Summary of the Lessons, Rewards and Benefits of Prayer

You should know - My dear Brother and Sister Muslim that the following has been authentically reported from our Messenger (sas) regarding the lessons, benefits and rewards of the five daily prayers:

1. That Allaah the Exalted wipes away sins by the five prayers.
2. That the five prayers are an expiation for what occurs between them, if major sins are avoided.
3. That sins burn and destroy a person and thus it is necessary to extinguish that with the prayers.
4. That the muslim reaches the level of the truthful and the martyrs on account of his prayers, charity and fasting.
5. The superiority of prayer[1] over other actions.
6. That Allaah the Exalted bestowed a favour upon that companion by entering him into Paradise before his brother who died as a martyr because he prayed more than him.
7. That the prayer is light which illuminates the path of the servant in this world and the hereafter.
8. That an abundance of prostrations and prayers is the way to accompany the Messenger (sas) in Paradise.
9. That a two rakah prayer is more loved by the dead person than the world and what is in it.
10. That emptying the heart for Allaah in the prayer puts a person in the same condition as the day when his mother gave birth to him.
11. That should a person enter the Fire - refuge is sought from that - the angels will remove him from it and will recognise him by the marks of prostration.[2]
12. That the prayer participates in undoing the knots which Shaytaan places at the top of ones head.
13. That the night prayer is the most excellent prayer after the obligatory prayers.
14. That the one who prays at night obtains a reward which most of mankind do not. 15. Gratitude is shown to Allaah with the (obligatory) prayer and night prayer.
16. That the prayer most loved by Allaah is the prayer of Daawood (as) which is to pray for a third of the night and to sleep for two thirds of the night.[3]
17. That has Allaah has bestowed a favour upon His servant by the hour during the night in which the supplication is answered. It is befitting for the muslim that he aspires for it and seeks to find it so that he is given the good of this world and the Hereafter.
18. That the night prayer is an evidence for righteousness and taqwaa and it expiates the sins and prevents one from falling into them.
19. That Allaah Azzawajall covers the husband and wife who help each other in performing the night prayer with His mercy. If one of them refuses the other sprinkles water on his or her face.
20. That two rakahs of prayer at night makes a person amongst the men who remember Allaah often or the women who remember Allaah often.
21. That Allaah is amazed by the man who gets up from his sleep, leaving his bedsheet, his wife and his love for her in order to perform prayer. Allaah laughs at him and informs the angels about him.
22. That there is no jealousy or competition except with regard to two men, one of whom prays at night reciting the Qur'an which Allaah has bestowed upon him.
23. That whoever recited ten verses in the night (in prayer) will not be written amongst the heedless, a Qintaar of reward will be written for him and Allaah the Exalted will say to him: "Recite and rise by one degree with every verse", until he comes to the last verse he knows. Allaah favours him by giving him eternity.
24. That whoever prays at night with a hundred verses is written amongst the devout worshippers and whoever prays with a thousand verses is written amongst the Muqantareen and whoever prays with two-hundred verses is written amongst the devout worshippers and sincere ones.
25. That the one who walks to the prayer (in the mosque) is raised in ranks and has his sins removed, both while he goes to the mosque and when he returns from it.
26. That for every step he takes he receives ten good deeds.
27. That the muslim is written amongst the worshippers from the time he leaves the house till he returns to it.
28. That the one receiving the greatest reward for the prayer is the one who walks the furthest towards it and and then the one further than him (from the mosque).
29. That one step which a servant takes to the prayer in congregation is counted as an act of charity for him.
30. That taking many steps towards the mosque is from ar-Ribaat (guarding the frontiers)
31. That every time a servant leaves for the mosque in the morning or the evening Allaah prepares for him a feast in Paradise.
32. That Allaah makes the light of those who walk throught the darkness to the mosques complete and perfect on the Day of Judgement.
33. That the reward for the one who leaves his house in a state of purity for the obligatory prayer is like the reward of the pilgrim in the state of ihraam.
34. That the one who leaves for the mosque has a guarantee from Allaah in that he should provide for him sustenance and suffice him (in his affairs).
35. That the one who walks for the prayer in congregation, after having beautified his wudhoo and travels to visit Allaah the Exalted, is bestowed with a great favour in that Allaah honours those of his servants who visit Him, and Allaah's honouring of them is increasing their Eemaan, showing benevolence to them, rewarding them, raising their ranks, removing their difficulties and making their hearts content and happy.
36. The obligation to pray in congregation.
37. That the Prophet (sas) did not make a concession for the old blind man by allowing him to leave the congregational prayer. How then can those who are fit and well be allowed a concession?
38. That whoever abandons the congregational prayer has been threatened with heedlessness and having a seal placed on his heart.
39. That staying away from the congregational prayer is a sign of hypocrisy.
40. The extreme striving of the Companions (ra) for attending the congregational prayer inspite of difficult circumstances.

Women in Qur'anic Society

Equal status and worth of the sexes

The first of these characteristics of a Qur'anic society which affect women is that both sexes are held to be equal in status and worth. In other words, the Qur'an teaches us that women and men are all creatures of Allah, existing on a level of equal worth and value, although their equal importance does not substantiate a claim for their equivalence or perfect identity. This equality of male and female is documentable in the Qur'an in passages pertaining to at least four aspects of human existence and interaction.
A. Religious Matters
The first of these Qur'anic confirmations of male-female equality are contained in statements pertaining to such religious matters as the origins of humanity, or to religious obligations and rewards.
1. Origins of Humanity. The Qur'an is devoid of the stories found in the Old Testament which denigrate women. There is no hint that the first woman created by God is a creature of lesser worth than the first male, or that she is a kind of appendage formed from one of his ribs. Instead, male and female are created, we read, min nafsin wahidatin ("from a single soul or self") to complement each other (Qur'an 4:1; 7:189). Whereas the Torah or Old Testament treats Eve as the temptress of the Garden of Eden, who aids Satan in enticing Adam to disobey God, the Qur'an deals with the pair with perfect equity. Both are equally guilty of sinning; both are equally punished by God with expulsion from the Garden; and both are equally forgiven when they repent.
2. Religious Obligations and Rewards. The Qur'an is not less clear in commanding equality for men and women in its directives regarding religious obligations and rewards. We read:
Lo! Men who surrender unto Allah, and women who surrender, and men who believe and women who believe, and men who obey and women who obey, and men who speak the truth and women who speak the truth, and men who persevere (in righteousness) and women who persevere and men who are humble and women who are humble, and men who give aims and women who give alms, and men who fast and women who fast, and men who guard their modesty and women who guard (their modesty), and men who remember Allah and women who remember-Allah hath prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward. (33:35)
B. Ethical Obligations and Rewards
Secondly, the Qur'an reveals to mankind the desired equality of the two sexes by establishing the same ethical obligations and rewards for women and men.
And who so does good works, whether male or female, and he (or she) is a believer, such will enter Paradise and they will not be wronged the dint in a date-stone. (4:124)
Whosoever does right, whether male or female, and is a believer, him verily We shall quicken with good life, and We shall pay them a recompense according to the best of what they do. (16:97)
If Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala had not deemed the two sexes of equal status and value, such explicit statements of their equality in ethical obligations and rewards would not have been made in the Qur'an.
C. Education
Although the more specific commands for the equal rights of women and men to pursue education can be found in the hadith literature, the Qur'an does at least imply the pursuit of knowledge by all Muslims regardless of their sex. For example, it repeatedly commands all readers to read, to recite, to think, to contemplate, as well as to learn from the signs (ayat) of Allah in nature. In fact, the very first revelation to Prophet Muhammad (S) was concerned with knowledge. In a Qur'anic society, there can never be a restriction of this knowledge to one sex. It is the duty of every Muslim and every Muslimah to pursue knowledge throughout life, even if it should lead the seeker to China, we are told. The Prophet (S) even commanded that the slave girls be educated, and he asked Shifa' bint `Abdillah to instruct his wife Hafsah bint `Umar. Lectures of the Prophet (S) were attended by audiences of both men and women; and by the time of the Prophet's death, there were many women scholars.
D. Legal Rights
A fourth evidence in the Qur'an for the equality of men and women is its specification of legal rights which are guaranteed for every individual from cradle to grave. Unlike the situation in the West, where until the last century it was impossible for a married woman to hold property on her own, to contract with other persons, or to dispose of her property without the consent of her husband, the Qur'an proclaims the right of every woman to buy and sell, to contract and to earn, and to hold and manage her own money and property. In addition to these rights, the Qur'an grants woman a share in the inheritance of the family (4:7-11), warns against depriving her of that inheritance (4:19), specifies that the dower (mahr) of her marriage should belong to her alone and never be taken by her husband (2:229; 4:19-21,25) unless offered by the woman as a free gift (4:44).
As with any privilege, these rights of women carry corresponding responsibilities. If she commits a civil offence, the Qur'an tells us, woman's penalty is no less or no more than that of a man in a similar case (5:41; 24:2). If she is wronged or harmed, she is entitled to compensation just like a man.
It is clear that the Qur'an not only recommends, but is even insistent upon, the equality of women and men as an essential characteristic of a Qur'anic society.
The claim of the non-Muslim critics that Islam ,  women is denied emphatically by the Qur'an. Similarly denied are the arguments of certain Muslims that women are religiously, intellectually and ethically inferior to men, as Jewish and Christian literatures had earlier maintained.