Page 22 - Perfected Faith

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PERFECTED FAITH

ally needs to pay attention. He may easily forget that Allah encom-
passes him all around, that He watches him at every moment, that He
listens to him, and that he will one day have to give an account of his
actions to Allah. He may well forget about the certainty of death, the
grave, Paradise and Hell, that nothing happens other than that which
is Allah's will, and that there is ultimately a reason for everything.
Performing salat five times a day, however, removes this state of
forgetfulness and keeps the believer's will and conscious vivid. Salat
makes him constantly turn to Allah and live by the commands of our
Lord. A person of perfected faith who stands before the presence of
Allah to perform his salat secures a strong spiritual bond with Allah.
That salat reminds man of Allah and that it hinders him from all kinds
of evil is stated in a verse as follows:
Recite what has been revealed to you of the Book and establish
salat. Salat precludes indecency and wrongdoing. And remem-
brance of Allah is greater still. Allah knows what you do. (Surat
al-'Ankabut, 45)
Salat is an act of worship that is obligatory upon all prophets and
believers. The prophets sent to humanity throughout history sum-
moned their people to this obligatory act of worship. Meanwhile,
they performed it themselves in the most accurate manner and be-
came role models to follow for all believers. In this respect, salat is a
form of message communicated by Allah's prophets to their individ-
ual peoples.
In the Qur'an, there are several verses about Allah's commands to
His prophets about establishing salat, the importance attached to this
act of worship, the prophets' meticulous observance of it, and their
commands to their peoples about establishing salat:
- In one verse, Allah relates the following about the Prophet Ibrahim
(as):
My Lord! Make me and my descendants people who establish
salat. My Lord! Accept my prayer. (Surah Ibrahim, 40)