the five daily prayers and from one Friday prayer to the next erase the sins that lie between them, so long as the major sins are avoided.” Related by Muslim.

1046 – ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān—may Allah be pleased with him—said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say, “Whenever the time for a prescribed prayer arrives and a Muslim performs its ablution well, and offers it with humility and proper bowing, it becomes an expiation for all the sins committed before it, provided he does not fall into a major sin—and that holds true for all time.” Related by Muslim.

These hadiths speak of the virtues of the prayers. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) likened them to a copious, flowing river. A river that is “ghamir”—meaning abundant—and “jārī,” flowing rather than stagnant, from which a person bathes five times a day: would any dirt remain on him? The answer is: nothing of his filth would remain. Likewise, through the five daily prayers Allah wipes away sins until a person is left pure and clean of wrongdoing.

However—as mentioned earlier—this reward is for the prayers that a person performs properly: completing their pillars and conditions, attending to them with a present heart, and sensing that he is standing in intimate discourse with Allah, Mighty and Majestic. When the prayer is fulfilled as required, this tremendous reward is obtained.

Another merit of the five daily prayers is that they, together with the Friday prayer from one week to the next, atone for whatever lies between them, so long as the major sins are not committed—that is, so long as