Our Prayers

Death dances upon the land of the Almighty. The god of hypocrisy has awakened. Coercion and tyranny abound. The blood of innocent children is being used to irrigate the desert.

Wedged between the immensely resourceful lands of great kingships, people have shown such a horrific display of cruelty and barbarity that the heart-wrenching cries, harrowing wails and lamentation of their victims has taken away the sleep of the innocent. It seems as if the land of God's appointed messengers has turned away from us, and our feelings of shame me and disgrace have reddened the sky.

This is the same group of people regarding which we have always been hearing that they are referred to [as the ones who had incurred God's displeasure] in [the verse],

I "(Guide us in the path of)...those who have not incurred thy displeasure, and those who have not gone astray"

(Holy Quran chl:v6)]

That time of childhood, imprinted on the surface of consciousness by the name of memory, reminds me that, for the last 56 years, in every mosque, on every podium, in every school, and in every gathering geared towards advice and sermon, we have heard our religious leaders repeat the same prayer that, 'O Allah, destroy the cruel and bestow victory upon the victims. Now today when we see that the land of the Almighty is burning and His noble creation, trapped amid poisonous bombs, is hanging in the balance of life and death, sobbing in the iron clutches of cruelty and injustice, we have no choice but to say that the prayers of the believers offered over a period of half a century have proved ineffective. Rivals of peace have drowned conscience in the drunken celebration of their victory; that neither innocent children, nor women find any respite; that the elderly have become disabled and paralyzed; but there isn't a corner where one would hear the cry as to why this is happening, and why the believers who were promised victory by God have become a burden upon the earth!

The Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, gave the glad tidings of victory and success, and he also determined the path which led to the achievement of that victory.

Why have we set a seal upon our hearts, and why have we cast such thick curtains before our eyes? Why do we not see that the Holy Prophet (saw), for whom this universe was created, had used actions along with prayers! In his life in Makkah, actions went hand in hand with prayers. And this [was despite the fact that] he is that respected, honoured and holy personage by the motion of whose hand the moon fell apart into two. This [was despite the fact that] he is that dearly beloved of the Lord of the Worlds with whom Allah the Exalted communicated in private and bestowed such an honour of His nearness as had never been experienced by any human, nor will it ever be experienced by any human. This is the same exalted and honoured personage before whom angels bowed in servitude, and before whom the Angel Gabrielas sat humbly with his knees folded. This is the same personage in whose imaamat ['lead'] grand prophets of God offered salaat, and regarding this saviour, every prophet had given tidings in heavenly books—the one personified in the verse,

The simple truth is that alter Goal, you alone are the most honourable

If prayer, without the aid of action, was sufficient to accomplish tasks, then what was the need for the migration from Makkah to Madinah? Why the Holy Prophet(saw) was blessed tooth 'lured [in battle]? Why did the Holy Prophet(saw) lead an army from Madinah to Makkah? Why did the Holy Prophet (saw) accept boycott of the city [of Makkah]? The blessed life of the Holy Prophet(saw) tells us that Huzurs(saw)' never abandoned action and planning; [instead, Huzur(saw) employed] action and planning id prayed for their positive outcome.

Prayer without action is like body without soul; when soul departs the body, the body turns into a mere corpse which remains of no benefit at all. Similarly, prayer which is not backed by action becomes the downfall of nations.

We call ourselves Muslims. Does the spectacle we see around us represent what a Muslim is supposed to be? From the time of gaining awareness, we have seen that we have been trying to solve our problems with prayers alone. We pray for general things, and we also pray for specific issues. We have before us more than half a century's span of time to ponder. As a nation, we have yet to see a single prayer of gaining victory over the non-believers being heard. Why is this so?

Prayers are not heard because they are not accompanied by action. And the secret of creation is that action in itself is creation. In order to earn a living, we remain busy in the Beat of the sun and spoil our sleep-in freezing chills of winter nights. For the proliferation of our families, we get married. If prayers can become cannons, and missiles, and rockets, and bombs and destroy oppressors, then why create such bothersome disturbances in our own life? Why should a farmer bother to till the earth and thus attain his nutritional requirements? Why do we need to build houses to protect us from heat of the sun or from hailstorms? If every task can be accomplished with prayer, unaccompanied by action then instead of working and struggling for all matters that have to do with life we need only thus supplicate: 'O Allah Give us children; O Allah! Build us a house; O Allah! It is burdensome for us to sweat and toil, so put pieces of bread in our mouths for us.'

What kind of a joke is it that when our individual lives under question, every part of our body is busy in action, when the concern is for our collective life, we sit down our hands joined for prayer? If prayer alone could send kuffaar ['non-believers'] hell bound, then why was jihad made mandatory?

Keep in mind, people who only arrange for prayer to be offered, and do not exhibit any action to accompany that prayer are certainly no friends of the nation. This conjecture of theirs reveals them to be foolish friends whose plans always cause disgrace and dishonour. Who does not know that the absence of action becomes the undoing of a nation, encapsulating each person within his own self! A person lacking in action also becomes responsible for disobeying Allah the Exalted. Allah's rope slips from his hands, and rifts and cracks appear in the wall which once stood solid as steel. Nations that shy away from action become worthless and paralyzed, and incur the wrath of Allah.

Is there anyone who will make the nation aware of this deadly behaviour? Is there anyone who will tell the world of Islam that the entire life of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was based on action, action, and action? The Creator of the universe has made this universe active and has set it in motion. The sun, the moon, the stars, the earth, the sky, the angels, all things and all creatures, are in constant motion. Allah's appointed messengers, and all the aulia-Allah [friends of Allah/ Saintly personages'] who follow in His path have all advised action and condemned idleness:

It is action that determines whether life will be heavenly or hellish

The mortal both in itself is neither sublime light, nor hellfire

Ever since we have abandoned action and have relied solely on prayer, the sublime light has left us, and hellfire has considered us an easy meal for consumption.

O preachers! O religious speakers! O wise men of the nation! For God's sake, wake up people of the nation and tell them that nations without action turn into slaves.