When we think of religion, what comes to our mind are a set of rules, regulations and obligations. I have to wake up and do my morning adhkaar, pray Fajr, recite the Quran. In total, offer 12 rakaat. Make wudu 5 times. Eventually, the routine becomes tedious and loses its novelty. But the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) didnt have a routine - he (s.a.w) had an intimate relationship with Allah. How can we make our standing and bowing more like his (s.a.w) - more meaningful. The first thing on his mind (s.a.w), when he woke up was Allah. When he (s.a.w) entered the bathroom, he thought of Allah. He (s.a.w) brushed his teeth for the pleasure of Allah. The way he wore his clothes, his shoes - the way he walked out of the house - all connected back to Allah. His entire life (s.a.w) was centered around Allah. How did Allah become His greatest aspiration. Allah was the Light of his life (s.a.w), the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) behaved as though he could see Him, Allah was with him and in front of Him every moment of his life. The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) didnt treat Allah, as many of us do, as some some invisible God - out of sight, out of mind. Allah was his overwhelming joy and permanent essence of deeds.
This book has really made me yearn to develop such respect for Allah that I am never distant from Him. I dont want my day to day life to become merely a collection of physical movements - meaningless rituals, like a rodent running without volition on a hamster wheel. I want my work, my habits, my personality and my thoughts to be an expression of my need and dependence upon Allah. I want my entire life to appertain to the adoration, warmth, ardor, awe and repentance to Allah alone. This state cannot be achieved except with first perfecting my Salat.
Jamal al Din Zarabozo writes in He Came to Teach You Your Religion:
The importance of prayers lies in the fact that no matter what actions one performs in his life, the most important aspect is ones relationship to Allah, that is ones faith (imaan), God-consciousness (taqwa), sincerity (ikhlaas) and worship of Allah (ibaadah).This relationship with Allah is both demonstrated and put into practice, as well as improved and increased by the prayer (41).
Similarly, Abdul Hasan Nadwi explained in The Four Pillars of Islam:
Its aim is to generate within the subliminal self of man such spiritual power, light of faith and awareness of God as can enable him to strive successfully against all kinds of evils and temptations and remain steadfast at times of trial and adversity and protect himself against weakness of the flesh and the mischief of immoderate appetites (24).I spoke to my husband recently about this book and asked him how a person can achieve a state where she is able to think of ibaadah as something other than a daily chore. Alhamdulillah it sparked an interesting conversation. He told me about ABCs Prime Time TV show, What would you do with John Quinones. The psychological effect of this show on the American public is that people are actually more conscious of videotapes and hidden cameras recording their moral conflicts and illegal activities. The show started of as a social experiment; the knowledge of someone watching them has changed the way people react; it has made them more responsible. To a much greater extent, the knowledge of Allah Watching us should inspire faithfulness to Him, honesty and good communication with Him. If we could envision seeing Allah, our Salah will overflow with gratitude, hope, supplication and repentance. Just as seeing someone we love naturally fills us with gentleness and love, the knowledge of Allah Watching should make us soft and humble, continually subservient to and obsessive about the Divine.
Sometimes in the morning when I wake up in bed, I am overcome by the thought of being alive. I could have opened my eyes in my grave - alone, deserted, enveloped in dirt and darkness. The scene I envision of myself inside the grave is so scary and ghostly that I cannot help but say alhamdulillah lilélahil ladhee ahyaana ba-da maa amaatana wa ilayhin nashoor.
Too often we cannot remember Allah because our minds are with useless fantasies and dreams about trivial things. I will have an unpleasant conversation with someone and to make matters worse, I will replay the dialogues in my head over and over again. I will be cooking but my mind will be completely zoned out and buried in ideas about an upcoming assignment, an overdue book, how long it has been since I vacuumed. Or I will be writing something and then my eyes will aimlessly shift to the window at the parking lot outside, paved with asphalt. The multiple lanes with rows of parking spaces marked with lines, similar to center lines on the streets. There are no no stop signs or crosswalks for pedestrians in this parking lot, just large garbage bins and tall overhead lights for night. It is a Sunday so the only movement in the parking lot is that of three Canadian flags fluttering on large poles by the ticket office. See! Our heads are swamped by useless images and information. We need to deliberately and diligently force ourselves to feel the presence of Allah. We need to accept that more than we can see or hear anything, Allah can and He is Watching us. This reminds me of the hadith of the best way to come closer to Allah is by performing extra voluntary good deeds. The more longer, frequent and beautiful our Salah, the deeper, constant and meaningful will be our connection with Allah, inshaAllah.
اللهم اقسم لنا من خشيتك ما تحول به بيننا وبين معاصيك، ومن طاعتك ما تُبلِّغنا به جنَّتك، ومن اليقين ما تهوِّن به علينا مصائب الدنيا، اللهم متِّعنا بأسماعنا، وأبصارنا، وقوَّاتنا ما أحييتنا، واجعلهم الوارث منا، واجعل ثأرنا على من ظلمنا، وانصرنا على من عادانا، ولا تجعل مصيبتنا في ديننا، ولا تجعل الدنيا أكبر همِّنا، ولا مبلغ علمنا، ولا تسلِّط علينا من لا يرحمنا”
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