Shaping our lives with the solat (prayers)

In a hadith (transmission of the Prophet's sayings) it was narrated by Aishah R.A (the Prophet's wife) that the Prophet S.A.W (peace be upon him) said "The two Rak'ah before dawn (fajr) prayer are better than this world and all it contains." [Saheeh Muslim]


When I first came back to Malaysia four years ago, the first thing that awed me was waking up to the sound of the Adhan (the call for prayer). Nowadays I feel I am taking it for granted but I shouldn't. Waking up for the early morning prayer at around 5.50am is an amazing feeling. You get to breathe and enjoy the fresh air. The world is surrounded by serenity and not yet tainted by the hustle and bustle of life. The morning prayer is only two Rak'ah but what struck me about the hadith above is the merits of the two Rak'ah sunnah prayers before the actual obligatory prayer.


For most people like myself we have to mentally prepare for the rat race to get to work by 8 am. We may have to send our children to school, attend meetings, have deadlines or some would be doing groceries shopping, cooking and cleaning the house. Everyday we wake up to face a busy schedule ahead, full of daily chores but just take some time to consider this. Imagine waking up everyday knowing that you have achieved something greater than the whole world and everything in it? (as mentioned in the hadith above)

That would certainly start you off on a positive note and put you in a happy mood. By simply praying two extra Rak'ah you would be able to achieve all that.
 

Islam links all actions with specific concepts and character building exercise. It is unfortunate if we as Muslims simply do the rituals but do not imbibe the concepts to shape our mentality and emotions. Let's just take the prayer. Muslims are obligated to pray five times a day and although there is no argument that the only purpose and intention of our prayer is to worship Allah SWT alone yet, the prayer teaches us many things. It teaches us self discipline, concentration, organization and to do things in a systematic manner. We cannot pray in whichever way we want rather, there are sets of rules and regulations and particular order of things.


As we go through our busy day with tight schedules, we may feel that our 'breaks' for prayer is disruptive. We might become engrossed with work, shopping, watching TV or doing some worldly activities that we may feel burdened by the five prayers. Yet, we often forget the concept that the hereafter is the real life compared to this life which is temporary and only a test. Hence, by leaving the worldly activities to perform our obligatory prayers is a reminder for us that is the true destination, to leave everything to return to Allah SWT, to leave the dunya and concentrate on the real life which is akhirat. It is an affirmation to the concept we already hold in our mind about the next life and what is really important.

May Allah SWT make us and our children, our future generation to perform and LOVE the prayers...Ameen.