IBADAAT

51:56 And I (Allah) created not the
jinn and mankind except that they
should worship me.

51:57 I seek no provision from them,
neither do I desire that they should
sustain Me.

51:58 Verily, Allah is the All Provider,
Possessor of Power, the most strong.
ADH DHARIYAT :51

Thus from the above ayats it becomes crystal clear that by offering prayers to Allah, by our devotion and Dua, we are the ones who would be receiving His bounties. His worship is in our own interest, for our well being and for our emancipation.

Prayer is supplication and Praise of Allah and our complete surrender to Him not merely by words but in deed and in thought.

Prayer is putting ones faith in the hands of Allah. The commitment should be total, both of body and mind. Allah. Thus one should prayer in complete surrender to His Lord. One should also prayer with feeling and marefah. When standing before Allah one should feel the Glory and Power of the Lord.

Glory be to the Holy Monarch

Lord of the Angels and the Soul!

You honour the heavens

with Your Power and Glory.

(Remembrance and Prayer - Muhammad al Ghazali- English translation)

Thus the sublime radiance of the lote tree in the seventh heaven and the tiniest seed in the dark recess of the earth are as one in His Knowledge, may His name be praised.

The spiritually observant person although created of clay can aspire to the heavens. By selfless dua and devotion one can alchamize his triviality with sublimely and surpass the angels, who have been created sublime. Man on the other hand created of baser elements overcomes his handicap and earns Allah’s pleasure.

For the westernised oriented thinking persons, no doubt there are many in our community, who do not come out openly, but have assailing doubts corroding their faith, here are some hard facts.

Harvard Medical School associate professor Dr. Herbert Benson has brought new understanding on the effects of prayer. He notes that 60 to 90 percent of doctor visits are for stress related illness - including hypertension, infertility, insomnia and cardiovascular disease.

But Benson has shown that the relaxed state brought on by prayer and meditation reduces the impact of stress hormones, such as, noradrenaline and adrenaline.

"Repetitive prayer slows a person’s heart and breathing rates," he says. "It lowers blood pressure and even slows brain waves, all without drugs or surgery." (Reader’s Digest - Dec:1998 )

Prayer is an open hearted acceptance of the bounty and benefits, and whole hearted thanksgiving to Him who confers it. A life of prayer and devotion is not merely religiously offering of salat appointed times, ones entire life should be a form of continual prayer. In Islam earning livelihood by just and honest means is also akin to prayers, likewise different aspects of life and its noble persuasion with the sole aim of betterment of individual self and society and the world at large is IBADAT.

However without valayat and true tawheed all our efforts and prayers come to a nought. In prayers the khalis niyaat should always be that this my Ibadat is not for personal gratification and gains, but in the riza of Allah, his Vali Imam uz - Zaman (S.A.) and in his seclusion Dai ul Mutlaq who in our times embodies the illustrious personality, the malakuti farishta our bawa - shafiq Moula Mohammad Burhanuddin Saheb (TUS) whose valayat in our hearts is the only parameter by which our Ibadat becomes acceptable in the eyes of Allah.

True Ibadat is a person’s heeding to the will of Allah in every situation, his keeping the activities within the bounds of what Allah and His Vali has commanded and prohibited, acknowledging his human frailties, true repentance with a conviction not to repeat the mistakes and seeking the guidance and help of Allah and His Vali in times of tribulations and doubts.

May Allah grant our beloved Aqa Moula (TUS) whose entire life is a continuous Doa , a supplication to Allah and His Vali Imamuz -zaman (S.A.) sehato -afiyat -ta- kiyamaat. Aameen.

ABDE SYEDNA (TUS)

Asgar Fakhrudin