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The five most essential acts of worship in Islam: Status and significance in the
light of the Quran and the Sunnah
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The initial part of the ayah verifies ablution as an act of worship - a divine command,
highlights its status as ordained for prayer, and prescribes the obligatory steps of
ablution, whereas the latter part states its purpose, that is, to achieve purification.
According to scholars, spiritual purification is achieved by uttering the “Two
Testifications of faith” after ablution. Moreover, the sins committed by the organs that
are washed during ablution, are also washed off. Furthermore, perfection in ablution is
considered as a sign of faith as a hadith states that “No one keeps being in a state of
ablution except the believer” (Ahmad, 22429, 5/355) because only believer obeys all
commands. Thus, ablution is one of the conditions of prayer without which, in the
absence of any valid excuse, a prayer can not be performed (Fawzan, 2005, p. 36-40).
After ablution, next is obligatory prayer – the second fundamental pillar of Islam
and a major form of worship. Its high status is evident from the Quran, wherein it is a
greatly stressed act of worship than any other ritual. Besides, it is also the very first act
of worship which is prescribed right after the Prophethood, as two units twice each day.
Afterwards, on the “Night of Mi’raj”, it was ordained five times a day (Al-Bukharee, 7517)
as stated in the Quran that “…Prayers are a time bound obligatory duty upon the
Muslims” (4:103) and “…Establish regular prayer for celebrating My praise” (20:14).
Many ahadith (Statements of the Prophet ) highlight the importance of prayer,
one of which called it, “the thing which separates a man from polytheism and unbelief”
(Muslim, 243). In terms of benefits, the Quran mentions it as an act that leads to piety or
righteousness (2:2-3), a means of protection against Satan (5:91), an effective weapon
to prevent from immorality and evils (29:45), etc. Thus, abandoning obligatory prayer is
not only an act of disobedience, but it also deprives a person to earn all prayer-related
benefits (Hasan, 2010).
The third essential act under this topic is dhikr, which also helps a believer to
“So when you have completed your hajj rites, so remember Allah as
you used to remember your forefathers, in fact more than that…”
(2:200).
This form of dhikr which is prescribed following rituals, i.e., prayer, fast and hajj rites, is
a legal duty towards Allah (Fawzan, 2005, p. 150), however, the other forms of dhikr
prescribed by the Sunnah, such as dhikr (as supplications) for the actions of an
individual e.g., eating, sleeping, awakening, etc., are non-obligatory. The
aforementioned ayah also highlights the higher status of dhikr as it is prescribed
following rituals. Moreover, dhikr is mentioned as the greatest act in the Quran:
“…Indeed, the remembrance of Allah is the greatest…” (29:45).
In addition, Prophet instructed believers to “keep tongue busy with the dhikr of
Quran, Allah also praises those who perform middle night prayer, as stated:
“…They were indeed virtuous before this. They used to sleep only a
little during the night. And used to seek forgiveness before dawn”
(51:16-18).
The high status of this prayer is evident from the aforementioned ayah and sayings of
Prophet in which it is revealed as the most excellent prayer among the voluntary
ones. As this prayer is performed in secrecy, it involves more sincerity (Fawzan, 2005,
pp. 179-180). Thus, practicing this prayer has great virtues in terms of spiritual
purification and attaining nearness to Allah , but neglecting it does not count as the
disobedience of Allah and has no adverse effects upon believer’s character.
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The last in this list is fasting - the forth fundamental pillar of Islam and an
obligatory act of worship. Both Quran and Sunnah provide proofs for its obligation in the
therefore, its negligence is an act of disobedience to Allah (Fawzan, 2005, pp. 375-
376).
In short, the five acts of worship discussed above are the most essential because
they result in spiritual purification, God consciousness, abstinence from committing sins,
nearness to Allah , etc., which further motivate a believer to perform other obligatory
and non-obligatory forms of worship with sincerity. Also, when these qualities become a
part of a believer’s personality, then all his intentions, actions, speech, thoughts,
emotions, and behavior are observed in accordance with Allah’s commandments.
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