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PRAYER
“Dua”
comes from the same origin with the words “ davet”-call
and “da’va”-claim.
“Davet” or “da’va” literally
has the meanings of, to call, to shout, to beg, to ask for
help, to name, to take refuge with, and to form a relation.
The literal meaning of “dua” is an asking and
entreaty of the weaker one from a powerful being, the lower
one from a high person. The request of the inferior from
the superior is a begging by words, acts and behavior and
with a sincere asking and intimately.
As a concept in Islamic literature “dua”
-prayer-expresses the begging of the born servant and taking
as refuge with Allah, an admitting of his weakness before
the Highness of Allah, his asking for mercy and kindness
with the feelings of love and respect.
Because the main purpose
of prayer is to present one’s conditions to Allah
that is a relation between the born servant and Allah. In
this relation the servant presents his situation to his
Lord who created him and provides him with sustenance, expresses
his weakness and feebleness, confesses his faults and mistakes,
and asks for help, mercy, compassion, power and support
from this High Place. This act is a devotion and surrender
of the human servant to Allah.
In the Noble Quran the
words “dua” and “davet” are sometimes
used in different meanings, sometimes used interchangeably.
In some verses “davet” is mentioned in the sense
of a call, a shouting and a speaking, also it is used in
the meaning of “pray, begging and asking for help”.
Sometimes “davet”-call
has a sense that we may say “to name”. Polytheists
defined the idols that they did with their own hands as
“our lords”, they called them as their “lord”.
Then they wanted help from the idols that they named by
this way:
“But
those ye call upon besides Him are unable to help you and
indeed to help themselves.”
It attracts attention in the verse above, to ask something
from the idols that called as lord is expressed with the
same word. There is an understanding of prayer, begging
and asking for help behind this “call”-davet.
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(1) Chapter A’râf, 7/197.
We consider the word
“davet” -call in its literal meaning and “dua”
-prayer- as a worship, an act of piety, a taking refuge
with and an ask for help. According to this it will be right
to say, if the call is from Allah to the servant this is
“davet”, if it’s from the servant to Allah
then this is “ dua”-prayer-.
We may also think this way: Our Lord who has endless power
and Omnipotence doesn’t ask anything from the servants
whom He was created, He is never dependent to them. Allah’s
asking something from his servant is out of reason and religion.
Such a thing is unthinkable. So the “davet”
, asking of Allah from His servants that mentioned in the
Noble Quran is a call for The Right way and an encouragement
for worship.
Naturally asking for
something of a weak and humbled servant who was created,
who always needs something and someone else, from Allah
The Most High is not like his asks from other people. His
asking for something from Allah is a begging from low to
high, from the weak to the powerful. Respecting -tazim-
should be sincerely and by showing humility. Even the ones
who obeyed the call of their Lord and became believers can
not shout to The Prophet -peace be upon him- as they shout
to each other, they can not call him like an ordinary person.
(1)
The
Importance of “dua”
The duty of a born servant
who is dependent to his Lord in all respects, who is weak
and powerless, is to pray his Lord being his weakness, the
thing that is expected from The Lord is to accept the pray
that is made sincerely if He will.
Our Lord Himself commanded the believers to pray Allah.
The Noble Quran says:
“And
your Lord says: "Call on Me; I will answer your (Prayer):
But those who are too arrogant to serve Me will surely find
themselves in Hell in humiliation!"(2)
Some people see themselves
as independent from Allah The Most High. They are the haughty
ones who suppose themselves powerful. Such people see unnecessary
to pray Allah and think that they are not dependent on Him.
In the verse above, it’s remarkable the mention of
the concepts prays and worship together. Therefore pray
is a part fo worship and they complete each other.
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(1) Chapter Hujûrat, 49/1-2.
(2) Chapter Gafir, 40/60.
Our Lord informs us
that He is close to His born servants who pray, He will
return the prayers of them and people should obey to His
Call. (1) In many verses of the Noble Quran the questions
that are directed to Our Prophet are replied with the answers
start with the words: “Tell that, say that”
But in this verse Allah declares: “if my servants
ask you about me, (tell them) I am close to them”.
The words of “tell them” are not used
in the verse. The closeness here is explained with “dua”-pray-,
this is an indication of the prays should be directed towards
Allah without any mediator. During prays there isn’t
any mediator between Allah and His born servant. Just like
the worship.
Allah - May His Glory
be Exalted- is near to His born servants who pray and perform
worship. Of course this nearness is metaphorical and it
expresses the high degree of the born servant who prays
and does worship. Allah Almighty likes his servant who prays,
who requests something from Him, applies to Him, who understands
his weakness, his inadequacy and asks for forgiveness. Because
in one respect to pray is to obey Lord and bow down before
Allah. It is to believe in His Highness and to confess His
Omnipotence.
This behavior of the servant is faith and a surrendering.
The reproach of Allah against the servants who do not pray:
“Say (to the rejecters):
"My Lord is not uneasy because of you if ye call not
on Him but ye have indeed rejected (Him) and soon will come
the inevitable (punishment)!” (2)
People who deny the
True Religion avoid praying. Because such people as these
find other gods for begging and calling. They submit their
conditions to them and expect their false gods to come to
the aid of them. Allah exalts the degree of the born servants
who beg to Him, up to the point that He will.
If the heart of the person who prays, is concerned with
something other than Allah, the pray can not reach its aim.
The desires of “nefs”-spirit-, the affections
and aims other than Allah deviates the pray from its aim.
“dua” -pray- should be sincere, cordial and
modest. As long as the person is a prisoner of his own desires,
he can not become near to Allah in this sense, desires always
prevent this. The Noble Quran commands that:
“Call
on your Lord with humility and in private: for Allah loveth
not those who trespass beyond bounds.”
”Do no mischief on the earth after
it hath been set in order but call on Him with fear and
longing (in your hearts): for the mercy of Allah is (always)
near to those who do good”(3)
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(1) Chapter
Bakara, 2/186.
(2) Chapter Furkan, 25/77.
(3) Chapter A’raf, 7/55-56.
A pray that is told such a way is a mean for being
close to Allah and it is the most valuable of worship. Our
Prophet declared: “Pray is the marrow-essence- of
the worship.” (1)
Again Our Prophet recited the 60th verse of Mu’minun
Sura by saying “ Pray is the worship itself”
(2)
There are numerous hadith
concerning the importance of pray and its virtue as a worship
in Islam. In those hadiths we can see the importance of
pray, the time and ways of pray, whose pray is accepted,
by which words it’s better to pray, the ease and consciousness
that praying brings to the life of human servant, the grants
that Allah will do by praying.
The
Character of Praying
According to these information
praying is worship. Those who know Allah as their Lord and
bow before Him, submit their needs to Allah and ask for
help from Him. Even as they constantly repeat the verse
of Fatiha Sura “‘(Mü’minler)Yalniz
sana siginiriz ve yalniz senden yardim dileriz’”
People who neglect praying
are the ones who consider worship as unimportant. It has
been mentioned above that such people are haughty. But conceited
people who see themselves superior do not deign to ask for
something from Allah. Doubtlessly this way of thinking is
depravity and excessiveness itself.
Indeed man is dependent
to others because he is weak. He wants help when he is in
trouble. But there are such needs of man that it is impossible
for others to meet them. At this point even disbelievers
who do not have faith in Allah and polytheists who attribute
partners to Allah put their gods on one side and ask for
help from The Lord of the Universe.
“When
trouble toucheth a man he crieth unto Us (in all postures)
lying down on his side or sitting or standing. But when
We have solved his trouble he passeth on his way as if he
had never cried to Us for a trouble that touched him! Thus
do the deeds of transgressors seem fair in their eyes!”
”Now when trouble touches man he cries to Us;
but when We bestow a favor upon him as from Ourselves he
says "This has been given to me because of a certain
knowledge (I have)!" Nay but this is but a trial but
most of them understand not!”(3)
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(1) Tirmizî.
(2) Ebu Davud, Tirmizî, Ibn-i Mâce.
(3) Chapter Yunus, 10/12; Chapter Zumer, 39/49.
Beginning from the first
man up today worship and pray existed in all people’s
life. As it is mentioned in the subjects of religion and
worship, a person ceartinly believes in a religion whether
it is true or false. Those who have faith in Allah worship
to Him, people who forget Allah, bow to things that they
believe as gods, they take refuge with them, ask for help
and fear from them. Pray is also a part of adore. Whether
they are Muslims or not some people avoid praying when they
are at ease and feel themselves powerful. The absence of
pray in their life doesn’t change the situation. They
also seek a refuge to ask for help when they are in need.
As worship, “dua”-pray-
has a special place in Islam. According to Islam, pray is
not a mean of psychological relief. Above all it is not
to assign the works to an unseen god. “Dua”
is not defined as a taking refuge and desire of escape at
the end of a fear and anxiety either. It’s not begging
to some idols to avoid their anger and badness as it’s
seen in some religions.
“dua”-pray- is a faith, action, effort and to
awake. It is to recognize Allah and confess the sovereignty
and Deity belongs to Him. Understanding the aim in life,
to program one’s life, to make preparation for the
future, to decide working for religion-jihad-, pulling oneself
together and remove one’s deficiencies.
“Dua” is asking constantly from the place of
Allah. This asking is a faith, a characteristic-indication
of being Muslim-, and a goal of life. A believer tries to
find a way to the Islamic life that he longs for, by praying.
He wants the endless and inexhaustible treasuries of Allah
in order to be a good believer and begs for the descent
of them to earth.
For a believer “dua”-prayer- is a way
to attain high ideals, to find the things which are more
valuable than this world and everything inside of it, and
making efforts to reach them. It is not becoming mature
having something from this world which is made as a mean
for the living of people. For man development is the high
goals beyond it.
“dua” praying saves the believer from the loneliness
of being a way from Allah. Prayer is the believer’s
Divine love, affection and respect which take the form of
action.
A believer prepare himself
to “dua” before praying. That means first he
makes an acting prayer. He tries to perform his worship
without fail. He does the necessary works for the goal that
he wants to reach and takes the necessary measures against
dangers. He performs the commands and avoids forbidden things.
After that he prays for the acceptance of his pious deeds,
asks for help about the matters that exceeds his capacity,
he takes refuge with Allah and he repents for his defects
to be completed and his faults to be forgiven. He shows
his love and loyalty to Allah with his prayers.
Our Prophet’s
attitude is a good example for being prepared to pray. He
insistently worked in every matter without dreading, boredom
and without the fear of the condemnation of some people;
he performed the necessary conditions for the struggle.
Even he continued to worship-namaz- day and night until
his feet were swelled. He tried hard not to do anything
out of his Lord’s consent. He carried out his duty
as a Prophet properly and after he prayed to his Lord maybe
seventy times a day by opening is hands. He submitted his
situation to his Lord with his prayers.
After doing his tasks
in every matter, a believer also applies to prayer. Briefly
he would have the face to pray. It’s not a prayer
without doing anything without working, taking necessary
measures, doing nothing for the correction of the society
and self-nefs-, without protecting oneself from sins and
saying “My Lord! Please do this, solve that problem,
forgive me if you will, please crush the enemy, correct
the conditions, meet our needs.” This attitude has
nothing to do with the sincerity of the prayer.
The
Intend of the Prayer
A Muslim’s prayer
briefly may have three important intend:
1. Asking for forgiveness: A believer avoids
sins as much as he can. Still he constantly ask for Mercy
thinking that he does mistakes and requests compassion from
Allah because of his helplessness.
2. Hope and longing: A believer longs for doing worship
properly, being on the right way and attaining the help
of Allah.
3. Asking for help, glory, kindness, compassion and success
from Allah. He submits all these demands after he made the
necessary efforts. A Muslim performs the commands of Allah,
avoids forbidden things and tries to be a good born-servant
in the most sincere way. After that he requests the things
above from his Lord. He longs for attaining forgiveness,
to escape from punishment and wrath and to deserve the consent
of Allah.
There is not a specific
time for prayer. But as it is mentioned in hadiths the prayers
done in the last one third of the night, at the end of the
ritual worship-namaz-which is a binding duty, during wars,
between azan-call to prayer- and kamet -muezzin’s
call at the beginning of namaz-, when it rains, while bowing
down in the worship, just before down (1), at the time of
Friday noon service, when someone breaks his fast in the
evening, before the day of Muslim festival of Sacrifice,
and at the night of Power ( 27th night of Ramadan when the
Noble Quran was revealed ), are more liked and the possibility
of being answered is higher.
As it is possible to pray with the verses of pray in the
Noble Quran, with the prayers of Our Prophet-peace be upon
him-, or with the prayers reached us from Saints-traditional
prayers- also it is proper to pray how a person feels. We
may express our feelings ourselves in the best way. It’s
not a condition to pray in Arabic language.
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(1) Chapter Âl-i Imran, 3/17
To pray with the beautiful
names of Allah -Esma’ul Husna-is a command of the
Noble Quran. (1)
Some people’s prayers are answered at once. Those
are wronged people, visitors and the fathers who pray for
their children. (2)
Indeed all prayers of believers done sincerely are answered.
A believer may not know how his prayers are answered but
Quran announces that Allah will answer the ones who pray.
(3)
It’s not easy
to explain here sufficiently “dua” which is
a very important act of belief.
Finally we may say about
“dua”-prayer like Alexis Carrel said: “Prayer
is poverty and love” We may also add knowledge, wisdom,
surrendering and exerting of oneself to that.
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(1) A’raf Sûra, 7/180.
(2) Ebu Davud, Ibni Mace, Tirmizî.
(3) Gafir Sûra, 40/60.
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