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

During the past three sermons I am trying to explain to our members the importance of praying five times daily and also the way these prayers should be offered. We want all our members to understand how we should invest ourselves in trying to improve the way we offer our prayers to Allah. I hope that incha Allah all of our members specially the younger ones would take to heart what I am saying and they will try to improve the standard of their prayer day in and day out. From experience I have noticed that those persons who have been negligent in their prayers while they were young have not made any great improvement even when they reached middle age. But as far as you are concerned I am doing my best to explain to you how a good Ahmadi/Muslim should offer his prayers so that they might become the means for his ascension to the proximity of Allah. After all is not the Holy Prophet ^saw reported to have said “Assalaato mi’rajoul mo’min” which means “Prayer is the ladder of the believer”? In other words through prayer the believer will ascend to the heavens in the metaphorical sense of the word.

Last time we spoke about the need to prepare oneself prior to making ones prayers through a systematic ablution. In fact every action that we do while doing our ablution is quite symbolic. We use water which of course is known for its cleansing capabilities. We start by washing our hands. Some ulemas  have said that whilst we are washing them we should also be thinking about anything bad that we may have committed with them and repent for such actions and make a firm decision not to commit the same again. Now if you start thinking in this way you will have in front of you all the misdeeds that you might have committed with your hands and repent of them five times daily. This remembering of your misdeeds and repenting of them whilst you start doing   your ablutions will definitely incline your heart to seek forgiveness for your misdeeds whilst you are in prayer. So in this way the wuzu is preparing you for the prayer that you are about to offer. There is no need for me to give you a graphic description of what misdeeds may have been committed by you with your   hands, eyes, nose, mouth, feet and other parts of your body which you wash when you make ablution because I think that a person can easily recognize these misdeeds. If you strive to do such wuzu definitely your God-consciousness will increase and you will become more careful in carrying out all your religious duties.

Usually when we are young we are not conscious of these matters because no one taught us about them. But by the Grace of Allah, today we are trying to help our children to start practicing as much as they can the Islam that we have known so that they might not have any excuse to say that they were not aware of these matters. You should not rush to perform ablution. On the contrary you should take care to perform each act of cleaning in such a proper way that it is accepted in the sight of Allah. The Holy prophet ^saw is reported to have said "On the Day of Resurrection, my followers will be called "Al-Ghurr-ul-Muhajjalun" from the trace of ablution and whoever can increase the area of his radiance should do so (i.e. by performing ablution regularly).'(Bokhari).  So we should all be very careful with the way we perform our ablution prior to our prayer. Sometimes when we are in a rush we forget or we overlook washing our feet. In the books of Hadith it is narrated by ‘Abdullah bin 'Amr that “the Prophet remained behind us on a journey. He joined us while we were performing ablution for the 'Asr prayer which was over-due and we were just passing wet hands over our feet (not washing them thoroughly) so he addressed us in a loud voice saying twice, "Save your heels from the fire." (Bokhari). These may appear to be small details but they are quite important and they should not be neglected under any circumstance.  A Muslim divine speaking about Taqwa said:

“Abstain from all sins, minor and major, that is Taqwa 
Never underestimate a minor sin, because the mountains are made up of small pebbles.”

This is a very beautiful metaphor. The mountain that is visible as a very big piece of rock to us is in fact made of pebbles. You may read articles about the formation of mountains to understand this better. But what we should remember is that we should not be neglectful in small matters lest they make us neglectful in matters of greater importance. In his books many times Hazrat Masih Maood^as has used this metaphor to tell us what I am telling you now. So take it into consideration and remember it. You may also observe in your own life or the behavior of your close friends how neglecting some small matters have resulted in having to deal with more difficult matters later on.

Now we will talk a bit about the words that we recite in prayer or the words that the imam recites. Let us start by the word “ Allaho Akbar” which means “ Allah is the greatest”. So we have performed our ablution and we stand in front of Allah to pray to him. After making the necessary intention we say “Allah Akbar” i.e “Allah is the greatest”. By reciting these words and by concentrating his mind on this Being the worshipper is declaring that he or she recognizes that there is no one who is greater than Allah. However one may define greatness, the Muslim worshipper is making the declaration that he or she recognizes Allah to be the one who possesses all greatness because He is above all those who may have any claim to greatness. The worshipper will be pronouncing these words at least five times in each rakaat of prayer that he will perform everyday. Usually in a day we basically pray 17 rakaat of Farz and about twelve rakaat of sunnat and three Witr.  So we pronounce these words more than 125 times per day. Now ask yourself how much has the meanings of these words been internalized by you. How far you really think that Allah is greatest?

I think that in his infinite wisdom Allah wanted us to make the declaration that He is the greatest many times per day so that with repetition we really become convinced and we have firm certainty that He is really the Greatest. This great Being has wished that we weaklings should have a relationship with Him so that He might make us honorable  in His sight. The Holy Prophet ^saw is reported to have said “iza tawaaza’al abdo rafa’ahoullaho ila samaais saabe’ate” which means “when the servant shows humility Allah lifts him to the seventh heaven”. So when the servant prays with full consciousness of Allah’s presence and with such a humility that he acknowledges his nothingness in front of “Allah, the greatest”(Allaho akbar) such a person will be raised to the seventh heaven. This is how Allah has prepared for the true believers the means for their greatness and honour in this world and in the next. Just imagine how these two words “Allaho Akbar” liberates a man from all else besides Allah if we really make the necessary effort to understand their meanings as best as we can. The philosophy of the west has a tendency to negate the existence of Allah. But the best teachings that Allah has given the Muslim is to liberate them from all others and attach the Muslims to Him who is the Greatest. If we happen through the best performance of our prayers to recognize the greatness of Allah then no one will have any power against us. This is what we should understand by the verse “in yansour komoullaho falaa ghaleba lakoum wa in yakhzoul koum faman zallazi yansorokoum mim ba’dehi wa alallahe falyatawakkalil mo’menoune”(3:161). The translation is as follows: “If Allah helps you, none shall overcome you; but if He forsakes you, then who is there that can help you beside Him? In Allah, then, let the believers put their trust” When Muslims will recognize Allah as “the Greatest” they will become “the best people raised for the guidance of mankind” To internalize the fact that “Allah is the Greatest” one needs to be fully conscious of all the words that we pronounce in our prayers and we should also be striving to perfect our relationship with the One who is the source of all perfection.

Hence I hope that when you pray you will be slow in all your bodily movement and you will continue to reflect upon all the connotations of the words “Allaho Akbar”. By so doing little by little as time passes on you will start feeling the Grandeur of Allah in your heart and you will be more inclined to lengthen your bowings and prostrations and repeat Allah’s praises. When Allah’s grandeur will get a greater place in your consciousness then you will stay away from the world of sin and you will migrate to the world of virtue and you will witness what Allah has said in the verse “Innas salaat tanha anil fahshaaé wal munkaré”(29:46). It means “Surely Prayer restrains one from indecency and manifest evil”

Unless and until our prayers are not filled with the remembrance of Allah and unless and until we are not enthused with the desire to know more about Allah we will never stay away from sins. Our prayers done in the proper way will be the means that will liberate us from a life of sins and make us live a life full of virtue. So do not take pride in the fact that you are praying five times daily to be enough to help you get your salvation.  You should learn and practice filling your prayers with the remembrance of Allah and then and only then will this door of salvation be opened to you.

However I should also tell you that you will not jump to such a stage in your prayer overnight. It is a discipline and like all other disciplines it needs constant practice and perseverance despite all the odds that come our way. Do not content yourself with the form of the prayer but try to search for its substance. The substance is what goes on between you and your Creator whereas the form is the words and the different bodily postures during prayer. Remember that the bird is more important than the cage; the jewels are more important than the box and the soul is more important than the body. Similarly what goes on between you and Allah during the prayer is more important than the bodily postures during your prayers.