Reflections on Prayer, in which is explained the great status of prayer, when it was made obligatory, and where it was made obligatory.
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The Shaykh : As for the topic of our meeting today, it is reflections on the best of acts of worship after testifying to Allah the Exalted with tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and to His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with the message.
This act of worship is prayer, the prayer that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) described as the pillar of Islam, where he said (peace and blessings be upon him):
This prayer, which we all pray five times a day and night as a time-bound obligation. So let us first reflect on when it was made obligatory? Where it was made obligatory? And how much it was made obligatory? So that we know thereby the care of Allah the Exalted for it, its importance in His sight, and His love for it. So we say:
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, so we say: Prayer was made obligatory approximately one and a half years before the Hijrah, and it is said three years before the Hijrah. This disagreement is based on whether the Mi'raj (ascension) of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to Allah was three years before the Hijrah or one and a half years?
And the Mi'raj of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was, according to the most likely opinion, in Rabi' al-Awwal, and not as is popular among people in the month of Rajab. The closest to the truth is that it was in Rabi' al-Awwal, which is the month in which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was born, in which he migrated, in which he died, and in which he was ascended. This is the most likely opinion. And its obligation was in the seventh heaven, for Allah the Exalted made it obligatory upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that night.
And its obligation was that it be fifty prayers a day and night. This indicates its importance and that a person should devote most of his time to it, because if we estimate it as fifty prayers, it will take up a great deal of time. It also indicates that Allah loves it, as He burdened His servants with fifty prayers a day and night out of His love for it. But Allah the Exalted was gentle with this Ummah (the Muslim community), so when Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) descended from Allah, pleased with this obligation, and passed by Musa (peace be upon him and our Prophet), he said to him, "What has Allah made obligatory upon your Ummah?" He informed him that Allah had made fifty prayers obligatory upon him, and that he was pleased and submitted to it. But Musa (peace be upon him) had tested people and known the extent of their defiance in accepting what is obligatory upon them, so he said to him, "Your Ummah cannot bear that, so return to your Lord and ask Him for relief for your Ummah." So he kept returning to Allah until it became only five prayers. But Allah, as Allah the Exalted said, "five in action and fifty in the scale," meaning that if we pray five, it is as if we prayed fifty, not from the aspect that a good deed is rewarded ten times over, because that is established in every act of worship, but from the aspect that we prayed fifty prayers. And this is from the mercy of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, that we do a little work and a lot is recorded for us.
This act of worship is prayer, the prayer that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) described as the pillar of Islam, where he said (peace and blessings be upon him):
And its pillar is prayer
وعموده الصلاةThis prayer, which we all pray five times a day and night as a time-bound obligation. So let us first reflect on when it was made obligatory? Where it was made obligatory? And how much it was made obligatory? So that we know thereby the care of Allah the Exalted for it, its importance in His sight, and His love for it. So we say:
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, so we say: Prayer was made obligatory approximately one and a half years before the Hijrah, and it is said three years before the Hijrah. This disagreement is based on whether the Mi'raj (ascension) of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to Allah was three years before the Hijrah or one and a half years?
And the Mi'raj of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was, according to the most likely opinion, in Rabi' al-Awwal, and not as is popular among people in the month of Rajab. The closest to the truth is that it was in Rabi' al-Awwal, which is the month in which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was born, in which he migrated, in which he died, and in which he was ascended. This is the most likely opinion. And its obligation was in the seventh heaven, for Allah the Exalted made it obligatory upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that night.
And its obligation was that it be fifty prayers a day and night. This indicates its importance and that a person should devote most of his time to it, because if we estimate it as fifty prayers, it will take up a great deal of time. It also indicates that Allah loves it, as He burdened His servants with fifty prayers a day and night out of His love for it. But Allah the Exalted was gentle with this Ummah (the Muslim community), so when Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) descended from Allah, pleased with this obligation, and passed by Musa (peace be upon him and our Prophet), he said to him, "What has Allah made obligatory upon your Ummah?" He informed him that Allah had made fifty prayers obligatory upon him, and that he was pleased and submitted to it. But Musa (peace be upon him) had tested people and known the extent of their defiance in accepting what is obligatory upon them, so he said to him, "Your Ummah cannot bear that, so return to your Lord and ask Him for relief for your Ummah." So he kept returning to Allah until it became only five prayers. But Allah, as Allah the Exalted said, "five in action and fifty in the scale," meaning that if we pray five, it is as if we prayed fifty, not from the aspect that a good deed is rewarded ten times over, because that is established in every act of worship, but from the aspect that we prayed fifty prayers. And this is from the mercy of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, that we do a little work and a lot is recorded for us.