As-Sallah: The Foundtion of all Worship.

[Abu Habiba]

As-Salaam alaikum,

The ritual prayer, as-Sallah, is the most central ritual of Islam. The Holy Qur'an shows us that Sallah forms the foundation of all worship, and it si by means of Sallah (prayer) that man responds to the Divine Summoning:--

   " there is no god but I

  So serve Me (only),

 And establish regular prayer for celebrating My Praises" (20:14)

Thus prayer enables man to realize the meaning of his existence:--

"And I did not create the jinn and mankind except that they may worship Me." (51:56)

Required 5 times a day, the prayer sanctifies the daily rhythm of the believer. It allows him to constantly renew the link with the 3 founding realities of Islamic life: Allah (and His Speech, the Qur'an), the prophet and the community (al-ummah).

As an act of worship prescribed on a regular basis, it is through prayer that man directs his inner face (wajh) and center of his being to Allah, to glorify and declare His Praise, to abase himself as a submissive servant to Him, for addressing his request for clemency and guidance and, above all, to realize the recollection (Zikr) of Allah.

     "Turn your face towards the Sacred Mosque, and where ever you are, turn your face towards it". (17:44)

Indeed, prayer is ac act of gratitude expressing the recognition of Divine benefactions and in this way it distinguishes the believer from the disbeliever (kafir) who refuses to recognize his dependency on Allah and to express gratitude for Divine bounty.

The various dispositions of prayer engage all the human faculties, in particular the consciousness by intention (niyyah), the speech by recitation and the limbs by the various movements and the positions. Prayer thus incorporates all modes of worship and actualizes in a ritual framework the relationship between man and Allah, between creature and Creator.

Says the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, in a certain hadith:--

"The first matter that the servant will be brought to account for on the Day of Judgement 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." (At-Tirmidhi).