Question: What is the place of salat in Islam?
ANSWER
Salat is a vitally important act of worship. It is stated in hadith-i sharifs:

(The position of salat to the religion is similar to the position of the head to the body.) [Tabarani]

(The first act of worship a person will be questioned about on the Day of Resurrection will be salat. If his salats are found correct, his other deeds will be accepted, too. If they are not found correct, none of his deeds will be accepted.) [Tabarani]

(Whoever performs salat properly, his sins will fall off just as leaves fall off a tree.) [Imam-i Ahmad]

(Allahu ta'ala says, "I promise that I will not inflict torment on him who performs salat properly in their due times. I will put him into Paradise without calling him to account.") [Hakim]

(What every prophet bequeathed to his followers at his last breath was salat.) [Ghunya]

As offering salat is such a great act of worship, leaving it is a major sin. It is written in fiqh books that a person who leaves salat becomes an apostate according to the Hanbali Madhhab, and according to the madhhabs of Shafi'i and Maliki, he is considered to be committing a major sin, who in turn must be put to death penalty (according to all the three madhahib). It is stated in hadith-i sharifs:

(Salat is the pillar of the religion. He who leaves it has demolished his religion.) [Bayhaqi]

(Whoever does not perform salat has no religion.) [Ibn Nasr]

(He who performs salats will attain salvation on the Day of Resurrection. He who does not perform them will be wretched.) [Tabarani]

(He who does not perform salats will meet Allahu ta'ala on the Day of Resurrection while He is angry with him.) [Bazzar]

(Whoever abandons salat willfully, his acts of worship will not be accepted, and he will be away from the protection of Allahu ta'ala until he resumes it.) [Abu Nu'aym]

(The distinction between us and a disbeliever is salat. He who abandons salat becomes a disbeliever.) [Nasai]

Sunni scholars explained the above-mentioned hadith-i sharifs as follows:
In our religion, a person who has committed the most grave sin does not become a disbeliever (kafir). For this reason, he who neglects to offer salats is not called a disbeliever. However, because salat is a very important act of worship, it is a faint possibility that such a person will die a Muslim. His heart darkens, so he does not abstain from committing the other sins. Some scholars said that such a person becomes a disbeliever. Therefore, it must be performed under all circumstances.

Hadrat Imam-i Rabbani states:
Performing salat and carrying out the other acts of worship is easy only for Believers. It is stated in the Qur'an al-karim, "Faith and carrying out acts of worship is hard for polytheists" and "Performing salat is easy for Believers." Not performing salat emanates from the weakness of one's faith. The sign of a strong faith is to do the commandments of our religion willingly and without regarding them as burdensome. (Vol. 1, Letter 191, 289)

He who knows what a grave sin it is to leave salats will certainly offer them even if he is so ill that he cannot remain standing. How can a person who knows the fact that fire burns throw himself into fire? Does it befit him who avoids Hell and asks for Paradise not to offer salat? It is declared in hadith-i sharifs: "Whoever asks for Paradise but does not abstain from what Allah prohibited, he is a liar in his claim" and "Whoever asks for Paradise, let him hasten toward good deeds. Whoever is afraid of Hell, let him abstain from prohibited things." (Bayhaqi)

Observing tadil-i arkan is wajib. If one, while offering salat, deliberately omits one of the wajib elements of salat, it becomes wajib on one to repeat that salat. Some hadith-i sharif says:

(The worst thief is he who steals from his own salat. That is, he does not observe its requirements nor does bowing and prostrating properly.) [Wasilat-un Najat]

(Only those parts of a salat during which one's heart is present are recorded. Allahu ta'ala does not look at a salat during which the heart is not present.) [Wasilat-un Najat]

Offering salat in congregation (jama'at) is sunnat al-huda. That is, it is a sunnat that is a symptom of the Islamic religion. It is never permissible to omit it without a good excuse. Offering especially Salat al-Isha and Salat al-Fajr in congregation is highly important. It is declared in hadith-i sharifs:

(He who offers Salat al-Isha in congregation is considered to have spent half the night in worship. If he offers Salat al-Fajr in congregation, too, he is considered to have spent the entire night in worship.) [Muslim]

(The most burdensome salat for hypocrites is to offer Salat al-Isha and Salat al-Fajr in congregation. He who knows the rewards for them comes to join the congregation, even if he has to crawl for this.) [Bukhari]

Question: Which one is the most virtuous among acts of worship?
ANSWER
Salat is the most virtuous among acts of worship. It is stated in hadith-i sharifs:

(Salat is the most virtuous among all deeds with which Allahu ta'ala is pleased. It is the barakah of sustenance and renders one's prayers acceptable. It is a light in the grave and something that makes one cross the Sirat Bridge like lightning. It is a crown on one's head in Paradise. It is the head of faith, the light of the eyes, and something that saves one from Hell.) [Miftah-ul-Janna]

(Salat is the key to Paradise.) [Darimi]

(The most virtuous deed is the salat performed in its due time.) [Abu Dawud]

(Stand up and perform salat. It is certainly a cure.) [Imam-i Ahmad, Ibn Majah]

(He who believes that salat is obligatory [fard] and performs it thoroughly will go to Paradise.) [Hakim]

(Whoever adheres to my sunnah [a Sunni Muslim is meant by this] and performs five daily salats in congregation when my Ummah is corrupt, the reward of a hundred martyrs will be written in his book of deeds every day.) [Imam-i Nasiruddin]

Question: Muslim preachers and orators give speeches mostly about Islam's social structure and its socioeconomic and sociopolitical aspects. But why do they not speak about the merits and significance of salat, its sunnah elements, or sajda-i sahw? What questions will be asked in the grave and on the Day of Resurrection? What are necessary to be a good Muslim? Some newspapers called religious newspapers do the same thing, too. Do they regard talking about salat as inferiority?
ANSWER
You should ask such questions to those concerned. But because the point in question is the importance of salat, I, incidentally, want to give an answer to one of the readers who once said, "Though my uncle's son does not offer salats, his faith is very strong. Similarly, my aunt wears indecently, but her faith is very strong." A person who does not perform salat or commits a sin fearlessly cannot have a strong faith. The more meticulous one is about salat, the stronger and brighter one's faith. If a person does not perform salat and is not feel sorry about it, his faith is faint. Maybe most of such people do not have faith at all. Our Master the Prophet says, "Faith means salat. Salat is the pillar of the religion." Can the religion stand without its pillar?

It is declared in hadith-i sharifs:

(Faith means salat. A Believer is he who performs it meticulously by observing its time, sunnah elements, and other requirements.) [Ibn Najjar]

One of the last statements of our Master the Prophet was this: "Be careful about salat" (Ibn Majah).

Question: I do not offer salats. But I do not commit any sins. For example, I do not consume alcoholic drinks, gamble, steal anything, or commit the other sins. Do they not suffice?
ANSWER
Not to offer salats is a very grave sin, which is even graver than stealing something, gambling, or drinking alcohol. It is stated in many hadith-i sharifs that not to perform salat deliberately is an act of disbelief. Though deeds are not a part of faith, there is no consensus among scholars as to whether leaving salat causes disbelief or not. There were some scholars who said that salat was a part of faith. Therefore, avoiding salat is highly dangerous.

If one commits all kinds of evil deeds but at the same time continues to perform salats regularly and correctly, one will give up most of the evil things or even all of them because the Qur'an al-karim says (what means):
(Salat restrains one from munkar and fahsha [indecency, all kinds of evil deeds that run counter to reason and religion, and every sin].) [Al-'Ankabut 45]

Virtues of offering salat are very great. It is declared in a hadith-i sharif:
(Salat is the key to all goodness.) [Tabarani]

If one kept up not performing salat though having read this hadith-i sharif, it would be impossible not to be astonished by one's this act.

Question: I succumbed to the temptation of my nafs and stopped offering salats. Now I am in a depression. My friends said to me, "Performing salats especially at such a time is much more important." If I resume salats now, do Allah not say, "This slave of Mine performs salats only when he needs Me because of his depression"?
ANSWER
Your thought is not correct. We, every moment, need Allahu ta'ala in order to exist and remain in existence. We always need Him in order to see, hear, talk, breathe, walk, sit, or stand up. There is no moment during which we are not in need of Him. We need Him every moment, not only when we are in trouble. The acts of worship we offer have nothing to do with this. They are our duties of servanthood and are commandments of Allahu ta'ala. Our main duty after having faith is to offer five daily salats. For this reason, you must resume salats immediately. If we want our prayers (du'a) to be answered, we should pray to Him at all time, not only when we have problems. We should ask Allah for forgiveness and welfare. It is stated in a hadith-i sharifs:
(Whoever wishes that his du'a is answered at times of hardship, then let him make plenty du'a at times of ease.) [Tirmidhi]

Question: What should we do so that the outcomes of all our affairs may be good?
ANSWER
You should know this fact that there is no good in a thing that prevents you from performing salat. You must hold fast to these three things:
1. Performing salats in their due times,
2. Abstaining from prohibited things,
3. Earning money through halal means.
You should leave everything that prevents you from doing these three things.

Question: It is said that salat encompasses all kinds of shukr (giving thanks, gratitude) and acts of worship. Does it have any bases?
ANSWER
Islamic scholars said, "Salat encompasses within itself all kinds of shukr [giving thanks, gratitude]." Hadrat Abdullah ad-Dahlawi, a great scholar, stated:

All kinds of acts of worship have been brought together within salat:
1. Reciting the Qur'an al-karim,
2. Saying Subhanallah,
3. Invoking blessings on the Messenger of Allah,
4. Seeking forgiveness of Allahu ta'ala for sins,
5. Asking for what one needs only from Allahu ta'ala, thanking Him, and praying to Him are all contained in salat. There are other acts of worship in it, too.

Trees and plants stand upright like standing in salat. Animals represent the position of bowing, and the lifeless, spreading
out on the ground, represent the sitting posture of salat. A person offering salat does the acts of worship performed by all of these. (Makatib-i sharifa, Letter 85)

Question: It is said, "If a child has experienced sperm ejaculation after performing Salat al-Isha and then sleeps and wakes up after dawn, he has to make up Salat al-Isha." What does it mean?
ANSWER
If a child has reached the age of discretion and puberty after performing Salat al-Isha, it becomes fard on him to repeat the Salat al-Isha because when he performed that salat before becoming pubescent it was not obligatory on him. Salat is not fard on a person who is not pubescent.

Question: Since what time has salat been performed?
ANSWER
It has been performed since Hadrat Adam, the first prophet. (Mawkufat)

Question: Did every religion since Prophet Adam ('alaihis-salam) contain salat?
ANSWER
Every religion since Prophet Adam ('alaihis-salam) contained salat. Performing salat once a day was fard on every Ummah. But the salat performed once a day consisted of a lot of rak'ats. On some Ummahs, Salat al-Fajr was made obligatory. On some others, Salat al-Maghrib was made obligatory. All that had been performed were brought together and were made fard on us.

Question: I work in Germany. Is it a sin for me to take a break to perform salat during working hours?
ANSWER
It is not a sin. No one has the right to prevent a person from offering salat.