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. Most of our time is spent with our friends, reading baseless stories and novels and useless discussions.

Azan is called out, the time of Salah passes by, but alas! Islamic sisters are not even ready to offer obligatory Salah with congregation, let alone offering voluntary Salah such as Tahajjud, Awwabeen, Ishraq and Chasht, Salat-ut-Taubah and other nawafil that are offered in the special nights. When invited to offer Salah, they reply: We will start from Friday, we will start after performing Hajj or Umrah, our clothes or body are impure, etc.

Similarly, instead of reciting, learning, understanding or acting upon the Holy Quran, it is stored inside the Masajid. The situation now is such that those who can actually read the Quran, they will not have the opportunity to open this beautiful book and look at it for many years. The Holy Quran has now become a means to convey reward or is limited to only Khatm, etc.

Likewise, the months of Muharram, Rajab, Sha’ban and Shawwal are also a great opportunity to keep Nafl fasts but very less Islamic sisters actually fast in these months. What is even more regretful is the fact that the inclination to keep fasts in the sacred and blessed month of Ramadan is also seen to be dying out at a very rapid pace.

Nevertheless, alongside obligatory worship, if we want to awaken the passion within us to perform Nafl worship as well, if we want laziness in worship to be removed, if we want to be consistent in offering Salah, if we want to start keeping Nafl fasts, if we want to be steadfast in reciting the Holy Quran daily,