بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, and all praise and thanks belong to Allah who gave us guidance, clarifying and correcting the earlier revelations and promising to preserve the noble Qur’an, and peace and blessings on Muhammad, the beloved messenger, who delivered the message to his people and to us, and upon his family members and companions and followers.
Muslims were commanded to pray five times a day, but somehow it can seem onerous , especially because we would like to sleep through dawn, or go to bed before night fall, or we simply never get round to it. Maybe we think that Allah knows what is in our hearts already, so what is the need even to make dua, or we wonder why He would bother with our worship. Maybe you have been told that you are a bad person, and Allah doesn’t want your prayers. Or that if you do not comply with all of the conditions of the prayer correctly, (which seems impossible for you at your stage) then it won’t be valid. Maybe we are busy, or it is hard to do it in a language we don’t understand, or that it is awkward because it requires wudu and we put on so many layers etc etc.
Allah is Al-Ghani, Al-Hamid, which means the One who is totally independent and wealthy and worthy of praise. He is wealthy, because he controls everything in creation. He does not need our praise. However, He deserves it. If we really understood Allah’s glory and were not numb to it and veiled from it, we would fall down in awe, just as when Allah revealed Himself to the mountain, after Moses asked to see Him, and it crumbled to dust (7:143). This is the right of God’s awe, were we not numb and blind.
Yet there is another reason, which is love. Can we be ungrateful to our Creator by ignoring him when he is offering the honour of a reciprocal personal relationship? When he desires to be known by us? When he tells us that the fatiha which we recite in every rak’at of every salaat, is split equally between Allah and us? Someone once asked the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, why he stood long hours in prayer at night until his feet swelled, after Allah had promised to forgive him. The Prophet replied, “Should I not be a grateful slave?”
And another huge reason is that we need it, because that connection to Allah is vital for our wellbeing. We are poor and need Allah. Which is why the dua of Prophet Moses, peace be upon was, “Indeed I am to whatever you send down to me of good, in need.”
Allah says in the Qur’an in surah 25:77
قل ما يعبأ بكم ربي لولا دعاؤكم
Say, what would my Lord care for you if it were not for your dua (supplications)?
The Prophet Muhammad found peace and relaxation in prayer, and it is reported in a hadith that he would say to Bilal, the first muezzin to announce the prayers with the azhan, “Give us rest,” meaning “call us to prayer.” It is recorded that another companions said that if the disbelievers knew what pleasure they found in prayer, they would fight them for it.
But perhaps you are thinking to yourself that you are not at this level, and that Allah knows that you do not incline naturally to pray, you are distracted throughout the prayer, so it probably isn’t even accepted. Still try to patiently persevere, because Allah promises us that he is with the patient, (2:153). May Allah accept your prayers!
Allah said, Seek help through patience and prayer, for it is indeed huge except for those with khushoo’ (humble awe in their prayers) (2:45).
If you try to pray, then Allah could change your condition, whereas if you don’t bother then how can you change towards being one of those blessed people who incline away from the world and towards prayer? Allah tells us that he does not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves first. (13:11). So it is up to us to make a bit of effort, to show willing, going against the inclinations of a self which has the upper hand and a heart which has been corrupted to prefer things that are bad for us, and struggling with them. In fact, prayer is just like any other thing that is good for us and requires discipline, such as exercise – the less we want to do it, the more likely it is that we really need to do it! So don’t wait for your heart to incline towards it – do it and wait for your heart change.
And don’t be discouraged by those who tell you that it must be performed correctly to be valid. I remember my daughter used to attend a youth group for young Muslim girls and one time I picked her up she was crying, and she said, “I will never be good enough. I might as well give up now!” It turns out there had been an Islamic talk on prayer and there had been so many dos and don’ts and things that make it invalid, that she decided Islam was too hard.
Now I would like to say two things here. The first is, that Muslims need to be careful not to discourage people, because our beloved prophet said,
بشروا و لا تنفروا
meaning cheer people up and do not put them off, especially as perfection takes practice over time. The second is, that just because a prayer is valid in the shariah sense, does not mean it is accepted by Allah. And just because it is invalid, does not mean that it is not accepted. We need to ponder on this because Allah is the judge and not us! I ask Allah to accept our prayers.
And don’t be discouraged by thinking that you are too bad to pray. This is as nonsensical as someone saying that they are too sick to take medicine. Remember that Iblis always tries to make people despair like this. Remember the Prophet Muhammad’s favourite ayat: “Oh you people who have wronged your own souls, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed your Lord forgives all sins.” (39:53).
There is a story told of a bandit who asked the Imam of the mosque for the hand of his daughter. the Imam did not refuse, but told him that the condition was that the bandit must prayer behind him at every prayer for a month. Just the act of doing this transformed the bandit and he abandoned his old ways.
So I hope I have encouraged you to pray. Even if you are not praying 5 times a day, then pray twice. This is not me saying this is okay, and bringing in bid’a (innovation), this is me saying that this is better than not praying at all. In the same way, I have a story about the man who did not like to do wudu, so he did not pray. He met a Shaykh who told him, “No problem – pray without doing wudu.” The man, delighted, but surprised, went away happily, and became a regular worshipper. One day at congregational prayer, (May Allah re-open our places of worship to us in safety), another Shaykh came over to the first. “What do you mean telling this man here that he can pray without wudu? This is innovation and wrong!” The other Shaykh simply replied, “I got him to pray – and now you get him to do wudu!”
Now, as for doing wudu, if we knew the blessings of it, we would rush to do it. Do not think of it as putting your limbs in some cold water. Wudu has real spiritual benefits. Remember that us moderns need to change our thinking a little bit to be more aware of the spiritual world and not think that washing is about physical cleanliness and that is it. Wudu washes away sins and it purifies us and protects us in a way that shields us from bad influences that we might not even be aware of. It is accompanied by a dua which is a huge spiritual help for you. What is not to like?
اللهم اجعلني من التوابين واجعلني من المتطهرين
“Oh Allah, make me from those who turn to you a lot in repentance, and from those who purify themselves a lot.”
And there are other du’as you can learn to say also. This is why people who have realised this try always to keep their wudu, because of its blessing.
And I will finish with the argument which a lady once told to me, whose father was a Shaykh from Sudan. Whenever he woke her to pray at dawn, he would always say simply, أحسن لك meaning, “It is better for you.”
May Allah make us those who worship him as he should be worshipped so that He is pleased with us and we are pleased with Him, and his messenger, peace be upon him. Our messenger, who knows our problems who was so concerned for us and who is grieved when we fall into sin, and who is so kind to us.
قَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُم بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Indeed has come to you a messenger from amongst you. Grievous to him is what you suffer (because of your sins); concerned over you and kind and merciful to the believers. (9:128)
