By: Mohamed Al-Abdah
My dear younger brothers,
No doubt you believe in Allah, Creator of the Universe, and you believe that He is the One who created and fashioned you, and you believe in the Last Day, and you love Islam, and you elevate the religion, but have questions ever welled up, unbidden, from your heart? Questions such as: Isn’t it enough that I believe and have respect for the religion? Or, my behaviour is good, thanks be God, and my relationship with people is good, so what need is there for me to pray five times a day, and perform ablutions five times a day beforehand? Or, why should I continue to practice if my heart is completely satisfied? Doesn’t all this limit individual freedom? Does my inner state have to be reflected in physical actions that everyone can see?
These are troublesome questions for your soul. But reflect: hasn’t Islam limited individual freedoms in financial transactions? Consider, for example, the prohibitions against interest and deception. And hasn’t Islam limited individual freedom and behaviour in matters of sex in order to give man responsible, positive liberty within the institution of marriage? Shouldn’t this be considered more of a gentle constraint, so that the focus of the psychological pressure thereby constrained can stimulate an investment in man’s energy so that he may use his power in a manner befitting him and his nature?
Surely believing in Allah should cause us to become engrossed in worship to Him, and loving Him, and turning to Him. Doesn’t this suggest that turning to Allah and loving Him needs a means of articulation? The articulation is salah. In salah, good intentions are not sufficient; there must be unity between the outward and the inward within a person, so that all his intellectual powers can be put in order. Does this ordering and adornment of the outward and inward, not induce one to be loved by Allah? Suppose someone says: I am thinking of Allah’s Greatness and his Kindness, and I appreciate Him, and I always remember Him; can a human being always continue in this way? And doesn’t this situation of remembering and thinking the Creator’s Greatness and His Magnificent attributes produce its own fruits, resulting in these indications of physical changes?
Salah cleanses and purifies us. Someone who maintains a relationship with Allah from morning to night will keep away from evil. We are like trees that need periodic watering, but if the watering stops, they wither and turn to kindling. Consider congregational salah in the masajid; doesn’t it equalise people in front of the Creator? It makes them the same in the sight of Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala; it is like water in interconnected vessels, the water level in each vessel is the same. In addition, doesn’t congregational salah enable relationships to form, encourage social life, and stop people from feeling like strangers no matter where they are? Isn’t this strong gathering in a masajid a way of fighting the Satan, the enemy of all humankind?
Source: Al – Jumuah magazine, Volume 13 Issue 12 Thul Hijjah 1422 H