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The
hadiths I mention below are through memory, after listening to khutbahs
(sermons) and/or reading Islamic article. Although I tried to search
of its source via the internet, I fail to find the exact hadiths
that I have read and heard.. so if any of you Islamic scholars are
well versed in hadiths, do email me on regards to where this hadiths
came from ie.. Bukhari, Muslim etc.
Struggling for Prayers
26 SEPT 07
So
now that I have read about the scientific miracles from the Quran
and read about the noble life of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), did
some research on comparative religion, I for once, finally believed
without a doubt, that Islam is the path for me. But the “problem”
is that Islam comes with 5 daily prayers and it took a LONG TIME
for me to perform mine. I remember telling myself that I am NEVER
bored because my life is filled with self-imposed projects and learning
new things (usually art creative leaning) so being interrupted with
prayers is something that I don’t welcome.
I hate anything that breaks my concentration and momentum when I
am busy doing my work because for a huge part of my life…
my passion, my work, takes top spot for me. Although I did try to
pray, I would stop after a couple of days and would go through life
without prayers. |
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So
finally after much research on prayers… I realized that
I have started to pray and I am, Thanks be to God, still a praying
Muslim. (a struggling, praying Muslim but still praying nonetheless).
So I thought, I’d share with you guys my findings on prayers
in this article and perhaps, it will make you think and perhaps
it will make you start praying, God willing.
A
Muslim is a believer of the Unseen. God already showed you the
miracles of the mountains, Iron, seas that does not mix etc etc
and since its all TRUE and FACTUAL, He also mention other things
we cannot see like angels, Djinns and Judgement Day so that makes
it all to be FACT as well. I wanna clarify that before we go on.
To
understand how important prayers are, you gotta understand how
Judgement Day works. It is said in an authentic hadith "The
first matter that the slave will be brought to account for on
the Day of Judgment is the PRAYER. If it is sound, then the rest
of his deeds will be sound. And if it is bad, then the rest of
his deeds will be bad."
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The Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) said: "None of you would get
into Paradise because of his good deeds alone and he would not
be rescued from the Fire, not even I, but because of the Mercy
of God" |
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This
means that WHATEVER good deed that you do such as helping your
friend with homework, helping an old lady cross the street etc.
that you have accumulated for yourself will be totally useless!
Such a waste!
Another hadith that
I have read: The Prophet’s wife Aishah (ra) asked the
Prophet (pbuh) on regards to a man in their community that was
well-known for being helpful and that will he be admitted to
Paradise? The Prophet said no, because the man did not say “Forgive
me, God” throughout his course of his non-praying life.
Yet another hadith
regarding Prayers vs good deeds: On Judgement Day, a man has
a mountain of good deeds and he was allowed to placed it on
one side of the scale and on the other, God place a single eye
ball. The weight of an eye proved heavier than all of his good
deeds combined. What this hadith is telling us, is that good
deeds can only be done through God’s mercy. You may boast
that you have helped thousands of lives BUT can you still help
others if God takes away your eye sight and/or render you bedridden
with paralysis? Surely you cannot.
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(So
are we suppose to stop doing good deeds altogether, be mean
to everyone and just perform prayers? WRONG. Prayers AND good
deeds comes hand in hand. I will cover that topic perhaps on
a later date, God willing.)
Another
hadith (a scary one): The inhabitants of Heaven asked the inhabitants
of Hell on what crime they did to have such a sorrowful fate.
And the top reason the Hell dwellers gave was:
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Another
hadith states that if you cannot stand up in prayer because
of illness, you should pray sitting down. If you can’t
do that, you should pray lying down. And if you can’t
do that, you should pray with your eyes.
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Standing, sitting, lying down... There is no excuse for not praying.
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But
the top hadith that made my limbs finally move is the one that
state God accepts even 1/3 of the prayer. As a “perfectionist”
that I am, I always thought that if my mind wanders during prayers,
which it has the knack of doing at times, the prayer will be null
and void. So every time I prayed, I felt that, this is yet going
to be another wasted attempt but this hadith states otherwise.
So with all that
is stated above; we have NO excuse or reason to NOT pray whatsoever.
From the way Judgement Day works, to not being able to stand
up because of illness, to prayers being accepted even if you
can’t say your Arabic right, God has knocked down every
single excuse or loophole.
And
I used to think that it is better for me to start praying when
I get older like 50 years old perhaps.. but trust me people,
praying requires hard work. If you are lazy to do it when you
are young with all the energy that you have in you, what makes
you think that prayers is gonna be easy for you when your bones
and joints are aching because of old age? No, we gotta reap
the rewards of prayers TODAY and reap the rewards RIGHT NOW.
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Let
us all remind ourselves that Jannah (Heaven) does not come cheap.
It requires a lot of determination and hard work from us to secure
a place in it. And according to another hadith I heard recently…
“For every 1000 people, only 1 will enter Paradise.”
Oh my God. How can we say we are destined for Paradise when we
do nothing and yet others are praying, doing charity etc.
And you will realize
that once you make prayer a habit, it will become easier. And
if you have been praying for along time and suddenly you stop,
you will feel a void in you and YOU WILL rush to prayers.
“That which
separates a believer from a non-believer is simply the Prayer.”
EB
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