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The Companions replied, “No, Sir. No grime will be left on his body”. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said, “It is exactly the same with the five daily prayers. Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) removes all impurities and sins because of their auspiciousness:”

Superiority of Congregation

It appears from the Prophet’s Traditions that Namaz should be offered in congregation if one wants to derive full benefit from it. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) was so very particular about it that once while condemning the conduct of those who avoided coming to the mosque to say their prayers in congregation due to laziness or indifference he observed with anger that he felt like burning down their homes.

This one Tradition is enough to show how repugnant it is to Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) and the Prophet (Peace be upon him) that anyone should not offer his prayers in congregation. Another Tradition says: - “The reward on saying the Namaz in congregation is twenty times as much as on saying it alone.”

Apart from the reward in the Hereafter, there are many other advantages in offering up the Namaz in congregation. For instance, one acquires the habit of punctuality by attending the mosque regularly to say his prayers in congregation, it enables Muslim brethren of the locality to assemble at one place five times every day and this can be turned to great benefit, the practice of saying the Namaz regularly in the mosque congregationally makes a man thoroughly regular in his prayers for it has been seen that those who offer their prayers individually at home are often inclined to be neglectful. Yet another notable advantage in saying the prayers in congregation is that the Namaz of each participant becomes a part of the Namaz of the whole congregation in which, along with others, there are also generally present some venerable and virtuous servants of Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) whose Namaz is of a very high order. Their Namaz finds acceptance with Allah and the expectation from his Benevolent Grace is that when He will grant acceptance to the prayers of some members of the congregation He will, along with them, accept the prayers of the rest of the congregation too. Now, imagine what rich rewards and blessings do we deprive ourselves of when we do not go to the mosque to offer our prayers in congregation without a valid excuse.

Meekness and Humility

The offering up of the Namaz with meekness and humility means that, believing Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) to be Omni present and All-Seeing, the Namaz should be offered is such a way that the heart is filled with His love and stricken with awe by the thought of His Greatness and Magnificence as if a criminal was standing in front of a great judge or a mighty ruler. As a devotee stands up for Namaz he should visualize that he is standing in the presence of the Almighty - that he is standing out of reverence to Him. When he bows his head in Ruku or kneels down to perform the Sajda he should imagine that it was all being carried out in front of Allah and in expression of his own utter worthlessness and humility. Better still, whatever is recited during Namaz, whether while standing or in Ruku or Sajda, should be done with a proper understanding of its meaning, The real joy and beauty of Namaz is experienced only when it is offered with an intelligent appreciation of its contents. It is not, at all, difficult to learn the meaning of the Suras that are generally recited in Namaz.