Finding Inner Peace in Salah

Salah is derived from the word Silah which mean connection.  Then Salah (Prayer) is the connection of the servant to his creator. It is an obligation that has to be performed by every adult muslim male and female at prescribed time. Allah says:

إِنَّ الصَّلاَةَ كَانَتْ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ كِتَابًا مَّوْقُوتًا

“Indeed prayers were prescribed for believers at set time” (4:103). The prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) when he was asked about the best deed to perform he said: “Performing prayer in its due time”.

Allah Almighty mentioned the purpose of Salah in two verses. Allah says, “Establish Salah to remember me,” (20:14) and “And Establish the Salah! Definitely, Salah prevents immorality and sin, and the remembrance of Allah is greatest,” (29:45)

The both verses remind us that the most purpose of Salah is to remember Allah throughout  the day and this is why we were created is to worship Allah, as Allah says:

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

"I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me.” (51:56).

In prayer we find our inner peace because we show our submission to the almighty and it is the time that we ask Allah His Grace, mercy, abundance and forgiveness.

Safeguarding  Salah at its prescribed time protect us from sins and immorality. It reported that the Prophet said: "The five daily (obligatory) prayers, and Friday (prayer) to the next Friday (prayer), and the fasting of Ramadan to the next Ramadan, are expiation of the sins

committed in the interval between them, so long as major sins are avoided." [Muslim].

Prayer brings peace and tranquility to the heart, as Allah says “Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts find rest (13:28). To attain this tranquility, one must have love, concentration, understanding and reflection.

To find comfort and joy during salah, one must develops khushu’a by emptying the heart from all the distraction and have strong desire to do the obligatory act of prayer and strives hard to focus on what one is saying and doing. Allah Almighty says:

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَ

“Certainly will the believers have succeeded, They who are during their prayer humbly submissive” (23:1-2).

Khushu’a bring us closer to Allah during prayer and through which we experience inner peace.