Best of Acts

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Know that the prayer is the best of your acts.” [Ahmad]

Whoever wants to perform wonderful deeds for the sake of Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) should first look toward the condition of his prayer. Since the prayer is the best of a Muslim’s deeds the rest of his deeds will only be as good as his prayers are.

That is why Umar (radi Allahu anhu) said: “If you see a man being careless concerning the prayer, then by Allah, he will be more careless in everything else.” [Tarikhu Umar]

The most important aspect of a Muslim’s prayer is his state of mind and awareness of Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) while praying. The more he feels Allah’s gaze upon him during the prayer the longer will he stay in a state of doing prescribed deeds and staying away from forbidden ones once his prayer is over.