Maintaining Faith and Prayer Through Trials

حَـٰفِظُوا۟ عَلَى ٱلصَّلَوَٰتِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ٱلْوُسْطَىٰ وَقُومُوا۟ لِلَّهِ قَـٰنِتِينَ

Maintain with care the [obligatory] prayers and [in particular] the middle [i.e., ʿaṣr] prayer and stand before Allāh, devoutly obedient.

Before this verse (verse 237), Allah talks about divorce. When divorce happens, it often involves emotions and is undoubtedly something that saddens the heart. Although the relationship with the spouse has ended, there is still one more relationship that we must maintain, which is our relationship with Allah. This relationship cannot be severed, so to maintain this connection with our Creator, Allah instructs us to keep up our prayers.

Today, there are people who face trials (no matter what the trial is, divorce is also a test), and because of these trials, they abandon their prayers and their faith. Shouldn't it be that when we face difficulties, we need to pour out our sadness to Allah even more and seek guidance from Him to gain strength? If we do not turn to Allah, do you think He will help solve our problems? Certainly not. Try asking for peace from the person you're complaining to; can they give it to you or not? Only Allah can answer all our complaints, prayers, and laments.

Prayer is a specific time that Allah has arranged for humans to complain to Him no matter what state they are in. This is to keep us constantly close to Allah. Among the five daily prayers, the one that needs to be particularly maintained is the 'middle prayer' or 'Asr prayer'. The majority say it's the Asr prayer. Why the Asr prayer? Because at this time, most people are in a state of negligence, tired after finishing work, and possibly feeling lazy. So, to refresh ourselves, we take ablution and return to our natural state. In a hadith, Burairah (r.a) stated that the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) said: "Whoever leaves the Asr prayer, his deeds are in vain." (Narrated by Bukhari)

Then Allah commands, it is not just prayer alone, but the prayer must be performed with full focus, maintaining the prayer and maintaining humility, and standing in prayer should be for no other reason, but purely for Allah alone. This means that it's not just when you are sad that you should pray. If it's only when a trial befalls you that you remember to pray and seek Allah, it means your prayer is not entirely for Allah, but because you are in trouble. That's human nature—when there's a need and benefit, only then do we seek Allah. When times are easy and there's no need, most of us forget to constantly remember Him. 

Some people can read and ponder, but the most important thing that Allah asks us to do after understanding and pondering is to practice. Only by practicing can we taste its sweetness. We will feel the pleasure of understanding the Quran. Yes, we need to pray and ask Allah for the strength to practice what we have learned. Wallahu'alam!