The Quest of a Curious Muslim — Page 20
WHY ARE THERE SO MANY PRAYERS IN ISLAM? 20 Furthermore, prayer itself is full of moments of reflection which ultimately humble a person and melt his or her heart at the threshold of God Almighty. Similarly, the Prophet Muhammad sa said: ا ل ــ ص ; َل َو ا ُت ا Tَ ــ ْم ُس َو ا Vُ ــ ُم َع ُة ِإ َل ــ ى ا Vُ ــ ُم َع ِة َو َر َم ــ َض ا ُن ِإ َل ى َر َم َض ا َن ُم َك ف 6 َر ا ٌت َم ا َب ْي َن ُه ن ; ِإ َذ ا ا ْج َت َن َب ا ْل َك َب ا ِئ َر That is, “The five daily prayers, and one Friday prayer to the next, and one Ramazan to the next, are all expiations for any sins committed in between them, as long as one abstains from the major sins”. 10 In other words, each prayer expiates and washes away the sins that a person may have committed since the previous prayer. The same point is made in another hadith where the Prophet sa likens the five prayers to bathing five times a day, and how spiritual purification can be maintained on a daily basis due to the five prayers. To the casual observer, it may seem like much. However, the keen observer can see that just as an alcoholic or a drug addict cannot survive a single