Life in the 21st century is getting faster at an exponential rate. The competition is getting stiffer and the competitors are more ruthless than ever before. Each one of us is relentlessly striving to become the best at what we do. 24 hours seem like a short time for a day. I mean, there’s so much to do in such a small time: work, exercise, eat, socialize, WhatsApp, coffee, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and so much more. Time seems to be literally flying by these days and all of us are having a hard time catching up with it. We are constantly looking for advice, shortcuts or guidance that can help us manage time better and sort out our priorities efficiently. What we tend to forget in all this hustle bustle is the very purpose of our creation.
Human beings are the most honorable creations of ALLAH (SWT). That is why we are called ‘Ashraf-ul-Makhlooqaat’. We’re sent by ALLAH (SWT) to this earth with a purpose and we are accountable to Him for that. As Muslims, we are taught by ALLAH’s Beloved Prophet (PBUH) through his words (Hadeeth) and actions (Sunnah) how life should be lived and how priorities should be managed. Through the Holy Quran, ALLAH (SWT) has blessed us with a comprehensive guidebook for life. It is now up to us take guidance from the Quran, Hadeeth and Sunnah and understand the true purpose of life. Islam is a religion of peace and balance and it teaches its followers to make efforts towards maintaining balance between this world and the hereafter. ALLAH (SWT) has even maintained a perfect balance while mentioning both the worlds (Al-Dunya & Al-Aakhirah) in the Holy Quran in order to highlight the importance of this equilibrium (both Al-Dunya and Al-Aakhirah are mentioned 115 times in the Holy Quran).
A good way to maintain that balance is to keep ourselves constantly connected with our Creator so that we never lose sight of the fact that He is the one who we should always be obeying and that He is the one to whom we will return one day. ALLAH (SWT) has blessed us with prayers (Namaz/ Salah) five times a day to stay connected with Him on a one-to-one basis at different intervals during the day. We could not have gotten luckier to get that exclusive time with our Creator. But alas, man is ungrateful. Salah is also one of the many blessings for which we are unthankful to the Almighty. But what we also underestimate at times along with being unthankful for Salah is that it is not just a blessing from ALLAH (SWT) but also a commandment- a commandment that has been given by the Almighty around a whopping number of 700 times in the Holy Quran. Just imagine its importance!
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Namaz (as we commonly call it in the subcontinent) is not just a ritual, it is one of the five pillars of Islam and an obligatory duty for every Muslim to perform. Other than some special circumstances for women, it is not permissible to skip Salah under any circumstances- and why would you skip Salah if you understand the benefits and blessings it brings five times a day for you! But we do. We not only skip Salah without any reason, but we almost think of it as a burden on our souls. We pretend to forget, we intentionally sleep, and we allow our lethargy to get the better of us. Just so we can miss a chance to stand in front of ALLAH (SWT) to ask Him for His mercy and to thank Him for His blessings that He continues to shower upon us each passing second of our lives. We’re geniuses, right?
Some of us understand the importance of Salah (to a certain extent) but become a little casual about it with time. We miss prayers, feel bad about it, but then we think that we’ll catchup on them by offering Qaza Namaz. Shaytaan cleverly lures us into that trap. One prayer is missed, then another and then we slowly start losing count. Missed prayers keep piling up and one day you suddenly realize that you’re faced with a huge backlog of Qaza prayers. It is a sinking feeling. But the good part is that it is never too late to start clearing the backlog. All you need to do is focus on your prayers as best as you focus on anything else in life. Understand that Salah is more important than any worldly task that you perform, and it deserves to be given its due value. Once you start clearing your backlog of Qaza prayers (preferably one prayer at a time with every Farz Salah), you will very quickly realize the importance of one time’s Salah and you would then not want to miss it at any cost to avoid letting it add onto the backlog. Start maintaining a record of your missed prayers and tick them off each time you’ve cleared those through Qaza namaz. Don’t get disheartened by the volume of the backlog. Keep clearing if off and keep asking ALLAH (SWT) for the perseverance to continue with this task until it is completed.
Remember! If the grandchildren of our beloved Prophet (PBUH) did not miss Salah during the battle of Karbala while they were tragically martyred at the hands of evil forces, we don’t have a reason to miss Salah either.
– Hammad A. Mateen
Hammad Abdul Mateen's Blog 