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THE
MEANING OF THE DIFFERENT TIMES OF PRAYER
In
the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
Glory
be to God whenever you reach evening and whenever you rise
in the morning, and all praise is for Him in the heavens
and on earth, and in the late afternoon and whenever you
reach the noon. (30:17)
You ask
me the reasons for the apportioning of the daily prayers into
five definite durations. I’ll take up just one of very many
reasons.
Each
occasion of prayer is not only the opening of a significant
turning point but also is a mirror to Divine disposal of power
and to the universal Divine bounties within that disposal. We
are enjoined to perform the prescribed prayers at these
defined times so as to give more adoration and glory to the
All-Powerful One of Majesty and to give more thanks to Him for
all the bounties that have been accumulated between any two
occasions. That is the meaning of the prescribed prayers. To
comprehend a little this subtle and profound meaning,
consider the following points:
First
point
Each
particular prayer stands for praising and glorifying God and
feeling grateful to Him. That is, it is to glorify Him by
uttering subhan-Allah (Glory be to God) by word and
action in the awareness of His Majesty. It is to exalt and
magnify Him, by uttering Allahu akbar (God is the
Greatest), through word and act in the awareness of His
Perfection. Thirdly it is, by uttering al-hamdu li-llah
(All praise be to God) with the heart, tongue, and body, to
offer thanks to Him in the awareness of His Grace. From this
we conclude that glorification, exaltation, and praise and
thanksgiving are the heart of prayer. It is for this reason
that these three things are present in all parts of the
prayer, in all its actions and words. Further, following each
prayer, these three holy phrases are repeated thirty-three
times each, in order to confirm and complete the objectives of
prayer. The meaning of prayer is pronounced consecutively with
these concise utterances.
Second
point
The
meaning of worship is this: Man, a servant of God, being aware
of his defects, weakness and poverty in the Divine presence,
prostrates himself in love and wonderment before the
perfection of His Lordship, His Divine Might, on which every
creature relies, and His Divine Compassion. In other words,
the Sovereignty of His Lordship demands devotion and
obedience. His Holiness also requires us human beings to see
our defects and ask for His pardon, to proclaim that He is
free from any defect and from the false judgments of unaware
people and beyond all the failings of His creatures.
The
Perfection of His Might requires that the servant, in the
realization of his weakness and the helplessness of all other
creatures, proclaims God is the Greatest in admiration and
amazement before the majesty of His works. Bowing in deep
humility, he seeks refuge in Him and places his trust in Him.
And the
boundless treasury of the Lord’s Compassion demands that the
servant declares his own needs and those of all creatures by
praying and asking for His help, and that he proclaims His
blessings through praise and gratitude, uttering al-hamdu
li-llah. In short, the words and actions of the prescribed
prayers comprise all these meanings, and were therefore
ordered and arranged by God.
Third
point
Mankind
is a miniature of the whole universe. In the same way, the
first sura (chapter) of the Quran, the Fatiha, is an
illuminated miniature of the whole Book. The prayer is a
bright index, involving all ways of worship, and a sacred map,
hinting at the diverse kinds of worship of all species of
living things.
Fourth
point
The
consecutive divisions of day and night, the years and phases
of each individual’s life in the world, are, as it were, an
immense time-piece whose parts function like the wheels and
levers of a clock which, as they move, calculate seconds,
minutes and hours. For example:
The
time of Fajr (the early morning) was appointed
for the morning prayer until sunrise. It may be
likened to the birth of spring, or the moment when sperm
takes refuge in the protective womb, or to the first
of the six consecutive days during which the earth and
the sky were created. It recalls how God disposes His
Power and acts in such times and events.
The
time of Zuhr (just past midday) may be likened to
the completion of adolescence, or the middle of
summer, or the period of man’s creation in the
lifetime of the world. It too points to God’s
compassionate manifestations and abundant blessings in
those events and periods of time.
The
time of ‘Asr (afternoon) resembles autumn, and
old age, and the time of the Last Prophet, known as the
Time of Happiness. It calls to mind the Divine acts and
the favors of the All-Compassionate in them.
The
time of Maghrib (sunset) reminds of the decline
of very many creatures at the end of autumn, and man’s
death. It thus forewarns us of the destruction of the
world at the beginning of the Resurrection and also
teaches us how to understand the manifestation of God’s
Majesty and in this way wakes us from a deep sleep of
neglect.
The
time of ‘Isha (nightfall), calls to mind the
world of darkness veiling all the objects of the daytime
with its black shroud, and winter covering the surface
of the dead earth with its white cerement. It brings to
mind, also, the remaining works of the dead being wholly
forgotten, and points out to us the inevitable, complete
decline of this world which is a place of testing. Thus
‘Isha time proclaims the awesome acts of the
Over-powering One of Majesty.
As
for the nighttime, by putting in his mind the winter,
the grave, and the Intermediate World, it reminds man
how much his spirit really needs the Mercy of the
All-Merciful One.
The
tahajjud prayer, in the later, deeper part of the
night, reminds and warns us how necessary a light this
prayer will be in the darkness of the grave. In this
way, by recalling the infinite bounties of the True
Bestower granted to man within the sequence of all these
extraordinary events, it proclaims how worthy He is of
praise and thanks.
The
next morning is a time that points to the morning
following the Resurrection. As reasonable, necessary
and certain it is that morning follows night, and spring
comes after winter, so the morning of the Resurrection
or a spring following the Intermediate Life is equally
certain to come.
We now
understand that each appointed occasion for the five daily
prayers is itself the beginning of a vital turning-point and a
reminder of greater revolutions or turning-points in the life
of the universe. Through the awesome daily disposals of the
Eternally Besought One’s Power, the times of the prayers
call to mind the miracles of Divine Power and the gifts of
Divine Mercy in every year, every age and every epoch. So, the
prescribed prayers, which are an innate duty and the basis of
worship and an unquestionable obligation of man, are most
appropriate and fitted for these times.
Fifth
point
Doing
the daily prescribed prayers each at its time is an essential
need for human spirit
Man is
created rather weak, yet everything involves, affects and
saddens him. Also he is utterly lacking in power, yet the
calamities and enemies that afflict him are numerous. He is
also extremely poor and has many needs. In addition, he is
indolent and incapable, yet the burden of life is very heavy.
Being a human being, he is connected with the rest of the
world, yet the vanishing of the things he loves and with which
he is familiar, and the grief that this can cause, repeatedly
hurt him. Finally, his mentality and senses inspire him toward
glorious objectives and point him to eternal gains, but he is
unable, impatient, powerless, and has rather a short life
time.
Thus,
it can be clearly understood how essential it is for a spirit
in this state at the time of Fajr-the early morning-to present
a petition, through prayer and supplication, to the Court of
an All-Powerful One of Majesty, an All-Compassionate One of
Grace. Man must seek success and help from Him. How necessary
a point of support it is so that he can bear and endure the
troubles and burdens that he might face in daytime.
Zuhr
(noon) is the period of time when the day is at its zenith,
and starts to move forward to complete its course. It is a
time when people retire to have a temporary rest from business
and other affairs, and when the spirit needs a pause from the
heedlessness and insensibility caused by hard work, and Divine
bounties are fully manifest.
It is
difficult, then, to regard a man as truly human who does not
realize how good, necessary, agreeable and proper it is to
perform the noon prayer. Man, in a relief from the pressures
of daily life and from heedlessness, stands in humility in the
presence of the Real Bestower of the blessings, expresses his
gratitude and prays for His help. He also bows to demonstrate
his helplessness before His Glory and Might, and prostrates to
proclaim his wonder, love, and humility before His everlasting
Perfection and matchless Grace.
As for
the time of ‘Asr in the afternoon, it resembles and calls to
mind the sad season of autumn and the mournful state of old
age, and the distressing period at the end of time. It is the
time when the tasks of the day are brought toward completion,
and the Divine bounties received that day, like health, safety
and good service in the way of God, have accumulated to form a
great total. It is also the time when we witness the sun fade
down the horizon proving that everything is impermanent: here
today and gone tomorrow. Now man who longs for eternity and
who is created for it, and shows reverence for favors to him,
but who is sad on account of particular separations, stands
up, performs ablution, and after that, the appointed prayer.
Thus, anyone who is truly human, may understand what an
exalted duty, what an appropriate service, what a reasonable
way of paying a debt of gratitude, indeed, what an agreeable
pleasure it is to perform the afternoon prayer. For by
offering supplications at the Eternal Court of the
Everlasting, by seeking refuge in His infinite Mercy, and by
offering thanks and praise for His countless bounties, he has
peace of mind. By bowing humbly before the Might and Glory of
His Lordship, and by prostrating himself in utter humility
before His Eternal Divinity, he finds true consolation and
ease of spirit.
Evening
time reminds us of the beginning of winter and of the sad
farewells of the fragile creatures of summer and autumn. It
reminds also of the sorrowful separation of man from his
beloved ones through death. Again, it calls to mind the time
when the lamp of the sun of the earth, this place of testing,
will be extinguished and the inhabitants of this world will
emigrate to the other world following the collapse resulting
from the final, fated earthquakes. It is also a severe
warning for those who adore transient, ephemeral beloveds,
each of whom is certain to die one day.
At the
time of evening prayer, the human spirit, which by its nature
longs for an Eternal Beauty, turns towards the Eternal Being,
Who creates and frames all these events and phenomena, Who
commands huge heavenly bodies. It is the time when the human
spirit refuses to rely on anything finite and cries out Allahu
akbar-meaning God is the Greatest. Then, in His presence,
pronouncing al-hamdu lillah, all praise be to God, man
praises Him in the awareness of His faultless Perfection,
matchless Beauty and Grace and infinite Mercy. Afterwards, by
declaring, You alone do we worship, and from You alone do we
beg help (1:5) he offers his worship for, and seeks help from,
His unassisted Lordship, unpartnered Divinity, and unshared
Sovereignty. Then, man bows before God’s infinite Greatness,
limitless Power, and perfect Honor and Glory, thus
demonstrating, together with all of the creation, his weakness
and helplessness, and humility and poverty, and says, ‘Glory
be to my Lord, the Mighty.’ Following this, prostrating
himself before Him in the awareness of the undying Beauty and
Grace of His Essence, His unchanging sacred Attributes, and
his constant everlasting Perfection, man proclaims, through
detachment from all other than Him, his love and servanthood
in wonder and self-abasement. He finds an All-Beautiful,
Permanent, All-Compassionate Eternal One, and through saying,
‘Glory be to my Lord, the Most Exalted,’ he declares his
Most Exalted Lord to be free of any declining or fault.
After
that, man sits reverently and offers, on his own account, to
the Eternal, All-Powerful and All-Majestic One, the praises
and glorification of all creatures, and prays God to bestow
peace and blessings on His holy Messenger, upon him be peace
and blessings. By doing so, he renews his allegiance to God’s
Messenger and proclaims his obedience to his commands and
renews and strengthens his faith. In the observation of the
wise order in this palace of the universe, he testifies to the
Oneness of the Creator and the Messengership of Muhammad. The
Prophet is the herald of the sovereignty of God’s Lordship,
proclaimer of those things pleasing to Him, and the
interpreter of the signs or verses of the Book of the
Universe. How then can a man be truly human who does not
realize what an agreeable duty is the evening prayer? It is a
valuable and pleasurable act of service, a fine and beautiful
form of worship, and a serious matter. What a significant
conversation with the Creator, and what a permanent happiness
it is in this transient guesthouse!
The
time of ‘Isha (nightfall), being the time when the last
traces of the day remaining on the horizon disappear, and
night covers the earth, reminds us of the mighty disposals of
God’s Lordship as the Changer of Night and Day. It recalls
to us the Divine activities of the All-Wise One of Perfection
as the Subduer of the Sun and the Moon. They can be observed
in His turning the white page of day into the black page of
night, and in His changing the beautifully colored script of
summer into the frigid white page of winter. This time of the
day also recalls the acts of God as the Creator of Life and
Death in the complete passage of the remaining works of the
dead to another world in the course of time. It is a time that
calls to mind the majestic disposals and the graceful
manifestations of God as the Creator of the Heavens and the
Earth. We can see these in the utter destruction of this
narrow, mortal and lowly world with tremendous uproars and
convulsions, and in the unfolding of the broad, eternal and
majestic World of the Hereafter. It also warns that only the
One, Who can so easily turn the day into night, winter into
summer, and this world into the other world, can be the Owner
and the True Master of the universe, alone worthy to be
worshipped and truly loved.
Thus,
at nightfall, man’s spirit, which is infinitely helpless and
weak, and infinitely poor and needy, and tossed hither and
thither by diverse circumstances and whirling onward into a
dark, unknown future, performs ‘Isha prayer. His doing so
has this meaning: Like Abraham, man is saying, ‘I do not
love those that set,’ and through his prayers he seeks
refuge at the Court of the Ever-Living, and the
Ever-Worshipped, the Eternal Beloved One. From the transient
life in this dark, fleeting world and dark future he begs from
the Enduring, Everlasting One, and for a moment of unending
conversation, a few seconds of immortal life. He asks to
receive the favors of the All-Merciful and Compassionate, and
the light of His guidance, which will throw light on his world
and illuminate his future and bind up the hurts from the
decline of all creatures and friends.
Briefly,
man forgets the world, which has left him for the night, and
pours out his heart’s grief at the Court of Mercy with
tears. Before sleep comes, which resembles death, and since
anything may happen, he performs his day’s ‘last’ duty
of worship. In order to close favorably the record of his day’s
actions, he gets up to pray. That is, he rises to enter the
presence of the Eternal Beloved and Worshipped One rather than
the mortal ones he has loved all day. He seeks the presence of
the All-Powerful and Generous One rather than the impotent
creatures from which he has begged all day. He takes refuge in
the presence of the All-Compassionate Protector in the hope of
being saved from the evil of the harmful creatures before
which he has trembled all day.
He
starts with the Fatiha, the opening chapter of the Quran,
that is, instead of flattering and being indebted to flawed,
needy creatures, which is improper, he extols the praise of
the Lord of the worlds, Perfect and Self-Sufficient,
Compassionate and All-Generous. Then he progresses to address,
‘You alone do We worship.’ That is, despite his
insignificance and his being alone, through man’s connection
with the Owner of the Day of Judgment, Who is the Eternal
Sovereign, he attains to the status of an indulged guest and
important officer in the universe. Through the declaration,
‘You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help,’
he presents to Him, in the name of all creatures, their
worship and pleads for His assistance for the whole, mighty
congregation of all creatures. Then, by saying, ‘Guide us to
the Straight Path,’ he asks to be guided to the Straight
Path, which leads to eternal happiness and is the radiant way.
It is
now the turn of saying, ‘God is the Greatest,’ and bowing
down in contemplation of the Grandeur of the Majestic One.
Like the sleeping plants and animals, the hidden suns and ‘waking’
stars are like individual soldiers subject to His command, and
lamps and servants in this guesthouse of the world. He thinks
now of the great prostration of all creatures. At the command
of ‘Be! and it is,’ all the varieties of creatures of
every age and epoch-even the earth and the universe-like a
well-ordered army of obedient soldiers, each discharged from
its duty, that is, sent to the World of the Unseen, through
the prostration of decease and death in perfect orderliness,
each declares, ‘God is the Greatest,’ and bows down in
prostration. As they are raised to life in the spring, at an
arousing, life-giving trumpet-blast from the command of ‘Be!
and it is,’ they rise up and are girded ready to serve their
Lord. Insignificant man too, following them, declares, ‘God
is the Greatest,’ in wonder-struck love and eternity-tinged
humility and dignified self-effacement, and bows down in
prostration. He achieves a sort of Ascension. And certainly
you will now have grasped how agreeable, becoming, happy, and
elevated, how noble and delightful, reasonable and appropriate
a duty, service, and act of worship, and what a serious matter
it is to perform the ‘Isha prayer.
Thus,
since each of these five times is a pointer to a mighty
revolution, a sign to the tremendous activity of the Lord, and
a token of the universal Divine bounties, the prescribed
prayers, which are a duty and an obligation, being specified
as they are is perfect wisdom.
Glory
be to You. We have no knowledge save what You have taught us.
Surely You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
O God!
Bestow blessings and peace upon the one You sent as a teacher
to Your servants to instruct them in knowledge of You and
worship of You, and to make known the treasures of Your Names,
the interpreter of the signs or verses of Your Book of the
Universe, and a mirror, through his worship, to the Grace of
Your Lordship, and upon all his family and Companions, and
have mercy on us and all believing men and women. Amen. For
the sake of Your Compassion, O Most Compassionate of the
compassionate!
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