Daily Prayer Highest Form of Dhikr

TEHRAN (IQNA) – There are many verses in the Holy Quran that are related to Salah (daily prayer).

Saying daily prayers is Wajib (compulsory) in Islam. The importance attached to prayer in the religion is so much that even for those who cannot say their prayers normally due to certain conditions or in emergencies, there are specific instructions to observe the prayers as much as possible.

Salah holds so great a position in Islam that, according to Hadiths, abandoning it is tantamount to denying the religion and deviation from it. Sometimes missing daily prayers is due to negligence but that, too, is a sin.

The Holy Quran says, “Pay due attention to your prayers, especially the middle prayer and stand up while praying, in obedience to God. In an emergency you may say your prayers while walking or riding; but when you are safe, remember God, as He has taught you what you did not know before.” (Surah Al-Baqarah, verses 238-239)

These verses are about Salah and preserving it and they come after verses that talk about family problems, divorce and duties of husband and wife. It could mean that by preserving and observing our Salah, we will be immune to many problems and harms, including family problems.

There is a Hadith from Imam Sadiq (AS) who said Salah is an opportunity for one to purify his soul five times a day.

This verse (238 of Surah Al-Baqarah) underlines paying attention to daily prayers, especially the middle prayer. There have been different views mentioned on what middle prayer refers to. One possibility is that it refers to noon and Asr prayers, and another view holds that it means the Fajr prayer.

In any case Salah is a Wajib duty that cannot be abandoned and must be observed under any conditions.

That is why the next verses says, “In an emergency you may say your prayers while walking or riding; but when you are safe, remember God, as He has taught you what you did not know before.”

This verse refers to Salat al-khawf, which is a method of performing Salah in the event of a battle or other form of immediate danger which prevents the Muslims from performing normal prayer.

An important point in this verse is that it refers to Salah as Dhikr (remembrance of God), which indicates that Salah is one of the example of Dhikr and its highest form.