﴿ وَإِذَا ضَرَبْتُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَلَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ أَن تَقْصُرُوا۟ مِنَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ إِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَن يَفْتِنَكُمُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ كَانُوا۟ لَكُمْ عَدُوًّۭا مُّبِينًۭا ﴾

“AND WHEN you go forth [to war] on earth, you will incur no sin by shortening your prayers if you have reason to fear that those who are bent on denying the truth might suddenly fall upon you: for, verily, those who deny the truth are your open foes.”

All acts of religion, whether in the nature of prayer (salat) and alms-giving (zakat) or the propagation of God’s word or the struggle for God’s cause, have the ultimate purpose of remembering God. Their aim is to create a man who lives with the thought of God at every moment and under all situations; who fears God in moments of apprehension and longs for Him in moments of hope; who relies solely on God; whose attention is diverted towards God. If he achieves something, he believes it to be from God and if he suffers deprivation, he takes it as being God’s command. The whole of his inner existence should be lost in the majesty and grace of God. This orientation is such an important matter that, even in such critical times as war, one is directed to say one’s prayer in some form or the other so that, even though face to face with death, one may be reminded of what is of real value, to be carried along with one to the Hereafter.