THE ESSENCE OF RELIGION—PART I

in awe of God, when his eyes fill with tears at the thought of Him, his best feelings are reserved for his Lord, and he draws closer to God in great attachment. Man, then, finds himself rapt in a love of the greatest poignancy. Though his humility in the presence of God is undoubtedly the result of fear, this fear is not of the kind produced by the sight of a fearful object. It is a feeling which no single word can properly convey. It is a mixed feeling of extreme hope and extreme apprehension. Man is never able to decide which of the two is to be preferred—hope or apprehension. It is a situation of love and fear in which man runs towards the very Being he fears, hoping to receive from Him, His divine blessings. It is a state of mental anguish, yet at the same time it is a state of complete solace. Thus we learn that prayer is basically a psychological experience rather than an external event. Man, in the last analysis, is a sensitive thinking being: so in its definitive form, prayer in relation to man, is the expression of an inner state rather than of an external happening. The Prophet has clearly stated that, “righteousness is a thing of the heart.” According to the Quran, the essence of worship is to be God-fearing. This finds expression in a Hadith (sayings and deeds of the Prophet of Islam). Once the Prophet observed pointing to his heart, ‘The fear of God lies here.’ (Bukhari). The Quran states: 'People, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, so that you may become righteous.' (2: 21) Worship, in terms of external expression means bowing before the Sustainer, while in its inner sense it stands for that deep realization of and strong attachment to God in which man is so involved that he can experience the very presence of God. The Prophet is reported to have said, “Pray to God as if you are seeing Him.” (Mishkat). According to this saying, the most sublime form of worship is that in which the worshipper is so lost in thoughts of God that he finds himself very close to Him. His apprehension of the divine presence should be as keen as if God were actually seeing him. This state of psychological proximity is the most sublime state of prayer. All rites of worship are aimed at arriving at that state. The postures to be adopted in the performance of these rites are ordained by God Himself. Anyone who asserts that it is possible to pray to God independently of The relation of man to God is the relation of extreme humility with an extremely beloved Being.