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One of the qualities of Ibrahim 
which is highlighted in the Quran is his willingness to surrender to the commands of Allah
. Allah says about him: “When his Lord said to him, “Submit”, he said “I have submitted [in Islam] to the Lord of the worlds.” (Surah Baqarah, 2: 131) The word Islam and Muslim come from the same Arabic root ‘salama’; Islam means ‘to submit’ and a Muslim is a person who eagerly submits himself to Allah. This submission is not confined to certain rituals; rather it requires that we submit to Allah and obey Him in all matters of life, whether public or private, monetary or marital, on the level of an individual and on the level of the government.
A Reminder of Servitude
Five times each day Salah (prayer) comes to remind us and test this submission; do we hear and obey? It is such an important test that it distinguishes between a Muslim and non-Muslim.
“Between a man and shirk [associating others with Allah] and kufr [disbelief] there stands his giving up prayer.” 1
If you deliberately ignore the call to prayers, it is as if you are not true in your saying ‘La ilaha illallah’ (There is no deity other than Allah). Because you have placed your desire, your laziness, or whatever you were occupied with, above Allah. As soon as someone accepts Islam, Salah becomes obligatory on them. Moreover, it is the first matter that will be brought to account on the Day of Judgment.
Prophet Muhammad 
said: “The first matter that the slave will be brought to account for on the Day of Judgment is the prayer. If it is sound, then the rest of his deeds will be sound. And if it is bad, then the rest of his deeds will be bad.” 2
He also informed us, “Allah has obligated five prayers. Whoever excellently performs their ablutions, prays them in their proper times, completes their bows, prostrations and khushu` has a promise from Allah that He will forgive him. And whoever does not do that has no promise from Allah. He may either forgive him or punish him.” 3
Learn the Meaning of Salah
Salah in itself is a complete and outstanding training program for a Muslim. It trains us to bow in front of Allah , to obey each of His commands and answer all His calls, in every dimension of life. It has the capability of strengthening and empowering every Muslim against the tides of immorality, injustice and oppression. Every word in the Salah has a message for the improvement of our character.
Allah says in the Quran: “Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing.” (Surah Al-Ankabut, 29: 45)
Yet, we continue sinning and praying at the same time. Which kind of Salah will prevent us from sins? Allah also tells us: “And seek help through patience and prayer.” (Surah Baqarah, 2: 45)
We do pray but we don’t find that it assists us. Which kind of Salah will help us get closer and closer to Allah each day? We forget Allah in our daily routine, and Salah comes five times to remind us of Him. We have to learn to pray such a Salah that prevents us from wrong doings, a Salah that is our greatest source of strength. For our prayers to have that spirit, we must learn the meaning and understand the implication of what we say in our prayers. When we do so In sha Allah, the prayer will become a source of relief and coolness for us.
For many of us, Arabic is a foreign language and we are only pronouncing a few rote learned sentences in our prayer. We need to stop and reflect. Does it really make sense? That we talk to our Creator, but we don’t know what we are saying? Yet, this is the first step for developing Khushoo in Salah and building a strong bond with our Rabb.
This does not mean we have to master the whole language to be able to understand our prayers. If we make some effort and dedicate five minutes each day, we can easily memorize the word for word translation of Salah. How is that done? Here is a link to a downloadable file which contains the translation of Salah, translation of some short Surahs usually recited in Salah and common supplications.
Start this week by memorizing the meaning of seven words and focus on them in your daily prayers. Progress gradually and and soon, you’ll be able to have a dear conversation with your Almighty Rabb.
Look out for the next articles in this series where we will discover the meaning and implication of the Adhan (the call to prayers) and other parts of Salah, In sha Allah.
Click here to download the word-for-word translation file.
Please share your valuable feedback in the comments section below. 🙂
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45 replies on “What Do We Say in Our Salah?”
I just started reading ur articles and I must confess u re touching d key issues bothering muslims generally….God is really using u to communicate. Thanks so much….Allah SWT will reward u
May Allah accept
mashallah..may allah reward u for the efforts
[…] is the second article in the series ‘What do we say in our Salah?’ Click here for the first part. Click here to download a word-for-word translation of […]
Jazzaka Allahu khairan
Wa iyyakum
ما شاء الله. Very informative article. May Allah reward you for your efforts in educating and enlightening us.
Alhumdulillah that you found it beneficial. Do share with others!
Jazak Allah Khair
Barakallahu fikum
A very worthwhile article with great links on translating the duaas, the athaan and iqama, words of the prayer and some short surahs.
Jazakallahu khairan
Jazak Allah Khair for your feedback.
jazakallahq
Alhamdulillah!!!!
This article fulfilled my expectations. Last few days I was looking for an authentic way to learn this. I thought somehow I will get it. So finally allah accepted my dua.
Jazakallah!!! May Allah reward you for your efforts!!!
Alhumdulillah Rushda! 🙂
Masaallah
Masha Allah this was very benifical .. This article makes us see why r salat r sooo important .. May Allah accept our salats n forgive us of our sins … May Allah reward you for this post ??? Ameen
Ameen!
Mansha Allah, I really enjoyed reading and learning this article. May Allah bless u this great work.
Alhumdulillah. Jazak Allah Khair!
Masha Allah. So inspiring article. May Allah reward you and Allah forgive us and Guide Us to the straight path. aameen.
Ameen!
Masha Allah very good article. Jazak Allah Khair…
Wa iyyakum!
So easily described and thanks for sharing.
May Allah help all of the Muslim Ummah.
Ameen to your dua. Do share with friends and relatives.
Mashallah!I love this article.May Allah(swt) continue to guide you.
May Allah grant you Wellness, Happiness and Jannah
Thank you for your reminder on the importance of salat! This article is telling and may Allah Almighty reward you abundantly. May HE also accept our salat and strengthen our iman
Ameen! Jazak Allah Khair for your feedback
Great work. JazakAllah.
This article was very precise.
mashaAllah sister jazakAllah khairaan this article is soul inspiring and a reminder to correct our salaah thanks alot for this sort of motivating article may allah bless u here and hereafter with success ameen
Alhamdulillah for this effort sister, it really helps me.
Alhumdulillah!
Can i please have the link of your articles. I can’t find it on the page. Jazak Allah..
You mean my articles? Here is the link: http://blog.islamiconlineuniversity.com/author/umm-salih/
jazakallah khairan 🙂 may ALLAH bless u
this article remind me again to khusyu in salah, sometime i always bargain myself to postpone Salah because i was learn. Now i realize that there is no excuse to put all matter above Salah. Jazakillah
[…] Part I | Part II | Part III […]
[…] Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV […]
[…] Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V […]
Jazakallahu Khairan for the excellent article. I’m still going through it. I came across one spelling mistake (word recommendation, n is missing) in the Salah.pdf in the ‘Dua after Adhan’ section.
[…] Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V Whenever we daydream about Jannah, we dream about meeting the Prophet and living in his company. To listen to him, to watch him intently and to see him smile is something we all desire. Can we turn this dream into a reality? Yes – through abundant prostrations! […]
Mashallah there’s a lot of good material on this site. Keep up with the good work. Jazakhallah
[…] Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII […]
Saalam,
In page 87 there is some other language typed instead of english.