Prayer is Action

Prayer is Action

1995 3-4 March-April 10 Prayer is Action (346) According to Ibn Ishaq, a man by the name of Tufail bin Amr Ad Daus of the Daus tribe once visited the Prophet when he was living in Mecca. When the Prophet recited the Qur’an to him, he was so impressed by it that he accepted Islam. Later, with the Prophet’s permission, he went back to his tribesmen to call them to Islam. But his people spurned his message and refused to accept it. Tufail now came back to tell the Prophet to curse them. Instead, the Prophet raised his hands and started praying for them. “O God, guide the Daus tribesmen. O, God, guide the Daus people.”

Then he told Tufail to return to his friends and once again call them to the Truth. He also enjoined him to be gentle with them (Seerat Ibn Hisham, 1/409).

The prayer and the advice given by the Prophet were not simple matters. They were aimed at correcting the negative attitude developing in Tufail into a positive approach. The disgust he felt for his people was then converted into a feeling of well-wishing. Whereas Tufail had only been able to see matters in the light of past events, he was now guided by the Prophet to look to the future.

Prayer means not just asking God for something but putting oneself in the correct frame of mind. It is a kind of conditioning towards sound psychology and right thinking. But, most important of all, the act of praying awakens within oneself the divine power. When Tufail returned to his tribe with his new way of thinking, he had acquired a new edge to his personality. He was now better equipped to present the truth to the people in a more effective way. It was inevitable that the whole tribe should respect to his call and embrace Islam.

In a society where feelings of goodwill have become so prevalent that people begin to pray for each other, the natural result is the development of positive psychology throughout the entire social fabric. Without this no society can truly better itself