Obligation of the Five Daily Prayers

Prayer is the most obligatory of the Five Pillars of
Islam next to the Two Testifications of Faith, and it
was ordained in the best and the most perfect way
for an act of worship. Prayer includes many of the
acts of worship, like the remembrance of Allah
Almighty, the recitation of the Quran, standing
humbly before Almighty Allah, bowing, prostration,
supplication, and Takbeer (uttering the words
‘Allahu Akbar’).

Prayer is also the head of the physical acts of
worship, of which none of the religions brought by
any of Allah's messengers is void.

Prayer, unlike all
other acts of worship, was enjoined by Almighty
Allah on His messenger, Muhammad the Seal of
Messengers, on the night of Al-Mi’raj (the
ascension of the Prophet ). This is an indication of
its greatness, a confirmation of its being obligatory,
and a sign of its high status in the Sight of Allah.

There are many hadeeths indicating the virtues of
prayer and showing its being obligatory on all
Muslim individuals. The fact that prayer is an
obligatory act of worship is primarily known in
Islam. So, whoever denies this fact is considered to
be an apostate.

Linguistically, prayer means invocation; Allah, the
Exalted Commands the Prophet to 'pray' for the
believers, saying (what means): "…And invoke
[Allah's blessings] upon them..." [Quran 9: 103]

According to the Sharee'ah (Islamic Jurisprudence)
, prayer is defined as a special kind of sayings and
deeds beginning with takbeer and ending with
tasleem (saying ‘assalamu alaykum wa
rahmatullah’). It is called 'prayer' because it
includes invocation. During prayer, the worshipper
is in a state of invocation through worshipping
Almighty Allah, praising Him, or supplicating Him for
something.

This is why it is called ‘prayer’. Prayer was
decreed by Almighty Allah on the night of Al-Mi'raj
before Hijrah, as five prayers to be performed every
day and night at specified times by every legally
accountable Muslim. Allah, the Exalted Says (what
means): "...Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon
the believers a decree of specified times." [Quran
4: 103]

Those prayer times are the times pointed out by
Allah's messenger through his words or his deeds.
Allah, the Exalted, Says (what means): "And they
were not commanded except to worship Allaah,
[being] sincere to Him in religion, inclining to truth,
and to establish prayer and to give Zakah. And that
is the correct religion.” [Quran 98: 5]

In addition, in many verses of Allah's Glorious Book
(the Quran), Allah, the Exalted Says: “And establish
prayer..." [Quran: 2: 43]

Almighty Allah also Says (what means): [O
Muhammad], tell My servants who have believed to
establish prayer…” [Quran 14: 31]

Moreover, Allah, the Exalted Says: "So Exalted is
Allah when you reach the evening and when you
reach the morning. And to Him is [due all] praise
throughout the heavens and the earth. And (Exalted
is He) at night and when you are at noon." [Quran
30: 17-18]

Therefore, it is obligatory for whoever reaches one
of the specified times of prayer, being adult and
sane, to perform it, excluding women in a state of
menstruation or postnatal bleeding.

Scholars
unanimously agree that it is not obligatory for
women in the aforesaid two cases to perform
prayer, nor to perform it later after purification. On
the other hand, whoever is in a state of
unconsciousness, as in sleeping, fainting, and the
like, has to perform the prayer at the moment when
they wake up or recover to the normal state. Allah,
the Exalted, Says (what means): "...And establish
prayer for My remembrance." [Quran 20: 14]

In addition, the Prophet says: "Whoever misses a
prayer out of oversleeping or forgetfulness, let him
perform it once he remembers it."

A guardian of a child has to command him to
perform prayer when the child reaches the age of
seven, though it is still not obligatory for him. But
the purpose is to make the child interested in
prayer and used to it. Thus, the child and his
guardian will be rewarded when the former
performs prayer, for Allah, the Exalted, Says (what
means): "Whoever comes [on the Day of Judgment]
with a good deed will have ten times the like thereof
[to his credit] ...” [Quran 6: 160]

Moreover, when a woman showed the Prophet a
young boy who was with her, saying:"Does this one
have to perform Hajj (Pilgrimage), O Messenger of
Allah?" He replied, "Yes, and you will have a
reward."

So, a guardian has to teach his child how to perform
prayer and how to perform ablution for it. A
guardian has also to beat his child if the latter is ten
years old and neglects prayer, for the Prophet said:
"Command your children to perform prayer when
they become seven years old, and beat them for
(not performing) it (i.e. prayer) when they become
ten years old; and arrange their beds (so that boys
and girls sleep) separately." [Ahmad, At-Tirmithi,
Abu Dawood, and other compilers of hadeeths]

It is also impermissible to perform prayer later than
its due time, for Allah, the Exalted Says (what
means): "...Indeed prayer has been decreed upon
the believers a decree of specified times." [Quran
4: 103]

The meaning is that prayer has specified times at
which it has to be performed. A prayer is
impermissible to be deferred except for those who
would like to combine it with the following prayer,
provided that the said prayer can be combined with
another, and that the case is among those in which
combining two prayers is permissible as well as the
person being one who is allowed to combine
prayers in this way. As for delaying performing a
night prayer until the morning, a day prayer until the
night, or the Fajr (Dawn) Prayer until sunrise, it is
by no means permissible, whether the reason is a
state of major ritual impurity, minor ritual impurity,
or anything else. Rather, one has to perform them at
their specified times, regardless of one's state.

A person might happen to be detained in hospital
where he is confined to a bed that he cannot leave
to pray, or cannot change the impure clothes he
wears, or cannot find pure earth to perform
tayammum (dry ablution) instead of ablution to
pray. Some ignorant people in this case defer
prayer on the pretext that they will perform it later
when possible. In fact, this is a grave mistake and a
means of missing prayer whose reason is
unawareness and lack of juristic consultation. What
they have to do is to perform prayer at its specified
times regardless of their states. Their prayer will be
sufficient, even if it is performed without
tayammum or in impure clothes; Allah, the Exalted
Says (what means): "So fear Allah as much as you
are able..." [Quran 64: 16]

Even if they pray without facing the Qibla (the
direction of Qa'bah), provided they are unable to
face it, their prayer is still valid.

The prayer is the basic pillar of Islam, and the main
difference between a Muslim and a disbeliever. So,
whatever good deeds one might do are useless if
one is negligent of prayer, we ask Almighty Allah for
safety.