Ritual Prayer: Its Meaning

Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani

Prayer is one of the central elements of Islamic practice and worship. Indeed, it is the second of the Five Pillars of Islam and, along with the testimony of faith, the pilgrimage to Mecca, fasting the month of Ramadan and paying the poor tax, forms the essential framework of religious life for Muslims.

More than that, the observance of the ritual prayer forms the framework of each Muslim’s day, from the pre-dawn morning prayer to the night prayer that precedes sleep. Prayer’s Importance in Islam Prayer, in the ritual sense, is an obligation of the faith, to be performed five times a day by adult Muslims. According to Islamic law, prayers have a variety of obligations and conditions of observance. However, beyond the level of practice, there are spiritual conditions and aspects of prayer which represent its essence. In the Quran, God says:

 I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me.

 Thus, prayer first and foremost, is the response to this Divine directive to worship the Creator. Prayer represents the individual’s affirmation of servanthood before the Lord of Creation and submission to His Omnipotent Will. It also represents a willing acknowledgment of our weakness and neediness by seeking Divine Grace, Mercy, Abundance and Forgiveness.

 Prayer, then, is a willful, directed action by the believer, seeking direct, unmediated communication with Allah, for Muslims believe that every human being is of interest to the Divine. It also represents a concrete manifestation of the Islamic conception of freewill, in that the decision to pray is one that must be made by each individual. In this way, prayer is a uniquely “human” form of worship, for all other creatures submit without question to Allah’s Will and are engaged in His praise, glorification and remembrance, as the Quran asserts:

And there is not a thing but hymneth His praise; but ye understand not their praise. Prayer, by its very nature, is a form of request or entreaty, and thus requires the full conscious participation of the one praying, with will, intellect, body and soul. The one engaged in prayer is in direct connection with the Creator Who hears everything the supplicant says and responds – though not necessarily in the affirmative – to each request. This is the concrete manifestation of God’s role as The Hearer, The Aware and The Responsive, which represent three of the ninety-nine Holy Names and Attributes of God that form the basis of the Islamic conception of the Divine. In Islam, there are two forms of prayer. One has ritual, formal requirements and manners, which are essential to its correct observance. This is called salat.

 The other form is supplicatory prayer, and in its more general sense, represents an open-ended conversation with Allah, which may occur at any time or place, with few restrictions or requirements. It is called dua.

Supplication The term dua is derived from the Arabic verb meaning “to supplicate” or “to call upon.” Other similar terms for such prayer are munājah, nida’, and aļ-tadaru’. Munajah means “a secret conversation with Allah,” usually with the intention of seeking delivery and relief. Referring to this form of prayer, Allah says in the Holy Quran: Say: Who delivereth you from the darkness of the land and the sea? Ye call upon Him humbly and in secret, (saying): If we are delivered from this (fear) we truly will be of the thankful.

Nida’ means “to call upon Allah while withdrawn from people.” The Quran relates the story of the prophet Zachariah who, having no son, beseeched Allah in his old age to give him a successor to inherit his prophetic knowledge and duties: A mention of the mercy of thy Lord unto His servant Zachariah. When he cried unto his Lord a cry in secret, Saying: My Lord!… give me from Thy Presence a successor who shall inherit of me and inherit (also) of the house of Jacob… (It was said unto him): O Zachariah! Lo! We bring thee tidings of a son whose name is John; We have given the same name to none before (him).

Aļ-tadaru’ means “a loud entreaty to God for safety,” as mentioned in the Quran: Before thee We sent (apostles) to many nations, and We afflicted the nations with suffering and adversity, that they might submissively entreat (Him)!

Salat – Ritual Prayer

The Linguistic Root of Prayer: Salat Ritual prayer in Islam, is called salat, a word whose full meaning is best understood by examining its linguistic roots. One of the origins of salat is the root word silat which means “connection” or “contact.” One of Islam’s most renowned philosophers, Ibn Rushd, said: It derives from the word “connection” (silat) in that it connects the servant with his Creator, meaning that the prayer brings him near His Mercy and connects him to His Generosity and His Heavenly Paradise.

This word is also used in the context of close relations (silat ar-raħim) whose connections with an individual are due to blood ties and are therefore imperishable in the eyes of the Divine. In this sense, prayer is seen as the unseverable bond between the individual and his or her Lord.

www.islamicsupremecouncil.org

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