٣٦. عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ:
«أَرَأَيْتُمْ لَوْ أَنَّ نَهْرًا بِبَابِ أَحَدِكُمْ يَغْتَسِلُ مِنْهُ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ خَمْسَ مَرَّاتٍ هَلْ يَبْقَى مِنْ دَرَنِهِ شَيْءٌ؟» قَالُوا:
«لَا يَبْقَى مِنْ دَرَنِهِ شَيْءٌ» قَالَ:
«فَذٰلِكَ مَثَلُ الصَّلَوَاتِ الْخَمْسِ يَمْحُو اللّٰهُ بِهِنَّ الْخَطَايَا».
36. Abu Huraira (r.a.) heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saying the following to his companions:
“If there was a river at the door of anyone of you and he took a bath in it five times a day would you notice any dirt on him?”
His noble companions said:
“Not a trace of dirt would be left.”
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“–That is the example of the five prayers with which Allah blots out (annuls) evil deeds.” (Muslim, Masajid, 283. Also see Bukhari, Mawaqid, 6; Tirmidhi, Al-Adab, 80/2868; Nasai, Salah, 7/460; Ibn Majah, Iqamat, 193)
Explanations:
After faith, ritual prayer is the most virtuous[1] and perfect act of worship to remember Allah. It is the most important element of Islam after reciting the Kalimat al-Shahadah.[2] Prayer is the best medicine for human desires that would refrain one from remembering Allah. There is no other act of worship that makes fear and hope clear and contains the call for help and salvation. Since prayer is repeated in certain times of the day, there is no other act of worship that is more effective on human ego, in restraining worldly desires and ambitions, encourages the truth, and being on the right way in all respects. For this reason, Ali (r.a.) said the following to one of his subordinates:
“Everything depends on your prayer.” [3]
First of all the performance of the ritual prayer and then all the other obligatory act of worships become expiation for the minor sins given that one avoids major ones. For those without a sin, it advances their state in the presence of Allah. Allah the Almighty says:
“And establish regular prayers at the two ends of the day and at the approaches of the night: For those things, that are good remove those that are evil: Be that the word of remembrance to those who remember (their Lord)” (Hud; 11:114)
“If you (but) eschew the most heinous of the things which you are forbidden to do, We shall expel out of you all the evil in you, and admit you to a gate of great honor.” (Al-Nisa; 4:31)
The following narration which shows how prayer elevates the state of a person in the presence of Allah also explains the reason of occurance[4] of the first hadith:
Sa‘d b. Abi Waqqas (r.a.) reported:
“There were two brothers. One of them passed away forty days before the other one. The righteousness of the one who passed away earlier had been told to the Messenger of Allah. Upon that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) asked:
“Was not the other one a Muslim?” They said:
“Yes, O the Messenger of Allah, he was a Muslim and he was not a bad person either!”
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“You would not know how much his prayers benefited to him. Prayer is like a river with plenty of fresh water at the door of anyone of you and in which he took a bath five times a day. What do you say, would there be any dirt left on him? You would not know to what levels his prayers elevated him.” (Muwatta, Qasr al-Salah, 91)
The brother who passed away later achieved a more elevated state since he had a chance to perform more prayers compared to his brother who had passed away earlier. In other words, the more one performs prayer in awe, the more elevated his state will be. For this reason, we must increase the productivity of our lives and our capital for the Hereafter by performing supererogatory prayers as much as we can after performing the obligatory ones.
Prayer which nullifies earlier sins also prevents a person from future sins and mistakes.[5] That is because when one knows that his minor sins are forgiven also gets a lesson of self-control for not to commit major sins. A well-performed prayer elevates one to a spiritual maturity and fills his hearth with inner-peace. And a person with inner-peace and awe pays extra attention to stay away from the things that Allah dislikes and therefore gets purified from sins.
In this respect, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) says “Prayer is light.”[6] In other words, a prayer prevents humans from rebellious, evil, and impure acts and guides them to the right path just like light brightens its environment. On the other hand, since a servant of Allah turns externally and internally to Allah by removing everything else out of his heart, his prayers cause lights of wisdom to brighten, relieve the hearts, and discover the truths. Also, prayer is a valuable act of worship that enlightens the face of a believer with a divine light both in this world and in the Hereafter.
Since prayer is the key to Paradise[7], the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) advised to perform prayers to those who seek going to Paradise and being next to the Prophet in there.
Rabi‘a b. Ka’b (r.a.) said:
I used to spend the nights with the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), bring him water and take care of his other needs. Once he said to me:
“Ask (anything you like)!”
And I said:
“I ask your company in Paradise.”
The Prophet (pbuh) said:
“Is it possible that you ask for something else?”
This time I said:
“That is all (that I wish)!
Upon that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“Then help me to achieve this for you by devoting yourself often to prostration!” (Muslim, Salah, 226; Ahmad, III, 500)
When Thawban (r.a.) asked questions similar to the following ones to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh):
“Tell me an act that will help me to enter the Paradise!”
“What is the deed that Allah loves most?”
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) answered him by saying:
“Perform a lot of prostration to Allah! As a matter of fact, when one performs one prostration to Allah, Allah elevates his level by one and forgives one of his sins.” (Muslim, Salah, 225)
The Prophet (pbuh) said to one of his companions:
“If you want to join me (in the hereafter), then increase your prostrations!” (Ahmad, III, 428)
Prostration is also a means to save one from the Fire. This reality is expressed in the following noble hadith:
“…Allah intends mercy on whomever He likes amongst the people of Hell, He will order the angels to take out of Hell those who worshipped none but Him alone. The angels will take them out by recognizing them from the traces of prostrations, for Allah has forbidden the (Hell) fire to eat away those traces. So they will come out of the Fire, it will eat away from the whole of the human body except the marks of the prostrations.” (Bukhari, Adhan, 129)
The prostration mostly refers to salah (prayer). In those narrations, prayer is referred to by its most important part, or prostration. Therefore, prayer is an act of worship that will make one enter the Paradise and be next to the Messenger of Allah.
Moreover, prayer will get those believers who entered the Paradise closer to seeing Allah’s Face. Jarir (r.a.) reported:
One night, we were sitting with the Messenger of Allah, and he said looking at the full moon:
“As all of you can clearly see the full moon without a hustle, you will see Allah (your Lord) in the same way (in Paradise). Now do your best to perform all prayers between the sunrise and sunset.”
Then, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) recited the following noble verses:
“…and celebrate (constantly) the praises of your Lord, before the rising of the sun, and before its setting; yea, celebrate them for part of the hours of the night, and at the sides of the day: that you may have (spiritual) joy.” [8] (Taha; 20:130) (Bukhari, Mawaqît 16, 26; Tafsir, 50/1; Tawhid, 24; Muslim, Masajid, 211)
As it is seen, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) mentions the obligatory prayers as the primary requirement of seeing Allah the Almighty.
As prayer is the spiritual nourishment, it is also a healing power for the body. Since it requires the body, clothes, and the place that the prayer is performed to be clean, the prayer is an important protector of health. It is also well-known that prayer keeps the body active by causing some parts of the body to move, some joints to bend, and some muscles to stretch and relax.[9]
Abu Huraira (r.a.) reported that:
“Once, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) performed a prayer early. Then I performed some more prayer and sat down. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) turned to me and said:
“Do you have a stomach ache?”
I said:
“Yes, O the Messenger of Allah!”
Upon that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) advised me:
“Stand up and perform a prayer! Because there is healing in prayer.” (Ibn Majah, Tibb, 10; Ahmad, II, 390, 403)
Prayer is at the same time a balancing element in a Muslim’s life. This act of worship which is performed at certain times of the day makes one’s life disciplined and organized.
[1] Muslim, Al-Iman (Faith), 137-140.
[2] Translator’s note: Kalimah al-Shahadah or Profession of Faith means believing and saying that there is no god other than the one and only Almighty God, Allah, and His Excellency Muhammad (pbuh) is his subject (servant) and Messenger.
[3] Abdulaziz Çaviş, Anglikan Kilisesine Cevap, p. 96.
[4] The reason underlying a hadith (sabab al-wurud) is why a hadith is occurred (or if it’s an act, why it is performed). There is a special branch of science that focuses on this. The reason of occurrence of a hadith is just like the science of studying the underlying reasons of revelation of the verse of the Noble Quran (Asbab al-Nuzul). This branch of Islamic science helps us to understand the commands that the hadith contain and if a command is abrogated by a given hadith.
[5] Al-Ankabut; 29:45.
[6] Muslim, Taharah, 1.
[7] Ahmad, III, 340.
[8] This Qur’anic verse concisely defines the times of prayer. For detail also see Hud, 11:114; Isra, 17:78; Al-Rum, 30:17-18; M. Kâmil Yaşaroğlu, “Namaz”, Diyanet İslâm Ansiklopedisi, XXXII, 351.
[9] Once paid attention, one can notice that there is a harmony between the movements of the prayer and the human body, as if humans are created to perform prayer or prayer is a worship that fits best for the human nature. Since none of the creatures are created in human form, they cannot perform perfectly the movements in prayer.