One of the worst things that can happen to a believing Muslim is that they believe all the disempowering religiosity hype that gets us into the frame of mind that prayer is some kind of chore or to-do, and that we should feel bad about ourselves if we ever miss one.
Most people tell you that prayer is an “obligation” – that it’s something you “have to” do and something you “should” do. I have no issue with the legal status of prayer. But I have a huge issue with the language that we use to disempower ourselves when we think about it and do it.
The biggest problem is the way we’ve been translating the word “fard”.
Most of us think of it as “obligation” or “compulsory” or something you have to do and you should beat yourself up for not doing.
I have a very different way of looking at it.
For me, the best possible translation of the word fard – if you want spiritually upliftment and a life upgrade – is simply, “essential.”
Out of all the activities you could possibly do in your life, the most essential, the most important, the one that Allah and His Messenger, peace and blessings upon him, have deemed to be the most life-enhancing for your spiritual growth are what we call the “fard” actions—such as the five daily prayers, fasting Ramadan, etc.
The word fard really does mean essential. In other words, if you remove it, you’ve missed the whole point and if you do it without anything else, you’re still on track.
There’s a beautiful hadith qudsi where the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, told us that Allah says:
“My servant comes closer to Me with nothing more beloved to Me than what I have made essential. He then continues to come closer and closer to Me with additional devotions, until I love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it.
This is the essence of Islamic spirituality: start with the essentials, and then gradually, slowly but surely, increase in additional forms of devotion.
If you want a more empowering way to look at your spiritual devotion – and to benefit from it in ways you may find hard to imagine right now – I highly recommend you get started with the “Productive From Fajr” preview webclass.
It’s now available for free.
Because now is the best possible time to create the morning routine that you can stick with over the next eight to nine months (or even the entire year, depending on where in the world you live).
If you’re ready to stop “shoulding” all over yourself, then go here to reconnect with Allah each morning and set up your day to be a total victory:
