After reciting the Tauz, the Tashahhud and the first chapter of the Holy Quran, Hazrat Amir ul Momeneen Zafrullah Domun said:

Prayer forms an essential part of the life of a Muslim whether he is a man or a woman, child of about seven years or an old person. We have been taught that we should teach our children how to pray and we should see to it that they read their five daily prayers every day. In a well known hadith the Holy Prophet Mohammad ^saw is reported to have said “Man tarakas salaata faqad kafara”. It means “he who stops offering prayers (the five daily prayers) has disbelieved.” These brief words of the Holy Prophet Mohammad ^saw are full of wisdom and should be memorized by one and all specially our young ones. We should understand at a very young age that if we do not offer our daily five prayers, there is no difference between us and those who do not believe in Islam like all non-Muslims. Sometimes you talk with a young person and you will see that he takes pride in being a Muslim but yet he may not be offering his daily prayers as he should. Therefore we should constantly keep reminding our youngsters about the need for our five daily prayers. Parents should never tire of checking whether their children are offering their prayers every day even if the children dislike that you should remind them about their prayers. All members of Jamaat Ahmadiyya Al Mouslemeen should be constant in their prayers and they should make the attention given to the performance of prayers a distinction of the Jamaat.

In addition members of the Jamaat should see to it that they offer their prayers with all its pre-requisites. For example they should make their ablutions in the proper way. The Holy Prophet^saw is reported to have said that “Ablution is the key to prayer and prayer is the key to paradise.” These words give us an idea of the importance of the ablution for our prayer and it also speaks of the importance of our daily prayers with regard to our final destination that we should be aiming for, namely paradise. When we stand up for prayer we should make the intention to pray and concentrate our attention on Allah. We should not be saying “inni wajjahto wajheya lillazi fataras samaawaate wal arza hanifanw wa maa ana menal moushrekeen” which means “I am turning my face towards He who has created the heavens and the earth and I am not among those who associate partners with Allah” and yet our attention is not in the prayers. You might be thinking about your personal problems, about the person you love, about your children. In brief it can be many other things besides Allah. So we should try to make our attention get fixed on Allah and we should be thinking about what we are reading. This is the reason why it is so important that we should learn the meaning of the Arabic words that we read in prayer. Each Muslim should invest the amount of time that is needed for him to learn the words of the namaz in his own language.

Our namaz is in fact a meeting with Allah where we talk to Him and at times He talks to us or He makes us say words that would be His response to what we may have said. For example in ruku we say “subhaaana Rabbi al azim” which means “Pure is my Lord the Great.” Immediately after saying this, the imam or the one who is praying says: “Same Allaho leman hameda” which means “Allah has heard the one who has praised Him” Although these words are pronounced by the one who is offering the prayer, yet they are words of consolation that Allah puts into the mouth of the one who has praised Him to remind him/her that the praise that he/she has offered to Allah has been heard by Allah. These are really great words of very deep meanings but yet how much do we think about them. So remember that if you want to progress in spirituality you should make an effort to understand all the Arabic words that we recite in our prayers daily. The sooner you learn them the better it will be for the direction of your life in future. May Allah help you to understand what I am trying to explain.

Furthermore remember that if we just recite the words like parrots we will not go far. I was really delighted when once I read what a learned Iranian had said ,“Allah wants us to be like bees and not like parrots”. If you are aware about the discussions that rage in the world of Islam about the teachings of Islam, these words have very deep meanings. But to stay on the subject about which we are speaking today we cannot repeat the words of prayer without understanding them just like a parrot repeats words but it cannot make any meaning of them. We should in fact become like bees who transform what they take from flowers into a drink in which there is “a remedy for mankind.” This is the objective of the life of a Muslim but very few do understand such a noble aim. The Muslim should use the teachings of the Holy Quran to transform his society into a better place to live. To help him achieve this aim Allah has ordained that he should pray and seek Allah’s help. That is why five times daily and additionally at night the Muslim is asked to pray so that he might be given the help that will keep him on the straight path that will help him to obtain the real objective of his life as has been explained by Allah. And as I have been saying, prayers are to be offered to Allah with full knowledge of what we are saying or else these prayers will become a sort of curse for us. In the Holy Quran Allah says:“fawayloul lil musalleen allazina houm an salaatehim saahoune” which means “ Woe to those who pray but are unmindful of their prayers”(107: 5-6). The word “wail” which has been translated as “woe” in fact has the following meanings: misfortune, mishap, idea of affliction. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ^as  has spoken lengthily in his discourses about this verse in order to help all his   disciples to understand that we should always pray being fully conscious of what we are saying to Allah. I hope that by now each one amongst us should understand the importance of knowing the meanings of all the words that we pronounce in Arabic in our daily prayers.

Concerning the external aspect of prayer I would like to say that for all men it is important or we may say imperative that our prayers are said in congregation as far as possible. Make it a duty that at least you pray namaz Fajr and Esha together with family members or with other coreligionists. The Holy Prophet^saw is reported to have said that prayers done in congregation are twenty five times or twenty seven times better than prayer done alone. So the believer should strive to get as much blessings as possible   in order to reap a maximum amount of spiritual benefits which might act as a counterbalance to all the sins that he might have done knowingly or unknowingly. Besides the Holy Prophet^saw has also said that namaz Fajr and namaz Esha are hard on the hypocrites. In other words they are very negligent of these prayers. Some people may not pray them at all or they may pray them late. Both attitudes are bad. In the Holy Quran Allah tells us “innas sallata kaanat alal mo’meneen kitabam mawqouta” which means “prayer is enjoined upon the believers to be performed at fixed hours” (4:104). Therefore namaz Fajr should be read before sunrise and not just before you are going to work or to school. Each Ahmadi or Muslim should see to it that his life is organized around his prayers and not the contrary. In other words you should always care to schedule your activities in such a way that you can intersperse them with your obligatory prayers. From what I have read from the Holy Quran and the hadith of our beloved prophet ^saw and from the detailed exposition of Islam that Hazrat Masih Maood^as has given us, any negligence with our prayers will cost us dearly in this life and in the next.

Many amongst us sometimes join our prayers together for no valid reason at all. We should remember that the rule is that exceptionally prayers may be joined together. These reasons may vary. At times the prayer leader may decide to combine two prayers because of rain when the people might have difficulties coming to the mosque. At other times prayers may be combined because of jamaat programs because it affords facilities to the members. Sometimes it may happen that an individual has to combine his Asr prayer with Zohr prayer because he might feel that he might not get the opportunity to perform it on time. Similarly someone may read his Esha prayer with his Maghrib prayer because he might come home late. But if he combines Maghrib with Esha prayer because he will be watching a film or a football match on television, that would not be a valid reason and he should refrain from such practices. Remember all our actions will be judged according to our intention.

Regarding which namaz can be combined together I would like to clarify some points.

Namaz Fajr cannot be joined with any other namaz. It has to be read alone. For example you cannot pray the previous day’s Esha with today’s namaz Fajr. Similarly you cannot join namaz Fajr with namaz Zohr. The pair of prayers that can be joined are only Zohr together with Asr and Maghrib together with Esha. We are not allowed to pray Asr with Maghrib. These instructions have to be borne in mind. If you have any further questions on these matters you may ask me or other elders within the Jamaat.

Now I will say a few words about our bodily posture or attitude whilst we are in prayer. When we stand up for prayer we should be fully alert and not stand with laziness. In the lines we should stand shoulder to shoulder. There should be no distance between any two persons and the line should be straight. We should bear in mind that we are standing in front of the One who has created the heavens and the earth and so we should stand with respect as if we are seeing Allah. But if we cannot reach such a stage of God –consciousness we should at least be aware that Allah is seeing us. Therefore we should refrain from doing any action that might show disrespect. Examples of such actions might be: cracking our fingers; standing on one foot; passing our hand in our beard; belching or even yawning while emitting some sounds. When we are standing our eyes should fix the place where our head will be in prostration. Similarly during the prayer whether we are standing or sitting or in ruku we should fix our eyes on the same spot where we will prostrate ourselves. At no moment should we allow our eyes to be distracted by anyone or anything. Any action that may show a slight disrespect to the august Presence of Allah should be avoided. Moreover when we are in prostration our elbows should not be resting on the ground. They should be held above the ground. Similarly when we sit our right foot should be in an upright position with the toes turned inside. Those who for any reason cannot hold their right foot in this position are allowed to let it rest. But all youngsters should try to keep their right foot in the position explained and required.

All these details concerning the etiquette of prayer are quite important. Our children learn most of these matters from us. So if we do anything the wrong way they will learn it the wrong way and they will transmit the same to their children. Hence the Sunnah will be transmitted in the wrong way. It is quite obvious that we live in a very materialistic world and many people do not bother at all about religion. But members of Jamaat ahmadiyya cannot become materialistic at all. Our Jamaat is so to say a ditch against the wave of materialism that is unfurling upon the world. The more we improve the way we pray the more solid will this anti-materialism fort become and then “everyone who lives in this house will be saved” as was promised to Hazrat Masih Maood^as and as has this promise been renewed to this humble self. May Allah keep you all under His Shadow and may all of you be led to the path that will open all the gates of success for you and your generations to come. Ameen!