"Islam is founded on five pillars; bearing witness that there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) is His servant and apostle; establishment of Salaat; paying of Zakaat; performance of Hajj; and fasting in Ramdhaan." 

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* Hadhrat Abu Zar (Radhiyallaho anho) narrates that once the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) came out of his house. It was autumn and the leaves were falling off the trees. He caught hold of a branch of a tree and its leaves began to drop in large number. At this he remarked, "O Abu Zar ! (Radhiyallaho anho) when a Muslim offers his salaat to please Allah, his sins are shed away from him just as these leaves are falling off this tree."

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* Hadhrat Abu Uthman (Radhiyallaho anho) says : " I was once sitting under a tree with Hadhrat Salmaan (Radhiyallaho anho). He caught hold a dry branch of the tree and shook it till all its leaves fell off. He then said to me, "O Abu Uthman ! (Radhiyallaho anho) will you not ask me why I am doing this ?" "Do tell me." I entreated. He said, "The Apostle of Allah had done exactly like this before me, while I was with him under a tree. He caught a dry branch of it and shook it, till all its leaves fall off." At this he said : "O Salmaan (Radhiyallaho anho) will you not ask me why I am doing this ?" I replied : "Do tell me why you are doing this ?" He remarked : "Verily when a Muslim takes a wudhu properly and then observes his salaat five times a day, his sins fall off just as these leaves have fallen off. He then recited the following verse of the Holy Qur'an :

"Establish salaat at the two ends of the day, and at the approaches of the night. Verily, good deeds annul ill deeds. This is a reminder for the mindful. (XI : 114)"

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* Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (Radhiyallaho anho) narrates that once the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) asked his companions, "Do you believe that dirt can remain on a person bathing five times a day in a brook running in front of his door?" "No", replied the companions, "No dirt can remain on his body." The Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) remarked : "So, exactly similar is the effect of salaat offered five times a day. With the Grace of Allah, it washes away all the sins."

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* Hadhrat Jabir (Radhiyallaho anho) narrates that he heard the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) saying : "The likeness of five times daily salaat is as the likeness of a deep brook running in front of the door of a person who bathes therein five times a day."

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* Hadhrat Huzaifah (Radhiyallaho anho) says that, whenever the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) happened to face any difficulty, he would at once resort to salaat."

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* Abu Muslim narrates : I went to see Abu Umaamah (Radhiyallaho anho) while he was in the musjid. I asked him if he had really heard the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) saying, "When a person performs wudhu with right performance and then says his fardh salaat, Allah forgives him all the sins committed that day by his feet in going towards evil, by his hands in doing evil, by his ears in listening to evil, by his eyes in looking at evil and by his heart in thinking of evil." He replied, "By Allah, I have heard these words from the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) again and again."

(Courtesy : "Fazail-E-A'mal" by Shaikhul Hadith Maulana Muhammad Zakariyya (Rah.))