Communicating

You know,

for the littlest muslims it is enough to know how important it is to keep themselves clean.

But as they get older they want to join in with the Salaat,

and need to learn how to wash in the way that Muhammad washed for Prayer,

that special form of washing known as Wudhu.

Of course, like most things, it is better to be shown by someone that knows the way,

rather than trying to learn it all from words and pictures.

That is the way that the form of the washing and the prayer were handed on

from one muslim to another

from the very beginning until the present day.

Those who saw the Messenger washing and praying

showed those who were not lucky enough to get that close.

And those who had learned passed on what they had learned,

from mother and father to son and daughter,

and from friend to friend,

from Muhammad through all the 1400 years until now.

And although it has been passed on by all those millions of people,

there is hardly any difference in the way muslims wash and pray

in any place that you find muslims around the world.

So why would so many people around the world, for hundreds of years,

find it so important to pray in this way?

I mean, if I can talk to God at any time,

why should I bother making time for Salaat if I am busy doing something else?

And if I can pray to God in my own way, why should I do it in this way?

Why would God tell us through the Messenger that this is the best way?

Well, just like exercise for the body, prayer is good for our minds,

our hearts and our souls,

and keeps them healthy.

But life is full of distractions,

things that tempt us to forget about praying.

We might think

'I'm busy with this right now I'll pray to God later',

but then when that later comes we are somehow busy with something else.

And before you know where you are the time has gone,

and soon you forget about praying entirely.

And there are all sorts of ways ways we can be tempted away from Prayer.

One of the ways is the idea that it won't be good enough.

A little voice inside whispers

"There's no point in doing it if it's not going to be perfect."

So instead of making a prayer with mistakes,

or not very well, or hurriedly,

we pretend to ourselves that it is better not to make the prayer at all.

And before you know it, you are never making any prayers,

because it's too late to catch up,

and what's the point of trying.

But prayer is to our spirit, our souls, like food is to the body.

And just like food,

if you go without for long enough you stop missing it the way you ought to.

Now those of us that eat regularly and properly know that those who will not eat get really sick

and can even die from starving themselves.

But still they will say that they don't need the food.

That is part of the sickness we call anorexia.

Now you can easily see when someone is starving themselves of food,

but it is much harder to see when someone starves themselves of prayer.

But just as we need food to keep our bodies healthy,

we need our prayers to keep our minds, hearts and souls healthy inside,

praying in the way God says is best for us

A healthy body and a healthy mind

food for one, and prayer for the other.

Both God and the Messenger tell us over and over about the importance of making regular Sala.

The five prayers a day are times to remind ourselves of the reason we are alive.

And just as it's never too late for a starving person to start eating again,

it's never too late to return to worshipping God in the way that was shown to the Messenger.

And the more we learn about the Salaat, the more we find there is to learn.

What do we do when we make Sala?

Can we make Sala anywhere?

How perfect does Sala have to be?