How did people use to perform salah or worship before Mi’raj?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Salah was made fard at the night of Mi’raj (Ascension) one and a half year before the hegira (Migration). According to the narration from Malik Ibn Anas, he stated the following in brief:

“Salah was made fard as fifty times for our Prophet (s.a.w) on Isra night. Then, it was shortened and reduced to five. Then, he was addressed as follows: “O! Muhammad! Undoubtedly, our word cannot be changed. These five times salahs are equivalent to fifty times salahs for you.” (Bukhari, Salat, 76, al-Anbiya, 5; Muslim, Iman, 263 Ahmad ibn Hanbal, V,122,143).

It is definite in this verse that each good deed is rewarded with its tenfold:

“Whoever brings a good deed shall have ten times the like thereof to his credit.” (al-Anaam, 6/160; see also an-Naml, 27/89; al-Qasas 28/84).

Before performing five daily salahs, the worship of our Prophet (s.a.w) was in the form of contemplating the creatures of Allah and considering the supremacy of Allah. It is narrated that he used to perform two rak’ahs in the morning and in the evening.

There was salah for the previous ummahs, too. We can give the following examples from the Qur’an: The Prophet Luqman orders his son to perform salah (Luqman, 31/17), the Prophet Ibraham mentions about salah while making dua for the security of the Hejaz (Ibrahim,14/37), Allah Ta’ala wants Prophet Moses to perform salah during the first divine inspiration (Taha, 20/14).

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