In anything significant you want to learn, it can be practice of medicine, playing the violin or learning computer programming, you begin at an elementary level, practice, and gradually go to a higher level. And if you persist over many years you can become really good at it.
The same principle applies to prayer because it is also a skill. You can do it poorly, or you can do it well. In order to learn it really well, it is important to begin at a simple level, practice and make progress to higher levels.
Let us recall this in terms of the experience of Prophet Muhammad. In the suras revealed to him in the earlier years, he was first asked to pray at night, then in the morning and in the evening. The instruction to pray five times a day came thirteen years later during the experience of me’raaj. We can see that there was an evolution in his prayer. We want to experience such a spiritual evolution ourselves, instead of considering it mandatory to pray a large number of absent minded raka’at every day and come out empty every time.
Miqdad, a companion of Ali, said: “I went to Abu Hurairah who said that he had heard the noble Prophet say:
‘Contemplation for an hour (fikratu sa`a) is better than the worship of one year.’
I went to Ibn `Abbas and heard him say that the noble Prophet said:
‘Contemplation for one hour is superior to seven years of worship.’
I went to another companion and heard him narrate that the noble Prophet said:
‘An hour of contemplation is better than seventy years of worship’.
( Book of Bayhaqi, 1:135-136);
It is obvious that for Prophet Muhammad contemplation, reflection, thinking was much more important than worship or prayer. This is also evident from the journey of his life. It began with him being deeply unhappy with the way the society around him was and his desire to do something to change it. He became contemplative. Later he developed the habit of going to a cave in the mountain of Hira to be alone and reflect; that is how guidance first came to him. And his biographies show that the Prophet maintained the habit of spending a large part of the day and night in solitude.
The first revelation about prayer asked him to pray at night. It is in sura Muzammil (sura no. 73). In subsequent years he was told to pray at night and also at the time of sunrise and sunset.
73:2-4
قُمِ اللَّيْلَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا
نِصْفَهُ أَوِ انقُصْ مِنْهُ قَلِيلًا
أَوْ زِدْ عَلَيْهِ وَرَتِّلِ الْقُرْآنَ تَرْتِيلًا
Stand vigil at night, but not all night
Half of it or less, or more
and recite the Quran in a measured pace.
52:48-49
وَاصْبِرْ لِحُكْمِ رَبِّكَ فَإِنَّكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ حِينَ تَقُومُ
Be patient with the judgement of your Lord, for you are before our eyes; hymn the praise of your Lord when you awaken and at night glorify Him, and at the receding of the stars
76:25-26
وَاذْكُرِ اسْمَ رَبِّكَ بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلًا
وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَاسْجُدْ لَهُ وَسَبِّحْهُ لَيْلًا طَوِيلًا
Invoke the name of your Lord morning and evening, prostrate unto him during the night, and glorify Him by night at length.
50:40
وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَسَبِّحْهُ وَأَدْبَارَ السُّجُود
And at night glorify Him, and after prostration
20:130
فَاصْبِرْ عَلَى مَا يَقُولُونَ وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ قَبْلَ طُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ وَقَبْلَ غُرُوبِهَا وَمِنْ آنَاء اللَّيْلِ فَسَبِّحْ وَأَطْرَافَ النَّهَارِ لَعَلَّكَ تَرْضَى
So bear patiently that which they say, and hymn the praise of your Lord before the rising of the sun and before its setting, and in the hours of the night glorify (Him) and at the ends of the day, that haply you may be content.
17:78
أَقِمِ الصَّلاَةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ إِلَى غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا
Perform salaat at the declining of the sun till the darkening of the night. And the recitation at dawn—truly, the recitation at dawn is ever witnessed.
Please note that the word salaat is used for the first time here, in sura 17 which was revealed in the later part of Prophet Muhammad’s stay in Makkah. In all earlier ayas, he is asked to glorify Allah, or invoke His name, or to praise Him. This is an important distinction because it shows that Prophet Muhammad’s manner of prayer changed with time.
In most Quran commentaries, the writer gives arguments trying to show that the aya 17:78 is about the five daily salaat times, zuhr, asr, maghrib, isha and fajr. However, these salaat types and their times were spoken by Prophet Muhammad several years later in Medina.
11:114
وَأَقِمِ الصَّلاَةَ طَرَفَيِ النَّهَارِ وَزُلَفًا مِّنَ اللَّيْلِ إِنَّ الْحَسَنَاتِ يُذْهِبْنَ السَّـيِّئَاتِ ذَلِكَ ذِكْرَى لِلذَّاكِرِينَ
And perform salaat at the two ends of the day and in the early hours of the night. Truly, good deeds remove those that are evil. This is a reminder for those who remember.
In a hadith in the book of Bukhari, Ayesha is reported as saying: “Salaat was enjoined with two raka’ats, then when the prophet migrated, it was enjoined with four raka’at, but prayer while travelling remained as it was originally”.
Thus we see that the Prophet began with a search for meaning, started praying only at night, then three times a day, then five times a day. He later added salaat after sunrise (Ishraaq) to his practice, although he did not ask his followers to do it. His prayer evolved with time. It is opposite to the prevailing practice of asking young people to do long prayers five times a day when they turn fourteen years old. Most young people don’t understand the purpose for it, are not able to do it and become guilt ridden. Some live in fear that they will be punished by God for not fulfilling a commandment.
A major flaw in current theology of salaat is ignoring that it can evolve. When a person is introduced to prayer he or she will benefit by starting at a simple level. It can be just two raka’ats once a day. And before actually engaging the prayer, the student should spend several weeks focusing on what the words mean and how they can relate to his or her life. Prayer should be personally meaningful at every stage of learning. If the student understands salaat as his or her own conversation with God, there will be spiritual enrichment and its sweetness will prompt him or her to pray more often.