Prayer

Question:-

Do prayer and other religious techniques work? Believers often say that their prayers work and they point at things that go right in their lives. However when things go wrong they don't blame prayer for it. The Quran also says that when things go well you should thank Allah and when things go badly you should blame yourself. Isn't this circular thinking? Can you explain how prayer can change things in life that seem to be governed by natural laws?

Answer:-

Allah has constructed the Universe according to a plan, i.e. with certain laws and according to a certain purpose. His plans will be fulfilled. That is what the Quran affirms. It is entirely unlikely that He would flout these or that contradictions can occur.

So if a person prays, then only those prayers will be fulfilled that accord with the Universal plan.

If one person who wants a nice holiday prays for sunshine and a farmer prays for rain at the same place. Which of these are answered? Suppose it rains or there is sunshine, which of these two people thinks his prayer was answered?

The Quran gives us an example of correct prayer. It is always about ones own thoughts, motives and abilities, not about external events. One prays for oneself, to strengthen one's spiritual capacities, consciousness, conscience and will, faith, compassion, hope, even if it is on behalf of someone else. We can ask questions, or ask for forgiveness, or express gratitude and thank God, or we can ask the help of God in some endeavour we have undertaken or seek His guidance.

We must not only ask, but we must also be receptive and be prepared to listen and not expect a particular answer as that might not be what is appropriate or good for us. Prayers can be answered as thought that arise in us, or as feelings, or as events. It is often the case that when we have a question or problem in mind then events take place that provide the answer or solution because we are predisposed to notice those aspects of it that can be interpreted in the appropriate manner and applied. However, human being are not only able to see what is true, good and useful and comes from an objective source, but also what comes from habit, conditioning and partial knowledge, as well as that which comes from fantasy, wishful thinking, obsessions, superstition and illusion, that is, from subjective sources and what can be attributed to Satan. It is always necessary to distinguish between these three factors. In general this a difficult task unless devotion to God, self-consciousness and sincerity are cultivated. The tendency is to suppress out of consciousness what one does not wish to hear or see in order to cling what has attachments to because of a false idea that it is in ones self-interest. The idea of “self” has been mistaken and what one wishes to serve is physical pleasure, ease, greed, lust, envy or vanity. What is objectively good and beneficial to man always forms a wholly self-consistent system that is compatible with the truth upon which man is constructed. The awareness of this depends on consciousness. Satan works in the darkness when man is heedless and unaware.

It is necessary to understand that human beings contain the Spirit of Allah (Quran 32:9) and it is this that is the Real Self. It implies that man has consciousness, conscience and will and that this also gives him the Divine powers of initiative, responsibility and creativity. As a Vicegerent (Quran 2:30), man creates and modifies not only the Reality of the external world but also within himself. He does so by interaction with Reality (Allah) through thought, feeling and action. Though these can be formed independently they do affect each other. But conscious thoughts generate feelings and associated motives, and these generate actions. As the Quran says:-

“That, your thoughts which you did think about your Lord, have ruined you; and ye find yourselves among the lost.” 41:23

“O you who believe! If you do your duty to Allah He will give you discrimination and will rid you of your evil thoughts and deeds, and will forgive you; for Allah is Lord of Infinite Bounty.” 8:29

We modify ourselves (a) directly through self-suggestion, (b) by any action that we do which reinforce or cancel the effects of other actions and (c) indirectly because things within us are interconnected in ways we do not know, so that other things change. (d) Our actions, motives and thoughts affect each other, and modifying any of these affects the others. Our perception and attitude changes and we see and interpret the world differently. We might see features, opportunities and connections that we would not otherwise see. We change ourselves inwardly and in outer behaviour. (e) The result is that we interact and affect our environment and things in it differently at both conscious and unconscious levels. (f) The environment, the things and people in it, therefore react differently. This in its turn gives us different experiences which change our thoughts, motives and behaviour. (g) The world around is not only seen different, but becomes different.

We are required to act, to make an effort, both external and internal. This is what has consequences according to natural laws. But some people have a naive and narrow view of natural laws. There are not only physical laws, but also biological and psychological ones. Even when we see a law such as gravity that requires all things to fall to the ground, this does not prevent us from throwing things up or birds and aeroplanes from flying. It simply means that we have to pay for what we do in the form of energy. We acquire energy and take advantage of the laws of aerodynamics or of our biological and psychological abilities.

All good comes from Allah, by definition. That is, the Good is that which fulfils a purpose and the purpose of all things in the Universe is what Allah has created it for.

Evil is simply the absence of Good.

Evil comes from man in two senses:-

(1) That he does not behave according to the nature made by Allah:-

"Then set your purpose for religion as a man upright by nature - the nature made by Allah in which He has made men; there is no altering (the laws of) Allah's creation; that is the right religion, but most people do not know." 30:30

(2) That he judges things subjectively instead of objectively - i.e. by what Allah has given. For instance, man judges things that give him pain as bad and things that give him pleasure as good. But the reverse may be the case. He may be a pervert, a sadist and gets pleasure from giving pain to others. A child might think that when he is punished by the parent that that is evil, when, in fact, it was meant to teach him not to do what might harm him.

Objectively, both pain and pleasure have the same goal - one to attract to it and the other to repel from the opposite. The human view of pain and pleasure is subjective. These are a pair of opposites we are required to transcend by fleeing unto Allah.

Question:-

What about praying for your own or someone else's safety or physical health? What about the prophet praying for rain in Hadith?

Comment:-

The same applies, except that the Prophet had a closer link with Allah.

As I said there are consequences to actions according to Law. All human beings do have a link with the rest of their environment at all levels and interact with it, but we do not all have the same powers.

Question:-

But, how would you answer people who say that prayer is just self delusion (give you the idea that you can effect external processes) and by that only works psychologically (give you self confidence or hope etc). In the end things have to be done on the secular scale no matter what hopes, wishes, dreams, or prayers you had. So prayer is just a psychological trick like a doctor giving a patient a fake medicine and the patient gets more self-confidence and gets cured. Can you perhaps explain how prayer works in perspective of say, quantum physics?

Answer:-

There is no answer for people who do not believe, cannot or will not.

If prayer is "a psychological trick like a doctor giving a fake medicine" and "the patient gets more self-confident and gets cured", then, it is NOT "a fake treatment" because the patient did get better.

How does one judge anything? Is it not by its effects?

We have several levels of reality:-

(1) The ordinary physical world we see.

(2) The world of cells and crystals of which the seen world is composed, but also the world in which it lies - i.e. all things are surrounded by micro-organisms.

(3) The world of atoms and molecules. This is also more extensive than the previous. It is within as well as outside the entities of the previous level.

(4) The world of sub-atomic particles. This is also more extensive than the previous.

(5) The sub-quantum world which can be regarded as the fundamental field that is a network of forces, such that an event at one spot has instant effects on all other spots and vice versa.

(One could add another level before all these, that of the stars in the sky. According to the Quran there are seven levels corresponding to the 7 heavens and 7 corresponding earths, which could be interpreted in different ways, but the above will suffice as examples of levels.)

We obviously contain all these levels within us, and we interact with the corresponding levels in the environment. We do so unconsciously. But we could do so consciously. We normally do so consciously only at level 1. But doctors can treat us at level 2 and 3, though we can only affect ourselves unconsciously at these levels. Placebos, Faith and Prayer could act at level 4 and 5, but in a sub-conscious way, as do Suggestion and Psycho-somatic diseases. We are not conscious of ourselves at these levels. Some rare people might be.

We are required through prayer, meditation and the religious disciplines to climb up these levels in consciousness.

Question:-

The Quran appears to tell us that we live in a world of illusion.

"Every soul must taste of death; and you shall only be paid what you have earned on the Day of Resurrection. But he who is forced away from the Fire and brought into Paradise is indeed triumphant; but the life of this world is but a possession of illusion." 3:185

How does this fit in with the world as made by Allah with Truth?

Comment:-

We do not see the real world, but the effects of it on our minds. Our consciousness is limited and much of the real world is outside our consciousness. Apart from this, what we see depends on what we select from what we are conscious of according to our interests which directs our attention and then we we interpret and organise the data, by analysis, association and synthesis. So there are at least three levels here. Add to this various fantasies, desires, wishful thinking and so on and this gives us still another level.

We could think of the world as having the following levels:-

(1) At the most fundamental level we have the World Absolute, which is unitary and undifferentiated. It has no limitations.

(2) Then we have the World of Fundamental Principles which distinguishes between what is possible and what is not. This is the First Limitation.

(3) Then we have the World of Potentialities which refers to all the things that can occur given a set of laws. This is the Second Limitation. This can be regarded as the same as described by Quantum Theory as a field of Probability Waves.

(4) Then we have the World of Actualities. This world arises at every point where there is an interaction. In Quantum Theory, the Probability Wave collapses into a particle when it interacts with a measuring device or any other entity. To generalise, the Actual World for each individual is the result of his interaction with his environment. This is the Third Limitation.

(5) The World of Interpretations. We do not merely interact with the world, but we have to interpret it. We live in a world of ideas. This is the Fourth Limitation.

(6) There is also a World of Illusions, which is a misinterpretation of experiences. It is also real in that it has its affects on our behaviour and through it, the environment. But it leads to mal-adaptation, contradiction, conflict and suffering, which may lead to learning. This is the Fifth Limitation.

(7) The World of Fantasy where many impossible things are possible. However, even in this world things are distinguishable from each other. This world is a reflection of the second world. This tends to trap people in a vicious circle that leads to destruction. This is the Sixth Limitation.

The 8th level would be a reflection of the first, but its opposite, total non-existence.

We are required to ascend this ladder.

Question:-

I understand that Sunnis pray five times a day because it was prescribed to be five during the Miraj (The vision of the Prophet about his journey through the heavens) according to the Sunnah (Tradition). My question, then, is why do Shia's pray only three times a day?

Answer:-

Prayer five times a day is prescribed for all Muslims in order to keep them reminded of Reality and their goal in life so that their thoughts, motives and actions should always be focused. This is accepted by both Shias and Sunnis. But it is permissible to combine the Zuhr (noon) prayer with the Asr (mid-afternoon) prayer and the Maghrib (sunset) prayer with the Isha (evening) prayer, but each still remains a separate whole. Sunnis allow this combination only occasionally when necessary. Some Shias allow it more often and others make it a regular feature. This is based on the following Hadith:-

"Ibn Abbas narrates that the Messenger of Allah recited the Zuhr and Asr prayers together, and also said the Maghrib and Isha prayers, although he was neither in a state of fear, nor was there any other cause, e.g. rain. It is related from Waki that he asked Ibn Abbas the reason (for the joint prayers). Ibn Abbas replied: So that the followers (of the Prophet) may not experience inconvenience and difficulty."

Critic:-

I am told that Muslims are called to prayer 5 times a day by the Azhan which is a call to prayer by a Muezzin. Shouldn't your own conscience call you to prayer at any time and moment of the day if it is truly turned towards God?

Comment:-

You could ask Christians the same question. The Azan, the Call to Prayer has a similar function to the Church bells that call Christians to prayer. It is a reminder and it has the social function of calling people together at the same time and place.

However there is a difference:- It is a human voice and not a mechanical device - something with consciousness and not dead. There is rhythm and expression to it that appeals to the soul that no dead instrument can produce. The Call itself is full of fundamental meanings about existence - apart from affirming the faith it tells us the true nature of success.

Critic:-

We Christians are told to pray without ceasing, and that the fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. To pray for our enemies, to pray over one another, for one another, to pray for repentance, pray with one another, to pray for the sick, for the world, for peace, to ask for prayer for ourselves, to guard against temptation, to pray without doubt.

Jesus stood against ritual. Ancient or modern rituals are irrelevant; they are simply the church's way of guiding people into a form of worship.  The similarity is only in the rituals of men to guide people to worship, not of God. A church has to guide its flock, but the ritual s not a calling of God. A church that does not know this finds itself dead.

Comment:-

Muslims are required to make their whole life into worship of God. That is the significance of the word Muslim and Islam (surrender to Allah). Obviously this involves being always aware of God - a condition we call Taqwa.

When a Muslim hears the Azan he is required to repeat the words inwardly, meditating on them. This implies that his consciousness, conscience and will turn towards God.

You erroneously think that Jesus forbade ritual. This is naive misunderstanding. He stood against ritualism which refers to actions without meaning and the letter without spirit.

Jesus taught salvation by obedience to God (Matthew 7:21-23) and

"While I was with them in the world I kept them in Thy (the Father's) name." John 17:12.

Matthew 5:17-18 clearly show that Jesus did not come to abolish the Law, but Christians have done so. The first Bishop of True Christianity, James, the brother of Jesus writes:-

"But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?" James 2:20

You speak of Islamic prayer as a ritual when, in fact, it is supposed to be a prayer and meditation combined designed to bring us near God when properly done. The format of the prayer was taught by the Prophet just as the Lord’s Prayer was taught to Christians. The act of obedience to God is itself worship.

We also think that Jesus was also a Muslim (one who had surrendered to God) and that he taught his followers to do the same. But how many Christians or Muslims do so?

The Call to Prayer itself is full of fundamental meanings about existence - apart from affirming the faith it tells us the true nature of success.

Critic:-

I am sorry I don't quite understand this, what do you mean by the true nature of success?

Comment:-

The true nature of Success is to have turned towards God, to surrender and act as agents of God and achieve Paradise - i.e. nearness or at-one-ness with Allah.

Critic:-

At oneness? Isn't this what Muslims deny of Jesus? He and his Father were one. He was God. We believe that Jesus is fully One with His Father and Holy Spirit and therefore they are One and the same. Jesus quite clearly tells us that the way to His Father is through Him, and therefore it is through Him, His pre-birth, His birth, life, death and resurrection that we come to receive His Holy Spirit into our lives.

Comment:-

No, as I said, we think he was a Muslim, one who had surrendered to God as his own words in the NT affirm. We do not believe he was God, but a man who by his surrender became an agent of God, His representative on earth, a vicegerent as we all are to become. He was "Emanuel" (God-with us, not God), one anointed by God (Messiah). an image of God if you will, a Spirit and Word of God.

"He that hears my word and believes on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come unto condemnation, but is passed from death into life." John 5:24

Note that it is not belief in Jesus but in the Father that leads to salvation.

Yes the way to the Father in heaven is through the Messengers He sent. This includes, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and others in all parts of the World. We reject salvation through the crucifixion of Jesus.. Jesus did not teach any such thing. He taught: salvation through obedience to the Father which is in Heaven Matthew 7:21-23.

The following verses show that there is no Trinity and the Father is the only God:-

John 1:18, 5:37, 6:29,46, 13:16 15:1-2, 4:28 17:3, 20:17, Romans 15:6 1Corinthians 1:3, 3:22-23, 8:5-6, 11:3, 12:4-6 2Corinthians. 1:2-3, 11:31, 13:14 Ephesians 1:2-3, 17 6:23, 4:4-6. Galatians 4:4-6 Philippians 1:2, 4:19-20 Colossians 1:2-3 1Thessalonians, 1:1 2Thessalonians 1:1-2 1John 4:12, 2John 1:3 1Timothy 1:2, 17, 2:5, 6:15-16 Titus 1:4 Philemon 1:3 James 2:19 Jude 1:1 1 Peter 1:2-3.

"Now we know that God hears not sinners; but if any man be a worshipper of God and does His will, him He hears." John 9:31

"And this is Eternal Life that they might know THEE THE ONLY TRUE GOD and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent." John 17:3

Critic:-

I follow Jesus, who I believe was born, raised and guided in Spirit and love for the whole world. He is my Messiah and Lord.

Comment:-

That is fair enough, provided you know what he was really teaching and follow that. He said: While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thine (God's) name. and that salvation was by obedience to God, not his crucifixion. And he taught the Lord's prayer:- "Our Father in Heaven....". And he also taught the ritual of the Sacrament of the bread and wine.

----------<O>----------

Contents