If Pakatan Rakyat wins...

******************** In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful; blessings and peace be upon Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. ********************** Reflection *********************** The Declining Day (Al-'Asr) 1. By the declining day, 2. Lo! Man is in a state of loss, 3. Save those who believe and do good works, and exhort one another to truth and exhort one another to endurance. *************************** ONE disturbing issue among Muslims that was raised by several 'ustaz' and religious figures in their 'ceramah' (talk) in several masjids was a survey that showed only about 12 percent of Muslim school children performed religiously their five times daily prayers (solat). ***************************** Then is it correct to say 88 percent of Muslim boys and girls are not committed to performing this second pillar of 'Rukun Islam'? **************************** To test 'the truth' in that findings, I approached a group of boys who were on their way to school after I have said my 'subuh' (dawn) prayers at a masjid. One morning, I saw two primary school boys resting on their bicycles under a tree on their way to school. I greeted them with a 'salam' and after giving the boys RM1 each, I was having a good meaningful conversation with them. ***************************** Both boys admitted that they had not said their 'subuh' prayers on that day before cycling to school. One of the boy was in Year Six and the other one in Year Three. They also admitted that they did not perform 'solat' at all. I asked them why, they answered their parents too did not solat and never asked them to do so! **************************** The elder boy said he did not go for 'sekolah agama' (afternoon religious school) because Year Six was a busy year as he would be sitting for his UPSR at the end of the year. The other boy said he goes to 'sekolah agama' and admitted he learnt a lot about solat and other principles in Islam. ************************** During our conversation another boy joined in. The Year Four boy admitted that he did not say his subuh prayer. At home he said, he performed his daily prayers but it was not on a regular basis. ************************ After telling the boys about the important of solat and going to the 'sekolah agama', I was on my way home; my mind focussed on the finding said by the ustaz. I had talk to three boys, none of them had performed their 'subuh' prayers (100 percent); thus I must admit that the findings that 88 percent of our children had truth in it. *********************** On another morning, I talked to a group of secondary school boys who were walking on a dirt road on their way to school. Since some of them were puffing away their cigaretts, I did not mention on whether they had performed the subuh prayers but instead asked why they were smoking. ********************* "'Pakcik' (Uncle), 'ini rokok kita beli pakai duit kita orang' (we buy this cigaretts with our own money). 'Kita orang bekerjalah' (We worked to earn money). 'Pakcik menyibuk buat apa?' (Why must Uncle bother us?)" ************************ I sensed trouble ahead, so I picked up myself to distance away from them. In my mind, I kept on thinking; how were teachers coping to handle these boys in school; were their parents having knowledge about their children's bad manners and behaviour? ******************* At first I wanted to ask the boys whether they had said their subuh prayers or not but the situation did not permit; so I just assummed that they did not perform it; perhaps I was wrong... ************************* So dear readers, why are our young generation distancing itself from performing solat which is the most important aspect of life for Muslims? It is the second article in 'Rukun Islam' (pillars of faith) - where without performing solat, other good deeds done by a Muslim will not be accountable for by Allah SWT. ************************ Solat is the benchmark whether a person would be successful or not in the world and the Hereafter. Remember the mu'azzin would call for prayers five times daily and in the azan, he would recite twice "come to sucess" after saying "come to prayer." This means to be sucessfull in this life what more in the Hereafter, a person MUST perform his/her solat. In short, no solat, no success in a human being's life. ************************** Solat is so powerful in life that even some non-Muslims acknowledged that a Muslim who perform this duty religously is an honest person that could be trusted and depended upon. I have experienced this circumstance when the Chinese headmistres of my primary school son told me that she had no problem in deadling with her pupils who performed their solat; they were well disciplined and organized in their work. ************************** Thus solat is the key word to be a successful person. A sincere Muslim performs all obligatory deeds and adheres to the pillars of Islam, complety and devotedly. He does not slacken, do it halfheartedly or seek excuses not to do it. So he establishes prayer, performing each of the five daily prayers on time, for prayer is the pillar of faith - whoever establishes prayer establishes faith, and whoever neglect prayer destroys the faith. *************************** Prayer is the best of deeds, as is made clear in the hadith narrated by Ibn Mas'ood r.a. (may Allah be pleased with him) in which he said: "I asked the Messenger of Allah: 'What deed is most loved by Allah?' He said, 'To offer each prayer as soon as it is due...'" *************************** Prayer is so important because it is a direct link between the servant and his Lord, in which he distances himself from the concerns of daily life and focuses himself entirely on his Lord, asking Him for help, guidance and preseverance to continue along the Straight Path. So it is hardly surprising that prayer is considered to be the best of deeds, because it is the source from which the believer may replenish his 'taqwa' and the spring in whose pure water he may cleanse himself on his sins. - The Ideal Muslim (Muhammad Ali Al-Hashim, IIPH) ************************** Well, solat is the key to success but sadly our children were not keen in performing it. Only 12 percent of our young generation perform solat regulary; we must admit that a grave mistake has been done; perhaps previosly those in power were too concerned and focuses on those pillars that gave us economical gains such as paying zakat (tithe) and hajj programmes but left 'the issues of solat' alone. ****************************** So, if Pakatan Rakyat wins in the coming 13th general election and holds power in Putrajaya 'insya-Allah (God willing), let's hope its leaders especially from PAS and PKR would work hard in religious development so that the young generation will become people who are synonim with solat for solat is the key to be successful in this world in Hereafter!