In Islam, God made five obligatory prayers for Muslims every day. Some Muslims do it without asking themselves the question of why and others try to know the reason behind the prayers.

In one of the beautiful verses, God says:

“Keep up the prayer and pay the prescribed alms. Whatever good you store up for yourselves, you will find it with God: He sees everything you do.” 2: 110.

وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ ۚ وَمَا تُقَدِّمُوا لِأَنفُسِكُم مِّنْ خَيْرٍ تَجِدُوهُ عِندَ اللَّهِ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ. البقرة: 11

This means that Prayers are one of the good things to do, and Muslims will find the results of it in the afterlife. Prayers are a religious deed that God will reward people for doing, but the question is do Prayers have any good impact in life?

To answer this question, it would be very efficient to see one of the prayer’s impacts on the lives of the friends of the prophet Mohammed PBUH. It is the story of alcohol in Arabic society who used to drink alcohol like drinking water every single day before Islam. However, God did not stop it at the beginning of Islam, but he used the Prayers as a key to help people quit drinking.

What is the story of forbidden alcohol in Islam?

One of the most famous examples that show the role of prayer in Muslims’s lives is the example of the story of forbidden alcohol in Islam.

When Islam came, people were drinking a lot of alcohol. God did not say from the first day to stop drinking it. Allah used another way. After 16 years of calling people to Islam, one of the friends of the prophet was asking about the judgment of alcohol in Islam. So one day the prophet called him and told him about what was revealed: 

 “They ask you [Prophet] about intoxicants and gambling: say, ‘There is great sin in both, and some benefit for people: the sin is greater than the benefit.” 2:219

يَسْأَلونَكَ عَنِ الْخَمْرِ وَالْمَيْسِرِ قُلْ فِيهِمَا إِثْمٌ كَبِيرٌ وَمَنَافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ وَإِثْمُهُمَا أَكْبَرُ مِنْ نَفْعِهِمَا﴾ البقرة: 219

In the first stage, God showed that alcohol has more badness in it than goodness but he did not say you could not drink it. God was honest in telling Muslims that there is a good side to alcohol. Nevertheless, he insisted that it is less than its badness.

The second stage was when God revealed a verse to his prophet saying:

“You who believe, do not come anywhere near the prayer if you are intoxicated, a not until you know what you are saying.” 4: 43.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَقْرَبُوا الصَّلاةَ وَأَنْتُمْ سُكَارَى حَتَّى تَعْلَمُوا مَا تَقُولُونَ النساء: 43

Which means that you should not drink before the prayers. Therefore, you can know what you are saying. That was the second stage, so people started stopping drinking before prayers to be able to understand what they said. They were drinking only at night. Hence, Prayer succeeded in minimizing the consumption of alcohol.

In the third stage, a verse came from God saying that it is forbidden and you should avoid it.

“You who believe, intoxicants and gambling, idolatrous practices, and [divining with] c arrows are repugnant acts– Satan’s doing– shun them so that you may prosper. 91With intoxicants and gambling, Satan seeks only to incite enmity and hatred among you, and to stop you remembering God and prayer. Will you not give them up?“ 5: 90-91.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ وَالْأَنْصَابُ وَالْأَزْلامُ رِجْسٌ مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ، إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَن يُوقِعَ بَيْنَكُمُ الْعَدَاوَةَ وَالْبَغْضَاءَ فِي الْخَمْرِ وَالْمَيْسِرِ وَيَصُدَّكُمْ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَعَنِ الصَّلَاةِ ۖ فَهَلْ أَنتُم مُّنتَهُونَ المائدة: 90-91

The verse came to stop drinking forever. It was announced as forbidden. At that time, what happened in the Medina (the city of the prophet) was that all people were pouring alcohol outside of their houses; some historians said that Medina was like a river because of the huge amount of alcohol that was in the houses of Muslims at that time. 

This was because of the impact of the prayers. The goodness of Prayers helped people to stop drinking. It is the same impact that some Muslims are still aware of in these modern days.

Take the example of drinking and apply it to all the evil things because in another verse in the Quran God stated directly that prayers prevent Muslims from doing bad things and calling them to do good things. That is the aim of prayers.

“prayer restrains outrageous and unacceptable behaviour.” 29: 45.

 إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ تَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ﴾ [العنكبوت: 45]

This means that prayers stop people from doing bad things and enhance their lives and manners. That is why it is obligatory on Muslims, not because God needs it but because people need it, and it helps them improve themselves.

Why God did not stop Muslims from drinking alcohol from the first days of Islam?

Aisha, the wife of the prophet Mohamed (pbuh), said: “the first thing that was revealed thereof was a Sura from Al-Mufassal, and in it was mentioned Paradise and the Fire. When the people embraced Islam, the Verses regarding legal and illegal things were revealed. If the first thing to be revealed was: ‘Do not drink alcoholic drinks.’ people would have said, ‘We will never leave alcoholic drinks,’ and if there had been revealed, ‘Do not commit illegal sexual intercourse, ‘they would have said, ‘We will never give up illegal sexual intercourse.’

عَائِشَةَ أُمِّ المُؤْمِنِينَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا، قالت: إنَّما نَزَلَ أوَّلَ ما نَزَلَ منه سُورَةٌ مِنَ المُفَصَّلِ، فِيهَا ذِكْرُ الجَنَّةِ والنَّارِ، حتَّى إذَا ثَابَ النَّاسُ إلى الإسْلَامِ نَزَلَ الحَلَالُ والحَرَامُ، ولو نَزَلَ أوَّلَ شَيءٍ: لا تَشْرَبُوا الخَمْرَ، لَقالوا: لا نَدَعُ الخَمْرَ أبَدًا، ولو نَزَلَ: لا تَزْنُوا، لَقالوا: لا نَدَعُ الزِّنَا أبَدًا

If God did say to people, do this and do not do that they will never accept Islam. Therefore, in the beginning, God was talking to people about heaven, hell, the Day of Judgment, being good, having good faith, and having good manners. God was preparing them mentally and emotionally to accept the judgments, the rules, and the law aspect, before calling them to follow anything.