Question Summary:
I find Salāh very difficult to observe. Why does Allah need me to pray 5 times a day? Question Detail:
I am a Muslim, a professional consultant and a businessman, and widely traveled. I have performed my Hajj, read the Quran while I was there and concluded the whole message of Allah in the Quran is: “Believe in Allah, the One”.
My family and children are well and good. I am happy being a Muslim except for one thing. I perform all other Islamic obligations except Salāh. I pray sometimes on Fridays but my question is: Why pray Salāh? I have been looking for this answer for many years and could not find a good answer. I find Salāh very, very difficult to observe. For women that means no make up, in cold climate, I needed to take off my socks for wudu, it's a repetition 5 times a day. It is limiting our daily travels... Allah is Great, Who makes everything from the tiniest photons, protons and atoms to the whole universe, Who knows everything there is in this world, but:
1.) Why does Allah want me to say my prayers to him, and tell him how great he is 5 times a day?
2.) I read in a book that the Quran is penultimate word of Allah (overriding hadith)?
3.) The book says that negotiations with God during Isra Mi'raj to reduce prayer times from 50 to 5 is from uncorroborated hadiths. Please provide evidence if that is not so.
4.) The book says that Salāh is not in the Quran only in hadīth, the form of which is shown by Mohammad (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) which is copied from generations after Abraham (alayhis salam).
Please give me an intelligent answer. Thank you.
Answer :
Normal
0
false
false
false
EN-ZA
X-NONE
AR-SA
MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}
In the Name of Allāh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
1.) Allah doesn't need our prayers – we need it. Just as we need food to nourish our body – we need prayers to nourish our soul. One of the purposes of Salāh is for us to rectify ourselves as stated in the Quran:
وَأَقِمِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ إِنَّ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ تَنْهَىٰ عَنِ ٱلْفَحْشَاء وَٱلْمُنْكَرِ
“And establish Salāh surely Salāh restrains from shamelessness and evil”
(Sūrah Al-Ankabūt, Verse 45)
When prayed properly with sincerity and devotion, Salāh assists one in staying away from sins, Insha-Allah. Even if this was the only wisdom behind praying Salāh (and clearly it's not), then it would have been more than enough to establish the importance of Salāh to every Muslim. Who can claim to be so pure and sinless that he does not need to pray Salāh, while the Quran orders it as a treatment to prevent sinning?
In fact, even our sinless and innocent Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam), the beloved of Allah, was ordered to establish Salāh until death, so how can anyone else be exempt:
وَاعْبُدْ رَبَّكَ حَتَّى يَأْتِيَكَ الْيَقِينُ
"And worship your Lord until certainty (death) comes"
(Sūrah Al-Hijr, Verse 99)
The commentators of the Quran have stated that on the basis of the above verse, as long as a person possesses mental faculties, it is obligatory for him to pray Salāh.[i]
Salāh. does not hinder or limit anyone – we have the example of the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) before us. He achieved so much (ruler of state, judge, prayer leader, commander-in-chief, preacher, husband, father, grandfather, and numerous other roles) while establishing Salāh five times a day.
Someone could rightly ask about a job just as you did about Salāh: “Why do I have to go to work 5 days a week from morning until evening?”
You would probably deem such a person lazy, and without ambition. Commitment to Salāh is no different than commitment to a job, except that Salāh is your duty to Allah, with benefits that accrue to you only, not to Allah.
Similarly, if you hired an employee for your growing business, and he refused to work and said: “You make millions every year, why do you need me to work so hard, just give me my salary for showing up once a week.” Would that make sense to you?
No doubt, Allah is above and beyond any examples or comparisons, nor does He have any need for our prayers. We only want to make a point here: If such a question would be tantamount to sheer stupidity in front of an employer then how much worse would it sound in front of the Lord of the Universe?
As Muslims we are committed to fulfilling the orders of Allah because we are His servants. We cannot question the wisdom behind every Divine Command. This is the essence of 'ubūdiyyah (being a servant of Allah). If we resorted to questioning His commandments, then (Allah forbid) we would not be living like true servants of Allah even though being a true and perfect servant of Allah is the loftiest goal man can aspire to.
The commentators of the Quran have alluded to this very ideal when they comment on the first verse of Sūrah Al-Isrā which deals with the Night Journey.
When the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) was bodily transported through the Heavens, the verse use to describe it is as follows:
سُبْحنَ ٱلَّذِى أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِ
“Pure is He Who made His servant travel at night...”
(Sūrah Al-Isrā, Verse 1)
The Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) has numerous honorable titles and yet is referred to as “His servant” while being taken on such an honorable journey through the seven heavens. This shows that our ultimate goal in life is to be as perfect servants of Allah as possible, knowing that we cannot fulfill the right of worshiping Allah as He should be worshiped.
True servitude is to obey the orders of Allah, our Master without questioning the rationale of His order. If we question then we are slaves of logic. This is contrary to true ubūdiyyah which requires us to obey the orders of Allah irrespective of us understanding the wisdom and logic of the order.
This doesn't mean that the orders of Allah are illogical. It is sufficient for us to know Allah is Al-Hakīm (The Most Wise). Every order of Allah is full of wisdom.
Our limited understanding may not lead us to the wisdom behind the order. This is the test of servitude: Do we carry out a command of Allah only if it conforms to logic or do we submit anyway?
See how Satan used his logic against the order of Allah. That led to his destruction. Push your self to carry out the order of Allah. Allah will make you understand.
The least we can do is to obey and get through this world by not questioning the orders of Allah so that we may gain His Mercy and Forgiveness on the Day of Judgment.
2.) Yes the Quran is the direct Word of Allah but nowhere in the Quran does it say not to pray Salāh.
3.) The reduction of the prayers from 50 to 5 occurs in a sahīh (authentic) hadīth included in the most authentic book of hadīth: Sahīh Al-Bukhāri which is referenced below for you to verify independently. [ii]
4.) Salāh is most certainly mentioned in the Quran and in the hadīth. For details please refer to an earlier answer at the following link: http://askimam.org/fatwa/fatwa.php?askid=11b698e2a74488b7967cb2a73bf564bf
And Allāh knows best.
Ml. Sohail Bengali
Chicago, IL (USA)
Concurred by:
Muftī Abrar Mirza
Chicago, IL (USA)
Under the Supervision of Muftī Ebrahim Desai (South Africa)
ويستدل من هذه الآية الكريمة وهي قوله: وَاعْبُدْ رَبَّكَ حَتَّى يَأْتِيَكَ الْيَقِينُ [i]
على أن العبادة كالصلاة ونحوها واجبة على الإنسان ما دام عقله ثابتا فيصلي بحسب حاله، كما ثبت في صحيح البخاري، عن عمران بن حصين، رضي الله عنهما، أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: "صَلِّ قائمًا، فإن لم تستطع فقاعدًا، فإن لم تستطع فعلى جَنْب" (2)
ويستدل بها (3) على تخطئة من ذهب من الملاحدة إلى أن المراد باليقين المعرفة، فمتى وصل أحدهم إلى المعرفة سقط عنه التكليف عندهم. وهذا كفر وضلال وجهل، فإن الأنبياء، عليهم السلام، كانوا هم وأصحابهم أعلم الناس بالله وأعرفهم بحقوقه وصفاته، وما يستحق من التعظيم، وكانوا مع هذا أعبد الناس وأكثر الناس عبادة ومواظبة على فعل الخيرات إلى حين الوفاة. وإنما المراد باليقين هاهنا الموت
تفسير إبن كثير، ٤ /٥٥٤ دار طيبة للنشر والتوزيع
ثم فرضت علي خمسون صلاة ، فأقبلت حتى جئت موسى فقال : ما...[ii]
صنعت ، قلت : فرضت علي خمسون صلاة ، قال : أنا أعلم بالناس منك ، عالجت بني إسرائيل أشد المعالجة ، وإن أمتك لا تطيق ، فارجع إلى ربك فسله ، فرجعت فسألته ، فجعلها أربعين ، ثم مثله ، ثم ثلاثين ، ثم مثله ، فجعل عشرين ، ثم مثله ، فجعل عشرا ، فأتيت موسى فقال : مثله ، فجعلها خمسا ، فأتيت موسى فقال : ما صنعت ، قلت جعلها خمسة ، فقال مثله : قلت : سلمت بخير ، فنودي : إني قد أمضيت فريضتي وخففت عن عبادي ، وأجزي الحسنة عشرا . وقال همام ، عن قتادة ، عن الحسن ، عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه ، عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم : في البيت المعمور
صحيح البخاري كتاب بدء الخلق، باب ذكر الملائكة صلوات الله عليهم، الرقم: ٣٢٠٧
________________________________________________________________________
DISCLAIMER – AskImam.org questions
AskImam.org answers issues pertaining to Sharī’ah. Thereafter, these questions and answers are placed for public view on www.askimam.org for educational purposes. However, many of these answers are unique to a particular scenario and cannot be taken as a basis to establish a ruling in another situation or another environment. Askimam.org bears no responsibility with regards to these questions being used out of their intended context.
· The Shar’ī ruling herein given is based specifically on the question posed and should be read in conjunction with the question.
· AskImam.org bears no responsibility to any party who may or may not act on this answer and is being hereby exempted from loss or damage howsoever caused.
· This answer may not be used as evidence in any Court of Law without prior written consent of AskImam.org.
· Any or all links provided in our emails, answers and articles are restricted to the specific material being cited. Such referencing should not be taken as an endorsement of other contents of that website.
|
