This article is for anyone out there – you might be someone who prays all your prayers, but at times when you might feel lazy or you want to reflect on why you pray, this article is for you. You might be someone who wants to start praying and you want to have a motivation to pray. Or perhaps you are a new Muslim or a non Muslim here to answer your questions on why Muslims are committed to their Salah. Worry not, this article is for you. 

Disclaimer: There are an abundant number of reasons why Salah is a pillar of Islam. Here I have just listed a few of these reasons in this article.

To pray, you cleanse yourself which refreshes you physically and spiritually.

For our prayers, Muslims must ensure they are in a state of Wudhu (purity). For some, making Wudhu feels like a chore, but in reality Wudhu cleans you. Cleanliness is half of one’s faith in Islam and taking a break to make Wudhu is a great way to be clean and also wake you up, especially when you are fasting and have low energy levels. Also, a Hadith states that:

When a Muslim man performs ablution, his sins are removed from his hearing, his sight, his hands, and his legs. If he sits down, he will sit down forgiven. Musnad Aḥmad 21623, Grade: Sahih

Making Wudhu shows that you honour and respect your Lord. 

Another major reason why making Wudhu is powerful and mandatory is because it logically makes sense. Imagine if you were to meet your favourite celebrity. Would you go to see them unclean and sluggish? No, you would ensure you are clean and you smell good and you look presentable. So why should there be an exception for our Lord? He is the Creator of the Heavens, the galaxies, and this Earth. Such a being deserves the utmost respect and honour when we go to talk to Him. That is why we clean ourselves before prayer.

Salah is a constant reminder why we are here on this Earth and who we worship.

Let’s be honest, it is very easy to get caught up with this world. It is very easy to forget in this world of materialism that we require spirituality in our hearts. We need that time to bring peace and remember in the good times and bad times, everything so temporary which can be liberating. We remember that Allah is the one who can help us and protect us and we should not be attached to anything else except Him. 

Salah improves your physical and mental health.

I cannot even begin to explain how many scientists discover things and make it a trend after seeing all the benefits of it when that same thing was already told by us 1400 years ago from the Quran and Sunnah. An example is yoga. Many non Muslims do yoga to stay fit, remain flexible and destress and we Muslims already move our bodies five times a day during prayer. People also now have a gratitude journal and plan out their goals, but Salah already establishes this as you are grateful to Allah for your blessings and you can ask Allah for whatever you want that will make you happy long term. 

Salah helps you to manage your time.

One tip that everyone should follow is to plan your day around Salah, rather than the other way round. The five prayer times are fixed, so when you are studying, you could tell yourself that you will complete one chapter before Asr and then do three chapters before Maghrib. 

Salah helps you to refocus on your goals and remember your priorities. 

Unfortunately, this world and social media has made it so easy for us to compare ourselves to each other. But Islam tells us to focus on ourselves and being the best version of ourselves. The time to make Dua to Allah is so powerful because you ask Allah for what you want and you remember that it is possible if Allah wills.

Salah is what differentiates a believer from a non believer. 

One of the main motivations for me to start praying Salah was the fact that it differentiates a believer from a non believer. 

“Between a man and shirk and kufr there stands his neglect of the prayer.” Muslim in Kitaab al-Eemaan

Salah is a commandment of Allah. It is the first thing asked when you die. 

Salah is your foundation. The first thing asked when you die is whether you performed your Salah. It is the basis of faith. This is shown in the Hadith below.

“The first action for which a servant of Allah will be held accountable on the Day of Resurrection will be his prayers. If they are in order, he will have prospered and succeeded. If they are lacking, he will have failed and lost. Sunan al-Tirmidhī 413

Salah is a direct way to make your message heard in the Heavens.

One of the most beautiful things I heard was ‘Sujood is so powerful because when your head is on the ground, you are reaching the highest of Heavens.’ 

Salah deletes sins and reaps great rewards. 

Every good deed is taken into account and is being taken on your scales for the Hereafter. Allah is All Hearing and All Seeing so He sees every time you pray your Salah, and every word you utter. Prayer is a form of Dhikr and Dhikr reaps rewards and deletes your sins.

Salah protects you from evil – both evil others put on you and also prevents you from committing sins.

The Quran states that:

“Recite what has been revealed to you of the Book, and perform the Salah. Verily, the Salah prevents from Al-Fahsha’ (immoral sins) and Al-Munkar (evil deeds) and the remembering (praising) of Allah is greater indeed. And Allah knows what you do.” Surah Al-Ankaboot (29:45)

There was also a video from Smile 2 Jannah where a real magician talks about how they find it difficult to do magic on Muslims who pray their Salah because praying Muslims are protected. You want to be protected and remain healthy? Pray your Salah.

Salah is a time where you can talk about your worries to the One who can solve them.

If we want to meet any celebrity such as Elon Musk or even Barack Obama, we need to book appointments and perhaps wait weeks, if not months to be able to talk to them. However, Allah, the Greatest and the Most Important has made it so easy for us to talk to Him. We just need to raise our hands and ask Allah to get rid of our problems, our struggles. How liberating is that? 

Salah teaches you discipline.

Who would you consider more disciplined: the person who wakes up at 5am to pray in the morning, and then goes on about their day such as exercise or work, or the person who wakes up 15 minutes before their class starts and rushes to class with their pyjamas on looking tired? Of course, the former is more disciplined and more healthy. This is what prayer does to you. It gives you purpose to wake up and succeed. That is why the Adhan (call to prayer)  even says: ‘Come to prayer. Come to success.’

There are so many reasons I can discuss why Salah is crucial to success in all aspects of life, but I will finish here. I hope you found this article beneficial, and don’t be afraid to read this article whenever you need a reminder

As always, Allah knows best. 

For those of you who may not know, I have now started my Medium blog linked here. If you would like to support my work, please comment down below this post, or head over to Medium to support me there, as well as thousands of other creators on the platform for free. 

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!

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And, if you don’t already know me, my name is Surobi and I am currently a teenager and a student who shares productivity tips and tricks as well as girl solutions here on this website and over on my podcast The Chat Library. And, remember it is your choice if you want to follow these tips or not.

Here we shall go on to the five bad habits:

Habit #1: Waking Up Late

I know that it is really tempting to stay asleep until midday and sleep at like 1 am but I don’t recommend that. Waking up late is not good as the morning is the time where you have the most energy and probably when everyone in your household is still asleep, so try to use this morning time to get your work done and be productive. This helps you to also start the day with a positive approach.

Habit #2: Having A Longer Screen Time

Okay, this feels inevitable but trust me when I say that it is not impossible to stop doing this. If you have access to your phone or electronic devices 24/7 during this quarantine time, you are likely to use them more. However, my tips would be to have a goal of your screen time on how long you will use it each day and track it in a planner to ensure you know if you reach that target. You could also assign times in the day where you don’t use your phone at all or you give it to someone in your family.

Habit #3: Having An Unstructured Routine

You were probably used to having a fixed or structured routine back when you were not quarantining. And even if you weren’t…this is the time! Build the self-discipline to make a routine as detailed as you want it to be to ensure that you are getting your work done. Fit in times for relaxation, work and even spending time with your family.

Habit #4: Piling Up Work

I know that taking care of your mental health is super important and you may take some time off to take care of yourself but if you feel completely fine, try to get some work done. I know it can be hard at times, but if you do some work now, it will be easier for you later as you won’t have to catch up on a lot of work. 

Habit #5: Not Gaining Good Knowledge

This is the time to also push yourself out of your comfort zone to do something good, whether that is by making a new platform like a website, learning a new skill, or reading a book. Since racism is quite a big issue right now, you may want to research on that or you may want to feed your brain with other good information. If you incorporate this into your routine, you may end up doing this for the rest of your life.

Those were my five top habits you should not do and instead try to do the opposites if you want to really develop yourself and become an improved version of yourself while quarantining. And, of course, remember to take care of yourself especially during this time :).

And while you are already on my website, stick around by surfing around my website and also listening to my Podcast: The Chat Library. 

Stay happy, healthy and well! Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!