What the 5 Daily Prayers Mean to Me as a Muslim Teen | A Reflection on Salah

​Salah (daily prayers) is the second pillar of Islam, and its importance is reflected in the everyday lives of Muslims. The foremost reason I perform salah is that it is an obligatory act ordained by Allah (SWT). At the same time, the rewards of performing salah are generous and it forgives sins. For me, salat is the main act of worship that keeps me connected to Allah (SWT) no matter how busy, distressed or distracted I am. I see it as a sort of lifeline — my chief source of communication with my Lord, five times a day when nothing stands in the way between me and Allah (SWT).

Salah has a way me calming me down. It is a time when my mind is filled with nothing but my ultimate purpose in life: to worship Allah and enter Jannah.

One might feel a similar sort of inner peace while meditating, but instead of emptying your mind, you think about your Lord. Thus, after performing salah, I tend to feel far more relaxed than before, and my mind is clear and refreshed with my priorities in life.

The physical benefits of salah are plentiful. The range of movements in salah has been shown to improve flexibility, muscle strength and balance, and it gives the body a chance to slow down. It allows people to have a sense of structure during the day. Salah also provides spiritual satisfaction and gives our souls peace and pleasure. The most obvious benefit of wudu is cleanliness- a topic that is emphasised in Islam. Thus, prayer safeguards one’s physical and spiritual health.

Salah prevents me from committing sins because to not perform salah, is, in itself, a sin. It also reminds me about the spiritual aspect of life, which can sometimes be neglected. The Quran says “Verily, prayer restrains (oneself) from shameful and unjust deeds…” (Quran, 29:45). In addition, there are many ways to earn good deeds through salah, like going to the masjid, listening to khutbahs, praying sunnah prayers and supplicating after prayer. After I pray salah, I feel reinvigorated to do more acts of worship because I know that salah is the bare minimum, and it can’t be the only intentional good deed of the day. Salah also encourages me to learn and revise more surahs, as well as to learn the meaning and tafseer (explanation) behind them. There are always ways to improve the quality of my salah, such as by adding duas, which all contribute to earning Allah’s pleasure.

Prayer is one of the most integral pillars that define Muslims as Muslims. As-Salam, The Giver of Peace, has given us the ability to perform our five daily prayers and as long as we are alive, it is never too late to begin praying. Even performing one salah is truly better than nothing. There is no question that salah will improve the quality of your life, as Allah says in the Quran, “Successful indeed are the believers, who are humble in their prayers.” (Quran, 23:1–2). As well as the spiritual benefits of practising this obligatory act, salah gives your day a sense of structure. Once it becomes a habit, it becomes a part of you that cannot be intentionally abandoned. People who do not pray should remember that Allah is the Most Merciful and he knows everything you cannot say; if you want to start praying, there is nothing between you and Allah.

References

• Abu Umar 2012, 6 Steps to Achieve a Quality Salah, ProductiveMuslim.com, viewed 11 November 2021, < https://productivemuslim.com/6-steps-to-achieve-a-quality-salah/>.
• Ahmed, I 2021, SPIRITUAL BENEFITS OF PRAYER, The Siasat Daily, The Siasat Daily, viewed 11 November 2021, <https://www.siasat.com/spiritual-benefits-of-prayer-2061568/ >.
• AlAbdulwahab, SS, Kachanathu, SJ & Oluseye, K 2013, ‘Physical Activity Associated with Prayer Regimes Improves Standing Dynamic Balance of Healthy People’, Journal of Physical Therapy Science, vol. 25, no. 12, pp. 1565–1568, viewed 11 November 2021, <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3885840/ >.
• Benefits of Salah (Prayers) in Islam- According to the Quran & Hadith — Islamic Articles 2020, Islamic Articles, viewed 11 November 2021, <http://www.quranreading.com/blog/benefits-of-salah-prayers-in-islam-according-to-the-quran-hadith/ >.
• Ghazal Kamran 2018, ‘Physical benefits of (Salah) prayer — Strengthen the faith & fitness’, Journal of Novel Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 043–053, viewed 11 November 2021, <https://www.heighpubs.org/jnpr/jnpr-aid1020.php>.

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