and your nation.” (1) This is an immense favor from Allah upon this nation. We do not find any act of worship that has been prescribed daily throughout one’s lifetime other than the prayer. Zakah is annual, fasting is annual, and Hajj is once in a lifetime.

It is obligatory …

His statement, “It is obligatory,” means the prayer. What is meant here by obligation is the highest category of obligation: a mandatory duty. In the religion, it ranks second after the testimony to Allah’s oneness and to the Messenger’s prophethood. Thus, Islam is to testify that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. These are counted as one, because every act of worship must include sincerity—entailed by the testimony that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah—and adherence to the Prophet’s example—entailed by the testimony that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. This is why the Prophet, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, made them a single matter. The second rank is the prayer; thus, it is among the highest categories of mandatory duties.

Regarding the author’s statement, “It is obligatory,” someone may say that it is somewhat inadequate. For if you were to say of a major sin, “It is forbidden,” you would make its matter seem less serious. So if you say of something such as the prayer, “It is obligatory,” someone may say that this likewise somewhat understates its gravity. But we say that the author intended to clarify the general legal classification of these prayers: they are not voluntary or supererogatory prayers; rather, they belong to the category of obligatory duties.