In the Name of Allah, Most Beneficent, Most Merciful

All praise is due Allah, Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon the most noble of prophets and messengers, Muhammad, his household and all his companions. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger.

The meaning of Ayah no 103 of Surat Al-Nisáa reads:

"When you have performed the act of worship, remember Allah, standing, sitting and reclining. And when you are in safety, observe proper worship. Worship (prayer) at fixed hours has been enjoined on the believers."

Ayah no 102 of the same Surah deals with prayer when Muslims are in battle conditions - not necessarily actually fighting at the time because a Muslim can pray even when riding. This was followed by Ayah 103 stating that prayers at fixed hours (times) has been enjoined on the believers.

From these two Ayat, we can see the great importance of performing salat at the appropriate times.

In this connection, let us look at the meaning of two Ayat of Surat Al-Máoun that read:

Ch107 v4-5:

According to the Tafseer of Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on his soul)

Ata’a bin Dinar said: "Alhamdulillah Who said [Arabic text] – (heedless of) and did not say [Arabic text] – (not mindful in)" as the former means they are heedless of their prayers and the latter means they are unaware or not mindful in their prayers because they might have other things on their minds during the performance of their prayers. If one makes a mistake because of forgetfulness or momentarily losing concentration, then Sujood al Sah’w (prostration of forgetfulness) after completing the prayer has been established by the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to remedy that. The former applies in cases of deliberately delaying prayers till the latest available time for it or not performing it properly in accordance with the Sunnah or not praying with humility and awe. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said describing such a person performing salaat al-asr late and referring to these two ayat:

"That is the prayer of a hypocrite who sits and watches the sun. When it is about to set he would stand and hurriedly pray four rakáas little remembering Allah in them."

Such prayer is pure pretence especially if we know that very late Asr is a ( time of Karaha ) – when prayer is disliked.

 In Sura An-Nisá’ v142 we read:

" The Hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but it is Allah Who deceives them, and when they stand up to prayer they stand without earnestness, to be seen of men but little do they hold Allah in remembrance."

Let us look at some examples of people who knew the importance of salaat and practised the Sunnah properly.

It has been related about Ali ibn abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) that

whenever the time for one of the daily prayers approached he would look like a man in shock and his face would change colour (probably become very pale)

Once they asked him: "What has overcome you O Ameer of the Faithful?"

He answered: "This is the time to discharge a trust that Allah, The Almighty, offered unto the heavens and the earth and the mountains but they shrank from bearing it and were afraid of it. We (meaning mankind) did."

This is a reference to Ayah 72 of Surat Al Ahza’ab (The Clans)

"We offered the trust unto the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they shrank from bearing it and were afraid of it. And man assumed it, he has proved a tyrant and a fool."

Such were the words and behaviour of someone whom Allah, Glorified be He, promised Al-Jannah ( Paradise )

Another: The family of Ali ibn Al-Hussain (may Allah be pleased with him) noticed that whenever he started to perform his wudu (ablution) his face would become very pale. So they asked: "What happens to you every time you perform ablution?"

He said: "Do not know in whose presence I am about to stand?"

Haatem Al-Assam was asked about his prayers. He said: "When the time for prayer approaches, I would perform ablution properly, then come to the place where I shall perform my prayers and sit down. I would compose myself, my thoughts and concentrate my mind. I would (and this is figurative speech) place the Káaba between my eyebrows, the Siraat (the Path referred to on the Day of Judgement) under my feet, paradise on my right, hell fire on my left, the angel of death behind me and think of my Salaat as being my last one before death. I would then rise to pray in awe, fear and hope." He went on to describe his humility whilst performing the various actions of prayers and ended up saying: "After that I do not know whether or not it has been accepted."

Part 2

In The Name of Allah, Most Beneficent, Most Merciful

All praise is due to Allah and peace and blessings be upon the last prophet and messenger. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that Mohammed is His servant and messenger.

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

"The first thing that a person will be questioned about on the Day of Judgement is his Salaat. If it was good, all his deeds will be good. If it was bad (meaning either not performed at all or not performed properly) all his deeds will be bad."

How about Siyaam (fasting) now that Ramadhan is fast approaching?

In Sura Al-Baqara, v183, we read:

"O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you that you may attain taqwaa (piety) "

But nowadays, some people do not fast or if they fast, do not pray or if they fast and pray during Ramadhan, do not fast at other times such as during Sha’baan or Shawwaal or pray during the rest of the year. Al-Sawm and Al-Salaat are obligatory acts of worship that must be performed and performed properly at the appropriate times. Voluntary (additional) Sawm and Salaat are also enjoined and will, by the Grace of Allah, be rewarded.

Should the obligatory Salaat has not been performed properly or fully, then on the Day of Judgement, any voluntary Salaat will be taken into consideration by Allah, praised be He, to render one's Salaat complete and perfect.

As for Al-Sawm, there is a hadeeth reported by Al-Tirmithi and others and although it has been classified as (a weak hadeeth), one should take note of it.

"Whoever does not observe fasting on a day of Ramadhan without an acceptable excuse, no other fasting shall compensate for that day even if one fasted for a whole year."

The great importance of both salaat and sawm and the excellence of Al-Juma’a is stressed in the following hadeeth:

"The five daily prayers, and from one Juma’a to the next and from one Ramadhan to the next - all will expiate (one’s) sins that may be committed in between as long as major sins (kaba’aer) are not committed."