Transcript Slide 1

PILLAR OF RELIGIOUS LIFE
OUTLINE
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Introduction
Importance of Prayer
The times of the Five Daily Prescribed Prayers
Kinds of Prayer
Adhan ( The Call to prayer )
Prophetic Sayings on SALAT
Verses from the Holy QUR’AN
Pillars of Islam
 Shahadah (Declaration of Faith) (explained
previously)
 Salat (Prayer)
 Zakat (Charity)
 Sawm (Fast)
 Hajj (Pilgrimage)
Shahadah (Declaration of Faith)
SALAT (Prayer), Pillar of Religious Life
Since there is just the Creator and the Creation,
there can only be one type of relationship
between them ;
this relationship is worship and prayer…
The prescribed prayer prevents one from
committing indecencies and other kinds of evil
deeds (29:45).
"The seven heavens and the earth and all that is
therein, glorify Him and there is not a thing but
glorifies His Praise. But you understand not their
glorification. Truly, He is All-Clement, Most
Forgiving." (17/44 )
Salat is the name for the
daily prescribed prayers
performed five times a day
and the Jumu’a (Friday)
prayer.
It is the most important type of
worship, for it displays a
person’s
sincerity and loyalty to God.
In the words of God’s
Messenger, it is the pillar or
main support of religious life.
Importance of Prayer
In prayer, there is comfort for the soul and
mind.
Nor is it difficult for the body With the right
intention, all the deeds and conduct of one
who prays become like worship. In this way,
his little lifetime is spent for the sake of the
eternal life in the other world
An hour is enough for the prayers in a day.
23 hours for this world and 1 for here after
and it is very profitable trade…
By saying “You alone do we worship” and
repeating “God is the Greatest” one becomes
universal
To understand better, let us listen this parable.
A mighty ruler gave each of two of his servants twenty-four (24) gold pieces and
sent them to settle on one of his rich, royal farms two months’ distance away
“Use this money for your tickets”, he commanded them, “and buy
whatever is necessary for your house there with it.
There is a station one day’s distance from the farm. And there is both roadtransport, and a railway, and boats, and aero-planes. They can be benefited
from according to your capital.”
The two servants set off after receiving these instructions. One of them was
fortunate so that he spent a small amount of money on the way to the station.
And included in that expense was some business so profitable and pleasing to
his master that his capital increased a thousandfold.
As for the other servant, since he was luckless and a lazy, he spent 23 pieces of
gold on the way to the station, wasting it on gambling and amusements. A single
gold piece remained.
A single gold piece remained.
“Spend this last gold piece on a ticket so that you will not have to walk the long
journey and starve. Moreover, our master is generous; perhaps he will take pity
on you and forgive you your faults, and put you on a plane as well.
Then we shall reach where we are going to live in one day. Otherwise
you will be compelled to walk alone and hungry across a desert which
takes two months to cross.” The most unintelligent person can
understand how foolish, harmful, and senseless he would be if out of
obstinacy he did not spend that single remaining gold piece on a ticket,
which is like the key to a treasury, and instead spent it on vice for
passing pleasure. Is that not so?
And so, O you who do not perform the prescribed prayers! And O my own soul,
which does not like to pray! Think carefully.
The ruler in the comparison is our Sustainer, our Creator. And of the two
travelling servants, one represents the devout who perform their prayers with
passion, and the other, the heedless who neglect their prayers. The 24 pieces
of gold are life in every 24 hours day. And the royal domain is Paradise. As for
the station, that is the grave.
While the journey is man’s passage to the grave, and on to the Resurrection,
and the Hereafter.
Men cover that long journey to different degrees according to their actions and
the strength of their fear of God. Some of the truly devout have crossed a
thousand-year distance in a day like lightening. And some have traversed a fiftythousand-year distance in a day with the speed of imagination.
The ticket in the comparison represents the prescribed prayers. A single hour a
day is sufficient for the five prayers together with taking the ablutions.
So what a loss a person makes who spends 23 hours on this fleeting worldly
life, and fails to spend 1 hour on the long life of the Hereafter; how he wrongs
his own self; how unreasonably he behaves. For would not anyone who
considers himself to be reasonable understand how contrary to reason and
wisdom such a person’s conduct is, and how far from reason he has become, if,
thinking it reasonable, he gives half of his property to a lottery in which one 1000
are participating and the possibility of winning is 1 in 1000, and does not give
one twenty-fourth of it to an eternal treasury where the possibility of winning has
been verified at 99%?
In our world
Approximately
350 thousand
people die everyday.
Approximately
15 thousand
people die
in every 1 hour.
Approximately
250 people
people die
in every 1 minute.
Most people do not expect dying
and most of us are not ready.
Moreover, the spirit, the heart, and the mind find great ease in prayer. And it is
not tiring (hard) for the body.
Furthermore, with the right intention, all the other acts of someone who performs
the prescribed prayers become like worship. He can make over the whole
capital of his life to the Hereafter in this way. He can make his transient life
permanent in one respect…
Who is it applicable to?
Prayer is obligatory upon every
sane Muslim who has reached the
age of puberty. Only women
having their menstrual period or
post-children bleeding do not
perform it.
No Priests
 There is no hierarchical authority in
Islam, and no priests, so the prayers
are led by a learned person (Imam) who
knows the Qur'an, chosen by the
congregation.
 These five prayers contain verses from
the Qur'an, and are said in Arabic, the
language of the Revelation, but personal
supplication can be offered in one's own
language.
Where is it performed?
It is permissible to pray at
home, at work, or even
outdoors however , it is
meritorious to perform it with
another or with a group.
Friday Prayers
The noon congregational prayer of
Friday afternoon is mandated to be a
collective and must be said in a
Mosque, and is preceded by a
sermon (Khutba).
The Meaning of SALAT (Prayer)
 Each salat stands for praising, glorifying,
and feeling grateful to God.
 We glorify Him by saying subhan Allah
(Glory be to God) by word and action in
awareness of His Majesty.
 We exalt and magnify Him by saying
Allahu akbar (God is the Greatest)
through word and action in awareness of
His Perfection.
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We offer thanks to Him by saying alhamdu lillah (All Praise be to God) with
our heart, tongue, and body, in awareness
of His Grace.
From this we conclude that the heart of
prayer consists of glorification,
exaltation, praise, and thanksgiving.
Thus, these three phrases are present in
every part of the prayers, in all the
actions and words.
The times of the Five Daily Prescribed
Prayers
Prayers are performed at dawn,
noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and
nightfall, and thus determine the
rhythm of the entire day.
Establish the prayer at the beginning and
the end of the day, and in the watches of
night near to the day. Assuredly, good
deeds wipe out evil deeds. This is advice
and a reminder for the mindful who take
heed.
(Qur’an 11:114)
Five Times a Day
The time of Fajr (the early morning)
was appointed for the morning prayer.
The time of Zuhr (just past midday)
The time of ‘Asr (afternoon)
The time of Maghrib (sunset)
The time of ‘Isha (nightfall)
The Meaning of Different Prayer Times
Each prayer time is the opening of
a significant turning point, so also is
each a mirror to Divine disposal of
power and to the universal Divine
bounties within that disposal.
Thus, more glorification and extolling of
the All-Powerful One of Glory have been
ordered at those times, and more praise and
thanks for all the innumerable bounties
accumulated between each of the times,
which is the meaning of the prescribed
prayers
Kinds of Prayer
Obligatory. The five daily prescribed prayers and the
Jumu'a (Friday) prayer.
Necessary (wajib). The 'Iyd (religious festive days)
prayers and the with prayer
Sunna (those performed or advised by the Prophet).
Those performed before or after the daily prescribed
prayers .Supererogatory and rewarded .
Salat al-ishraq (performed some three quarters after
sunrise),
Salat al-duha (forenoon or broad daylight prayer,
Salat al-awwabin (performed between the evening and
late evening prayers),
Salat al-tawba (performed before asking God to forgive
us),etc…
An Audience with God
Having faith, believers see in every event
a door to the wealth of God’s Mercy, and
knock on it via supplication. Realizing
that their Lord and Sustainer controls
everything, they take refuge in Him and
place their trust in Him, and demonstrate
their weakness and helplessness, humility
and poverty by bowing humbly with the
rest of the creation, saying: “Glory be to
my Lord, the Mighty. ”.
Prostrating in awareness of the
undying Beauty and Grace of His
Essence, His unchanging sacred
Attributes, and His constant
everlasting Perfection, they proclaim,
through detachment from all that is
not Him, their love and servanthood
in wonder and self-abasement.
Adhan ( The Call to prayer )
The Adhan calls Muslims to prayer
Even if one is performing the prayer alone, he
or she is strongly advised to make it before
beginning to pray.
Words of Adhan;
Allahu akbar (God is the Greatest)
Ashhadu an la ilaha illa’llah (I bear witness
that there is no deity but God)
Ashhadu anna Muhammadan Rasululu’llah
(I bear witness that Muhammad is God’s
Messenger);
Hayya ‘ala’s-salah (Come on, to prayer)
Hayya ‘ala’l-falah (Come on, to salvation)
Allahu akbar (God is the Greatest)
La ilaha illa’llah (I bear witness that there is no
deity but God)
Prophetic Sayings on SALAT
"The five (daily) Salat (prayers) and
the Friday (prayer) to the Friday
(prayer) expiate whatever (minor
sins) may be committed in between,
so long as major sins are avoided.''
The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) asked his
companions, "Say, if there were a river at the
door of one of you in which he takes a bath
five times a day, would any soiling (dirt)
remain on him?'' They replied, "No soiling
would left on him.'' He (PBUH) said, '' That is
the five (obligatory) Salat (prayers). Allah
erases all sins as a result of performing them.''
Verses from the Holy QUR’AN
“Recite what is sent of the Book by
inspiration to thee, and establish
regular Prayer: for Prayer restrains
from shameful and unjust deeds; and
remembrance of God is the greatest
(thing in life) without doubt. And God
knows the (deeds) that ye do.”
(Qur’an 29:45)
“Glory be to God whenever you reach
evening and whenever you rise in the
morning. All praise is for Him in the
heavens and on Earth in the late
afternoon, and whenever you reach the
noon.”
(Qur’an 30:17-18)