Prayers

Thefive daily mandatory prayersare the pillars of Islam. Referred to
assolaah, the Muslim form of prayer comprises of a series of postures
in which Qur'anic verses are recited and Allah SWT is praised and
supplicated.
Theprimary purposeof prayer is to instill Allah-consciousness in an
individual. It is our duty as a creation of Allah SWT to worship Him
at any time or under any circumstances. It will make a Muslim more
disciplined and help him avoid committing deeds that are forbidden by
Allah SWT.
Prior to performing prayer, the Muslimpurifieshimself/herself. He/she
must be clean and pure from any najaasah orimpuritiesbefore performing
the prayer. The purification process, viaablution or a complete bath,
is with water. In the absence of water, one can perform the tayammum
with sand or other alternative substances.
The five obligatory prayers that Muslims perform every day areFajr,
Zuhr ,Asr, Maghreeb and Ishaa'. In countries where there are large
Muslim communities, the call to prayer (azaan) is announced loudly to
indicate the time of each prayer. That is followed by the iqaamah
which denotes that the prayer is about to begin. The command
concerning prayer is contained in the following Qur'anic verse:
"Verily! I am Allah (SWT)! Laa-ilaaha-illa Ana (none has the right to
be worshipped but I), so worship Me, and perform As-Solaah
(iqaamat-us-solaah) for My Remembrance. [Taaha: 14]
While in prayer, astate of full concentration or khushookshould be
attained to ensure that the person's heart is attuned to make his/her
act a true remembrance of Allah SWT and is turned to Him for
forgiveness. When khushook is attained, the worshipper feels a kind of
calmness and strength to obey Allah SWT and to avoid what He forbids.
There are severalblessingsthat Muslims should notice while performing
their prayers. Prayer makes us fully aware that we are servants of
Allah SWT and thus we should adore and obey Him by performing what has
been prescribed to us. That is why the prayer has been described as
'remembrance' in the Qur'an - its true meaning and purpose lie in
remembering Allah SWT.
Regular establishment of prayer makes one constantly aware that we
live in His presence and His love, and at the same time fear His power
so as to avoid whatever that may displease Him.This is emphasized in
the following Qur'anic verse:
"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 Allah (SWT) is the greatest (thing in life) without
doubt. And Allah (SWT) knows the (deeds) that ye do." [Al-Ankaboot:
45]
On theimportance of prayer, Prophet Muhammad SAW said:
"The first matter that the slave will be brought to account for on the
Day of Judgment is the prayer. If it is sound, then the rest of his
deeds will be sound. And if it is bad, then the rest of his deeds will
be bad." [Bukhari]
Apart from the daily five, there are also several recommended
prayersthat Muslims can perform in order to please Allah SWT and to
gain rewards in the Hereafter.
The other Arabic word that can be translated as prayer in English
isdu'aa, which means supplication or asking assistance from Allah SWT
to fulfill a specific need of this life or in the Hereafter. In Islam,
worship means to revere, serve and obey Allah SWT in one's life wholly
and completely. The word du'aa indicates a direct relationship between
the worshipper and his Creator.
Affirming this, the Prophet SAW said:
"Du'aa is worship." [Abu Dawood]