The sound of the muaddthin screaming into the hapless microphone calling people to the sunset prayer on a lowly evening. The voice seemed to be louder than usual because of my very close proximity to the mosque. (2 minute walk or maybe 10 seconds if you are Usain Bolt)(ahh its the Jamaican 100and 200 meter Olympic champion). However, what was supposed to be a rambling in the house rushing towards the bathroom to perform the obligatory ablution (wudhu), was replaced by sounds from random YouTube videos. Out of my curiosity I checked the room, and there were two people, in two laptops just clicking away. I just looked at them and motioned “lets go to prayer”, then left, the only thing that followed me was my shadow.
Rewind sometime earlier…
As I walked in to that very same room, there was one of them, with a person who appeared as religious. He had the ingredients of the religious look: the beard, the customary prayer cap, and a smile that could always make you feel good inside. (This is what I call religious, with big emphasis on the smile :). So I sat down with him, alongside the other person. The religious man started to read out of a book about the benefits of salah, and how important it is in our lives. We also talked about how embarrassed we would be if Allah were to ask us about why we missed prayer. The person enjoyed it a lot. He even requested for more talks of the such. It was a beneficial moment for all of us. A possible life changer. That's what I thought.
This is just one case..
Throughout my life, the theme of this story seems to be playing over and over manifested in different actions, scenarios, and characters. One day an enlightenment, the next day a forgotten story. There are people when asked, they proudly say they are Muslims, some even considered themselves religious, and others pride themselves as being not religious while still maintaining that they still believe. This hypocrisy of identity seems to be a mind boggler because I felt that it is only this aspect of their life in many cases that seems to be the most conflicting. Before the whistles of self-righteousness are blown on me for making this case, I am merely relaying my observations which have been made over the course of my life.
Often people complain about the effort it takes to make your prayers. How inconvenient it is to get up and pray. It is much easier to just do nothing. This justification I can accept only if you don’t do anything else in your life. No one in this life, especially in the West, can survive this world by absolutely doing nothing except of course if your birth certificate had the seal of royalty stamped, or your last name is Hilton. But this remains a minority (I have yet to meet a Muhammad Hilton). You cannot do anything unless you do something in your life. The same person who comes up with that excuse can be also seen working out at the gym 2 hours a day, can also be seen tirelessly going grocery shopping, and doing chores. These things sometimes require a lot of effort, and in some cases inconvenient, but people do it.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said “The delight and pleasure of my eyes is in the salah".
So how can one who really believes in Allah (swt), and His Prophet (peace be upon him) label salah as a inconvenience, when he (peace be upon him) saw it as a delight. A delight that illuminated an already illuminating face. But unfortunately for us it is treated as an inconvenience that we don’t even bother doing.
We have great doctors, lawyers, sons with great aspirations. I have witnessed hard workers, who repeatedly won endless smiles on their bosses face, and many Employee of the Month awards for doing something out of their line of work. I see people who get out of their way to extract one small reward from another. It is from this understanding that confuses me on how can someone who is so certain about Allah (swt) being the One who gives life and death, not even think about it.
Others say, dont worry Allah (swt) is All-Merciful. Even though He is, but He is the One that chooses who He forgives and doesn’t forgive. Missing prayers is not only one of the biggest sins in Islam, but according to some scholars it can even take you out of the fold of it. What bothers me though, is that how can someone who doesn’t know whether or not he will be forgiven, act this way, while at the same time, when he gets into a fight with his wife or friend, he will leave endless voicemails and sms saying how sorry he is. It is a paradox I am still trying to understand.
Another issue, which continues to be the source of scratch marks in my head, is the way the majority of us interpret the fajr salah as one that is done before dhuhur. Most of our first Islamic education included the concept of five prayers, and when to perform them. So being oblivious to it doesn’t seem to cut in. The problem in our ummah is not the fact that we miss fajr, but the fact that there is no underlying intention to make it or even feel a bit of remorse about missing it. I have met someone who have mentioned to me, when the subject of deep sleeping came up. He prided himself by saying “I can wake up whenever I want". These few words spoke volumes about us who seem to make appointments on time, who would wake up two hours before a job interview just to freshen up, who would rush towards the bathroom to get ready for just a friendly chit chat with a friend. Sure there were times when we missed an appointment, or a meeting, but how quickly we rush to the phone to apologize to the person or your boss for coming in late. This seems to be invisible when it comes to the fajr salah. It is like we don’t care, or really just don’t believe in it. Because I find it hard to believe that when a person knows something is certain and knows the implications of it, he doesn't do it. If a person knows that by not attending this meeting, he will receive some demerit points in his monthly evaluations, chances are that he will set his alarm clock (clocks in my case) at a time before that meeting so he can be up and early for it, and if he does miss it due to other things, he would go on facebook and say that He is having a crappy day. While this same person, when offered to be woken up, would probably say “Nah man its okay”. This is a sad reality of the situation.
These are just a few of many justifications I have encountered in my life. What we really lack is a feeling of shame. The imagery of how are going to meet Allah knowing that I have chosen YouTube over Him. How for the job he received from Allah (swt), he rather choose to exert all his effort in thanking and pleasing the boss, without any regard to the overall Planner. I just dont get it!
What people don’t realize is that Allah (swt) loves how one strives to do good even though he isn’t able to. But the key is to strive. This is our religion. The religion of striving. Our faith goes up and goes down. But always know that Allah will never burden you with something that you cannot bear.
Allah (swt) says in His Book:
“On no soul doth Allah Place a burden greater than it can bear.
I often hear how proud Muslims are that we have the fastest growing religion in the world. How the Muslim population is doubling faster than any in this modern world. It is true we do have great numbers, but I sometimes find it hard to believe when I am bowing my head at 4:30 in the morning, with enough people just to fill one line at the mosque.
I ASK ALLAH (SUBHANA WA TAALA) TO GUIDE US ALL TO THE STRAIGHT PATH, AND ENJOIN OUR PRAYERS AS A DELIGHT IN OUR LIVES.
AMEEN.
PLEASE LIST SOME EXCUSES THAT YOU OFTEN HEAR ABOUT MISSING PRAYERS.. MAYBE INSHA'ALLAH WE CAN ALSO POST SOME SOLUTIONS FOR THOSE EXCUSES. JAZAKALLAH KHAYRUN
