannah,’ my daughter said.
‘That’s a beautiful point. We want to meet Him and be with Him. Is there any greater achievement than that?’ I said.
‘Salah grounds us to Allah throughout the day, so if we do not pray then we lose that connection,’ my son said.
‘That’s another beautiful point. We can get so busy with whatever we are doing that we forget the bigger picture. For instance, we can get caught up with shopping and buying things that give us pleasure. But when we are out and then break for salah, it is a reminder that the things of this world that give us so much pleasure don’t last. The clothes you buy wear out, the car you buy gets scratched and damaged, and the experience you paid so much for eventually gets boring. Salah reminds us of a greater place that we want to be in where nothing ever decays and experiences only get better. Likewise, we can get caught up in studies for exams or the pursuit of our rizq so that it becomes all important. But salah reminds us of the greater test that is life that we hope to pass on the Day of Judgement. It also reminds us that success and rizq come only from Allah. He gives or withholds to whoever He wills. So salah is also an opportunity to ask for His help and bounty.
There is yet another aspect that should make us want to pray which is not based on what we hope to get from Him. Rather that desire to pray comes from a feeling of gratitude and love.
Gratitude for everything that He has given us and all the hardships that He has saved us from. We have to look at what is happening to our ummah in Gaza and know how much we have and how hard things can be.
And love for Him who is truly worthy. We find people love and admire that which is greater than them. Is there anything greater than the Creator of all that exists? So the more we know Him, about His attributes such as His mercy, love, justice etc, the more we are in awe of Him and the more we love Him. And that means that we do not want to disappoint the One whom we love. Hence I say that missing salah would mean a sense of disappointment in myself.’
And so we continued till we reached school. It is always worth returning to the basics of our aqeedah and amal time and time again. We can all benefit from the reminder.
May Allah make us amongst the ones who perform the salah in the best way, with khushoo and perseverance. Ameen.
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