Nothing Replaces the Fard

Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm

وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَارْكَعُوا مَعَ الرَّاكِعِينَ

(Qur’ān 02:43)

“Wa ‘Aqīmū Aş-Şalāata Wa ‘Ātū Az-Zakāata Wa Arkaū Maa Ar-Rāki`īna”

“And establish prayer and give zakah and bow with those who bow [in worship and obedience].” Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.

Prayer, as Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla says, is the first and foremost of Islām’s commandments: performing prayer and giving zakāt. Now, some people want to practice religion according to their own whims. They think, “We’re doing good.” Nothing can replace the Fard prayer. You have to do it.

No matter what else you do, you can’t compensate for its virtue or its reward. If you don’t perform it, you will have to pray for eighty years for each prayer in ākhirah. What we mean by eighty years is, a human’s entire life is eighty years. That is, when it is Fard.

Therefore, some people say, “I will perform Riyādah (asceticism).” Do you pray? “No.” What good is Riyādah to you then? Neither Riyādah, nor tasbihāt, nor sadaqah; nothing can replace prayer. The order of Islām, the order of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla, the principle and pillar of Islām is prayer.

When you don’t pray, if you make tasbihāt for a hundred years, fast for a hundred years, or do a headstand for a hundred years, it still won’t replace any prayer. It won’t replace a single prayer.

Now, some people do things according to their own whims, saying, “I’ll do it.” Some do these things based on the words of others, and that doesn’t benefit them. It doesn’t benefit them; it harms them. Because you’ve abandoned the fard prayer and are performing a nāfilah (supererogatory prayer).

The nāfilah, let’s say tasbihāt to Allāh ﷻ has another reward, but it doesn’t replace prayer. You must definitely perform prayer and then make tasbihāt. You can do nāfilah after that. You can do whatever you want.

Fasting is the same. You observe the obligatory fast. After that, do as many fasts as you like. “No, I won’t fast Ramadan. I’ll fast some other time, and it will replace it.” No, it doesn’t. If you make up the fast as qada’, the reward for qada’ won’t be one in a thousand or one in a million.

If you do it at the appointed times as Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla commands you to do them, then you can do anything after that. Nāfilah prayers are performed after that. Nāfilah prayers are performed after the fard prayers. Before the fard prayers, they don’t replace the fard prayers.

Therefore, Allāh ﷻ has guided people not by their own thoughts, but according to Him ﷻ. You will follow that way. After doing that, you can do according to your thoughts as much as you want, as you wish. Make your tasbihāt all day, all year round. It doesn’t matter.

If you are going to perform Riyādah, that too has its own principles. If you do it according to your own mind, there is no benefit either. You have to learn what to do and how to do it. You have to learn from a Murshid or Shaykh. You have to get permission. Otherwise, that too is a bit dangerous: performing Riyādah according to your own mind.

May Allāh ﷻ not leave us to our own egos. The ego can make a person do evil while he’s intending to do good. May Allāh ﷻ protect us. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.

Al-Fatiha.

•⁠ ⁠Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbaniق

25 November 2025/ 04 Jumada Al-Thani 1447

Fajr Prayer – Akbaba Dergah, Istanbul

---