It is about a child on the 2nd grade whose mother was so keen on raising him according to what Allah (swt) pleases. She taught him well how never to miss Fajr prayer in the Masjid. Unfortunately he used to go to the masjid while his father was sleeping back home.

During one of his classes at school, the teacher decided to apply mass punishment (for a specific reason) of hitting everyone in the
class.

He started hitting each student after the other till he reached this child. The teacher asked him to open his hand to hit him with the
ruler on the palm.

The child boldly answered: "No, you will not hit me".  At this point the teacher became really upset because of the challenging tone. He said: "Don't you hear I said open your hand".

The child said: "Do you want to hit me?"

The teacher said: "Yes".

The child said: "Please, you can not hit me".

At this stage the teacher was in disbelief and amazed of the student's attitude. But he still asked him: "Why can't I?"

The student said: "Didn't you hear the hadeeth of Rasulullah (SAWW) that: 'One who prays Fajr in congregation shall remain in the protection of Allah', and I prayed Fajr in congregation, therefore I am in the protection of Allah. At the same time, I didn't do anything wrong for you to punish me!"

The teacher stood there in full amazement, humbled at the way this child was thinking. He just couldn't but inform the administration to call his father and congratulate him on the way he brought up his child.

Unfortunately when the father came in, it was a shock for everyone.   They found him a careless person without any sign of piety on his face. The teacher asked him: "Are you the father of this child?"

He said: "Yes."

At this point one of the teachers started talking to the father telling him the situation that took place between his son and the
teacher.

The father was deeply touched by the confidence his own child obtained from prayers and he immediately decided not to miss even a single prayer in congregation.

Subhanallah, how prayer could affect us and teach us never to fear anyone but Allah. We must never fear anyone but Allah. Prayer is the source of strength for the believer, the light which leads one to the correct path.

Dear brothers and sisters, don't forget that the final words of our beloved Prophet (saww) before he departed from this world were an advice for us to never abandon prayer as it is the link that connects with Allah.

Prayer contains the response to our supplication, light in our face, and companionship and support during crisis. Many people feel that they are lost in this world with much worries filling their hearts. If you actually observe this type of people, you will find that they are those who abandon prayers.

I see people put their alarm clocks 15 minutes after the time of Fajr, just to catch up with their work. I wonder how can they miss Fajr prayers and are keen to be punctual on their work, when the first item to be judged on the Day of Judgment is our prayers, and not our jobs. I congratulate the parents who the first thing they do in the morning is to wake up their children for prayers.