Why do we have to pray five times in Islam or else you can't be considered a Muslim?

Question

I am confused about this. If a person is tired or depressed and doesn't wish to pray for some time, he gets "minus" points or "Thunub" from Allah. And this supposedly makes him closer to hell.

Answer 1

I'm not Muslim, so sorry i can't answer your question!!

Answer 2

I like praying five times a day, even though some days I barely pray once. Actually, it is very rewarding and humbling to lower myself to something far greater than I am. It is good to be humbled through out the day.. when I get frustrated with what I'm working on it's nice to take a break and worship God. It is very relaxing, meditative and refreshing.

That being said, there are a couple progressive Muslim groups which say that praying five times a day is not as strict as the mainstream Muslims believe. Some Muslims believe that you only to need to touch base with God (Salat actually means connection), and however you do that is fine.

I suggest you re-read the Qur'an and take notes. Buy a copy printed on normal paper with lots of room in the margins and write things down. Then decide for yourself how you think you should pray and how often. The beauty of Islam is that you don't _need_ an Imam.. everything you need to know is in the Qur'an, and it is entirely up to you how your interpret this. If you read the Qur'an and you decide the passage son Salat say you must pray five times a day, maybe you will feel more compelled or eager to pray 5 times a day. Or, maybe you will decide something else. The important thing is that you don't break your connection with God.

And Allah knows best.

Answer 3

It is not so that a person is no more considered Muslim if he or she doesn't pray five times a day. I had a Muslim colleague and he never prayed all day during his worktime but I know that he believes in Islam, and I also had a Muslim friend who tried to do the prayer at right times, but very often she didn't and then she did all the prayers she missed later. She always said that this is not good and she wants to improve and do her prayer more regularly, but she hardly ever managed to do so.

Answer 4

I really don't think of it that way. I believe that the reason that Muslims pray five times a day is to bring them closer to god. Allah will understand if you are depressed, but if you want to feel better then praying is the way.

Answer 5

First of all i would like to say welcome to Yahoo!Answer.

By looking at your profile, u are obviously not a Muslim since u hate them so much.

An atheist would not even bother about prayer in Islam. Therefore u're not atheist. It means u are a God(s) believer.

So that only left Buddha, Hindu, Sikh, Jew, and Christian. Am I missing something? Sorry if I did.

Your nickname is Shaaz. Definitely not Chinese or Indian. Than, it's only left Jew or Christian.

I go for Christian. Yes. It's undeniable that there is a hadith that says if someone didn't pray 5 time in Islam, the person is not a Muslim. Because u aren't a Muslim, i wanna tell u what do Muslims mean about pray.

The prayer for the Muslims is not the same prayer when u pray at the dinner-table, "O God, I thank U for this food". That kind of pray, we called it 'doa'. It only involves ur heart and ur lips.

What we mean by pray is WORSHIP God. Not just holding ur hands and say "God, save us", God, please help me, "God, i thank U"
So prayer in Islam is an act of worshipping the God, fully in ur heart, confess by ur tongue, manifest in ur act.
Unlike the English system, there is a special word for this kind of prayer, called as-solat or simply solat (some people prefer to call it solah, or sollah or sollat)

Only that kind of pray (solat) is compulsory 5 times everyday.
But if there is circumstances, there can be exception.
For example, if u are in a trip to go from NY to UK, u can combine two solat as one.
If u are ill, it depends on your illness.
If u cannot stand up straightly, u can sit on a chair to perform solat.
If u cannot sit, u can lie on the bed.
If u cannot lie on the bed, what else can u do? U are better than death.
If the person unconcious, or he/she forgot to solat, careless, he/she can repay the solat later.

But if he/she intentionally left the solat because of his/her laziness, then we consider him/she is not a REAL Muslim.

Why?
Because when he/she left solat intentionally, it means that he/she did not want to worship the God. So if he/she did not want to worship the God, can it be considered as a Muslim. No because Muslims worship the God. If the person didn't worship the God, how can he/she considered him/herself as a Muslim?

There is a reason why I making a wild guest about about ur faith. Not to put a bad name on ur faith, but because it'll help me to give u a proper understanding.
Let's say that u're a Christian.
i give u example on the salvation part.
Jesus said if u want salvation (eternal life) u shall keep the Laws and the Commandments. In Islam and even in Christianity, the 1st Commandment is to worship the God.
So if the person want salvation, he/she must believe in Jesus peace be upon him. How to believe in Jesus pbuh? By keeping the Commandments. What are the Commandments? The 1st of them is to worship the God.
So if that person didn't worship the God, it means that he/she is not obeying the Commandments. Not obeying the Commandment, means no salvation for u. No heaven for u. So the hell is ur eternal home.

Answer 6

the call to prayer isn't because of the fact Muslims forget approximately sensible clogs, yet to unite Muslims so that they get waiting and prepare themselves for the prayer the two in congregation or on my own. It creates harmony and brotherhood. you're saying on your first sentence we are able to be reminded by using a pal?...nicely this buddy may well be your interior of sight mosque - that's a reminder no longer for one individual yet for each Muslim interior the land. It no longer a complicated concept to appreciate relatively. and no person my buddy is suited, no person. no person makes that declare the two. you're saying on your final sentence that if it replaced into suited human beings could be queueing up - you may no longer stress human beings to wish, if worship is compelled then that's infrequently a real faith. The believer would desire to come brazenly from their coronary heart because of the fact they opt to, because of the fact they are attracted by using it no longer because of the fact somebody else says it is suited. And it is optimal to all the faiths of on the instant no longer in basic terms Islam. you only would desire to be uncovered to the astonishing thing approximately God and the course will itself grow to be sparkling. And above all the seeker would desire to opt to appreciate and be open minded too. no longer in basic terms to ask question to defile a undeniable faith - as a result Islam. Which i think of you have accomplished given the tone of your question. chillier...i admire supplying you with thumbs down only as much as you love receiving them - so savour them right here and everywhere else i come across you...:)

Answer 7

This is a big reason for sucide Jihadists. Islam is an impossible ledger of "acts" accounting, and because all Muslims feel behind the eightball, they are tempted to take the only way out given by the Quran...murder for Allah.

According to Surah 4, if you murder Allah's enemies in battle, and die, you are guarenteed heaven, no matter what.

Answer 8

You are not even a Muslim,just a bad impostor.If you are ill Islam you do not have to pray but can make up for it when you are well.If you were a real Muslim you would know that.

Answer 9

Christians don't "have" to go to church to be Christian at all. In fact, the church is the people, not the place or building. For your question, Islam focuses on materialistic things to get into Heaven. Christianity is the only -major- religion that acknowledges that we cannot get into Heaven other than by accepting the Grace given to us. -We- can do nothing to get there.

Answer 10

Its part of the 5 pillars. I'm not familiar with the term Thunub though.

Answer 11

To keep you in line. Its a disruption technique used in brainwashing people by micromanging a person's life with a list of things to do. that way they won't question the authority of their ideology as easily.