Congregational Prayer

In 'Struggle to Surrender' by Jeffrey Lang, there is this section:

"Here I am, trying to concentrate all my attention on God, and yet I am
constantly conscious of someone's body brushing against me on my right and
left!"

I told him that I thought he had arrived at an important
observation that uncovers a fundamental precept of Islam: even in your most
intense worship, you are not to forget your brother or sister on your
right and on your left. In other words, your personal and spiritual
welfare and salvation is inseparably linked to your response to your fellow
human beings.

The complain to Jeffrey Lang brought back a recurring question in my mind. Why is it that Islam puts such great emphasis in congregational prayers, even to the point of making it compulsory at least once a week (and for brothers) to have such a congregational prayer in the form of the Friday prayer? And in the second chapter, verse 43, God specifically say:

Bow down in prayer with all who thus bow down.

which really puts the emphasis on congregational prayer.

Jeffrey Lang stated in a few words a convincing answer to my question. In truth, the Qur'an has hinted at this with its emphasis of combining prayer and zakah (alms-giving). Iterated several times, we first comes across it in the second chapter, verse 3:

"Who believe in [the existence of] that which is beyond the reach of human
perception, and are constant in prayer, and spend on others out of what We
provide for them as sustenance."

Here, Muhammad Asad commented that

Ar-rizq ("provision of sustenance") applies to all that may be of benefit to
man, whether it be concrete (like food, property, offspring, etc.) or abstract
(like knowledge, piety, etc.). The "spending on others" is mentioned here in one
breath with God-consciousness and prayer because it is precisely in such
selfless acts that true piety comes to its full fruition. It should be borne in
mind that the verb anfaqa (lit., "he spent") is always used in the Qur'an to
denote spending freely on, or as a gift to, others, whatever the motive may
be.

The coupling of prayer and zakah tells us that prayer, which is ultimately a direct communication with God and therefore quite personal, is incomplete without the outer dimension and manifestation of zakah, which links us to our fellow human being. But in order to 'spend freely' as Muhammad Asad puts it, it is indeed a selfless act, in that we have to deny ourselves of our love for wealth and recognise the rights of others on the wealth that God has given us. This is not an easy act unless we know and love our fellow human being.

Thus Islam ensures the building of the rapport with our brothers and sisters in Islam by instituting the congregational prayer among other forms of worship. Through the congregational prayer, the sense of belonging to the community of believers is developed and thus makes it easier to identify with the poor, needy and to give out of what God has allocated for us to them. For when we are praying side by side, aren't we likely to notice those who are distressed, the disabled, those whose faces are starving and more? When that happens, the inner instinct that God has equipped us with will not allow us to look away and ignore our brothers and sisters in need of our help, be it material, emotional, or other forms of support.

And in giving, especially of wealth, it cleanses our hearts of greed and avarice, of pride and all other diseases of the heart, making it easier to see our own status vis-a-vis God and developing our sense of God-consciousness. So the symbiosis of the relation between us and Allah and the relationship between us and our fellow human being is thus captured in the essence of congregational prayer. Symbolically, at the end of the prayer where we have been communing with God, glorifying Him, asking Him for help, and gaining inner peace from the prayer, we turn to our right and give the greeting of peace to our brother or sister there and similarly on our left. That the peace we obtain from Him is being spread to the whole community.

There are of course other dimensions to the benefits of congregational prayer which are not covered here but can be found within various books and on the internet.

Wallahu'alam.

Goodbye to Ramadhan

I waited with baited breath and anticipation for Your arrival, O Blessed One.
For an Honoured Guest, my house I tried to clean and prepare.
I didn't realise the enormity of gathered dust and cobwebs crisscrossing the Opening of the Room.
It shamed me to say that but for Your arrival the Room would have been ignored, Empty.

You came, like a breath of fresh air, and the Room came to life with Your Presence.
As Your host, I tried to be as gracious as I can be.
Still I know I have not been the most generous and gracious of Hosts.
Outside distractions pulling my attention away from You, O Honourable One.
Would You still come to visit me again next year, I wonder?

Now You are leaving, O Dearest One.
Just when I have learnt to appreciate Your Presence.
I worry that without Your Presence the Room will once again fall to silence, lifeless.
But, by God the Creator of You and me, I will try my best to fend off the threat.
The Threat of gathering dust and cobwebs on the Opening of the Room.
All in anticipation for Your return...I hope we will meet again, O Beloved One.

Kilmartin in the summer, part 2.

I was hoping to have written about the second part of my trip long before now, but Ramadhan and other demands on my time has diverted my attention and resources. Tonight, as I sit alone in my room, waiting for Isya prayer on the last night of Ramadhan, I thought I should finish writing.

Wednesday was wonderful. After spending time at Bellanoch, Chris drove us to the 'beach' where we sat watching the clouds gathering, a man and his dog fishing, a couple hunting for clams or something similar, and a woman braving the cold waters to swim. As with Bellanoch, the sense of peace pervades. Ending the day with a trip to a Bangladeshi restaurant for dinner, the day was as perfect as it could be.

Thursday, we woke up to another lovely day and Chris suggested we visit Inverarray Castle, the family seat of the Duke of Argyll. While I've visited the castle before, this time, they just opened part of the gardens to visitors. As a final treat, we actually spotted the Duke himself as he served behind the counter in the souvenir shop within the Castle. On the way back, we stopped just outside of Port Ann where Chris and I took a walk down to the water's edge, leaving Jenni in the car to read. A twenty minute walk stretched to an hour when we spotted some interesting water birds. I was glad Chris was there to tell me what the various birds were. Home-made pizza with toppings out of left over chicken and a spot of Big Bang Theory mellowed us considerably, after which we trooped down to Kilmartin Church for a spot of bat watching. That was exciting as Chris had a bat 'translator' with her. It basically made the bats' calls audible to the human ear. We actually spotted at least 3 or 4 pipinstrelle and heard their calls. Wished we could stay longer but the midges were getting to us.

Friday was quite miserable, as the rains continued pouring all morning. Luckily, we left the Kilmartin flower exhibition to the last and so instead of driving out, we just trooped down to the church again to view the various flower arrangements. The exhibition, with the theme of Thanks and Praise, showcased the talents of Kilmartin residents, which was considerable. After the rain subsided in the afternoon, Chris brought us to her favourite spot near Tayvallich where we basically enjoyed the sound of the waves and gazed out into the Atlantic Ocean. Last thing we did that day was to say hi and goodbye to the standing stones near Kilmartin. These were the same ones I saw when I visited Chris earlier this year but the lack of snow really made a difference to the atmostphere surround the stones.

On Saturday, a full week after we arrived, Jenni and I headed back to 'civilization' leaving behind a wonderful, exciting, yet restful experience. I really hope I'll have a chance to visit Chris and Kilmartin again.

End of Ramadhan and Solitude

Ramadhan is almost over and Eid Al-Fitr is dawning. The time flies but hopefully what we learnt and gained this Ramadhan stays with us.

I was feeling rather sad that the last ten days draws to a close and the window of opportunity to be in solitude with the Creator and Sustainer within the Night of Power is once again gone. At least till next Ramadhan, if Allah permits me to meet it.

One of the pleasures of Ramadhan that I've discovered or rediscovered recently is the personal communication with Him in the depth of the night. I struggle to wake up for an hour or two before the dawn prayer to eat, pray and read the Quran. The interrupted sleep does get to me but there is a peace that pervades without the cacophony of daily noises that is rewarding in itself. One of the resolve I have (if I can sustain it) is to continue this action at least a few times a week.

As I mentioned, I was feeling rather sad and then saw a friend posting a link to the following article this afternoon.
http://www.theamericanscholar.org/solitude-and-leadership/
It is about how solitude is an essential part of leadership and that being in solitude nurtures the leadership in us. The author defines leadership as:
'the idea that true leadership means being able to think for yourself and act on your convictions.'
and so the ability to think forourselves is aided by solitude which he defines as :

1. Concentration - gathering yourself together into a single point rather than letting yourself be dispersed everywhere into a cloud of electronic and social input. That is, not to be distracted by others.
He said:
'I find for myself that my first thought is never my best thought. My first thought is always someone else’s; it’s always what I’ve already heard about the subject, always the conventional wisdom. It’s only by concentrating, sticking to the question, being patient, letting all the parts of my mind come into play, that I arrive at an original idea. By giving my brain a chance to make associations, draw connections, take me by surprise. And often even that idea doesn’t turn out to be very good. I need time to think about it, too, to make mistakes and recognize them, to make false starts and correct them, to outlast my impulses, to defeat my desire to declare the job done and move on to the next thing.'

2. Solitory work - doing something on your own like building something, writing, reading.

3. Introspection

4. Friendship - the deep friendship of intimate conversation. Long, uninterrupted talk with one other person.
He said:
'Introspection means talking to yourself, and one of the best ways of talking to yourself is by talking to another person. One other person you can trust, one other person to whom you can unfold your soul. One other person you feel safe enough with to allow you to acknowledge things—to acknowledge things to yourself—that you otherwise can’t. Doubts you aren’t supposed to have, questions you aren’t supposed to ask. Feelings or opinions that would get you laughed at by the group or reprimanded by the authorities.'


After reading it, I was struck by the following thought:
- Were the tahajud (night) prayers and the activities such as reading the Qur'an in the depth of the nights encouraged during Ramadhan not devised to fulfill those definitions of solitude?
- Who could be a better Friend that we can trust and unfold our souls other than Him?
- As Islam states that everyone is a 'khalifa' (leader/appointed deputy of Allah on Earth), a training regime is necessary to develop the leadership skills, thus the encouragement to wake up part of the night to devote oneself in prayer.
- Similarly, taking time away from the busy lifestyle to pray five times a day allows one to gather oneself 'into a single point' as the author describes it, away from the cacophony of other thoughts, voices, etc.

Thus, I think I gain a new perspective on the dimensions of Salah and night prayer.