THE SPIRIT OF SALATH (PRAYER

Farahi as shukr. Thus, in the very beginning of salath, a worshipper acknowledges that all gratitude is for God alone. Our entire life is full of things which call for thankfulness to God, we could begin with our own faculties of speech, hearing, thinking etc. Hearing for example is possible because of the presence of air, which acts as a medium for the transfer of sound waves. In the absence of air, sound could not have travelled and we would have not been able to hear. For further thankfulness one could remind oneself of modern means of communication, which has made it possible to be heard and to hear others from distant locations. Both these phenomena are a source of offering of gratitude to God. It implies that God not only provided air to enable communication between people who are near to each other, but also made nature in such a manner that we could develop technology through which the entire globe can potentially listen to what one has to say. Even kings in earlier times did not have the luxury of speaking and being heard by all: they had access only to people physically near them. Since the twentieth century, Muslims kept lamenting about the loss of the Abbasid, Ottoman and Mughal Empires. The focus of Muslims since these empires collapsed has been to regain their lost glory. But in reality, they could not regain what they had lost. A more grave aspect of this tendency in Muslims was that as a result of their desire to get back what they lost, they started living in a sense of deprivation. Instead of living a life of gratitude and thankfulness to God for what they already have, Muslim psyche came to be marred by the feeling of loss and deprivation. So although Muslims observe salath, and utter the phrase Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen, in reality they do not live with the spirit of true gratitude. A person who yearns after something he does not have and fails to regain it will naturally lament over it and become sorrowful, instead of living with the feelings of thankfulness to the Creator. Though Muslims perform the prescribed five-times salath, in truth their lives are devoid of the spirit of thankfulness or shukr. The Prophet had predicted this scenario of the Muslim community. He had once said: “A time will come when mosques will be full [of people], but devoid of guidance.” (Mishkat al-Masabih) Those who truly believe that God is the greatest will have an outburst of thankfulness for Him and will mention His glory and greatness when they speak, instead of speaking about the complaints they have of others.