Salat: The Me’eraj of Mumin

One should make a point of perfecting their prayer, and then take other active and practical steps towards achieving true submission to Allah (swt), and implementation of the path of the Ahlulbayt (as). Unless the first step, i.e., perfection of prayers is completed, it would be hard to move on to the next stages. The question that arises here is: "what constitutes a perfect prayer?"

Imam Al-Sadiq(a.s) narrates some conditions that might lead to perfection of prayers

• Salat will not be complete till a person performs the ablutions (Wudhu) completely and prays without any   shortcomings.
• Unawareness, hypocrisy and deviation should be totally discarded.
• He should recognize Allah(swt) and stand before Him with total cognition.
• A feeling of humility and modesty should encompass him.
• He should find himself between complete hope and absolute despair, patient as well as anxious. That is, he should stand as if Allah’ promises will be fulfilled for him and that His threats will be actualized against him.
• He should put aside his own honor and dignity.
•  His aim and goal should be right in front of his eyes.
• He must submit his heart to the Almighty and tread on His path.
• He should not be distanced with his prayers to such an extent that his relationship with his Lord is totally severed. Remember, he is standing before Him who is his aim and brought for Him his own gift, and at the same time, hoping for His Help, Assistance and Grace.

Ref:Salat (Prayer): The Mode of Divine Proximity and Recognition By Ayatullah Mirza Mahdi Isfahani 

Another question that might come up is: "how do you stand before Allah(swt) with full recognition?" We can only love someone if we understand their attributes and personality, so how can we expect to love Allah(swt) when we don’t know anything about Him? Therefore it’s important to read/understand Quran and recognize His greatness and magnificence. Ayatollah Khorasani in one of his lectures stated that one should complete a Quran every month and dedicate it to Imam Zamana(ajtf). After a year on Shab-e-Qadr when Imam(ajtf) will look at our deeds file he will see how we have read Quran for his sake. You can imagine how happy he will be and what the reward for that could be. If we love the AhlulBayt(s.a), Allah(swt) has promised to love us. Once this mutual love develops, our prayers can truly become our Meeraj.

To see an example of what happens when this level of worship is reached let’s look at another example from the life of the sixth Imam(a.s). Sayyid Ibn Tawus(r.a) in the Falah al-sa'il, states:

Imam(a.s) was once reading Quran in his salat. He went into a swoon, and when he emerged from it he was asked, "What was it that led you into that state?" He gave a reply, which meant, "I continued repeating verses of the Qur'an until I reached a state wherein it was as if I heard them directly from Him Who had sent them down. And it is beyond human power to witness Divine glory.

This is the kind of Prayer we should aim for, where we actually start feeling as if Allah(swt) is talking to us. This can’t be possible unless we strive day and night and beseech Allah(swt) for help with the intercession of Ahlulbayt (a.s.).