Could you please give tell me about the Importance of the Prayer and Our Duty toward God?
A Brief Description of the Question:
I believe in Allah. But I don't pray so could you please advice me so that I can start praying again.
The Answer:
Unawareness of its importance
The most important reason why a person does not pray is his unawareness of its importance. A number of Muslims who are unaware of how important and precious it is to pray use sentences like “you have got work to do, you can perform it later.” Or “ anyway, you can pray later”. However, praying is so important that it is the most important reason for the creation of humans. Just think about this for once: God states in the Qur’an : “I have not created the jinn and humankind but to (know and) worship Me (exclusively).” (the Qur’an, adh-Dhariyat, 51:56).
Who on earth can say a word over this? Both our Lord and the Prophet (pbuh) indicate that praying is the most important way of worshipping. Is it possible to think about something different when such a fact has been clearly given? Allah, Who is the creator of us and everything and Who gives us life and makes us die and Who will call us to account for our deeds and give infinite rewards or punishment in the end, states very clearly that He has created us so that we will worship and pray and He insistently commands the prayer.
By abandoning the prayer due to various excuses, we deceive ourselves and we bury our heads into sand, Let us wake up from the heedlessness we are in. Let us perform our prayers on time, without a delay, as soon as the adhan is recited, correctly and properly. If we do not wake up right now, we should know that it will be too late when we wake up in Hell.
It never ends, we get bored of it
Perhaps, our souls might say, “Praying never ends. We get bored because we perform it constantly”. Such words are games our souls play on us. We eat every day, we drink and breathe. Do we get bored of them? Have you ever heard anyone say, “I got fed up with eating”?
It is impossible because we take pleasure from them. Do we not get pleasure from praying? Coming into the presence of the One, The Creator of All, telling Him about our problems and asking help from Him, attaining the conformity for our hearts and tranquility for the spirit He granted, are these not the greatest pleasures? Have you ever met anyone who performs the prayer but still complains?
Can we find just a single person who says, “I have become so tired, I have felt distressed. I performed my prayers but I ended up in evil deeds.”? On the contrary, whoever performs the prayer is in peace and comfort because praying is the nourishment for our minds, hearts and spirits. For this reason, no one should get bored with praying. The mind, the heart and the spirit are pleased with praying. Only our souls who listen to satan may deny it. It is necessary to fight with him, tame our souls and even force them to come into the presence of Allah.
I have too many things that hinder me from praying…
Do not stop at anything that may hinder you from praying. You can be sure that if you do not stop, Allah, Who calls you for the prayer, will make any obstruction which you may encounter servile under your feet. Try it.
Which army can stop you when you have God, Who seizes the universe from its carotid artery, by your side! Which satan will be able to block you from that great meeting? I know, we all confront many excuses. Perhaps, the reason why we cannot perform our prayer is not always our interest in it. Are you totally worn out? Are you completely sick? Are your time and seconds stuck in a press? You can at least perform the obligatory parts of the prayer.
Obligation is the minimum limit that keeps our connection with Allah. You may fall in a void if you are to cut this connection. We are not strong wirewalkers that are so strong as to remain unaffected by any wind. We are walking on this wire of life under the hail of bullets that target our hearts. If we are to quit obligations that connect us with the infinity of heavens, there is a possible danger of not re-clutching the rope that we have fallen down from. If you do not perform a prayer on time, you may possibly not perform the other.
Once disconnected, you are prone to hit the ground unless the forgiving mercy seizes you. Those who left the hold of the parachute of prayer hit the ground so severely that their bodies could not recover after hitting the rocks.
The soul never gets full and satisfied; it continues asking for more. It will ask for more as soon as you make a small concession. If it takes the hold of your hand, it will seek to chop your head off. Those who greets the soul, will be indebted to it. The choice is yours.
Whose mercy will you expect to take the hold of your heart of which you do not stretch? If one day, satan marches over you with his tanks he made from all of the excuses and if your soul wants to drift your heart away with its chains on it, remember then from whom you are desired to be detached.
This detachment is not like the one from parents, from lovers or the motherland. Detachment from the very reason of life could not be more sorrowful. See whom you are desired to be detached from. Then you will find out how you are going to become as strong as a lion and to have a will as strong as steel. Then no obstruction will be able to detach you from your Creator. For the prayer, you must act like a forward player or a goalkeeper. The eyes of both of these are on the ball. The player watches the ball thinking “ How can I score a goal?”.
And likewise, the goalkeeper watches the ball thinking “I must not let the ball in the goal”. They consider losing the chance to score a goal or letting the ball in the goal to be as painful as death. They know millions of football fanatics are watching them. They will become happy by their success and grieved by their failure.
Have you ever thought who watches us when adhan is recited for the prayer? Our Lord waits for us at first. Angels, prophets, saints whom we do not see but whose spiritual presence we feel around want us to run for the prayer. They become happy if we come into presence of Allah in excitement but if we ignore praying, they fall into sadness. Would you then ignore?
Considering that in our religion the greatest truth after belief is the prayer, our minds, our hearts, spirits and emotions must be filled with the prayer and must be satisfied with it; and the joy and excitement of meeting Allah should fill all of our cells. Pay attention: I am writing these with a mentality which refuses even a single delay and neglect of the prayer. I am not addressing only those who never pray. In this case, none of us can leave aside with a consideration “ we are already performing our prayers”. Look at the things we present as excuses for lateness, ignoring, and careless performing of the prayer! Could you tell me please which one is indispensable, for the sake of God?
The prayer should fill our personality so much that we should arrange our time and place and work according to it. The first thing that my dear mother used to put in her bag when she went to hospital for treatment was her prayer rug. No matter how hard the conditions were and how busy she was, the first thing she did was performing the prayer when its time came. What would we lose if we acted like that?
So as not to be defeated by things which may hinder you from praying, you should prepare a sustainable defense lest the soul should score a goal against you. If you wear such an armor of mentality, you then should have no doubt that Allah will create opportunities that you cannot even imagine. If you desire to be subject to him and live with the excitement of praying, He then grants you time, place and opportunity. He even makes people serve for you.
Cemil Tokpınar-Sabah Namazına Nasıl Kalkılır
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