Quranic Verses on Prayer – Golden Article

Qur’anic Verses on the Command to Pray

This section highlights several Qur’anic verses that emphasize the importance of establishing prayer:

(And establish prayer and give zakah, and whatever good you put forward for yourselves – you will find it with Allah. Indeed, Allah is Seeing of what you do.)
(Say to My servants who have believed, establish prayer and spend from what We have provided them, secretly and publicly, before there comes a Day in which there will be no exchange nor any friendships.)
(Guard strictly the prayers, especially the middle prayer, and stand before Allah in devotion.)
(And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at the approach of night. Indeed, good deeds wipe away bad deeds. This is a reminder for those who remember.)
(Our Lord, indeed I have settled some of my descendants in an uncultivated valley near Your Sacred House. Our Lord, that they may establish prayer, so make hearts among the people inclined toward them and provide for them from the fruits that they might be grateful.)
(And enjoin your family to prayer and be steadfast therein. We do not ask you for provision; We provide for you. And the outcome belongs to righteousness.)
(And establish prayer and give zakah, and obey the Messenger that you may receive mercy.)
(O my son, establish prayer, and enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, and be patient over what befalls you. Indeed, that is of the matters requiring determination.)
(And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion. And to establish prayer and give zakah. And that is the correct religion.)

Here are several Qur’anic verses that discuss the merits of prayer:

(And seek help through patience and prayer, and indeed, it is difficult except for the humbly submissive.)
(Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [righteousness is in] one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the Angels, the Book, and the Prophets, and gives his wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; and establishes prayer and gives zakah; and fulfills their promise when they promise; and is patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous.)
(Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those with him are severe against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves. You see them bowing and prostrating [in prayer], seeking bounty from Allah and [His] pleasure. Their mark is on their faces from the trace of prostration. That is their description in the Torah. And their description in the Gospel.)
(Indeed, those who recite the Book of Allah and establish prayer and spend from what We have provided them, secretly and publicly, can expect a trade that will never perish.)

The following verses from the Qur’an address the regulations concerning prayer:

(O you who have believed, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated until you know what you are saying, or in a state of janabah, except those passing through [on a journey]. And if you are ill or on a journey or one of you comes from the place of relieving himself or you touch women and do not find water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and hands. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.)
(And when you travel throughout the land, there is no blame upon you for shortening the prayer if you fear that those who disbelieve may disrupt [or attack] you. Indeed, the disbelievers are ever, to you, a manifest enemy.)
(O you who have believed, when you rise to perform prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and [wash] your feet to the ankles. And if you are in a state of janabah, then purify yourselves. And if you are ill or on a journey or one of you comes from the place of relieving himself or you touch women and do not find water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and hands. Allah does not intend to make for you any difficulty, but He intends to purify you and complete His favor upon you that you may be grateful.)