It is not something I can give any real advice about... it is a challenge.

but remember that it is all about trying and trying again.

Having wudu generally helps - then prayer is just a 2 minute thing and not much to put off. But if you have prayer and wudu to do, there is a greater chance that you will put it off.

We Shia Muslims read prayers 3 times a day, unlike Sunni Muslim who read at 5 different times during the day.

At 6am we read one prayer.

At 2pm we read both prayers together, combining them at one time.

At 10pm we read both prayers together, combining them at one time.

This facility is what Prophet (pbuh) gave to all Muslims.

Wa alikum as salam

Not sure if i can help much but at your age i was pretty much the same. I always had my ups and downs, i was inconsistant in my salat. I think i just wasn't used to it but now it's become a habit, plus i know the rewards of salat and the punishments for missing it.

I remember one turning point though in my life when it came to performing salat. At this point i wanted to practice but just had things holding me back. It's gonna be different for everyone but one thing that helped me was increasing my knowledge of Islam, why we are here and also about death and the afterlife.

I was listening to a lecture by Anwar Al Awlaki about 'The Hereafter' and he was speaking about what happens to the obedient servant and the disobediant servant when he dies and the punishment and the rewards. Most of the evidence came from the Qur'an and it just really shook me, what Allah swt has said will happen to the disobediant one. I really didn't want to fall into that category, i was just struck with fear of being disobediant in the eyes of Allah.

On the other hand though the speaker also mentioned the various verses in the Qur'an where Allah swt speaks about how the obediant servant will be greeted at the moment of his death and of the rewards in the hereafter. So this gave me hope and encouraged me to do the good deeds which pleased Allah swt.

What the key difference i think back then was that i finally believed and understood these verses to be facts of life. If i knew the outcomes of the two paths (to obey or disobey) why would i choose the latter? That's how i saw it anyway.

We all make mistakes though and like you said we're not perfect, we just gotta pray that insha Allah we will be granted mercy on tge day of judgement. All i can say is atleast you feel guilty when you do miss salat and it looks like you're trying to be better so i trust that Allah will guide you. End of the day none of us achieved anything without the help of Allah.

I'm sure others can help you more than i have, may Allah guide us all. Ameen

Wa iyyak

Alhmadulillah! Wa iyyakum

I think that no good is going to come out of anything I do, if I don't pray. So if I don't read one salaah, I have to wait until I've read the next one, until I start anything productive since I believe, otherwise it's going to fail anyway. Therefore it is a must I pray everything and use valuable time properly

ANWAR AL AWKALI TERRORIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

now, that aside. the thought of dying with an overdue prayer is enough to get me to the prayer mat ASAP.

also *, jsut got a text today. about how SHaytaan got banished because he refused ONE sujood. imagine us and the sujoodS we're missing.

plus, salaat = thanking Allah for everything. and how could inot be grateful.

then one day i also heard a talk, this guy is paralized and he told his friend (the man who was doing the talk) how he's give anything to be able to do sujood once again.

I, forever grateful and in debt of my parents, for building salaat in me.

Lilly wrote:

ANWAR AL AWKALI TERRORIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I disagree but that's a different topic. Just saying

ThE pOwEr Of SiLeNcE wrote:

I think that no good is going to come out of anything I do, if I don't pray. So if I don't read one salaah, I have to wait until I've read the next one, until I start anything productive since I believe, otherwise it's going to fail anyway. Therefore it is a must I pray everything and use valuable time properly

Read maghrib -> fix up personal statement -> finish 10'clock -> isha -> half 10 start a bloody 30mark essay whilst incredibly tired -> easy peasy! -> finished 1'oclock

my tiredness has disappeared now though :/

ThE pOwEr Of SiLeNcE wrote:

ThE pOwEr Of SiLeNcE wrote:

I think that no good is going to come out of anything I do, if I don't pray. So if I don't read one salaah, I have to wait until I've read the next one, until I start anything productive since I believe, otherwise it's going to fail anyway. Therefore it is a must I pray everything and use valuable time properly

It works! I just tried it out! Alhamdulillah!

Read maghrib -> fix up personal statement -> finish 10'clock -> isha -> half 10 start a bloody 30mark essay whilst incredibly tired -> easy peasy! -> finished 1'oclock

my tiredness has disappeared now though :/

Hahahah subhanallah!

Damn I was going to delete that comment

Who says Shias are Muslims. They have innovated the deen and added to it things not from the Prophet (SAW)'s life.
Now you praise your method of prayers; next you will preach muta (temporary marriage and a form of fornication).

globalcritique wrote:

Who says Shias are Muslims. They have innovated the deen and added to it things not from the Prophet (SAW)'s life.

It seems that you need to know the definition of Muslim.

Until they deny the qur'an or sunnah outright, they are Muslims even if we do not agree with them.

_Me_ wrote:

malik wrote:

We Shia Muslims read prayers 3 times a day, not 5 times like Sunnis do:

This is what Prophet (pbuh) also did.

At 6am we read one prayer.

At 2pm we read both prayers together, combining them at one time.

At 10pm we read both prayers together, combining them at one time.

3 times a day.... :/

That is still 5, but apart from fajr, the rest prayed together in pairs.

That convenience can sometimes be allowed for eg on journeys according to certain thoughts and scholars etc.

Saying that, his timings seem circumspect as in those cases, the prayers are supposed to be combined at the borders so that the dhuhr prayer falls into its time and asr into its, and with the other two, so that maghrib prayer is still at maghrib time and isha at isha time or near enough.

Wsalaam dudette!

Think everyones said it already, cos im a bit late, but ill still say my piece anyhoo . I think it is harder to establish prayer regularly when you just pray because its one of the five pillars, so you have to.

Not so hard though when you actually realise why YOU urself are praying. Like Jim Bob pointed out, realising your purpose in life , the consequences of not praying, death, the right that Allah(swt) has over you etc, etc, etc!

Plus to add to what Lilly said, in an article title 'Are you following the way of Shaytaan?' Shaytaan was banished because he refused a prostration of magnification, so what about a magnification of worship towards Allah(swt)? Pluuus they mentioned this hadith in regards to prayer: "Whoever guards them will have light, proof and safety. And whoever does not guard them, will neither have light, nor proof nor safety. And on the Day of Judgement, he will be with Qarun, Fir'awn, Haman and Ubay ibn Khalaf" :shock:

so once you get into the habit of praying regularly, you'll feel way too guilty to miss even one inshaaAllah.

over and out

_Me_ wrote:

SubhanAllah.. thanks for your pure words of wisdom Bilan I am InshAllah going to fulfill my whole purpose of praying consecutively...

W.Saalam x

you are certainly most welcome! The best of luck duday. pure words of wisdom...i like tht hehehe

All this advice that's been given is a reminder for ourselves first and foremost.

_Me_ wrote:

bilan wrote:

_Me_ wrote:

SubhanAllah.. thanks for your pure words of wisdom Bilan I am InshAllah going to fulfill my whole purpose of praying consecutively...

W.Saalam x

you are certainly most welcome! The best of luck duday. pure words of wisdom...i like tht hehehe

aaaand she went and killed it with wishing you luck...

and the anwar alawlaki thing. i was just being a brainwashed media saturated teen! just repeating word for word what i heard in tv. buuut Fboy didnt get it;.nevermind

finally. all this advice is a reminder to myself first. (which it was.. it happens;.getting into the routine of praying; evil thing that is. prayer should be a new experience everytime)

Lilly wrote:

and the anwar alawlaki thing. i was just being a brainwashed media saturated teen! just repeating word for word what i heard in tv. buuut Fboy didnt get it;.nevermind

Ohhhh so we're on the same page (just not at that moment)

Well now you know a little bit of how i felt, back when i had to explain ever comment i made. Lol...but yeah my bad

Lilly wrote:

_Me_ wrote:

bilan wrote:

_Me_ wrote:

SubhanAllah.. thanks for your pure words of wisdom Bilan I am InshAllah going to fulfill my whole purpose of praying consecutively...

W.Saalam x

you are certainly most welcome! The best of luck duday. pure words of wisdom...i like tht hehehe

aaaand she went and killed it with wishing you luck...

and the anwar alawlaki thing. i was just being a brainwashed media saturated teen! just repeating word for word what i heard in tv. buuut Fboy didnt get it;.nevermind

finally. all this advice is a reminder to myself first. (which it was.. it happens;.getting into the routine of praying; evil thing that is. prayer should be a new experience everytime)

how did i kill it?!

Anything done consecutively for a period of time becomes a habit. (usually 40 days is the minumum).

Arrange your salaah around your routine, i.e. Isha before bed, Dhur at lunch time, Asr after work/school etc

whatever works for you.

You will get to a stage where missing prayer is not even an option. It becomes a natural habit.

Assalaamu'alaikoum (just felt like greeting anyone reading this - yes feel greeted with the most beautiful greeting in this life and the next)

dont let shaytaan get to you by making you think "oh you should pray like this or at that time blah blah blah" coz then you get puf off if the "conditions" arent right and then what happen? you dont pray. shaytaan win. ah the jerk.

you have LOADS of time to pray. so pray during the time period. just dont let it run over or anything.

and if worshipping Allah is our purpose in life, everything should be build around it, not the other way round. fit your prayers in, just like you fit in food times. and build homework/socializing/etc.. AROUND it. it might take a while, but like MuslimSis said, in a month it'll inshaAllah have become a habit.