Beauty of Prayer

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim - In the Name of Allah the Most Beneficent the Most Merciful!

Prayer is present within the teachings of every religion, be it in any form; as long as the intention is there that the person praying is presenting his desires and begging them from the only being who has the power to grant them.

In Islam there is a method to praying and a regularity, this is important as it shows us the perfect way to approach the Almighty, and without it we may undermine the power of such a connection and who the connection is actually connecting us to! Each word, each gesture in the prayer of ours; known in Arabic as "Salaat", has great meaning and importance, not only at the spiritual level but as research has begun to find, it even has benefits at the physical and mental level.

To remember the One and Only God who created us and without Whose Mercy we would cease to exist, is an act which is necessary due to the fact that Allah deserves much more than we can do, thus we should at least find it within ourselves to perform the acts which He has made obligatory unto us. Imam Muhammed Al-Baqir (AS) has said: “Allah’s remembrance of ‘people who pray’ is greater and superior to their remembrance of Him. Do you not observe that He has said (in the Noble Qur’an, sura-e-baqarah verse 152): {Remember Me and I shall remember you.}”

It has been decreed unto us to pray five times a day, and these five prayers which are a must for us, should be prayed with devotion and love so that they can be accepted by our Lord, for although there are other forms of Ibadaat(worship) and they are other good actions which can be performed for the sake of Allah, we find Imam Ja'far As-Sadiq(AS) has said: “The first thing for which a person shall be subjected to reckoning is prayers. If they are accepted, all his other deeds shall (also) be accepted. But if rejected, all his other deeds shall (also) be rejected.”

The importance of prayers is so great... today, 1369 years ago, two children aged 8 and 10; Muhammed and Ibraheem; sons of Hazrat Muslim bin Aqeel(AS), they should be our role models regarding Salaat... Last night I was eating dinner, and I saw some children who were with someone who seemed to be their father; I saw them picking what they wanted from the shelves, and becoming happy with every small item they could have... they were not much older than Muhammed and Ibraheem... yet look at the difference, look at the upbringing, there we have two young boys, who are grieving the loss of their father, and when they are caught, and are about to be killed, they ask to pray their morning prayers first... have you ever imagined being in such a position where you are asked for your last words? what would you say?
"please don't kill me!"
But no, these two young children said that they wanted to pray first! And after they prayed they were killed, but what a death, a death to be envied by those who understand the importance of the symbolism, that two children can have acted such, how pleased Allah would have been which such an act...

Thus Zuhair's View:
Prayer is not an act forced unto us, it is an act to be performed out of love for Allah! The question is do we realy love Allah? And from this question we get many more:
How much do we love Allah? What is love? Can it be measured? Don't you agree that the more you love, the more you want to dedicate time and energy towards that love, to appreciate the person you love??

InshaAllah we will all be guided to the straight path, as we ask everyday, five times in Salaat, "Ihdinas Siraatal Mustaqeem!!"