[Shivermetimbers]

It really saddens me to see a lot of us spending hours on end on Islamica arguing and discussing topics, (the majority of) which do not contribute to our spiritual growth or betterment as muslims and humans. In fact they generally have an adverse impact on our imaan and good deeds.

We possess a profound understanding about the aqeedas of various figures in Islamic history, the position of the different schools of thought on matters which will never affect our lives, the superiority of the arab lineage and so on. We possess all this knowledge, yet on a daily basis we neglect the most important aspect of our deen: Salah. We all agree it's a fundamental aspect of our religion and it is the FIRST thing we will be questioned about on the day of judgement. We complain that the strength of the muslim ummah has deteriorated, sectarian conflict is rampant amongst us and we are vulnerable to ideological attacks from the kuffar. We mourn the lack of our political power. We eulogize the times when our mathematical and scientific genius had no parallel and we wonder "Why not now?"

Allah (swt) says in the Quran:

Ah, woe unto worshippers who are heedless of their Salaat (Sūrah Ma’un, 3)

Do we really expect Allah to grant success to a nation which dares to defy this verse and many more which promise dire consequences for it's neglect? Every single day. Five times a day. May Allah save us from his wrath.


So why do we it? We enjoin cordial relations with non-muslims, but we don't enjoin cordial relations with Allah. In fact a lot of ulema are of the opinion that intentional neglect of prayer results in no relation with Allah. May Allah save us all from such a horrible fate. I'd like this thread to be a place where we enjoin the performance of salaah by posting relevant quranic verses, ahaadeeth and other material which encourages us to perfrom it as it is it's right to be performed, and admonish and reprimand us for neglecting it.


I'll start:

On the authority of Hadrat Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that Allah's Messenger (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) said:

The first of his actions for which a servant of Allah (The Glorified and the Exalted) will be held accountable on the Day of Resurrection will be his prayers. If they are in order, then he will have prospered and succeeded; and if they are wanting, then he will have failed and lost. If there is something defective in his obligatory prayers, the Lord (The Glorified and the Exalted) will say: See if My servant has any optional prayers with which may be completed that which was defective in his obligatory prayers. Then the rest of his actions will be judged in like fashion. (Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, an-Nasai, Ibn Majah and Ahmad). (Hadith Qudsi)