The secret to the life and survival of a believer's heart lies in its purity and purification. When the heart is clean and alive, there is pleasure in worship, and when the heart becomes negligent, deeds remain mere formalities. Among all acts of worship, none is like prayer, which has this degree of cleansing, training, and refining the heart.
The main reason for this is that the way a person turns to Allah in prayer and feels the special closeness is not attained in other acts of worship to the same extent. Prayer is like a living meeting between a person and his Lord, in which the heart is nourished and the soul is refreshed.
It is narrated in Ibn Khuzaymah from Hazrat Abu Abdullah Ash'ari (RA) that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) offered prayer with his companions (RA), then sat in one of their circles. During this time, a person came and started praying, but he was performing the bowing and prostrations very quickly, as if he was pecking the ground. Seeing this scene, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) said:
“The example of a person who performs bowing and prostrations in such haste is like that of a hungry person who eats only one or two dates. What strength can be gained from this?”
This example is very eloquent and profound, because just as the body feels hunger, so does the heart. And the real food of the heart is worship. A person who does not adopt calmness and humility in bowing and prostration does not give his heart its full nourishment, as a result, the heart becomes weak, becomes sick, then spiritual diseases overcome it, and sometimes the life of the heart ends altogether. May Allah Almighty protect us from this end.
Just as the purpose of fasting is the purification of the self, the purpose of Zakat is the purification of wealth, and the result of Hajj is the forgiveness of sins, similarly, the greatest result of prayer is complete attention to Allah and the awareness of closeness to Him.
And the believer gets the first pleasure of turning to Allah at the very moment when he says Takbir-e-Tahrima and leaves the world behind.
It is narrated in Sunan Ibn Majah from Hazrat Huzaifa (RA) that he saw Shabath bin Rib'i spitting in front of him during prayer, so he admonished him and said: O Shabath! Do not spit in front of you, because the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) forbade it. Then the Holy Prophet (PBUH) narrated this saying:
“When a person stands for prayer, Allah Almighty turns His special attention towards him, until the person himself turns away
or commits some undesirable act.”