Muslims pray 5 times a day and others only on fridays . Why ?

Question

In my country , the muslims generally pray only on Friday . Recently my company sent me to work at the manufacturing plant located in a muslim dominated country. Now in the new place of work , the muslims insist they have to pray 5 times a day , irrespective of their work schedule. When it is time to pray, they will leave their work place . Why such a difference in attitude ?

Answer 1

Allah (Muslims prefer using the Arabic term for God- Allah- because it can't be pluralized ) mentions in the Qur'an,

“Guard strictly the prayers especially the middle Salaah (i.e. the best prayer ‑ ‘Asr). And stand before Allah with obedience ”[al-Baqarah 2:238]

So what is prayer then? The exact specifications of prayer (like other verses) is described in the sunnah (statements/narrations and actions of Muhammad).

Like the prophets before him, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was ordained with prayer for all Muslims and this happened during his ascension to heaven (recorded in authentic hadith (narration)). Prophet Muhammad was ordered by Allah with the prayer and when he was descending the heavens, Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) whom he had already met inquired about any commands given to him. When Muhammad answered, he was told to ask for a reduction. So Prophet Muhammad went back up to ask Allah to reduce the amount and when the amount was reduced, Moses once again asked Muhammad to make the burden less on his nation. This happened a few more times until the the number of prayers was reduced to five and Muhammad was ashamed to ask Allah more. (for exact narration, see last paragraph of http://www.alinaam.org.za/library/israa01.htm)

In another authentic hadith, The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said,

"Allah has obligated five prayers. Whoever excellently performs their ablutions, prays them in their proper times, completes their bows, prostrations and khushu` [Khushu` in the prayer is where the person’s heart is attuned to the prayer. This feeling in the heart is then reflected on the body. The person remains still and calm. His gaze is also lowered. Even his voice is affected by this feeling in the heart), 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."

So the prayer is something that is done on a daily basis 5 times not only as an obligation, but also so that a Muslim is never unmindful of the One who created & provided for him with all that he can see and observe on this earth - all of which has been subjected to him, for his use and benefit.

So now that there is no doubt that these prayers are an obligation and that the one or two verses from the Qur'an and narrations are out of hundreds more (you can refer to my authentic sources for more), why do people not pray at where you are?

These are for various reasons all of which translate to one thing- the love of this life (and whatever is in it) is stronger than the love for Allah and for the hereafter (weak faith in Allah & the hereafter). For example, some people you will find lazy, so they do not want to ask their boss or they simply don't even do it in their own homes. They do not wish to work so hard. In other words, "wasting" this life on prayer is not worth the hereafter or Allah.

Other people fear the loss of wealth. I will use myself as an example- I live in America and I'm studying right now to become a pharmacist. I know that if I work in a chain store like Walgreen's or CVS, most of the time there is only one pharmacist in the store (the rest of the workers are only Pharmacy technicians; this is because the corporation wants to mnimize costs) and under law, at LEAST one pharmacist must be working in order for the pharmacy to be operate. So if I wanted to work in the pharmacy, and make the noon prayer, I would have to ask the manager and if he granted my request, he would have to close the Pharmacy down for ten to fifteen minutes. This is something, which although may occur here in the states, if often unheard of. I would most probably have to hire a lawyer for my employers to accommodate my needs (as is stated in the law- that employers must accommodate for the NEEDS of their employees). This could still be a hard case and most probably would be. In other words, If I am a man of integrity, I would either: 1) Go to a lower-paying job in the hospital pharmacy where it is easier to get some time off for prayer and make up that amount of time at the end of the shift or 2) Work REALLY hard to get my needs accommodated at Walgreen's.

Also, the Friday prayer (which is at the time of the usual noon prayer) is another prayer in place of the noon prayer and it carries a much larger reward. For this prayer, it is obligatory for any Muslim Male (who is sane-minded and knows right from wrong) to attend the prayer at the Mosque.

Answer 2

Although the commandments had been descended, it is up to the followers on how faithful they are to obey the orders. It will for sure the rewards in the eternal life will be different . Nowadays in Government buildings , private sectors (in Islamic countries) even the stop over along the federal highways, sheds or rooms are used for the purpose of prayers. You can only see people going to the mosque to perform prayers and it is their obligation as a Muslim to perform 5 times prayers daily. Even they have to sacrifice sometime to perform their obligated duty as a Muslim.

Answer 3

The obligational prayers are the five daily ones. The citizens of the country you were sent to are correct in their practice , as only praying on friday is wrong, because praying is a daily obligation.

Answer 4

lots of the Muslims are business corporation adult men and employers. nonetheless they're loose, their recommendations isn't constantly loose to wish or meditate. So set aside specific day for God for prayer.