Allah (swt) ordered us to perform the Five Pillars of Islam and to make
šalāwāt on the Prophet (s). As we are taught in the Holy Qur’an, , so that they cleanse and polish us, presenting us clean to Allah (swt).
Why did šalāt `alaa an-Nabī (s) come at the end of the šalāt, prayers and not at the beginning? That is because Allah (swt) likes His Servant to be clean when he makes šalāwāt on the Prophet (s), because when you pray, you are performing all Five Pillars of Islam.
So, prayer (šalāt) combines all obligations of Islam: Shahadah (Testimony of Faith) in at-Tahiyyaat, šalāt (prayer) by praying, Zakat (charity) by devoting your time to Allah (swt) and leaving dunyā, sawm (fasting) by not eating or drinking during the prayer, and Hajj by directing your face towards the Qiblah, which is Ka`batullah. During šalāt you turn your face to Ka`bah every time. Do not think Allah (swt) is not going to reward you! He will reward you according to His Greatness and will make each of your prayers equal to a Hajj if it is perfect. And if you really focus on the Ka`bah when you are praying, you can actually see it!
In each prayer, different dresses come with everything included: Shahadah, Šalāt, Zakat, Siyaam and Hajj. That is why the Prophet (s) mentioned and insisted that you teach your children to pray when they are seven years old, and that is why it is so important.
عَنْ جَابِرٍ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ “ بَيْنَ الْكُفْرِ وَالإِيمَانِ تَرْكُ الصَّلاَةِ ”
The Prophet (s) said, “Between unbelief and faith is to leave prayers.”36
If you leave your prayers or don’t pray regularly, you are between kufr and Īmān, and if you leave it completely you are on the side of kufr.
Allah (swt) prepared all these dresses for you on the Day of Promises, when He asked everyone, alastu bi-rabbikum, “Am I not your Lord?” and, “Who am I and who are you?” We said, “You are our Lord and we are Your Servants,” and we promised to fulfill all religious obligations. Allah (swt) rewarded everyone, because at that time they said, “Yes.” So, He gave them heavenly dresses and we came to dunyā wearing them. However, some pray some do not pray, and some are in-between: sometimes they pray and sometimes they do not.
An example of this is if someone says, “I have a trust of one thousand golden coins that I will give here to this place that has one thousand people,” then each of the people get one coin. However, if their numbers diminish and they are only one-hundred people, Allah will give ten coins to each because His generosity never diminishes. So, with all these dresses of stations and states that we were granted on the Day of Promises, because most people are now doing less than they promised, whoever is fulfilling his promise will get double and triple the reward as it is distributed to fewer people!
REFERENCES
36 Jami` at-Tirmidhi.
[Excerpted from the newly published book: Makkan Openings: A Pilgrim’s Guide to Divine Secrets available in full color at ISN1.NET ]
