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Attaining the Good Pleasure of God Through Praying
Harun Yahya
A
believer’s sole aim is to attain the good pleasure of God
(Allah). However, Allah’s good pleasure is not only earned solely
by performing certain acts of worship at definite times. Allah’s
good pleasure is also earned by conducting oneself correctly
throughout one’s lifetime. The following verse informs us that a
believer’s entire life must be oriented towards a single goal:
“Say:
‘My prayer and my rites, my living and my dying, are for Allah
alone, the Lord of all the worlds.’” (Sura Al-An`am: 162)
This
means that in all his words, decisions and actions, man must pay
attention to whether Allah is pleased with him or not. If he thinks
that something is not pleasing to Allah, then he must totally avoid
it. There is no other choice for a man who will be called to
account for the life he has led, and whose eternal abode will be
decided by the result. Furthermore, someone who is not ungrateful
and who thinks and comprehends the truth, will surely not consider
anything more important than pleasing his Lord, Who created him out
of nothing, gave him life when he was nothing and bestowed upon him
the favor to live in the paradise forever.
Allah’s
Messenger, the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him,
also stated in a hadith that Allah’s Pleasure must always be held
above man’s pleasure:
“Whoever
seeks Allah’s Pleasure at the expense of men’s displeasure,
will win Allah’s Pleasure and Allah will cause men to be pleased
with him. And whoever seeks to please men at the expense of
Allah’s Displeasure, will win the Displeasure of Allah and Allah
will cause men to be displeased with him.” (Narrated by Ibn
Hibban in his Saheeh)
The
greatest honor and gratification man can ever attain is Allah’s
good pleasure. Allah makes His servants pleased with Him through
the multitude of blessings He bestows on them. In a verse of the
Qur’an, the reward for believers who are pleased with Allah, and
with whom Allah is pleased, is related as follows:
“Their
reward is with their Lord: Gardens of Eden with rivers flowing
under them, remaining in them timelessly, forever and ever. Allah
is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him. That is for
those who fear their Lord.” (Sura al-Bayyinah: 8)
He
who reads the Qur’an will see that Allah orders people to carry
out certain rites of worship. One of these is to practice regular
prayers:
“When
you have finished the prayer, remember Allah standing, sitting and
lying on your sides. When you are safe again keep up prayer. Prayer
is prescribed for the believers at specific times.” (Sura
an-Nisa’: 103)
This
verse is a reminder that regular prayer is obligatory. The
conscience of every one who reads this verse will tell them to
stand for prayers. The person may either practice what his
conscience and the Qur’an require of him, or he may avoid
practicing the commands of the Qur’an by making various excuses.
It must, however, never be forgotten that whatever excuse one may
find for not keeping up prayer, this excuse will not be accepted in
the Hereafter.
It
is, however, impossible to live Islam without employing the
conscience fully. A truly conscientious person thinks about how he
can practice every act of worship in the best manner. He strives to
ensure that neither his actions nor his speech will pose a risk on
the Day of Account. He knows that he will be repaid in the
Hereafter for what he has done. Allah warns people with respect to
this:
“Establish
regular prayers and regular charity. Any good you send ahead for
yourselves, you will find with Allah. Certainly Allah sees what you
do.” (Sura al-Baqarah: 110)
Praying
Devoutly
In
the Qur’an, Allah commands man to live by the principles of the
religion voluntarily and devoutly:
“...
It is even better for anyone who can volunteer some wealth. But
that you should fast is better for you, if you only knew.” (Sura
al-Baqarah: 184)
“Safeguard
strictly your (habit of) prayers- especially the middle one; and
stand up devoutly to (worship) Allah.” (Sura al-Baqarah: 238)
“Abraham
(Ibrahim) was a community in himself, exemplary, devoutly obeying
Allah’s will, a man of pure natural belief and he joined not
deities with Allah.” (Sura an-Nahl: 120)
As
seen in the verses above, Allah commands mankind to perform all his
prayers devoutly. While performing one’s prayers, fasting, giving
alms or showing obedience, what really matters is one’s real
intention and the heartfelt thoughts. In the Qur’an, Allah draws
our attention to the existence of some people who perform prayers
only to show off. It may well be that these people do not reflect
on Allah, and consider their feebleness and submissiveness before
Allah while praying, but only perform the rituals. However, unless
done for the sole purpose of earning the good pleasure of Allah,
reflecting on the fact that one is weak and in need before Allah
and feeling fear of the Hereafter, these acts may not be acceptable
by Allah. Allah tells us that the blood of the sacrificial animals
does not reach Him, but the devotion (taqwa) is what reaches Him:
“Their
flesh and blood does not reach Allah but your devotion (taqwa)
reaches Him. In this way He has subjected them to you so that you
might proclaim Allah’s greatness for the way that He has guided
you. Give good news to the good-doers.” (Sura al-Hajj: 37)
Among
the major erroneous beliefs is that people assume they will be held
responsible only for their actions. Yet, Allah informs us that man
will account for his intentions, thoughts and even what he conceals
deep in his heart.
“Everything
in the heavens and everything in the earth belongs to Allah.
Whether you divulge what is in yourselves or keep it hidden, Allah
will still call you to account for it. He forgives whomever He
wills and He punishes whomever He wills. Allah has power over all
things.” (Sura al-Baqarah: 284)
Allah
has knowledge of one’s heart, subconscious, thoughts and what he
keeps hidden from others. Allah intervenes between a man and his
heart. Therefore, man cannot possibly keep anything hidden from
Allah. Any doubt that crosses his mind, any whispering of Satan,
his actual thoughts about believers, his faith in the Qur’an,
what crosses his mind while performing the prayers are all known
one by one by Allah and recorded by Allah. For example, Allah knows
when one performs prayers lethargically, or when he harbors
contradictory thoughts.
Man will meet each one of these on the Last
Day. Purifying one’s heart, living by the religion, not by
observing the rituals only but also by being sincere and committed,
are the ways we will attain salvation. It would simply be
imprudence to neglect the eternal and real life of the Hereafter
for a brief and fleeting life.
Praying
to Him only
Prayer
is one of the most important acts of worship to draw us nearer to
Allah. By their very nature, all people feel the need to perform
this act of worship. However, while it is a necessary and desirable
part of the believers’ life, a disbeliever resorts to it only in
times of distress.
The latter may not be accepted by Allah since
what is most commendable is to ask help from Allah both in times of
ease as in difficulty, that is, in every moment of our lives. That
is because the one who prays to Allah is the person who
acknowledges his weakness in Allah’s sight, and his inability of
accomplishing anything unless it is by His Will.
Prayer
is accompanied by submission to Allah. One who prays attributes all
outcomes, whether easy or trying, to the Creator and Ruler of the
universe. The acknowledgment that the solution of a problem, or the
prevention of an undesirable circumstance, rests with Almighty
Allah, is a source of relief and confidence for a believer. For,
praying only to Allah, and taking Him as one’s sole friend,
instills a sense of security in a believer.
The
Prophet Muhammad’s advice to believers as to how to pray to Allah
is a very good example of what a believer’s attitude must be:
“When
one of you contemplates entering upon an enterprise, let him
supplicate: O Allah, I consult You through Your Knowledge, and I
seek strength through Your Power, and ask of Your Great Bounty; for
You are Capable whereas I am not and, You know and I do not, and
You are the Knower of hidden things. O Allah, if You know that this
matter is good for me in respect of my Religion, my livelihood and
the consequences of my affairs, then ordain it for me, make it easy
for me, and bless it for me. But if You know this matter to be bad
for my Religion, my livelihood or the consequences of my affairs,
then turn it away from me, and turn me away from it, and grant me
power to do good whatever it may be, and cause me to be contented
with it.” (Bukhari and Muslim)
Indeed,
Allah recommends us to be steadfast in prayer:
“Seek
help in steadfastness and prayer. But that is a very hard thing,
except for the humble.” (Sura al-Baqarah: 45)
Allah
is nearer to man than his jugular vein. He knows and hears
everything. Prayer is the easiest way to reach Him. Not a single
thought that crosses your mind can be kept concealed from His
knowledge. Although this is the case, many nevertheless are unaware
that Allah has knowledge of everyone’s prayers and wishes. They
think that Allah only listens to some of their prayers or, even if
He hears, that He does not answer. (Surely Allah is far above what
they attribute to him). This reasoning of theirs is flawed. Allah
knows our innermost thoughts, every word we may utter, and He
answers them all. Allah draws our attention to this fact in the
Qur’an as follows:
“If
My servants ask you about Me, I am near. I answer the call of the
caller when he calls on Me. They should therefore respond to Me and
believe in Me so that hopefully they will be rightly guided.”
(Sura al-Baqarah: 186)
Therefore,
whenever we want something we need only to ask it from Allah.
Reaching our Lord is that easy.
Courtesy
www.harunyahya.com
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