Observe Five Daily Prayers

The first point mentioned in this condition is that the initiate will observe five daily Prayers in accordance with the commandment of Allah and His Messenger(sa). The commandment of Allah is that men and women as well as children who have reached the age of ten should offer Prayers at their appointed times. Men have been commanded to establish five daily Prayers in congregation, to visit the mosques and inhabit them, and to search for the Grace of Allah. There is no concession in the matter of five daily Prayers. In cases of travel or sickness, some of the requirements have been made lenient, for instance combining Prayers or reducing the number of rak‘at. The fact that only during sickness one is permitted not to go to mosque to join Prayers shows the importance of Prayer in congregation.

I will read some excerpts, but I wish to stress that everyone who takes the pledge should ponder that whereas we are making a pledge to sell ourselves, are we obeying this explicit commandment of the Holy Qur’an? Every Ahmadi has the duty to remind himself. You should examine yourself, and watch your own actions. If we all start examining ourselves, a great revolution can be achieved.

In the Holy Qur’an Allah says:1

And observe Prayer and give the Zakat, and obey the Messenger, that you may be shown mercy.

In surah Ta Ha, verse fifteen it is commanded:2

‘Verily, I am Allah; there is no God beside Me. So serve Me, and observe Prayer for My remembrance.’

There are numerous other verses in the Holy Qur’an about establishing Prayer. I will now present one hadith.

Hazrat Jabir(ra) relates that he heard the Holy Prophet(sa) say that, ‘Neglecting to offer Prayer brings a man closer to apostasy and disbelief.’ (Sahih Muslim, Kitab-ul-Iman, Babu Bayanit-laq- ismil-Kufri ‘Ala man Tarkas-Salah)

The Holy Prophet(sa) has said, ‘The comfort of my eye is in the Prayer.’ (Sunan Al-Nasa’i, Kitabu ‘Ishratin-Nisa’i, Babu Hubbin-Nisa’i)

Hazrat Abu Hurairah(ra) narrates that the Holy Prophet(sa) said, ‘The first thing for which a person would be called to account is the Prayer. If he succeeds in this account, he would be successful and will attain salvation. If that account is deficient, he will be ruined and will be a loser. If there is a shortfall in the obligatory Prayers, Allah will make it up from his nawafil. Similarly, all his other deeds will be accounted for.’ (Sunan-ut-Tirmadhi, Kitab-us-Salati, Babu Inna Awwala ma Yuhasabu bihil ‘Abdu…)

Then it is said in a hadith:

Hazrat Abu Hurairah(ra) has related that he heard the Holy Prophet(sa) saying, ‘Tell me if one of you had a stream running at his door and he should take a bath in it five times every day, would any dirt be left upon him?’ He was answered, ‘No dirt would be left on him.’ The Holy Prophet(sa) observed, ‘This is the case of the five Prayers. Allah wipes out all faults in consequence of them.’ (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Kitabu Mawaqitis-Salati, Babus-Salatil Khamsi Kaffaratun Lil Khata’i)

The Promised Messiah(as) says:

Offer the Prayer. Offer the Prayer. That is the key to all good fortune. (Izala-e-‘Auham, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 3, p. 549/First edition, p. 829)

He also says:

The essence and spirit of Prayer lie in supplications. (Ayyam-us-Sulh, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 14, p. 241)

He also says:

So all ye people who count yourselves as members of my Jama‘at, in heaven you shall be counted members of my following only when you truly begin to advance on the paths of righteousness. Offer your five daily Obligatory Prayers with such concentration and awe of mind as though you were seeing God in front of you. Observe the days of fasting for the sake of God in full sincerity. All among you who are liable for Zakat should never fail to discharge this important obligation. And those upon whom the pilgrimage to Mecca has become obligatory, without any obstacles standing in the way, should duly undertake that blessed journey. Do all good deeds with the proper care they deserve, forsaking evil from a real repulsion arising from the heart. Be very sure that no action, whatsoever, can take you to God if it is devoid of righteousness. The root of everything good is taqwa [righteousness]; in whatever action this root is not lost, that action will never be devoid or futile. (Kashti-e-Nuh, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 19, p. 15)

The Promised Messiah(as) says:

What is the Prayer? It is the supplication made humbly in the form of tasbih [glorification] and tahmid [praise of God], taqdis [proclaiming His holiness], istighfar [seeking His forgiveness] and durud [calling down His blessings on the Holy Prophet(sa)]. When you are occupied with the Prayer, do not confine yourselves only to the prescribed Prayers like heedless people whose Prayer is all formality and has no reality behind it. When you observe the Prayer, besides the prescribed supplications taught by the Holy Qur’an and the Holy Prophet, you should set forth your supplications in your respective vernaculars so that your hearts may be moved by your humility and your earnestness. (Kashti-e-Nuh, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 19, pp. 68–69)

The Promised Messiah(as) further says:

The Prayer is so powerful that the heavens incline towards the human with it. The one who does full justice to Prayers feels that he has died; his soul has melted and fallen at the threshold of Allah… A house in which Prayer is offered in this manner will never face destruction. It is said in hadith that if Prayer had been ordained to the people of Noah, they would not have been ruined. Hajj is obligatory but with certain prerequisites; so is fasting and Zakat. But the obligation to offer Prayer has no prerequisites. All other obligations are discharged once a year, but the Prayer is ordained five times a day. As long as the Prayer is not performed in accordance with all its requirements, it does not earn the blessings that it carries. Such allegiance [without discharging these obligations] in not of any benefit. (Malfuzat, new edition, vol. 3, p. 627)

The Promised Messiah(as) says:

Prayer is obligatory on every Muslim. It is narrated in hadith that some people accepted Islam and submitted, ‘O Prophet of Allah, please release us from the obligation of Prayer because we are traders. Because we tend to cattle, sometimes we are not sure about the cleanliness of our clothes. Moreover, we do not have the time.’ The Holy Prophet(sa) said, ‘Take heed, if there is no Prayer, there is nothing. Faith without worship is no faith at all.’

What is Prayer? To submit your weaknesses before God and to seek their solutions from Him. At times, to stand straight before him in awe of His Grandeur — ready to carry out His commands. At times, to prostrate before Him in complete submission. To beg from him all that you need. That is Prayer. To praise Him like a beggar, to move His Mercy by narrating His Greatness and Grandeur, and then asking. A ‘faith’ that does not have this [type of Prayer] is no faith at all.

A man is needy at all times to seek Allah’s pleasure and beg for His Grace. Only through His Grace can we accomplish anything. O Allah, grant us the ability to belong entirely to You to stay firmly upon the path of Your pleasure and thereby earn Your pleasure. Prayer means love of God, fear of God, to always keep Him in mind — and that is what faith is.

So anyone who wants to be freed from the obligation of Prayer cannot accomplish anything more than the animals — eating, drinking, and sleeping. This certainly is not faith.

This is the way of the disbelievers. The popular saying, ‘The moment of heedlessness is the moment of disbelief ’ is undoubtedly true and correct.’ (Al-Hakam, vol. 7, March 31, 1903, p. 8)

How to achieve concentration in Prayer? The Promised Messiah(as) says [that a person who derives no pleasure from Prayer should beg before Allah]:

Allah the Almighty! Thou knowest how blind and sightless I am, and at the moment I am like the dead. I know that in a little while I shall be called and shall present myself before Thee and no one will be able to stop me. But my heart is blind and unenlightened. Do Thou cause to descend upon it such a flame of light that thereby it may be inspired with Thy love and devotion. Do Thou bestow upon me such grace that I shall not be raised up sightless and blind.

When he supplicates in this manner and persists in the supplication, he will see that a time will arrive when something will descend upon him while he is engaged in such a Prayer that will melt his heart. (Malfuzat, new edition, vol. 2, p. 616)