- It is the second pillar of Islam.
- It represents the highest expression of servitude, humility, and closeness to Allah the Exalted.
- It is incumbent upon every legally responsible person, whereas other religious duties may be waived for some people due to their inability to perform them.
Its obligation is established by the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and the unanimous consensus of the Muslims; it is therefore among the rulings whose necessity is unquestionably known in the religion. Whoever denies it is a disbeliever. As for the one who abandons it out of negligence or laziness, the scholars have disagreed as to whether such a person falls into disbelief.
Shaykh al-Islām said: “Many people are neither consistent in observing the five daily prayers nor do they abandon them altogether; rather, they sometimes pray and sometimes neglect them. Such individuals possess both faith and hypocrisy, and the outward rulings of Islam—inheritance and the like—apply to them. If these rulings applied to a thoroughgoing hypocrite such as ʿAbd Allah ibn Ubayy, then applying them to these people is even more fitting.”
The five daily prayers are the greatest pillar of Islam after the two testimonies of faith and the most virtuous deed after them. They were instituted in the most perfect and beautiful form of worship, bringing together every scattered aspect of servitude and encompassing all its varieties. They comprise glorifying and praising Allah, lauding and exalting Him, declaring His oneness, extolling and sanctifying Him, reciting His Book, invoking blessings and peace upon His Messenger Muhammad ﷺ and upon his family, and supplicating for those present and for all of Allah’s righteous servants. They include standing, bowing, prostrating, sitting, lowering and raising the body; every limb and every joint has its share in this act of worship, and presiding over it all is a heart that is fully attentive.
Allah prescribed the prayer for His servants to remind them of His right over them and to help them lighten the burdens they face in this worldly life.
Human society needs a constant force of faith that continually lifts its members toward the loftiest ideals, lest they become bound solely to material needs and interests.