Overview:

Surah Mu’minun is a Meccan surah that discusses the virtues that are the base of faith. Allah swt describes the true believers as those that implement these virtues in all aspects of their lives. Allah swt reminds us that success is not based on material wealth or status, rather it is based on the dedication to our faith.

 

Prayer as the Most Important Virtue:

The second verse of this surah talks about those who humble themselves in their prayer. So how can we attain further concentration and humility in prayer? We must first understand the importance of the prayer itself. As we read in surah Taha, Allah commands the establishment of the prayer after He commands the establishment of belief in Him. Likewise He is mentioning salah on the top of a list of actions that make a person successful in the eyes of Allah. What can be more important than salah in our acts of Ibadah?

 

Understanding our Prayers: We must recognize before whom we are standing when we pray. While this is something that may be difficult as our minds are not capable of fully comprehending all the attributes of Allah, we can begin by learning, memorizing, and internalizing the meanings of what we say in prayer. Once we know them and understand them, we can then say them with the conviction they deserve. Surah Fatiha is something that we recite in every rakah of every prayer; do we take time in our salah to really think about the meaning? This surah is unique in that it is a conversation between Allah and His servant. For each verse we recite, Allah responds to us to our supplication. 

 

Humbling Ourselves: Allah swt has commanded His servants to bow down to Him by placing the most beloved feature of the human, the face, on the ground. This position is spiritually beneficial for the servant as it humbles him and reminds him where he came from and where he will be returned.  Salah comes from “Sil”, “to connect”. It is the direct line of communication between Allah swt and us. We must understand that with each prayer we are able to open our hearts to our Creator, to confide our difficulties, to express our gratitude, to seek His forgiveness, to appeal for His guidance.

 

Focusing on Spirituality: Prayer should become routine in the sense of regularity but prayer should never become routine spiritually. This is powerful connection and we must eliminate internal and external distractions in order to make the best connect. This means we must not scold our children for being fidgety in prayer but we must also not allow them to run and scream unreasonably. We should try to minimize excessive movement. And we must remember to silence our electronic reminders of the Dunya that distract us from the Akhirah and our conversation with our Lord.

Unity Through Congregation: Prayer serves as a unifier for Muslims. The congregational prayer brings Muslims together, reminding us that Muslims are supposed to act as a source of strength for each other, and that we cannot live our lives isolated from everyone else. In congregational prayer we are encouraged to pray shoulder to shoulder. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not ask the poor to stand in the back rows of salah, or the Arabs to pray closest to the Imam. He taught us to stand side by side, emphasizing the equality of humanity. It unites Muslims of various backgrounds by our shared love of Allah swt. It is however, the responsibility of the knowledgeable to stand near the Imam in order to correct him if he makes any mistake.

 

Respecting Time: Salah also teaches us the importance of respecting time. The prayers are spread throughout the day and into the night. Just as we use the sun and the moon to calculate the passing of the days, the daily completion of the five prayers reminds our souls of the passing of time and nearness of the Qiyamah. It is vital that we make prayer a priority in our lives. For those of us who are uncertain about our commitment to our prayers, we should ask ourselves if we plan our day around our salah or our salah around our day. If we are doing the latter, we must evaluate our priorities and make the necessary changes.

 

Allah swt also reminds us of the other traits He swt defines as successful. He mentions the importance of paying the Zakah, fulfilling our promises to protect our health, wealth, children, and the earth with which He has blessed us. Allah swt commands us to guard against sin and perversion. We must recognize that which Allah has forbidden for us all together and that which He has made permissible to us with conditions and limitations. In the current state of the world, this is important for everyone to understand, especially our youth. The world is inviting you to good and bad, you must use the wisdom Allah has blessed you with and the guidance He has provided you with the ability to make sound decisions that will lead you to His path.

 

Manifestation of Belief:

Allah swt gives us the examples of the Prophets Nuh and Musa in this surah. He shows us how they lived these virtues and though their people challenged them, they were successful in the eyes of Allah. Allah gives us these characteristics of the Mu’minun and more in this chapter. Allah swt reminds us in verse 115 “Did ye then think that We had created you in jest, and that ye would not be brought back to Us for account?” Let us contemplate these and evaluate ourselves against these virtues in our lives. Allah has given us the elements to become successful, let us try to adhere to them before we are questioned regarding them.

Imam Mohamed Magid

Edits and Lebels by: Osamah Saleh