Date Archive
The Voluntary and Optional Prayers
-
February 29, 2024
- Posted by: admin
Introduction :
A Muslim kid should know that Islam has come to remove the barriers the clergymen have put between Allah and His slaves. A Muslim kid learns in their Islamic studies for kids that there is no intercession between a Muslim and their Glorious Lord. Also, in their Islamic studies for kids, kids learn that whenever a Muslim needs to communicate with Allah, all they have to do is to make ablution and hurry to pray any time of the day. Their best teachers online teach kids that Allah is always there. It is the slave who decides when to meet their Generous Lord.
Why do Muslims frequently pray ?
Prophet Mohammad is our role model :
This is really true. It means that what prophet Mohammad did in his daily life is an example for kids and adults to follow. In addition to the five daily obligatory prayers, prophet Mohammad used to volunteer additional voluntary prayers. The objective of such voluntary additional prayers for a kid or adult Muslim is to increase their good deeds. The more a Muslim kid or adult is keen on performing these voluntary prayers, the more reward they get. However, muslim scholars don’t consider a Muslim kid or adult who misses such valuable prayers a sinner.
The times of these voluntary prayers :
Kids learn in their Islamic studies courses for kids and adults that these voluntary prayers are called as-sunnan ar-ratibah. This means that these voluntary prayers have their fixed routine and number of rakat. Also, there are certain times when a Muslim kid or adult can perform such prayers. There are other times when a Muslim kid or adult is not recommended to perform such voluntary prayer. Generally, these voluntary prayers come before and after the obligatory five daily prayers.
A Muslim's daily routine and the voluntary prayers:
Islam wants a Muslim kid or adult to be an early bird and a busy bee. Islam urges Muslim kids and adults to be active, not lazy. So a Muslim kid and adult’s day starts at dawn. A Muslim kid or adult rises before the sun does. Before a Muslim kid or adult prays their morning prayer, they perform the sunnah of the fajr prayer. Prophet Mohammad said that “the two fajr rakat are better for me than the world and what it contains”. Also, prophet Mohammad used to perform four rakat before the Dhuhr prayer. Also he used to perform two rakat after the Dhuhr prayer. It was not the habit of prophet Mohammad to pray any rakat before al-Asr prayer. Likewise, prophet Mohammad did not pray any voluntary rakat before al-Maghrib prayer. However, prophet Mohammad used to pray two rakat after the Maghrib prayer every day. In their Islamic studies online courses, kids learn that a lot of Muslims pray two rakat before al-Isha prayer. Nevertheless, prophet Mohammad used to pray two rakat after al-Isha prayer.
The reward for the voluntary prayers :
Prophet Mohammad assured that the Muslim kid or adult who is keen on performing the voluntary prayers is promised to get great rewards and favor from Allah. Also prophet Mohammad said in an authentic Hadith: “ Every Muslim kid or adult who regularly performs twelve voluntary rakat each day and night, there will be a house built for them in paradise.” This shows us the significance of such voluntary daily prayers for Muslim kids and adults.
The voluntary witr prayer :
Night time is very significant in Islam and the Holy Quran. Kids learn that there is a surah in the Holy Quran entitled “The night time”. Islam is the religion of devotion; and night time is a chance for a Muslim kid and adult to have a soliloquy with their Lord. So there is a special voluntary prayer for such a precious time. It is the Witr prayer. Witr in Arabic means an odd number. So this prayer can consist of three, five, seven, nine or eleven rakat. Prophet Mohammad said that a Muslim kid or adult can perform it in twos. Then a Muslim kid and adult can conclude their Witr prayer by praying one or three rakat. The time of the Witr prayer is after performing the Isha prayer. A Muslim kid and adult can perform this prayer in the Mosque or at home. A lot of Muslim kids and adults pray this special prayer at home. In this case they carry out the prophet’s orientation when he once said: “Let your house have a share of your prayer.” The time of the Witr prayer extends from directly after al-Isha prayer until just before the Fajr prayer. A Muslim kid or adult can perform the Witr prayer anytime at night.