Ramadan 2019/1440: Thought of the Day 19

The quote for Day 19 of Ramadan from my box of things to think about is:

“Hold onto your Salah because if you lose that then you will lose everything .” ~ Umar Al Farooq (Radi-Allahu anhu)

I recall when two of my brothers-in-laws lived with us some years back, my husband would wake them for fajr (dawn) salah making a great racket in the process, he would make numerous trips to their room until they got up to pray.  One day I complained that they were old enough to get themselves up and he should leave them to it.  Ge replied, he could not bear to see someone he loved receive the punishment of missing their prayers.  Alhamdulillah his words always stayed with me.

As my children get older, there are some things about being religious they have pushed back on. They don’t always want to go to the masjid, don’t even mention a religious talk or event, and they will try every opportunity to get out of the family study circle. As they get older, I have avoided forcing it onto them for fear of pushing them away from the faith and alienating them from us.  My one non-negotiable is the five obligatory daily prayers, even if I have to remind and chase all day. Like my husband, I cannot bear to think of them suffering the punishment for missing the prayers.  But it is also about what prayer brings to your life:

First and foremost, the help and pleasure of Allah (SWT)

An answer to so many of our problems: sustenance (rizq), peace of mind, health, sleeplessness.

A routine to the day that we live by

Discouragement from bad deeds

A good deed that attracts other good deeds.

I hope this one thing they stick to throughout their lives insh’Allah and it becomes a means for them to live good loves and find nearness to Allah (SWT).

Whoever misses his ʿAsr prayer, it is as if his wealth and family had been taken away from him.” (Narrated by An-Nasā’i in his ‘Sunan’, on the authority of Nawfal b. Mu’āwiya)

“A man came to the Prophet (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) and asked him about the greatest of good deeds, to which he responded, ‘The Ṣalah’. The man asked, ‘Then what?’ He replied, ‘As-Ṣalāh’. The man asked again, ‘Then what?’ The Prophet (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) said, ‘As-Ṣalāh’ three times (Narrated by Aḥmed in his ‘Musnad’, on the authority of ʿAbdullāh b. ʿAmr)

“Whoever prays the Fajr prayer, then for that day, such a person is under the protection of Allāh.” (Tabrani)

Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) said, “The first action for which a servant of Allah will be held accountable on the Day of Resurrection will be his prayers. If they are in order, he will have prospered and succeeded. If they are lacking, he will have failed and lost. If there is something defective in his obligatory prayers, then the Almighty Lord will say: See if my servant has any voluntary prayers that can complete what is insufficient in his obligatory prayers. The rest of his deeds will be judged the same way.” (Sunan al-Tirmidhī 413)