Muslims Spend 5 Hours Praying?
Yesterday, I came across a viral tweet from a man who claimed that Muslims “waste five hours every day worshipping,” calling it a productivity problem for the economy. I have 5 things to say to him and others like him.
1. First, let’s correct his misconception: Muslims don’t spend five hours a day in prayer. Most of us don’t even spend 45 minutes across the five daily prayers. Yet, instead of needing to defend our time in worship, we will boldly say this: if only we did spend five hours in genuine worship each day, how much smoother, richer, and more meaningful our lives would become.
2. This criticism of Salaat as “unproductive” contradicts the wisdom found in sources this individual might respect.
Take the famous quote often attributed to Abraham Lincoln: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
Prayer for Muslims is like sharpening that axe; it’s not just an obligation we carry out but a moment to recalibrate, renew, and refocus. Through prayer, we find rest, lay down our anxieties, and emerge recharged and realigned. Scholars of Islam would often say that if your prayer isn’t giving you that sense of calm and readiness, it’s a sign that your prayer might need improvement.
I cannot count how many times my business has dragged me through very difficult times only for me to re-emerge from my salawaat with fresh hope and zeal.
3. Slow critics like this individual rarely seem to question the time wealthy and “successful” Oyinbo people spend on meditation, gratitude journaling, or other self-care rituals they engage in to boost focus, resilience, and mental health.
For us as Muslims, we don’t need separate practices for each of these; prayer encompasses them all. We reflect, we focus, we express gratitude, we center ourselves, and we ground ourselves in something higher than our everyday worries.
4. For Muslims, Salaat gives us a high level of stability, consciousness and healing.
There is a sense that no matter what you are going through, you have to pause when you hear the call and drop down before your Lord.
There is also the sense of community and togetherness. Rarely would you find a place where Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and Igbira people sit together discussing life. It happens everyday in my mosque.
If anyone has an accident, after their immediate families, it is members of his masjid that rise up to contribute and assist what they can.
Salaat unites us all, strengthens our bonds with our neighbors and creates a support network that modern society often lacks.
Elderly Muslims, for example, find companionship and purpose in meeting each other daily through prayer gatherings, avoiding the isolation many seniors face.
Salaat gives us stability, peace, and a sense of purpose. Yet those who seek to position themselves as intellectuals often dismiss it, while turning around to promote meditation, journaling, and forced social events to achieve the same benefits.
Why not just embrace this holistic practice that Allah has prescribed—a practice that improves our well-being in every sense?
Nevermind that this overnight productivity expert has probably never seen the problem with our youth spending 6,7,8 hours daily on social media everyday despite its clear deterimental effect to their mental health and productivity. The problem of Nigeria, of course, is the prayer of the Muslims.
5. Above everything, salaat is enjoined by our Lord – and even if He were to ask us to spend our whole days in Salaat, we would.
Muslims have goals that transcend beyond driving flashy cars and building luxury homes. We have a destination that is not similar to yours, so do not expect our paths to be similar.
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