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This concept of
science is so common now that even if a student of early years is asked, he
will at once reply: Everything, each action, each trait, even the sound of our
voice, and each word uttered by our tongue, remain afloat, in the form of waves
in the environment.
If we are somehow
able to increase the wavelength of sound above 1600 or decrease it below 400,
we will be able to listen to the voices of our ancestors who passed
away hundreds of thousands of years ago, and will be able to convey our desires
and wishes to them.
Prayers
is also a desire and a wish. Its aim is to reach that Holy and Greatest being
who holds the reins of everything. He is Omnipotent — He can, whenever He
wishes, and however He can, whenever alter the system of operation of this
universe. Some 1400 years ago, when Muslims were famous for the greatness of
this universe. Some of their character,
devotees of Islam were gaining dominance over the world of non-believing
oppressors. Such was their awe and majesty that the guards of Bait-al-Magdis
['The Dome of the Rock] presented to them the keys of the Holy House of Allah,
on their own accord. Then a time came when this nation which once stood strong
as an indestructible wall, fragmented into different sects. The purity in the
character of the Muslims eclipsed and the Muslims began to recoil. 'They
recoiled so much that the fabric of their organization disintegrated.
rom
the time we gained awareness of life, as far back as we can remember, our eyes
and ears have witnessed only one thing, whether it be in mosques, or personal
gatherings, or on pulpits, or in crowds of hundreds of thousands, a single
prayer is being repeated that, 'O, Allah give us victory over the enemy!'
Another thing which we have heard since childhood is that, 'Oppressors are
maghdhoob ['under wrath of Allah']; they will never be able to rule.' This is
the commentary usually presented for:
[' ...those who have not incurred Thy displeasure,
And those who have not gone astray.']
[The Holy Quran, Chapter 1: verse 07]
Friends, what a
travesty it is that strangers are constantly trampling our identity by means of
violence, cruelty and injustice, while we are moving along a path of constant
degradation and turning into the living image of the verse:
['Then,
if he does evil deeds, we degrade him as the lowest of the low.']
[Holy Quran, Chapter 95: verse 05]
Miles away from
practice, we have made mere verbal utterance of prayer our sole means of
support and reliance.
Just as sounds are
left echoing in the environment, prayer unaccompanied by action, character, and
sincerity, is also unable to escape the confines of this earth. According to
the laws of Allah the Exalted, only that prayer is given acceptance in His court
which is congruent with continuous and unending actions of the supplicant. The
pure and holy life of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him, stands before us. The reason for the creation of the universe, the beloved
Prophet of Allah, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, did not teach
us mere verbal calculations. He presented the elevated and exalted model of life with continuous action and struggle. We are
ever ready to make verbal claims, but when it comes time for action, we air as
good as thorns on a plant, not its fruits and flowers. Who does not know that
lying, nepotism, unlawful hoarding, backbiting, causing disputes to break
relationships, looking down on others, and surrendering to the enticements of
material gain in one's life, all result in agonizing misery. Yet we are running
towards this hell. The heavenly caller is beckoning us, warning that the
direction we are headed leads to hardship, but alas, even though we know and
understand everything, we have turned our lives into a hell.
The divine guide,
the king of prophets, the all- merciful, benefactor of humanity, may peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him, had told of a person who after completing a
long journey, reaches for the pilgrimage of holy places. Wrapped in layers of
dust and dirt, he raises both his hands towards the heavens and says:
'O,
my Lord!"O, my Lord!'
Even
though his food is haraam ['forbidden' or 'acquired by forbidden means'], his
drink is haraam, his clothes are haraam, and it was with haraam means that his
body became nourished and grew, so how can the prayer of such a person he
accepted?
In
today's society, the way we earn a living, our style of living, our standard of
living, and our words and deeds are all too clearly at great discrepancy with
the life of the Prophet of Allah”.
KHWAJA SHAMS-UD-DEEN AZEEMI
Science has made immense progress, yet many believe that, even with all of the modern tools at our disposal, human beings function at no more than 10% of their mental capacity. This leads to the question of what exactly it is that comprises the remaining 90%. Yet another question that arises is this: If it has taken man four and a half billion years to be able to apply only 10% of his ability, how long will it take for him to make use of the remaining 90%?
