Importance of Salat and the Five Pillars ofIslam

Alhamdulillah for the favor that He (swt) honored us with Islam, to be
Muslims. To be Muslims is enough tobe a pathway for us to Paradise,
enough to at least put our first step in paradise.
Kalimat ash-Shahada
It is enough to say that youhave reached the side of safety. When
someone saysthat 'I am a Muslim' it means he or she accepted and
admitted Kalimat at-Tawheed, Kalimat ash-Shahada, "ashhadu an la ilaha
illa Allah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan Rasulullah".
To become a Muslim meansaccept the shahada , or elseyou are not a
Muslim. By saying "I am a Muslim" youhave passed the first level. Then
you have to go to thesecond level. It means you have said, "O Allah I
admit that you are the Creator and I am your slave." Slave,not
servant.
A servant is different from a slave: a servant is higher. That is a
level that Allah did not give to anyone other than the Prophet (s).
When he said subhan alladhi asra bi abdihi laylanmin al-masjid
al-haraam ilaal-masjid al aqsa alladhee barakn hawlahu... - " Glory be
to Him Who made His servant to go on a night from the Sacred Mosque to
the remote mosque of which We have blessed theprecincts…". [17: 2]
He called the Prophet (s)"`Abd". He specified him with that title. To
be a slave is a lower level, because our Islam is not yet perfect. We
accept to say kalimat shahada, we accept Allah (swt) as our Lord and
Prophet Muhammad (s) as our Messenger. Yet, we are not doing what is
supposed to be done. To do what is supposed to be done is a very
important aspect of Islam, it is the most… whenyou say shahada when
you declare Kalimat at Tauheed - how many times are you obliged to say
it per day, week, month year, or lifetime how many times. You can say
Kalimat at-Tauheed one time, it is enough not to say it all thetime.
You don't need to repeat it every time, once is enough to put you into
the circle of Islam. So Kalimat at-Tauheed , the first pillar of
Islam, can be said only once in the wholelifetime - it is obligatory
to say it once.
The second pillar of Islam is iqamu salat . We will to it come later.
Poor due - Zakat
The third pillar is ita'uz-zakat . Who can, must do it once a year.
Andyou cannot do it if you don't have money. If you are poor and you
did not make enough profit--a certain amount of money that goes from
one year to another--you are not obliged to take out your zakat. It is
an obligation fard to be done once a yearfor those who are obliged to
give because they have made on their money, money from one year, min
al hawli il al-hawli . But if you did not, then you are not obliged to
give it. If there is a poor person who cannot find food for one day's
sustenance, you cannot expect him to have saved money on the side.
This means some people will do it every year and some people will not
do it. Who cannot afford to, is not obliged to do it.
Fasting - Siyam
Wa sawmu ramadan . Fasting, you are obliged to do it every year one
time, for one month. And alhamdulillah Allah (swt) gave us this month
to remember Him. And the Prophet (s) used to urge the Sahaba for
itikaf in the last 10 days of that month. And many Muslims around the
world do itikaf and they try to do their best to come closer to Allah
(swt) and for Allah (swt) to be happy with us and to for usto be
nearer to him in dunya and akhira. fa man kana minkum mareedan aw ala
safarin fa iddatun min ayyamin ukhar- (Fast) a certain number of days;
and (for) him who is sick among you, or on a journey, (the same)
number of other days; [2: 184]. In that case Allah gave you permission
to fulfill them later. If someone is continuously sick then he is
excused. It means you have to do it once a year, but some people if
they cannot fast,they do not have to doit--Allah is relieving them,
excusing them.
Pilgrimage - Hajj
The fifth pillar wa hajj al-bayt li man istata 'a ilahyi sabeela .
Whoever can afford to do hajj who isphysically and mentally and
financially able to go, must perform it at least once in a lifetime.
Prayer - Salat
So on the other hand we see that salat, the second pillar of Islam-you
cannot leave it. Five times a day you are obliged to do it and you
cannot leave it for any reason. No reason. No excuse . there is a very
severe penalty for leaving prayer. If you are sick and you don't fast
there is no penalty. If you are poor and you have no money to give
zakat there is no penalty. If you cannot afford to go to hajj there is
no penalty. But for leaving salat there is a very high penalty -
hellfire. Ma bayn al-kufr wal iman tark al-salah, - What is between
belief and disbelief is leaving prayer. So there is no way, no excuse
for any sick person, for a person with or without money, he or she has
to pray. Five prayers.

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Story :- The Carpenter

A highly skilled carpenter who had grown old was ready to retire. He
told his employer-contractor of hisplans to leave the house building
business and live a more leisurely life with his family. He would miss
the paycheck, but he needed to retire.
The employer was sorry tosee his good worker go and asked if he could
buildjust one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter agreed to
this proposal but made sure that this will be his last project. Being
in a mood to retire, the carpenter was not paying much attention to
building this house. His heart was not in his work. He resorted topoor
workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to
end his career.
When the job was done, the carpenter called his employer and showed
himthe house. The employer handed over some papers and the front door
key to the carpenter and said"This is your house, my gift to you."
The carpenter was in a shock! What a shame! If he had only known that
he was building his own house, he would have made it better than any
other house that he ever built!
Our situation can be compared to this carpenter. Allah Ta'la has sent
us to this world to build our homes in paradise by obeying His
commands. Now, we have to decide how well we wish to build the homes
where we will live forever.

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Story :- Giant Ship Engine that Failed

The following is an incident about an engine failure in a giant ship.
The ship's owners tried one expert after another, but none of them
could figure but how to fix the engine. Then they brought in an old
man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster. He carried a
large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went
to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.
Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man, hoping he
would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached
into his bag and pulled out a smallhammer. He gently tappedsomething.
Instantly, the engine lurched into life He carefully put his hammer
away. The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill
from the old man for ten thousand dollars.
"What?!" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!"
So they wrote the old mana note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."
The man sent a bill that read:
Tapping with a hammer $ 2.00
Knowing where to tap $ 9998.00
Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort in your life
makes all the difference. Knowledge in Islam is highly valued.
Knowledge will benefit us in this world and in the hereafter.

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Hadees

Narrated Anas bin Malik (R.A):
Allah's Apostle mentioned the greatest sins or he was asked about the
greatest sins. He said, "To join partners in worship with Allah; to
kill a soul which Allah has forbidden to kill; and to be undutiful or
unkind to one's parents." The Prophet (pbuh) added,"Shall I inform you
of the biggest of the great sins? That is the forged statement or the
false witness." Shu'ba (the sub-narrator) states that most probably
the Prophetsaid, "the false witness."
Sahih Bukhari: Volume 8, Book 73, Number 8/

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