CHITRAL: It was an unexpected and pleasant surprise in last Friday prayer congregation when the prayer leader who by routine practice delivers a talk before the prayer, mentioned a bit about social responsibilities of the prayer goers, beside the prayer ritual. He said it was more important to attend to social responsibilities than the nafal (optional) prayers. The unexpected words from the prayer imam lit up the faces of many a prayer goer who by default are used to listening to same stories and episodes of hundreds of years ago delivered repeatedly to fill the time.
Just as the prayer goers started blooming to hear more, the maulana quickly switched to the importance of standing in the first row of the congregation behind the imam and reverted to usual narratives regarding the prayer ritual and spent the rest 80 percent time on explaining about it, something which every prayer goer knows since childhood.
Also read: Effect of five times prayers not reflected in our daily lives ?
Any sensible person would wish if the preacher had dedicated 80 percent of the time to social behavior and 20 percent to standing in the front row, it would do much more good to the followers and the society. What needs to be emphasized in religious preachings is the element missing from our lives- honesty and responsibility. Allah Almighty has ordained in the Holy Quran the importance of honesty in no less words than saying “Curse of Allah be upon the liers”- Al Imran, Ayat 61. Yet no sermon on honesty is ever delivered, while instructions about the do’s and dont’s inside the mosque are the epicenter of most sermons, that we hear from clerics.
It is time we Muslims connect the essence of our worship to the world outside the mosque in the society we are living day and night, otherwise we will continue sinking deeper and deeper in the quagmire of degeneration. .. CN report, 13 July 2026
5 thoughts on ““Your religion is what you do when the prayer is over””
Amazing article on the true spirit of the religion of Islam. Jazak’Allah
All else aside, it is most unfortunate that prayer leaders (imams) are not willing to even translate the meaning of the Quranic verse (Soorah) which the imam has decided to recite in the prayer. The logic behind this reluctance is un-understandable. Is it that the clerics want people to remain illeterate about the Holy Quran which is the primary guidebook for us? How can we become better human beings with this kind of approach?
Best write up on the topic- Unfortunately our prayer leaders have nothing to do with life outside the mosque. In their interpretation Islam means only to pray and carry out other rituals-
This article really made me stop and think. We often focus so much on rituals that we forget their real purpose—to make us kinder, more honest, more humble, and more compassionate in our daily lives. The true beauty of faith is reflected in how we deal with people after we leave the place of worship. Thank you for sharing such a heartfelt and meaningful reminder. May we all strive to live the values we believe in.
Instead of teaching us to be honest and avoid sins, our molvi sahiban teach us quick fix methods in the form of some duas and prayers etc wchich (according to them) will wash away our sins. As long as such dangerous mindset of providing a washing machine to wash away sins remains, muslims will not make effort to become honest and avoid sins against humanity.