Once a person praised someone a lot. Hazarat Umar asked him: "Have you ever had any dealing with this person?" He replied that he had never had financial dealings with him. Then Hazarat Umar asked: "Have you ever travelled with that person?" He replied that he had never travelled with him. At this Hazarat Umar remarked: "Then you must have seen him standing and sitting at the mosque." (Kanzul Ummal 25569) If you say your prayers, but do not adopt good character, honesty and good dealings with people, then your prayer is meaningless.

What is namaz, or prayer? Namaz means to remember God. When you remember God, you will naturally fear Him. If you say in your prayer: "God, You are the Lord of the Day of Judgment." (1:4) In every unit of prayer you say: God is Lord of the Day of Judgment. God will decide about people on the Day of Judgment. On that day, no human being will have power. These are the words you say whenever you go to the mosque. If you only do lip service to these words, they will not impact your life. If you say these words sincerely, then they will impact your life outside the mosque. You will consider yourself accountable to God. You will be cautious about your behaviour, so that God doesn’t take you to task. Hazarat Umar had remarked: You must have seen him sitting and standing at the mosque.

This means that if you haven't witnessed honesty in his dealings or haven't travelled with him, nor do you know that he has good behaviour, then what you have witnessed is merely seeing him sitting and standing. His prayer hasn’t brought about any revolution in his life. This is why, it is as good as sitting and standing.