The Obligation and Importance of the Five Daily Prayers

Jurisprudential Rulings and Issues of Prayer in the Light of the Qur’an and Hadith
Rulings and Issues of Ṣalāh
Volume 01 – Page 81

Question​

As-salāmu ʿalaykum wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh
The Obligation of the Five Daily Prayers

Answer​

With the help of al-Wahhāb, subject to the validity of the question

Wa ʿalaykum as-salām wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh!
All praise is for Allah, and blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:

The Importance of Prayer (Ṣalāh)​

❀ After the testimony of faith (Kalimah al-Shahādah), Ṣalāh holds the greatest importance and emphasis among the pillars of Islam.

❀ Ṣalāh is a comprehensive and beautiful form of worship, encompassing multiple acts of devotion, such as:

◈ Remembrance of Allah
◈ Recitation of the Qur’an
◈ Standing (Qiyām)
◈ Bowing (Rukūʿ)
◈ Prostration (Sujūd)
◈ Supplication (Duʿāʾ)
◈ Glorification (Tasbīḥ)
◈ Declaration of greatness (Takbīr)

❀ Ṣalāh is the pinnacle of physical acts of worship.
❀ The Sharīʿah of every Messenger of Allah has never been devoid of prayer.

❀ Among the legal rulings, Ṣalāh holds a unique distinction in that Allah Almighty obligated it upon His final Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ on the Night of Miʿrāj, in the heavens.

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Bāb Kayfa Furidat al-Ṣalāh fī al-Isrāʾ, Ḥadīth: 349

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Īmān, Bāb al-Isrāʾ bi Rasūl Allāh ﷺ, Ḥadīth: 162

✔ This clearly demonstrates the greatness, importance, and elevated status of Ṣalāh with Allah Almighty.

The Obligation of Prayer and Denial of Its Obligation​

❀ Numerous aḥādīth have been narrated regarding the virtue and obligation of prayer.
❀ The obligation of Ṣalāh in Islam is an obvious and self-evident reality.

❀ Whoever denies the obligation of prayer is an apostate. He is to be given a chance to repent; if he does not repent, then there is consensus among the scholars of the Ummah that he is to be executed.

The Linguistic and Technical Meaning of Ṣalāh​

◈ Linguistically, prayer is called “Ṣalāh”, which means supplication (duʿāʾ).

Allah Almighty says:

﴿وَصَلِّ عَلَيْهِمْ﴾
Translation: “O Prophet ﷺ! Pray for them.”

Reference: al-Tawbah: 9:103

◈ Technically and legally, Ṣalāh is an act of worship consisting of specific statements and actions, beginning with Allāhu Akbar and ending with the salām.

Because the worshipper remains engaged in Allah’s worship, praise, and supplication during prayer, it is called Ṣalāh.

The Obligation of the Five Daily Prayers​

❀ Before the Hijrah, on the Night of Miʿrāj, five daily prayers were made obligatory upon every sane and mature Muslim during the day and night.

Allah Almighty says:

﴿إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ كَانَتْ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ كِتَابًا مَوْقُوتًا﴾
Translation: “Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers at fixed times.”

Reference: al-Nisāʾ: 4:103

❀ The times of prayer were clearly explained by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ through his words and actions.

Allah Almighty says:

﴿وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ حُنَفَاءَ وَيُقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ﴾
Translation: “And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, being sincere to Him in religion, and to establish prayer.”

Reference: al-Bayyinah: 98:5

❀ In numerous places in the Qur’an, Allah Almighty has emphasized prayer with the command:

﴿وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ﴾

At one place, He says:

﴿قُلْ لِعِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا يُقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ﴾
Translation: “Say to My believing servants that they should establish prayer.”

Reference: Ibrāhīm: 14:31

❀ In Sūrat al-Rūm, Allah Almighty says:

﴿فَسُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ حِينَ تُمْسُونَ وَحِينَ تُصْبِحُونَ ۝ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَعَشِيًّا وَحِينَ تُظْهِرُونَ﴾
Translation: “So glorify Allah when you enter the evening and when you enter the morning. And to Him belongs all praise in the heavens and the earth, and in the late afternoon and at noon.”

Reference: al-Rūm: 30:17–18

Who Is Not Obligated to Pray​

❀ Prayer becomes obligatory upon a sane and mature Muslim as soon as its time begins.

❀ A woman in the state of menstruation or postnatal bleeding is not obligated to pray, and after purification, making up missed prayers is not required.

❀ Whoever falls asleep or becomes unconscious, then regains awareness, must make up the missed prayer.

Allah Almighty says:

﴿وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ لِذِكْرِي﴾
Translation: “And establish prayer for My remembrance.”

Reference: ṬāHā: 20:14

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«مَنْ نَسِيَ صَلَاةً أَوْ نَامَ عَنْهَا فَكَفَّارَتُهَا أَنْ يُصَلِّيَهَا إِذَا ذَكَرَهَا»

Translation: “Whoever forgets a prayer or sleeps through it, its expiation is that he should pray it when he remembers.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Masājid, Bāb Qaḍāʾ al-Ṣalāh al-Fāʾitah, Ḥadīth: 684

Teaching Prayer to Children​

① It is obligatory upon guardians to instruct children to pray at the age of seven, even though prayer is not yet obligatory upon them.

② Through this action, both the child and the guardian receive reward.

Allah Almighty says:

﴿مَنْ جَاءَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ فَلَهُ عَشْرُ أَمْثَالِهَا﴾
Translation: “Whoever brings a good deed shall have ten times its like.”

Reference: al-Anʿām: 6:160

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«نَعَمْ وَلَكِ أَجْرٌ»
Translation: “Yes, and for you there is a reward.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Ḥajj, Bāb Ṣiḥḥat Ḥajj al-Ṣabī, Ḥadīth: 1336

③ If a child reaches ten years of age and shows negligence in prayer, the guardian may discipline him physically:

«مُرُوا أَوْلَادَكُمْ بِالصَّلَاةِ…»
Translation: “Command your children to pray at the age of seven, and beat them for it at the age of ten if they do not pray.”

Reference: Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 495; Musnad Aḥmad: 2/187

The Consequence of Abandoning Prayer​

❀ Whoever abandons prayer out of laziness, without denying its obligation, commits disbelief according to the correct opinion.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«بَيْنَ الْعَبْدِ وَبَيْنَ الْكُفْرِ تَرْكُ الصَّلَاةِ»

Translation: “Between a servant and disbelief is abandoning prayer.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Īmān, Ḥadīth: 82

Rulings Concerning Adhān and Iqāmah​

❀ Adhān was legislated to announce the time of prayer.
❀ Adhān and Iqāmah are among the prominent symbols of Islam.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«الْمُؤَذِّنُونَ أَطْوَلُ النَّاسِ أَعْنَاقًا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ»

Translation: “On the Day of Resurrection, the callers to prayer will have the longest necks.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Ḥadīth: 387

❀ Adhān and Iqāmah are farḍ kifāyah.
❀ Adhān consists of fifteen phrases, and Iqāmah of eleven phrases.
❀ Adding non-Sunnah words to the Adhān is bidʿah and prohibited.

Ruling on responding to the Adhān:

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Ḥadīth: 385

Supplication after the Adhān:

«اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّ هَذِهِ الدَّعْوَةِ التَّامَّةِ…»

Translation:
“O Allah! Lord of this perfect call and the prayer to be established, grant Muḥammad ﷺ al-Wasīlah and virtue, and raise him to the Praiseworthy Station.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Adhān, Ḥadīth: 614

Qur’anic Encouragement for Prayer​

﴿فِي بُيُوتٍ أَذِنَ اللَّهُ أَنْ تُرْفَعَ وَيُذْكَرَ فِيهَا اسْمُهُ…﴾
Translation:
“In houses which Allah has permitted to be raised and in which His Name is remembered; He is glorified therein in the mornings and evenings.”

Reference: al-Nūr: 24:36–37

This is what I have, and Allah knows best what is correct.