Sayyiduna Idrees Haddad رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه states: ‘I always saw Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه offering Salah, reciting the Holy Quran or reading a book, and never saw him busy in any worldly matter. When the severity of these matters would increase, then he would not eat anything for 1, 2 or even 3 days. When he would see any of his family members, he would drink water through which they would consider his stomach to be full.’

Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal’s رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه son, Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه states: ‘My father would recite one Manzil of the Holy Quran every night and would complete the entire Quran in 7 days, and then he رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه would remain standing in worship until the morning. He would offer 300 Rak’aat (units) of Salah every day. When he رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه was whipped, he became weak, and then he would offer 150 Rak’aat (units) of Salah every day. He would be at ease 3 times and would scream 3 times. (Hilyat-ul-Awliya, vol. 9, pp. 192, Raqm 13658)

صَلُّوۡا عَلَى الۡحَبِيۡب                 صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

Dear Islamic brothers! You heard how much worship the famous pious person of his time, Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه, would perform. Now, we should reflect upon ourselves as to how much do we love Salah, fasts and reciting the Holy Quran.

Realise the importance of Salah through the fact that the Holy Prophet         صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم has stated: ‘The first action of a person to be seen on the day of judgement will be Salah. If this is found to be complete, then his Salah and all of his actions will be accepted, but if there is deficiency in it, then his Salah as well as all of his other actions will be rejected.’ (Muwatta Imam Maalik, vol. 1, pp. 169, Hadees 428; Amended)

The Holy Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم has stated in regards to the virtue of Nafl fasts: ‘Whoever kept a Nafl fast of one day, Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ will keep him as far from hell as is the distance between the earth and the sky.’ (Mu’jam Kabeer, vol. 17, 120, Hadees 295)

And while mentioning the virtue of reciting the Quran, he صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم has stated: ‘The best form of worship of my Ummah is to recite the Holy Quran.’ (Shu’ab-ul-Iman, vol. 2, pp. 354, Hadees 2022)

But alas! We are oblivious of these acts of worship. A lot of people spend most of their time in restaurants, with their friends, reading newspapers, reading baseless stories and novels, using social media, etc.

Azan is called out, the time of Salah passes by, the Masajid even have excellent facilities such as carpet, tiles, fans, lights, ablution area, etc. But