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Islam - Children's Corner
The
Importance of Salah
by Hamid Syed
Salah is the second pillar and one of the most important pillars of
Islam. Salah is the key to Islam. Salah is Ibadah or worship.
In our lives we have many duties that we do like school, jobs and other
sort of activities. And when we are doing these things we forget Allah
and that we are his servants. Allah doesn't want us to forget that we
are His servants and also why we are here in this universe.
That's the purpose of Salah and why Allah made Salah. Salah not only
helps us to remember Allah and that we are his servants. But it also
keeps us on the right path, it helps us from not doing bad, from
disobedience of Allah, makes us clean and healthy and also it gets us
closer to Allah. If you stopped offering Salah you would no longer be a
proper Muslim.
There are five obligatory daily Salah in a day. Fajr is the first Salah
of the day, which helps us to start our day with remembering Allah (Subhanahu
wa Ta'ala). Fajr is prayed early in the morning after dawn.
Zuhr is the next Salah. It is prayed after mid day in the afternoon, so
that after you have eaten your lunch you can remember Allah.
Then comes Asr which is prayed when most parents and children come back
from school or work. This is another time to remember our great Lord
Allah.
After the Asr Salah is Maghrib which is prayed immediately after sunset
when the sky becomes dark. We remember Allah after dawn and now we
remember our Mighty Lord again after sunset.
After Maghrib comes Isha. It is the last Salah of the day, when we pray
to Allah to thank Allah for all He has given us that we asked for! We
pray for the forgiveness of our sins. We also pray for a peaceful night
and also another happy and successful day tomorrow.
The Jumah prayer is the most important Salah in the week. The Jumah
Salah is at the time of the Zuhr prayer, prayed on Friday, with a kutbah
and in a jama'ah, but the farz Salah of the Jumah prayer is only 2
rak'ah. If you miss the Jumah Salah you can read it as Zuhr, but the
Jumah Salah is highly recommended to pray.
Salah has to be prayed right. Wudu is the key to Salah. If you did not
do wudu properly and you read Salah your Salah will not count. And when
you are reading Salah you must be facing the Qiblah. The Qiblah is the
direction, which the faces the Kaa'ba. Children at the age of ten must
start praying Salah and at the age of 12 Salah is obligatory.
Salah is so important to be prayed that in any circumstances you still
must pray salah. Even if you are on a journey, and also if we are very
ill and are confined to bed you still must pray Salah. You may ask how
are you supposed to pray Salah when you are truly ill and are confined
to bed? In that case, we can pray Salah while lying down in bed, using
postures and signs.
References: The Children's Book of Islam, Part Two
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The
Holy Quran Quotes
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"… when it is said to them; 'Make not mischief on the Earth', they say; 'We are only peace makers'. Indeed they are the ones who make mischief, but they perceive it not"
(Al-Baqarah 2:11-12)
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