Worship is a means of the human being's proximity to God as well as
one's true perfection. That is, that which is the manifestation of the human being's
perfection is, at the same time, a goal in itself. It desires to train individuals morally
and socially and so a means has been adopted which is most effective on human morals and
spirit. It enables one to forget the self and self-interests.
In social matters, the basic principle is justice, which is respecting
other people's rights. This is the main difficulty of humanity in both morality and
society. There is no one who is ignorant of morality and its necessity. The difficulty is
practising it. When a human being wants to put this principle into practice, that person
is faced with interests on one side and morality on the other; truthfulness on one side
and profit on the other. One should either resort to falsehood and treason in order to
gain profit, or tell the truth and forsake profit. Here we see a man who speaks of
justice, acting against ethics and justice in practice.
The only thing that acts ,, a support to the human being's morality and
justice and enables one to forsake profit is faith. Faith in what? In justice and morality
themselves. When a person believes in both justice and morality as something sacred? When
a person has faith in the basis of sacredness namely God. So, a person is bound to both
justice and morality to the same extent that one is bound to God, and has faith in Him.
This is the problem of our time: That science is supposed to be sufficient for mankind. If
we recognise justice and morality and act according to them, we can be both just and
moral. But it is actually shown that when knowledge is separate from faith, not only is it
not useful for morality and justice, it is harmful. As Sana'i, the poet, says, "When
a thief carries a light, he can pick more choice objects." But with faith, both
morality and justice will endure. In Islam, worship of God is not set up as something
separate from morality and justice.
To illustrate this point, here is a question. Where in the world have
you seen a guilty person come forth voluntarily for punishment? A guilty person usually
flees from justice. The only force that can make a human being voluntarily submit to
punishment is faith. We see many examples of this in early Islam. Islam has envisaged
punishment for all sins, such as drinking, adultery and theft. At the same time it says,
"Punishments are abandoned with the slightest doubt." Islam does not compel a
judge or governor to seek out a guilty person; rather it places an urge within a guilty
person to come forward for punishment. This kind of thing often happened in the time of
both the Prophet and Hazrat Ali. A man would come before them begging to be punished in
order to purify himself.
A man came to the Prophet, confessing adultery. In such matters the
confession should be repeated four times to be credible. The Prophet said, "Maybe you
mean you kissed her?" The man said, "No. It was adultery." 'The Prophet
said again, "Perhaps you only gave her a pinch, " hoping again that he would say
,"Yes," and he would then be pardoned. But the man gave a negative answer. This
dialogue went on until it was quite clear that adultery had been committed and the man
begged for punishment in order to be relieved of punishment in the next world.
There is another case of a woman who came to Ali, peace be upon him,
and said, "Oh Commander of the Faithful, I am married and in the absence of my
husband, I have committed adultery and am now pregnant. I wish to be purified from my
sin." Hazrat Ali said, "One confession is not sufficient. It should be repeated
four times." Then he said, "The punishment for the adultery of a married woman
is being stoned to death. If you are dealt this punishment, what happens to the baby in
your womb? The baby has done no wrong and must not be stoned. Go away until your baby is
born."
After a few months, the woman came again. This time with a baby in her
arms and asked to be purified since the baby was horn . This was her second confession.
Again Ail, peace be upon him, said, "We might stone you but this baby is not guilty.
It needs milk and a mother to nurse it. So, go away now since the baby needs you."
The woman returned home uneasily and after two years reappeared before
the Imam, and said, "Purify me now as the baby has been weaned and is growing
up." Ali, peace be upon him, said, "Go away. This child still needs a
mother." The mother wept and said, "Oh God, I have confessed three times but the
Imam has sent me away three times and refused to stone me. I cannot bear being polluted
with sin."
As it happened, a hypocrite called Amr bin Hariz saw the woman and
asked what the matter was. She explained what had happened and the man said, "I will
settle this. Give me the child and let me be his guardian." She was not aware that
Ali wanted her not to make the fourth confession. They went back to Ali, peace be upon
him, and the woman asked to be purified since the man had agreed to look after the child
and insisted on receiving the punishment. Ali, peace be upon him, felt very uncomfortable
that the matter reached a point where no alternative was left for him but to order her to
be punished.
This is an example of true faith in religion capturing ones conscience
and making one submit to justice. The purpose of worship is to revive one s religious life
and give it freshness and strength. The greater one's faith, the more one turns to God and
the less one sins. Sinning and not sinning are not the concern of knowledge; they are the
concern of faith and neglecting faith leads to sinfulness.
Let me explain a point about the immaculateness of Prophets and Imams.
What does this mean? You may say they never sin. That is true, but there are two answers
to this. One is that God intentionally prevents them from sinning. If this is the case,
then sinlessness is not an accomplishment. If this is the case, no one could sin, since he
is hindered by a power beyond himself. Therefore Prophets and Imams may be supposed to
have no superiority over other people except that they are treated discriminately by God.
So it is not a question of their desiring to sin but being prevented from doing so by God.
Purity is a high degree of faith in God and thinking constantly of him.
A person without faith rarely or never thinks of God; that person is altogether negligent.
There are others who are occasionally negligent and commit sins in this state of
negligence, but when they turn to God, they naturally avoid sin. Rut if faith attains a
perfect state of permanently thinking of God, a person is never negligent and every act of
that person is based on faith.
The Qur'an refers to those who are engaged in trade but never forget
God. It does not speak of avoiding trade and commerce. Islam does not prohibit trading. On
the contrary it encourages work and commerce and at the same time expects one to think of
God and therefore never sin.
Let me give an example. Has it ever happened to you to put your hand in
the fire knowingly-? It does not as a rule happen unless you wish to burn yourself. Why do
we avoid fire? Because our knowledge tells us it is dangerous and we are sure of this
knowledge. In this way we are pure in relation to fire and our certainty and belief about
fire serves as a check.
The friends of God, too, are innocent since they are certain of the
burning power of sins and thus, thinking of God and thereby being attached to morality,
justice and rights, enables them to avoid sin. In Islam the life of both worlds is
inter-related. Christianity ,on the other hand, separates the reckoning of each world. For
example, the other-worldly aspect of the Islamic prayer is thinking of God and fearing
Him, otherwise why should so many rites be necessary. Being clean in body makes no
difference to God for proximity to Him for He says, "When you stand' up for the
prayer you should have first performed ablution by washing your face and hands as far as
the elbows. "
Cleanliness has been combined with acts of devotion. Again according to
the injunction, "When your body is unclean, you must wash yourself completely."
Your place of worship must be lawful and not usurped. So must be your prayer-carpet and
your clothes. If one single thread of these is gained illegitimately, your prayer is null
and void. Again, worship must be combined with respect for others rights. If a house is
seized by force, praying in it is invalid for him who has violated the owner's right. Such
a house should have either been bought by the latter in order to render his acts of
worship correct, or the owner's satisfaction should have been secured first. The same
applies to clothes and carpets. Moreover if a religious tax is due on the property of the
worshipper, it should have been paid. Then we are told to face the Ka'ba in the prayer.
Where is the Ka'ba? It is the first temple built in the world for the
worship of God. Everyone should perform the ritual prayer standing facing the direction of
the first mosque built by the Prophets Abraham and Ismail. Why should we face it? Is God
there? The Qur'an says, "Whith ever so you turn, there is the Face of God. "102
Why should we face the Ka'ba? It is meant as a social education for all to face one spot,
for, facing any direction one wants, means dispersion and confusion. Thus facing the first
temple is devotion.
Again we are told that there is a definite time for devotion, even to
the minute. 103 Morning ritual prayer times is between dawn and sunrise, and performing it
even a minute before dawn or a minute after sunrise makes it void. You cannot offer the
excuse of being sleepy, for, this has no meaning for God since all hours are the same to
Him. But the purpose of regarding time is to train and educate human beings. The same
punctuality applies also to noon, afternoon, evening and night prayers.
Prayer and worship are inseparable. In praying you are not free to do
what you like, such as crying in memory of something unpleasant or laughing at a funny
incident. Praying is the control of feelings. There is no turning to any side but the
point in front, no glancing at anything which might attract your attention. Nor are you
allowed to eat or drink while praying. Ali such diversions are contrary to the spirit of
worship, which requires total self-control.
Another point is bodily control. Unnecessary movements of the limbs in
standing position, in bowing and prostration are not allowed. The whole body must be calm
and stable before the phrase Allahu akbar is uttered. If you feel pain in some part of
your body, rest awhile in the same position before resuming your prayer.
Now we come to other parts of the prayer which means attention to God
only, and we utter the phrase, "Greetings to all worthy servants of God". This
is a declaration of peace and goodwill towards all good beings. This means mingling
worship of God with educational matters. In spiritual matters, the more one forgets one's
self, the better it is, but from a social viewpoint, one should never forget others.
In the first chapter of the Holy Qur'an which we recite as part of the
ritual prayer, "We worship only You, oh God, and beg only your help". Here we do
not use the word 'I' but 'we' to show that all Muslims are inter-related in an Islamic
community. In Islam, 'I' is always replaced by 'we'. Ali these are lessons to learn. When
we say Allahu ah-bar are we expressing our fear of God? It is natural for the human being
to be afraid of anything which is great, whether it is a mountain, a sea, or a powerful
person. But when we say "God is Greater," in a convinced manner, nothing else
and no one can frighten us by their greatness, for God is Greater than anything we may
imagine and all other things are trivial in comparison with Him.
Hazrat Ali says, "God has manifested Himself in the spirit of the
true believers and thus everything else unrelated to God seems small in their eyes."
Smallness and greatness are, of course, relative. If' you were in a
smaller place before coming here, this hall would seem very large to you; the reverse is
also true. Therefore, those who are acquainted with the greatness of God, consider other
things insignificant. Sa'di says that for mystics nothing exists but God and only those
who understand truth realise the meaning of his words, while others criticise him for
those words, lie then asks, "If there exists nothing but God then what are the heaven
and earth and men and monsters and beasts?" He answers this question himself by
saying that Ali these things are too small to say they exist as compared with God's
existence, lie then compares this with an ocean and a drop of water and with the sun and a
tiny particle.
When you utter the phrase "God is Greater" ill Ali sincerity,
His greatness is personified before you and thus nothing else finds enough significance to
be flattered or feared or shown humbleness. II1 this way, devotion to God brings freedom:
you become God servant but free in relation to everything else. Each of the following
words in the ritual prayer has a meaning illustrating God's greatness: "God is great.
Glory he to God. Praise belongs to God. Glory be to my great Lord and I am praising
him". Glory be to my great Lord and I am praising Him. Glory be to my Lord the Most
High and I am praising Him."
Many other phrases have been used in the ritual prayers. Someone asked
Ali, peace be upon him, why in each cycle of the ritual prayer there are two
prostration’s and only one bowing. You know, of course, that prostration shows more
humility than bowing. In prostrating, the head, which is the dearest part of the body, is
placed on the low earth, as a sign of humility and worship.
In answer, Ali, peace be upon him, said, "In the first prostration
you are reminding yourself that you are made of dust and in the second one you remember
that you will die and return to dust and by raising your head once more, you will think of
the day you will be raised again for a future life."lo6let me tell you in connection
with the importance of daily prayers that each of us is responsible, not only for the
performance of one's own acts of devotion, but also for that of the other members of one's
household. This phrase is addressed to the Prophet: "Bid your family to pray and be
patient in it." This Command is not only for the Prophet; all of us are duty-bound to
it.
What about children? Should they be trained to perform ritual prayer
from childhood? The injunction is that children should be taught to perform the ritual
prayers from the age of seven. They cannot, of course, yet utter the sentences with the
correct pronunciation but they can be trained to observe the form of it as a habit when
they begin their elementary education. It should, however, be remembered that force must
not be used in this matter. They should be encouraged and give the chance to perform it
willingly. There are many ways of encouragement such as praising, rewarding, showing
greater affection and providing an environment conducive to such a performance.
Taking a child to congregational ritual prayer in a mosque is an
effective way of encouragement and religious training. Even adults are greatly influenced
by the spirit of worship in a group. Negligence in making habitual visits to places of
devotion causes a frequent lack of inclination towards ritual prayer. This is especially
true of children who have not been brought up to regard this as a religious duty and who
when they reach the age of manhood, they are quite indifferent towards it.
If the objection is raised that mosques are often not kept clean enough
to attract people or that preacher's sermons are sometimes boring, these are matters which
could be remedied and not a reason to ignore a religious duty. The Qur'an says, "What
brought you into hell? They shall answer. 'We were, not of those who prayed neither did we
feed the poor and we used to talk vanities with Vain talkers. ' " (74:43-46)
Now you understand why in Islam the ritual prayer has been called a
pillar of religion by the Prophet, for everything will be accepted when the ritual prayer
is correctly performed. In his last moment of life, Ali, peace be upon him, invited people
to take the remark of the Prophet about prayer most seriously. You may have heard that on
Ashura (the 10th of Muharram when Imam Hussein and his followers were martyred), the
martyrdom of Imam Husain took place in the afternoon, so by noon most of the Imam's
household and companions were still alive, and only thirty of Tenma were killed before
noon. One of the Imam's companions realised suddenly that it was noon and the time to
perform the ritual prayer. He begged the Imam for a collective prayer for the last time.
The Imam agreed and said, "You have remembered your ritual prayer so may God make you
a devoted man in praying."
It was fitting for this warrior to be spoken of thus by the Imam. At
any rate, they performed the ritual prayer together on the battlefield, a ritual prayer
which is called 'ritual prayer of fear' in jurisprudence, consisting of two cycles instead
of four since it must be brief enough to see the line of defence against the enemy when
half of the army prays and the other half is on the alert in case of enemy attack. Then
the groups change places for performing the ritual prayer and military duty.
Imam Husain, peace be upon him, performed the ritual prayer in this
manner, not far from the enemy's line. The shameless enemy did not even at this moment
leave them at peace and continued their assaults with their bows and arrows and by their
biting tongues, sneering at these devoted soldiers. Two of the men who shielded the Imam
in his ritual prayer fell by the enemy's arrows. One of them was Sa'id bin Abdullah Hanafi
who was at the point of death when the Imam finished his ritual prayer. When the Imam went
to him, Sa'id said, "Oh Abu Abdullah. Have I done my duty?" implying that he
would have wished to do more
This was Imam Husain's ritual prayer in Karbala. In the battlefield of
Karbala. He was bowing forward when he received an arrow in his chest, which he draw out
from his back. In his prostration, when the right side of his face was on the earth, for
lie could not lay his forehead on the ground as he had fallen off his horse. At this
moment, he said, "In the Name of God and with the help of God and with the religion
of the Prophet of God and there is neither might nor power but in God the Most High, the
Great. Oh God bless Muhammad and his chaste family."l08
In conclusion pray God grant us a happy end, give us the favour of
worship and devotion to Him, make us true performers of ritual prayer, make our intentions
pure, protect us against jinn and human beings, and grant salvation to our deceased ones.
