July 5th, 2011 @ admin // No Comments
PRAYER
Only the direct relation between God and man is accepted in Islam, for everything and everyone was created by God alone, and only God Himself has endless capabilities and knowledge. Prayer in Islam is one of the most important methods to establish this direct relationship to God. It gives man the possiblity to talk to God directly. Therefore, prayer is one of the five pillars of Islam. This allows for the non-believing person to become an adherent and servant of temporary relations and things. He only lives for them and he only yearns for them as long as they last, or until he leaves everything behind through death. During prayer, the believer praises his God and asks Him for His support; for this purpose, he begins each prayer with the words: “1. In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.2. The praises and thanks be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds;
3. Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
4. Master of the Day of Recompense.
5. You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and everything).
6. Guide us to the Straight Way.
7. The way of those on whom you have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger, nor of those who went astray.”
The Quran, 1: 1-7 When Muslims do their prayer in congregation, they arrange themselves in rows behind the imam and pray from all continents towards Macca. This benevolent dynamic is also found in Macca, when Muslims circle around the Kaaba in uniform movements seven times counterclockwise. If we look beyond the simple movements, this ritual evokes once more the movement of the planets on their orbits, or the power of a swarm of birds, which points to the unity of man, nature, universe and religion in Islam.
