The Arts Of Prayer In Islam

By Dr Adekunle Mikail

The creator of the universe and all what abounds therein is certainly an all-hearing God! His hearing is not like that of any of His creatures! After all, the universe, al -‘Alamu, in Arabic, is defined as anything different from the creator – the creator’s power of hearing is so effective that He hears what are near and far as well as what are flat and tall!

The exegetes of the glorious Quran have given “al-Mujib” ,”the Answerer of prayer” as another meaning of the attribute of Allah al-Sam’iu,the all-hearing! Their argument is that if He is not answering the prayers of His humble creatures , now what is He hearing in the first instance! Then if the creator is al-Sam’iu and al-Mujib ;the All-hearing God and the Answerer of prayer respectively , then what has been holding man from beseeching Him! Why can’t him pray or tell Him what he wants for himself , wife, children, relatives, friends, township and country!

My readers , know that when praying to God, you need to be diligent and humbled! It behooves you to show that you are praying or requesting from the one who is mightier in power, exalted in rank and originator of the cosmos,then you must believe that He is extant and living!. The glorious Quran is more explicit on these three items of an answered prayer in its terms of reference,for examples:
“When my servants asked you(Muhammad,saw) about me,tell them I’m near (to them),and I answer the call of the caller when he calls me.Then let them(the callers) answer me and believe me, so that they receive guidance”
Qur’an 2:186

In another instance the Qur’an says:
“Call unto your Lord with humility and fear of Him, for He indeed detests the transgressors .And do not spread evil in the land after its cleansing, and call Him with fear and love,indeed , God’s blessing is near to the pious”
Qur’an 7 :55-56

It then beholds a caller to God to be humbled, have the fear that Allah is all powerful, should not transgress,while he is to be sure of Allah’s blessing (his request), when praying to Him!

The hearing or the power of God to answer His servant’s prayer is so faster that Aishat, the prophet’s wive, narrated the story of Haolat bint Shalabah, who had come to prophet Muhammad (saw)to complain of her plight with her husband so that the prophet would decide between them.

Aishat reported this incident thus:
“Exalted is He whose hearing is vast and wide,I would sit in my room and heard the voice of Haolat bint Shalabat, and some time, I would not hear some part of her discussion with the prophet_she would say ” He had used all my youth(referring to her husband), while I had willed my stomach to him I.e for bearing his children, but when my children had come of age, he had cut them off from me, Allahuma, my God ! I’m calling upon you for my help”. Aishat said that she had not finished her statement when Angel Jibril descended with the verses of Surat Mujadil thus:
“Allah has indeed heard(and accepted) the statement of the woman who pleads with you concerning her husband who has carried her complaint in prayer to Allah:and Allah hears the arguments between both of you:for Allah Hears and sees all things!”
Qur’an 58 :1

Allahu Akbar, may the good Lord be exalted, Allah hears and sees all things,then why can’t you plead your case to the all-hearer,the all -seeing creator of the universe like Haolat bint Shalabah,and your answer will be answered like Allah Had heard her prayer

A servant wanting his prayer to be answered must not call unto others except Him in his prayer!He must refrain from bad and unguarded istigaza I.e seeking help from other than God!

One of the mistakes human beings are daily committed in their prayers is calling unto God through men especially their Sheikh, sages and scholars!

Words such as :” Ya aba Zaid agsini, Ya Rasullahi agsini, Ya Miskini ,i.e Oh you the father of Zaid answer my prayer, referring to the Prophet and Oh you the Apostle of Allah; are common these days among those that call upon their God believing that their teachers in spiritual ways can intercede for them with God on their needs!.To say the truth,this is a great error in prayer!Making dua to God by calling the names of our forebears in knowledge has no basis in Islam.To say the least in this stead, this kind of intercession is absolutely abhorred in islam .It also makes Muslims the equivalent of the non-Muslims and traditionalists in their creeds of polytheism!
It is the non-Muslims of the worlds that call or make prayer to the forefathers believing that they are capable of granting them their wants based on the believe that their spirituality which is believed to be higher , can buy this for them!

The glorious Quran is more explicit on this when it advises us to :”call on your Lord with reverent and fear”.ln another instance, it advises :” Call on me and I will answer you, indeed those who transgress in worship, will enter the hell of Jahanama humbly”

From the verse above, calling on others in our prayer other than God, amounts to Shirk( associating partner with him), for the Almighty has commanded we call on Him alone.It also amounts to transgression in worship when we call upon others than our God in prayer!

The prophet (saw),has even said that every prayer made to God will be answered except the prayers of those that commit sin in making their prayer, or pray for family bond to cut or those who are in hurry! He says:” He will never relent accepting the prayer of a caller unless the caller commits sin in his prayer or call for the cutting of family bond or he is in hurry in his calling…”. From this Hadith, calling upon others in our prayer is a grievous sin we commit when making dua.

We also read in Ayat-kursiyyu that:”Who is he that can intercede in His presence except as He permits?.I.e nobody can intercede for another whether in accepting a prayer or in pardoning other people’s sins.Only Allah can grant that to whom He pleases and He had not granted the answering of our prayers to the prophets not to talk of His saints!
What is possible is that on the day of judgement, Allah will allow the prophet, the pious, the saints and the righteous to enjoy the grace of intercession. Even the right to allow these people to intercede will only be granted by God!

A caveat here I want my readers to note is that, this article is not debunking the merits of the saints nor saying the righteous do not have miracles.The pious do and indeed are blessed with many a miracle but they are not blessed with the miracle of answering prayers or pardoning sins on behalf of the Lord of the throne!

Forms Of Prayer In Islam

“Call me and I will answer your pleading;as for those that pride away themselves from my worship, they will enter the blazing fire of Jahanamah, downcast.
– Qur’an 40:60

The above verse points among others, to the place the Almighty Has given to the prayer of those who call Him and the repercussions of those who puffed up and prided themselves away from pleading to God in this realms_blazing fire of the Hell and bad psychological state of the soul will be their lots on the day of resurrection!

As it is explained in the Islamic science, praying to God is a must for every believing soul.Indeed, prayer is a worship according to the Hadith of prophet Muhammad (saw)!. For the one that are requesting his needs from the creator is in actuality worshipping Him and in fact,fulfilling a very vital parts of being a believer I.e,seeking help and request from the creator!

In Islamic jurisprudence too, prayers are of two types, Duhahul-‘ibadah and Duhahul-mashala.Duhahul-‘ibadah( worshiping- prayer ), is any recommended and obligatory prayers which Muslims are to observe as directed by Allah(swt) and His prophet ,as a manner of worshiping Him. For examples, the five canonical daily prayers,Ramadan fasting and Monday fasting are examples of Duhahul-‘ibadah!

Any prayer, on the other hands, whether recommended or optional a Muslim does whether to ask for God’s favours in one’s life, for promotion in the place of work, to request for righteous children or good wive falls to the category of Duhahul-mashala ( requestinf- prayer)

Muslims who pray to God,whether Duhahul-‘ibadah or Mashalah must have the sure knowledge that their prayers will be answered. This is even noted by the scholars as the first step towards an answered or fruitful prayer.The prophet has said:
“Call upon God and be knowledgeably sure that your prayer will be answered”.

How else does one wants Allah to accept his prayer if the caller does not sure that his request will be granted! In another Hadith,the prophet is reported to have said:
” Indeed your Lord is ever shy and generous,He is bashful (shy), with His servant when the servant raise his hands to Him in prayer,to send his hands back to him without answering the prayer “!.

Muslims! be sure that your prayer will be answered whenever you pray it to the Lord of the seven heavens and earths!Know that your Lord is ever close to you than your your jugular veins!.In fact, Allah is ever more closer than that for He is al-Qariib the closest to His caller! We read this in the Quran:
” It was We who created man, and and we know what suggestions his soul makes to him:for we are nearer to him than his jugular vein”!

In truth, the believers are blessed for the creator is in love with them while He knows what is in their souls! According to an English exeget of the meaning of the glorious Quran , Yusuf Aliy,he said:
“Allah created man,and gave him his limited free-will.Allah knows the inmost desires and motives of man even better than man does himself!. He is nearer than the man’s jugular vein. The jugular vein is the big trunk vein,one on each side of the neck,which brings the blood back from the head to the heart.The two jugular veins correspond to the two carotid arteries which carry the blood from the heart to the head.As the bloodstream is the vehicle of life and consciousness, the phrase nearer than the jugular vein implies that Allah knows more truly the innermost state of our feeling and consciousness than does pur own ego

The Etiquettes Of Prayer In Islam

Islam as a religion has her etiquettes which cut across all her references be it, prayer, eating, entering rest room, talking, sitting, fasting, belief, sadaqa, slaughtering of animal, sleeping and even, cohabitation with one’s spouse and a host of other topics which she discussed!

Prayer like one of the references mentioned above has its etiquettes and morals.The inability or failure to comply with them may render one’s prayer unanswered! Among these are:

Purification of one’s faith for God:It is incumbent on anybody who wants his or her prayer answered to purify his or her intention for God alone.A requester is then strongly advised to believe in God, in His oneness-that only Him can sustain human being, to worship Him alone without associating any partner with Him among human beings, Jinns, heavenly body,animals, earthly object etc!.
He is also advised to follow Allah and His messenger’s prescriptions in prayers

A caller to God with a prayer must begin his prayer with praise and glorification of God coupled with prayer on prophet Muhammad(saw)._This is a way of tendering and calling the attention of God who answers the prayer.Praising Allah for the good he has done in one’s life is a sure way of getting more from Him.It is like a son who sings the panegyric of his father every morning before he asks from the Father his pocket money; the father will be ever ready to grant the request of that son apace!

The same logic is at the back of reciting prayer on the prophet. Prophet Muhammad (saw), is the one Allah used as in-between between Him and humankind for the dissemination of His messages and ordinances. it is not a bad idea, therefore, praying for him at the beginning and closing of our prayer!

A requester from God who is praying is also advised to be principled and be sure with a clear belief that his prayer will be answered.He must be principled to stand with whom He is calling for prayer has its allotted time to be answered!. Prophet has explained this when he said:
“There is no servant of God praying to God with a prayer unless Allah answered his prayer in as much as the prayer does not contain a sin or a request to cut the bond of the family, only that Allah can use the prayer for three things – 1.the prayer may be answered quickly, 2. the prayer may be delay to be a benefit for the requester in the here after or 3. it may be used as a defence for the requester against evil machinations of men,jinn and bad destiny!

Besides a requester needs to be steadfast in his prayer while he is not to be in haste.The prophet has also said concerning this” Allah will answer every request you make when you are not in haste.He was then answered, ‘what is an haste’?. The prophet answered’it is when you are praying to God and say ‘we pray to God and He has not answered our prayer'”!

When praying, the caller to God for a request must get himself involved in his prayer by being attentive as well as putting his mind in the prayer he is doing!He is advised against playing while he prays, for the granter of request is all-powerful who is to be hold in awe and revered at all time!

Anybody that wants his prayer to be answered should pray to God during the time of ease and difficulty. Most of us that request for one thing or the other from God see God as a play thing and a robot to be used only when we are in a tribulation or at a difficult time!Whereas we need to patronize Him every time especially when we are not in dire need of Him for Him to answer us at the time of difficulty!. It is on this that the prophet advised us thus:
“Know God at the time of peace, He will know you at the time of insecurity and melancholy”!

In the same vein, if you want a request to be granted,call on Allah only. For He is ever capable, ready, near, while He is all-hearing and answers prayers without discrimination!

A Prayer Answered

The story is told of a Muslim merchant who used to ply the Shaam road from Makkah to where he transacted business on his horse! At the inception, he had wanted to take the known and saved route from his native Makkah to his business destination but he was confused by another unknown traveller who was going the same way he was going to abandoned the popular road for another short and saved one!

After some deliberation, the Muslim merchant trusted his instinct and agreed to take the suggested route to Saam with the unknown traveller. Having gone many miles into the journey, suddenly his co-traveller ,the unknown business man ordered that he stopped! He first looked askance to check the reason for the sudden stoppage of him by his co-traveller!

When he had been sure of no foreign bandits, he began to be ruminating small small if his co-traveller was not a bandit on his own. Before he could say Jack Robinson, he was ordered to dismount his horse and give his money, load and the horse to the co-traveller. At this juncture, he realized that he had been tricked into travelling the same route by his co-traveller!

The evil co-traveller, not done, told him that he should pray his last prayer for he would kill him probably for the reason that he would not live to identify him in future as a co-traveller who had robbed him ! ”When I had begged him to spare my life and have all my belongings and he had said no, I told him to give some minutes to pray to rakat of salat, so that I beseech God to forgive me of my undoings and he granted it”

When observing the two rakah prayer, I remembered the verse of the glorious Qur’an which says:

” Or who answers the distressed one when he calls upon Him and removes his suffering, and who make you successful…” – Qur’an 27:62
and read it! I had not finished the recitation of the verse when appeared from nowhere, a man on horse brandishing sharp and shining swords ,who struck in a jiffy the bandit many times at his heart until he died!

When I enquired about his personality from him after the incidence, he said: ” I’m the overseer of the verse you read in your prayer now ” Or who answers the distressed one when he calls upon Him,removes his suffering and who will make successful?”!