Salah (prayer) is compulsory worship for every Muslim that they should perform five times every day as one of the pillars of Islam. The importance of Salah is crucial due to its physical and spiritual cult at the same time that make the believer in a state of connection with Allah.
Salah is an obligatory worship in Islam. It has a high status in religion as it’s the second pillar of Islam. Its importance lies in many virtues such as gaining rewards, preventing committing abominations, strengthening faith, and expiating sins.
But why is Salah the most important worship for Muslims?
Check out the virtues and benefits of it.
Here we will learn the following:
What is the Importance of Salah in Islam?
- Salah Purifies the soul of sins.
- Salah Makes the believer reassured and less worried.
- Salah Increases the believer’s piety.
- Salah Preserves the believer against temptations.
- Salah Guides us to the straight path.
Read: What to Say Salah in Arabic?
Importance of Salah in the Quran
The importance of Salah in the Quran is in the following verses:
1. Dealing with hardships
Turning to Salah beside patience helps believers to deal with adversity and temptations they face in life.
According to the Quran, Allah says {And seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, it is a burden except for the humble} (Al-Baqarah, 2:45)
Also, in the same earlier surah, Allah repeats his urge to turn to Salah {O believers! Seek comfort in patience and prayer. Allah is truly with those who are patient} (2:153)
2. Preventing from indecency
True prayer is the one that strengthens the faith and protects the believer from committing abominations.
{Indeed, prayer should deter ˹one˺ from indecency and wickedness} (Al-A’nkabut 29:45)
3. Gaining rewards
Salah is one of the virtuous deeds that has rewards for the believers who perform it daily according to the following verse:
{Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds and establish prayer and give zakah will have their reward with their Lord, and there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve} (Al-Baqarah 2:277)
4. A trait of believers
The believers who do good deeds perform prayers regularly:
{But those of them well-grounded in knowledge, the faithful ˹who˺ believe in what has been revealed to you ˹O Prophet˺ and what was revealed before you—˹especially˺ those who establish prayer—and those who pay alms-tax and believe in Allah and the Last Day, to these ˹people˺ We will grant a great reward} (An-Nisa 4:162)
Read: How to Pray Salah In Islam?
Importance of Salah in Hadith
Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) mentioned the importance of Salah in the following hadiths:
1. Expiating sins
Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) said:” When the time for a prescribed prayer comes, if any Muslim performs ablution well and offers his prayer with humility and bowing, it will be an expiation for his past sins, so long as he has not committed a major sin; and this applies for all times.”
Also, prophet Muhammed (PBUH) said:
”If a person had a stream outside his door and he bathed in it five times a day, do you think he would have any filth left on him?” The people said, “No filth would remain on him whatsoever.”
The Prophet (peace and blessings be with him) then said, “That is like the five daily prayers: Allah wipes away the sins by them.” (Al-Bukhari)
2. The most virtuous deed
When a man asked prophet Muhammed (PBUH) about the most virtuous deed. He said the most virtuous deed is “the prayer”. When the man repeated his question three times the messenger of Allah repeated his answer (Al-Albani).
3. Closeness to Allah
When you prostrate to Allah while praying, you become nearest to your lord. Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) said:” A slave becomes nearest to his Rubb when he is in prostration. So increase supplications while prostrating.” (Muslim)
4. A deed dearest to Allah
Performing prayer on time is the dearest deed to Allah. When Abdullah ibn Masud asked prophet Muhammed (PBUH): “Which deed is the dearest to Allah?” He replied, “To offer the prayers at their early stated fixed times.”(Sahih al-Bukhari)
Read: How to Pray Salah For Females?
5. The most important deed on Judgement Day
On judgement day, the believers will first be questioned about the prayer. Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) said:
“On the Day of Judgment, a slave will be questioned about his prayers first. If his prayers are good, his other deeds will be good, too. If his prayers are bad, his other deeds will be bad, too.”(Tabarani)
6. A prayer equals Hajj and Umrah
Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) indicated the importance of the Fajr prayer congregation as whoever performs it and sits to remember Allah until sunrise, it’ll equal Hajj and Umrah.
He said: “Whoever prays Fajr in congregation then sits remembering Allah until the sun rises, then prays two rak’ahs, will have a reward like that of Hajj and ‘Umrah, complete, complete, complete”(Al-Tirmidhi)
7. The second pillar of Islam
Salah is the second pillar of Islam that comes after Shahada (profession of faith). Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) said:
“Islam has been built on five [pillars]: testifying that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, performing the prayers, paying the Zakah, making the pilgrimage to the House, and fasting in Ramadan” (Bukhari)
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