Prayer And Paradise

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam.

The deed that is most beloved to Allah is praying at its proper time. There is no other deed in which one's faith is as clearly manifested and as integral as the pillar of prayer (solah).

It is reported on the authority of Abdullah that the Messenger of Allah observed: The best of the deeds or deed is the (observance of) prayer at its proper time and kindness to the parents.

أَفْضَلُ الأَعْمَالِ - أَوِ الْعَمَلِ - الصَّلاَةُ لِوَقْتِهَا وَبِرُّ الْوَالِدَيْنِ

[Sahih Muslim]

The pillars of Islam will be stripped one at a time. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that the last pillar to be stripped away is prayer. Once that is stripped away, nothing remains. It is high time that we stop trivializing this pillar and start incorporating the prayer in our daily lives. The difference between a Muslim and non Muslim and the real Muslim and Muslim by name is the prayer. If you truly want to be a Muslim submit to Allah, primarily through the prayer and the prayer will bring you closer to Allah in many ways.

Your sins should not stop you from prayer. In fact your sin of not praying is bigger than any sin that you might be doing. Prayer will prevent you from other sins and evil deeds.

Allah Most High says,

اتْلُ مَا أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ ۖ إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ تَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ ۗ وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّـهِ أَكْبَرُ ۗ وَاللَّـهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ ﴿٤٥

Recite, [O Muhammad], what has been revealed to you of the Book and establish prayer. Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of Allah is greater. And Allah knows that which you do. [Quran, Al Ankabut 29:45]

Use prayer to come close to Allah. Start with only the fard (obligatory) prayers, then work your way to the Sunnah prayers. There is no end to the quality of prayers. Keep on improving your prayers.

The number of verses and traditions that mention prayer are numerous.

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, "Between disbelief and faith is abandoning the Salat."

Whoever abandons the solah it is as if he has committed disbelief (kufr). No other deed has been mentioned in this manner. Iblis was asked to do one prostration and he refused. Now imagine the one who has been called more than 20 times a day to prayer and he keeps on refusing. What is the status of that person?

One of the essential way to enter Paradise is being amongst those who pray.

In Surah Muddaththir, Allah mentions about the people of Hell who will be asked why they wound up there. The first thing they will say is because they were not of those who prayed.

عَنِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ ﴿٤١﴾ مَا سَلَكَكُمْ فِي سَقَرَ ﴿٤٢﴾ قَالُوا لَمْ نَكُ مِنَ الْمُصَلِّينَ ﴿٤٣﴾ وَلَمْ نَكُ نُطْعِمُ الْمِسْكِينَ ﴿٤٤﴾ وَكُنَّا نَخُوضُ مَعَ الْخَائِضِينَ ﴿٤٥﴾ وَكُنَّا نُكَذِّبُ بِيَوْمِ الدِّينِ ﴿٤٦﴾ حَتَّىٰ أَتَانَا الْيَقِينُ ﴿٤٧

About the criminals, (41) [And asking them], "What put you into Saqar?" (42) They will say, "We were not of those who prayed, (43) Nor did we used to feed the poor. (44) And we used to enter into vain discourse with those who engaged [in it], (45) And we used to deny the Day of Recompense (46) Until there came to us the certainty." (47) [Quran, Al Mudaththir 74:41-47]T

Allah links the one who prays with Paradise. In Surah Al Mukminun, Allah tells us the foremost action of the believer who succeeded is prayer with khushu'.

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿١﴾ الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَ ﴿

Certainly will the believers have succeeded: (1) They who are during their prayer humbly submissive (2)

Allah is reminding us that continuous solah is the mechanism to get His pleasure and praise. Allah commanded us to establish solah, not to perform solah. When we establish something it becomes permanent. This is the fundamental way to describe solah which means we make the solah a primary pillar of our daily lives. A believer takes his schedule and puts it around his solah, not the other way around.

وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَارْكَعُوا مَعَ الرَّاكِعِينَ ﴿٤٣

And establish prayer and give zakah and bow with those who bow [in worship and obedience]. [Quran, Al Baqarah 2:43]

وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ ۚ وَمَا تُقَدِّمُوا لِأَنفُسِكُم مِّنْ خَيْرٍ تَجِدُوهُ عِندَ اللَّـهِ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ ﴿١١٠

And establish prayer and give zakah, and whatever good you put forward for yourselves - you will find it with Allah. Indeed, Allah of what you do, is Seeing. [Quran, Al Baqarah 2:110]

Solah as well teach us to humble ourselves in front of Allah which is essence of Imaan and Taqwa--to lower our heads. We take our faces which are the most noble part of our bodies and we willingly lower them onto the very ground where our feet walk. This is the ultimate manifestation of humility. No one else deserves that level of humilty other than Allah. That's why the prostration (sajda) is the most praiseworthy pose a human can be in.

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that the closest the person is to his Lord is the sajda. So increase your sajda.

Solah will become a light on the Day of Judgment. The person who prays regularly is essentially guaranted Paradise. The first thing a person will be asked in the Day of Judgment is about his prayer. If his prayer is in order, the rest of his deeds will be in order but if his prayer is not in order, the rest of the deeds will be in disorder. The one who protects his prayers will obviously try to live in a positve manner.

Prayer is not just something that brings about spiritual blessings but it it brings about mental stability. It gives us contentmen and a sense of dignity. Prayer teaches us perseverance and patience. It also teaches us to plan better. It also gives us a sense of optimism by removing us from the hustle and bustle of daily life and causing us to have a private and quiet conversation with Allah. When we say Allahu Akbar, we enter into a prvate conversation with Allah that is devoid of anything of this world -- a sense of peace and tranqulity then comes. That is why whenever the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam was troubled he would rush to payer because prayer gave him that comfort that he needed.

May Allah resurrect us with the true Musolleen. We seek refuge with Allah from being resurrected with those who do not pray. Aameen.

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam.

And Allah knows best and is Most Wise, and He alone grants success, and to Him is the final return of all.

Wassalaam