Aslam

Praise be to Allah.Allaah

has enjoined upon His slaves five prayers every day, day and night. He has

commanded them to observe these prayers regularly and establish them, and

He praises those who do so. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And

perform As-Salaat (Iqaamat-as-Salaat), and give Zakaat, and bow down (or

submit yourselves with obedience to Allaah) along with

Ar‑Raaki‘oon (those who bow or submit themselves to Allaah)”

[al-Baqarah 2:43]

“Guard

strictly (five obligatory) As‑Salawaat (the prayers) especially the

middle Salaat (i.e. the best prayer ‑ ‘Asr). And stand before

Allaah with obedience [and do not speak to others during the Salaat

(prayers)]” [al-Baqarah 2:238]

“Successful

indeed are the believers.

Those

who offer their Salaat (prayers) with all solemnity and full

submissiveness” [al-Mu’minoon 23:1-2]

“And

those who strictly guard their (five compulsory congregational) Salawaat

(prayers) (at their fixed stated hours).” [al-Mu’minoon 23:9]

So

you have to pay attention to establishing regular prayer and keeping it

up, and focusing on it, and taking the specific means of achieving that,

so that you may be one of the successful. Do not worry yourself by

thinking about the ruling on one who misses one or two prayers and whether

he is a kaafir or not.

Whoever

deliberately misses a prayer exposes himself to the wrath of Allaah, and

the wise believer does not do something which he knows could result in

punishment, even if it is not kufr as such. The five daily prayers, and

all other acts of worship, and avoiding what is forbidden – none of this

can be achieved except with patience. These are things which people find

difficult by nature, because they come between a person and some of his

desires.The Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Paradise is surrounded by things which are disliked.” The issue of

prayer in Islam is very important. Hence the responsible adult is not let

off prayer for as long as he is alive and he is in his right mind. But

Allaah has made things easier for His slaves with regard to the duty of

praying. He allows us to join prayers and shorten them whilst travelling,

and He allows us tojoin

prayers when we are not travelling if not doing so will cause greater

hardship. He allows the sick person to pray according to what he can do,

standing, sitting or lying on his side. Hence we know that being busy

earning a living is not an excuse for not praying. But if there is some

unusual hardship involved, it is permissible to pray Zuhr and ‘Asr

together at the time of either of them, and to pray Maghrib and ‘Isha’

together at the time of either of them.

Allaah

commanded us to stop trading in order to pray Jumu’ah (Friday prayers),

and He praised those who do not let trades or sales divert them from the

remembrance of Allaah. So strive to do the prayers on time and in

congregation. The Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)

said: “Praying in congregation is twenty-seven times better than praying

alone.”

Note

that praying regularly is one of the greatest means of attaining the mercy

of Allaah and His pleasure and His Paradise, which is the main goal.It is

also a means of making earning one’s provision easier, as Allaah says

(interpretation of the meaning):

“And

enjoin al-salaah (the prayer) onyour

family, and bepatient in offering them[i.e., the prayers].We ask not of

you a provision (i.e., to give Us something: money, etc.); We provide for

you. And the good end (i.e., Paradise) is for the muttaqoon (pious).”

[Ta-Ha

20:132]

The

Muslim does not ask people for any reward for his worhip of his Lord. He

prays for Allaah, he fasts for Allaah, he does Hajj for Allaah, and he

hopes for the reward of Allaah. When you say we do not get get paid to

pray like the imaams, this is a mistake in your way ofthinking. It is not permissible for the imaam to take a salary for

doing the prayers; imaams and muezzins are being paid for doing a job

which requires them to to be present at the mosque every time (so that

they can devote their time to doing their duties of leading prayers,

giving khutbahs, issuing fatwas and judging between people). But it is

better for a Muslim to fulfil the duties of an imaam or muezzin

voluntarily, hoping for the reward of Allaah.

When

you say we have families, children, etc… this is not an excuse for

missing some of the prayers. You have to devote some of your time to doing

the prayers. It is only a small amount of time, for each prayer, doing it

and preparing for it, does not take more than a quarter of an hour.

If

you do give up some of the prayers because you are too busy seeking

provision, we will not confirm that you are a kaafir, but we will say that

you are a sinner who is committing a major sin. We have already stated

above that in cases of unusual difficulty you can put Zuhr and ‘Asr

together at the time of either ofthem,.

We also remind you that it is essential to pray fajr at the right time,

which is from the start of dawn until the sun rises.

May

Allaah help us and you to obey Him.