The reason for the severe threats about abandoning prayers
The reason for the severe threats about abandoning prayers
What is the reason for the severe threats about abandoning prayers?
A question like this can come to the mind at this point:
“What need has God Almighty of our worship that He severely and insistently threatens those who give up worship with such a fearsome punishment as Hell? How is it that He demonstrates the ultimate severity towards an insignificant, minor fault and He throws His slave into the most frightening valleys of Hell for missing one prayer?” This question is answered by Badiuzzaman Said Nursi in His book called Lem'alar (Flashes) in the 23rd Flash. We will simplify his answer and make some explanations:
A PERSON WHO ABANDONS WORSHIP VIOLATES THE RIGHTS OF THE UNIVERSE.
The reason for the severe threats and fearsome punishments of God Almighty for those who abandon prayers and worship is as follows: A king inflicts a severe punishment on a person who violates the rights of the people in order to protect his subject’ rights so that justice will be manifest and the rights of the people will be protected.
In the same way, the man who gives up worship and prayer violates the rights of beings in a significant manner and oppresses them spiritually. God Almighty punishes him severely in Hell in return for his violation and spiritual oppression so that the rights of His beings will be protected and justice will be manifest.
A person who abandons worship and prayer violates the rights of the beings andoppresses them spiritually as follows: The perfection and value of beings are manifested through the glorification and worship performed by that aspect of them which is directed towards their Maker, Allah. That is, every being becomes valuable because it is a work of art of Allah and because it glorifies Him.
The one who abandons worship does not and cannot see this worship. Indeed, he denies it. Then, the beings that occupy an exalted position by reason of their worship and glorification fall down to the level of disorderly beings. They are reduced from their high positions of glorifying their Lord and mentioning His name to a valueless and unimportant state. Besides, he regards those beings each of which is a divine letter and a mirror of the beautiful names of Allah as unimportant, purposeless, lifeless and miserable. Thus, he despises the value of the beings, denies their perfection and violates their rights.
For, the words of a stork glorifying its Lord as "Haqq! Haqq!" (God! God!) are regarded as "Laq! Laq!" by a person who does not worship. He thinks the glorification of the stork as "Haqq! Haqq!" is"Laq! Laq!" For,everyone sees the universe in his own mirror. God Almighty gave every person a particular world from this world; the color of this world is painted based on the creed of the heart of that person. For example, a despairing, lamenting, weeping person sees the beings as weeping and in despair, while a cheerful, optimistic, merry person sees the universe as joyful and smiling.
A reflective man given to solemn worship and glorification discovers and sees to a degree the certain, truly existent worship and glorification of beings, while a person who abandons worship through either neglect or denial sees beings in a manner totally contrary and opposed to the reality of their perfections, thus transgressing their rights. God Almighty questions such oppressors in the hereafter for their violation and takes the rights of the beings from them.
Now let us think about this: Suppose that someone comes to the mosque while you perform a prayer or glorify Allah with prayer beads in your hands, looks at you and says, “Why is that man sitting here doing nothing? He is losing his time without doing anything…” His words will make you angry and you will say, “I am not sitting here doing nothing. I am glorifying my Lord and prostrating before His magnificence. I am mentioning His name and performing the prayer that He orders…” After giving this answer, you will go to the presence of the fair king to get your right from that person; you will ask the king to take your right from that person due to his bad thoughts about you.
Similarly, a person who does not perform prayers and abandons worship thinks that all beings are unattended and purposeless. He denies their dhikr and glorification; he refuses all of their worship; thus, he violates their rights. They virtually address God Almighty as follows: “O Lord! We were glorifying you and mentioning your name but this person accused us of being purposeless. He slandered us by denying our dhikr and worship. He accused us of being worthless by overlooking your beautiful names that become manifest on us. Take our rights from him.” God Almighty will accept the prayer of those beings and will receive their rights from that person who does not perform prayers.
Now, imagine this: The person who does not perform prayers violates the rights of all of the beings in the minute and second that he lives in the way that we have mentioned. All of the beings that are oppressed spiritually at that moment demand their rights. Imagine the number of the beings and the multitude of the files sued against him… Imagine that the person who does not perform prayers commits this violation and spiritual oppression in every minute of his life. With the repetition of the crimes, the lawsuits will increase. Every particle, flower, insect and innumerable beings will file cases against this person due to the oppression he inflicts on them in every minute and even second of his life and demand God Almighty to take their rights from him. Will the severe torture that this person will suffer due to so many law cases not be called anything but justice?
A PERSON WHO ABANDONS WORSHIP OPPRESSES HIS OWN SOUL.
Another reason why a person who does not perform prayers is punished severely is this:
The person who abandons prayer does not own himself. He is a slave and creature of Allah, who has endless power and limitless knowledge. He oppresses himself, who is a slave and creature of Allah, by abandoning prayers. Allah wants to take the rights of His slave from his evil-commanding soul because he does not use his organs that were created to worship in order to worship but uses them to do worthless ephemeral things; so, He delivers awesome threats. Allah virtually protects His slave from his evil-commanding soul.
A PERSON WHO ABANDONS WORSHIP ACTS INDECENTLY AGAINST DIVINE WISDOM.
Another reason why a person who does not perform prayers is punished severely is this:
When man abandons worship, which is the reason and purpose of his creation, he is regarded to have denied Allah and to have accused Him of doing something useless. This makes him deserve severe punishment. Let us understand this issue through an example:
A master constructs a top model car by spending a lot of money so that people will travel in it; you take this car and make it a coop for chickens. When you do this, you say the following with the tongue of your disposition: “The master who constructed this car spent so much money in vain. This car can only be used as a coop. I used it in the way it deserved and made it a coop…” When you use that car as a coop, you deny the value of the car and state that the master of the car has no wisdom. To make the car a coop indicates this.
Think of another master… This master makes a clock to show the time and gives it to you as a present. It is understood from the tongue of the disposition of the clock that the master who made this clock and gave to you wants you to know the time by looking at it. That is the reason why he made the clock. If you take this clock and use it as a tray, you will be regarded to have insulted the master. When you use that clock as a tray, you say this with the tongue of your disposition: “This clock can be used as nothing but a tray. The master who made it did something useless and spent so much money in vain…” When you use it as a tray, it means you deny the value of the clock and state that the master of the clock has no wisdom. To make the clock a tray indicates this.
Similarly, our organs, which are worth millions, were created with the purpose of worshipping. A person who does not use his eyes, tongue, ears and other organs in order to worship and uses them for the worldly affairs, he will say the following with the tongue of his disposition just like the man in the example: “These organs were given to me in vain; they have no duties. Therefore, I use them for the worthless and ephemeral worldly affairs. The master who spent so much money to make them did something unwise; he spent so much money for such a short life…”
Thus, the person who uses the organs that Allah gave to him only for the worldly affairs criticizes the wisdom of Allah and accuses Him of doing useless things. The punishment for that sin can only be severe torture in Hell.
In short, the person who abandons worship wrongs his own soul first because his body is the slave and creature of God Almighty. Then, he transgresses the rights of the universe. He reduces their value to nothing and accuses them of being purposeless. Then, he shows disrespect to Divine wisdom. He deserves awesome threats and severe punishment due to his faults.
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