Hurry to Success

Every time when I hear the athan, I've always wondered what the part where it says, "Hurry to Success" means. I mean, athan is a call for prayer, so what does it have anything to do with worldly success? Or does it mean "success" for hereafter?

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar

(God is Great, God is Great)

Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah, 

Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah

(I bear witness that there is no god except the One God,

I bear witness that there is no god except the One God)

Ashadu anna Muhammadan Rasool Allah,

Ashadu anna Muhammadan Rasool Allah

(I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God,

I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God)

Hayya 'ala-s-Salah, Hayya 'ala-s-Salah

(Hurry to the prayer, Hurry to the prayer)

Hayya 'ala-l-Falah, Hayya 'ala-l-Falah

(Hurry to success, Hurry to success)

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar

(God is Great, God is Great)

La ilaha illa Allah

(There is no god except the One God)

I understand about prayer being our connection to God Almighty but there are many successful people who are not praying. There are also people who are praying who are not successful in this world.

So I started asking scholars about the meaning of athan. I was given different answers, all of which I believe are correct but it wasn't until a few years ago that I finally understood its meaning.

I used to have trouble keeping my prayers. I never did pray on time, in fact most of the time, I was often late. I also had the tendency to combine two prayers together in that I would wait till the last hour of Zuhr and then immediately pray Asr. I would also do the same for Maghrib and Isya' prayers. I thought I was saving time n that way but I was ever so wrong. It was also a rarity for me to be able to complete the 5 prayers in a day. 

When I decided to re-learn about Islam, I knew that the top most pirority was to improve my prayers, or more accurate, lack of it. I decided to try my hardest to keep the 5 times a day appointment as its appointed time. I can tell you, it wasn't easy at first as I had so many distractions. Still, I was determined.

Then, I realized that the days I managed to pray 5 times at its appointed time, I felt that I've conquered the world. After that, I made sure as much as possible, that I didn't miss any more prayers. So now I truly get it! The meaning of "Hurry to Success" is, to me, to have the will power and strength to fight distraction and satanic persuasion and to pray 5 times a day at it's appointed time. When we hear the call of prayer, we hasten to pray and that is the true "success". Success against our inner battle.

Adbullah ibn Mas'ud reported:

I asked, "O Messenger of Allah, which deed is best?". The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, "Prayer in it's proper time." I asked again, "What's next?". The Prophet (saw) said, "Good treatment of your parents." I asked once again, "What's next?". The Prophet (saw) replied, "Struggling (Jihad) in the way of Allah." I became silent and if I had asked him more, he would have told me.

(Hadith Bukhari)

Calling Me Softly

by Norhafsah Hamid

(Page 94 - 97)