10-25-2004, 05:16 PM
PRAYER
The Muslim should always be aware and conscious of Allah; the Bounties that He has provided him/her with. To help this consciousness grow, the Muslim prays five times a day. At the time of prayer, the Muslim leaves off the business of life and faces his Creator, bowing and prostrating; thanking Him for the life he has, the bounty he enjoys and seeking forgiveness for the weaknesses and mistakes he has left behind him through the passage of his life. The Muslim seeks closeness to Allah and seeks His pleasure and forgiveness.
In a saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him), he said, "Allah the Almighty has said: O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner with Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it."
(At Tirmidhi)
Thus, if performed with concentration and sincerity, prayer is an enlivening experience, a refreshing time for the spirit, a time of peace; of renewal. Throughout, the day the Muslim remembers the inevitability of death and therefore, does not spend all his time and ability in seeking worldly benefits but focuses on preparing himself and his family for the eternal life to come, by doing good deeds, learning with the intention of being a better Muslim, making up for wrongs done, inviting people to Allah and solving the everyday problems of life that surround him, according to Qur'an and Sunnah.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Be in this world as though you were a stranger or a wayfarer."
(Al Bukhari)