The first and most important duty in Islam after one has brought faith
in God and in Prophet Mohammad and borne witness to Divine Oneness and
the Apostleship of the holy Prophet is Namaz. It is a most special act
of Divine worship, which a Muslim is called upon to perform five times
a day. There are numerous verses of the Quran and the Traditions of the
Prophet enjoining the Namaz on us. It has been described as the pillar
and the foundation of the faith.
Namaz, if it is offered with a sincere heart and proper devotion and mental concentration, is particularly vested with the property of cleansing the heart and reforming one’s life and ridding it of sins and impurities. It generates love for piety and truth and promotes fear of God in man. Thus it is that Islam has laid greater emphasis on it than on all other religious obligations. When anyone came to the Prophet to embrace Islam, the first promise the sacred prophet took from him, after instructing him in Divine Oneness, was that he will offer the Namaz regularly. In fine, after the Kalima, Namaz is the bedrock of Islam.
Traditions We know from the Traditions that the holy Prophet used to equate neglect of the Namaz with infidelity. He denounced it as the way of the unbelievers. He would say that those who did not offer the Namaz had not share in the faith.
A Tradition of the Prophet reads, “What separates a believer from infidelity is simply the Namaz”.
This Tradition clearly warns that if a Muslim will give up the Namaz he will get associated with infidelity; his conduct will become the conduct of an infidel. In another Tradition the Prophet has said, “He has no share in Islam who does not offer the Namaz”.
And here is another Tradition from which we can imagine what a great act of virtue and felicity is it to offer the Namaz regularly and how utterly fatal and ruinous is it to neglect it. Once while urging upon the Muslims to be most particular about the Namaz the sacred Prophet is reported to have observed:
“Whoever will offer the Namaz properly and regularly it will be for him on the Last Day a source of light. A proof of his faith and a mean to salvation. (On the other hand) whoever will not offer it carefully and regularly it will be for him neither a source of light, and the end of such a person will be with Karun, Fir’aun, Haman and Ubai-bin-Khalaf.
Brother, let us now imagine what our end is going to be if we fail to cultivate the habit of offering the Namaz correctly and regularly.
THE IGNOMINY AND DISGRACE OF THE DEFAULTERS ON THE LAST DAY.
The ignominy and disgrace the defaulters of Namaz will have to suffer at the very outset on the Day of Judgment has been spoken of in these words in the Quran:
The day that the shin shall be laid bare, and they shall be summoned to bow in adoration, but they shall not be able, their eyes will be cast down, ignominy will cover them, seeing that they had been summoned aforetime to bow in adoration while they were whole (and had refused). (XI: 42)
The verse tells that on the Last Day when the hour of Judgment will arrive (when all mystery will vanish and reality will be fully manifest) and gathered together, God will reveal Himself to them in full glory and splendor. Everyone will then be called upon to bow in adoration before Allah. The fortunate and the faithful among them who had been regular in their Namaz in the world and were, thus, accustomed to kneeling down before God will, at once, bow down in adoration, but those who in spite of being healthy and strong had not observed the Namaz in their lifetime will find that their backs had suddenly grown stiff like a board and they will remain standing with the infidels, unable to bend down and carry out the prostration. They will be covered with ignominy, their eyes will be downcast, they will not be able even to look up. Before the chastisement of hell, they will have to bear this chastisement of humiliation and disgrace. May Allah, by His Grace, save us all from it!
In truth, a habitual defaulter of the Namaz is a sort of a rebel against God and deserves all the humiliation and punishment that may be meted out to him. According to some legists of Islam, a Muslim who rejects the Namaz is liable to be punished with death like an apostate.
Brothers – We must realize it thoroughly and well that without the Namaz the claim to Islam is altogether meaningless. Namaz alone is the Islamic act that joins us with God and makes us deserving of His grace.
Blessings of Namaz
When a person stands before the Almighty with his arms folded, five times a day, and celebrates His praises and kneels down before Him and touches the ground with his forehead and makes earnest supplications to Him, he becomes worthy of His love and beneficence, his sins are forgiven with every Namaz he offers, his heart attains enlightenment and his life becomes pure. The Prophet once gave an excellent example to illustrate this truth. He asked his Companions, “Tell me, if a stream flows at the door of anyone of you and he takes a dip in it five times a day will there be left any grime on his body?” The Companions replied, “No, Sir. No grime will be left on his body”. The Prophet said, “It is exactly the same with the five daily prayers. God removes all impurities and sins because of their auspiciousness:”
Superiority of Congregation
It appears from the Prophet’s Traditions that Namaz should be offered in congregation if one wants to derive full benefit from it. The Prophet was so very particular about it that once while condemning the conduct of those who avoided coming to the mosque to say their prayers in congregation due to laziness or indifference he observed with anger that he felt like burning down their homes.
This one Tradition is enough to show how repugnant it is to God and the Prophet that anyone should not offer his prayers in congregation. Another Tradition says: -
“The reward on saying the Namaz in congregation is twenty times as much as on saying it alone.”
Apart from the reward in the Hereafter, there are many other advantages in offering up the Namaz in congregation. For instance, one acquires the habit of punctuality by attending the mosque regularly to say his prayers in congregation, it enables Muslim brethren of the locality to assemble at one place five times every day and this can be turned to great benefit, the practice of saying the Namaz regularly in the mosque congregationally makes a man thoroughly regular in his prayers for it has been seen that those who offer their prayers individually at home are often inclined to be neglectful. Yet another notable advantage in saying the prayers in congregation is that the Namaz of each participant becomes a part of the Namaz of the whole congregation in which, along with others, there are also generally present some venerable and virtuous servants of God whose Namaz is of a very high order. Their Namaz finds acceptance with Allah and the expectation from his Benevolent Grace is that when He will grant acceptance to the prayers of some members of the congregation He will, along with them, accept the prayers of the rest of the congregation too.
Now, imagine what rich rewards and blessings do we deprive ourselves of when we do not go to the mosque to offer our prayers in congregation without a valid excuse.
Namaz, if it is offered with a sincere heart and proper devotion and mental concentration, is particularly vested with the property of cleansing the heart and reforming one’s life and ridding it of sins and impurities. It generates love for piety and truth and promotes fear of God in man. Thus it is that Islam has laid greater emphasis on it than on all other religious obligations. When anyone came to the Prophet to embrace Islam, the first promise the sacred prophet took from him, after instructing him in Divine Oneness, was that he will offer the Namaz regularly. In fine, after the Kalima, Namaz is the bedrock of Islam.
Traditions We know from the Traditions that the holy Prophet used to equate neglect of the Namaz with infidelity. He denounced it as the way of the unbelievers. He would say that those who did not offer the Namaz had not share in the faith.
A Tradition of the Prophet reads, “What separates a believer from infidelity is simply the Namaz”.
This Tradition clearly warns that if a Muslim will give up the Namaz he will get associated with infidelity; his conduct will become the conduct of an infidel. In another Tradition the Prophet has said, “He has no share in Islam who does not offer the Namaz”.
And here is another Tradition from which we can imagine what a great act of virtue and felicity is it to offer the Namaz regularly and how utterly fatal and ruinous is it to neglect it. Once while urging upon the Muslims to be most particular about the Namaz the sacred Prophet is reported to have observed:
“Whoever will offer the Namaz properly and regularly it will be for him on the Last Day a source of light. A proof of his faith and a mean to salvation. (On the other hand) whoever will not offer it carefully and regularly it will be for him neither a source of light, and the end of such a person will be with Karun, Fir’aun, Haman and Ubai-bin-Khalaf.
Brother, let us now imagine what our end is going to be if we fail to cultivate the habit of offering the Namaz correctly and regularly.
THE IGNOMINY AND DISGRACE OF THE DEFAULTERS ON THE LAST DAY.
The ignominy and disgrace the defaulters of Namaz will have to suffer at the very outset on the Day of Judgment has been spoken of in these words in the Quran:
The day that the shin shall be laid bare, and they shall be summoned to bow in adoration, but they shall not be able, their eyes will be cast down, ignominy will cover them, seeing that they had been summoned aforetime to bow in adoration while they were whole (and had refused). (XI: 42)
The verse tells that on the Last Day when the hour of Judgment will arrive (when all mystery will vanish and reality will be fully manifest) and gathered together, God will reveal Himself to them in full glory and splendor. Everyone will then be called upon to bow in adoration before Allah. The fortunate and the faithful among them who had been regular in their Namaz in the world and were, thus, accustomed to kneeling down before God will, at once, bow down in adoration, but those who in spite of being healthy and strong had not observed the Namaz in their lifetime will find that their backs had suddenly grown stiff like a board and they will remain standing with the infidels, unable to bend down and carry out the prostration. They will be covered with ignominy, their eyes will be downcast, they will not be able even to look up. Before the chastisement of hell, they will have to bear this chastisement of humiliation and disgrace. May Allah, by His Grace, save us all from it!
In truth, a habitual defaulter of the Namaz is a sort of a rebel against God and deserves all the humiliation and punishment that may be meted out to him. According to some legists of Islam, a Muslim who rejects the Namaz is liable to be punished with death like an apostate.
Brothers – We must realize it thoroughly and well that without the Namaz the claim to Islam is altogether meaningless. Namaz alone is the Islamic act that joins us with God and makes us deserving of His grace.
Blessings of Namaz
When a person stands before the Almighty with his arms folded, five times a day, and celebrates His praises and kneels down before Him and touches the ground with his forehead and makes earnest supplications to Him, he becomes worthy of His love and beneficence, his sins are forgiven with every Namaz he offers, his heart attains enlightenment and his life becomes pure. The Prophet once gave an excellent example to illustrate this truth. He asked his Companions, “Tell me, if a stream flows at the door of anyone of you and he takes a dip in it five times a day will there be left any grime on his body?” The Companions replied, “No, Sir. No grime will be left on his body”. The Prophet said, “It is exactly the same with the five daily prayers. God removes all impurities and sins because of their auspiciousness:”
Superiority of Congregation
It appears from the Prophet’s Traditions that Namaz should be offered in congregation if one wants to derive full benefit from it. The Prophet was so very particular about it that once while condemning the conduct of those who avoided coming to the mosque to say their prayers in congregation due to laziness or indifference he observed with anger that he felt like burning down their homes.
This one Tradition is enough to show how repugnant it is to God and the Prophet that anyone should not offer his prayers in congregation. Another Tradition says: -
“The reward on saying the Namaz in congregation is twenty times as much as on saying it alone.”
Apart from the reward in the Hereafter, there are many other advantages in offering up the Namaz in congregation. For instance, one acquires the habit of punctuality by attending the mosque regularly to say his prayers in congregation, it enables Muslim brethren of the locality to assemble at one place five times every day and this can be turned to great benefit, the practice of saying the Namaz regularly in the mosque congregationally makes a man thoroughly regular in his prayers for it has been seen that those who offer their prayers individually at home are often inclined to be neglectful. Yet another notable advantage in saying the prayers in congregation is that the Namaz of each participant becomes a part of the Namaz of the whole congregation in which, along with others, there are also generally present some venerable and virtuous servants of God whose Namaz is of a very high order. Their Namaz finds acceptance with Allah and the expectation from his Benevolent Grace is that when He will grant acceptance to the prayers of some members of the congregation He will, along with them, accept the prayers of the rest of the congregation too.
Now, imagine what rich rewards and blessings do we deprive ourselves of when we do not go to the mosque to offer our prayers in congregation without a valid excuse.
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