As Leaves Off a Dry Branch

“The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) shook a dry branch of a tree briskly so that all the leaves of the branch fell off. Thereupon, the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) observed: ‘The sins of those who say prayers drop off as the leaves of this dry branch fell off.’ Then the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) recited this Ayat of the Quran: ‘Establish worship at the two ends of the day and in some watches of the night. Lo! Good deeds annul ill deeds. This is a reminder for the mindful.’ (11:114)” [Musnad Ahmad]

The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam), in his capacity as the best teacher mankind has seen, used a striking simile with a visual aid to impress upon the Sahabah how the Salat purifies a person of their sins.

The leaves of a dry branch fall off easily. He took one and shook it vigorously. It quickly shed its leaves. Having shown this, the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) told the Sahabah that the prayer causes sins to drop off a person in the same way that the leaves fell off the dry branch. Having provided them with the incentive for Salat, he then recited the Ayat in which Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) tells us to establish prayer. Good deeds, such as Salat, annul the evil deeds that we accrue over the day.