The Power of Prayer: Complete Trust in Allah

Transcription

1 The Power of Prayer: Complete Trust in Allah Shazia Ahmad Ashado My Dear Sisters, Asslamo Alaikum Wa Rehmatullahe Wa barakatohu, The topic of my speech today is The Power of Prayer: Complete Trust in Allah Everyone has defining moments in their life, moments, which touch the heart so deeply that they are engraved in ones memory forever. Such a moment occurred in my life on April 22 nd, This was the night that a new Khalifa was to be announced at the Fazal mosque in London. Like millions of Ahmadis all around the world anxiously praying and awaiting the news, I was also witnessing this historical moment through MTA. At last, at 11:40 p.m. London time, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad s atba election as Khalifatul Masih the V was announced. Hudhur came out and his first message to the Jama at was: I have just one request for the members of the jama at that in today s times Focus on prayers PRAY A LOT, PRAY A LOT, PRAY A LOT My dear sisters, let s examine that why is it, that time and time again, we are reminded to put our complete trust in GOD and turn to HIM in prayers, because two of the attributes of God are Sami i.e., Hearer of Prayer and Mujeeb i.e., Answerer of Prayers. There is no better place to start exploring this subject than the Holy Quran. Allah says in Sura Al-Baqarah, Chapter 2 verse 187: And when My servants ask thee about Me, say: I am near. I answer the prayer of the supplicant when he prays to me. So they should hearken to Me and believe in Me, that they may follow the right way. (Al-Baqarah, 2:187) The Holy Prophet saws demonstrated the true meaning of the belief in the words Fa inneee Qareeb I am Near as they sought refuge in the cave of Thaur while escaping from their enemies. As the enemies drew near the mouth of the cave, Hadhrat Abu Bakr began to weep and when asked by the Holy Prophet saws why he was weeping replied, I do not weep for my life, O Prophet of God, because if I die, it is only the question of a single life. But if you die, it will be the death of Islam and of the entire Muslim community. Allah records the Prophet s reply in Surah Al-Taubah verse 40, Laa Tahzen InnAllaha Ma ana Grieve not, for Allah is with us.

2 In his commentary of the Holy Quran, Hadhrat Musleh Maud ra states that the words believe in Me in the above mentioned verse do not refer to a belief in the existence of God but rather refer to the belief in the power of God to accept prayers and belief in the fact that if appealed to, He will certainly come to our help. In his book, Kashti Nuh, The Promised Messiah as writes that when you stand up in prayer, you should know it for certain that your God has the power to do all that He wills. To supplicate is human and to respond is divine. Allah says in the Quran Pray unto Me, I will answer your prayer. (Al-Mumin 40:61) Again, Allah says, Or, Who answers the distressed person when he calls upon Him? (Al-Naml, 27:63) Allah said to the Promised Messiah as, I have named you Mutawakkil (i.e., the one who absolutely relies on God). We as Ahmadis also take solace from another of God s revelations to the Promised Messiah as, Alai sallahu be kafin abdahoo (Is not Allah sufficient for his servant). The Promised Messiah as used to say that whenever his pocket happened to be empty and he was left with no money, he would feel a peculiar joy in leaving matters up to Allah and being confident that Allah s help would come soon. He held on to that trust till the end. Hadhrat Bhai Abdur Rahman Qadiani narrates that while in Lahore during his last days, the Promised Messiah as would go out every night with his family in a horse drawn carriage. The night before he passed away, the Promised Messiah as told the carriage driver that he only had one rupee and wished to be taken as far as that Rupee could take him and not more than that. That night as the moment of his demise was at hand, his wife Hadhrat Ama Jaan prayed to God, Oh God he is leaving us. Do not forsake us at this time. After he had passed away, to her sons and daughters she said, Do not imagine that your father has left you only an empty house. He has laid up for you a great treasure of prayers in Heaven, which will continue to yield its beneficence to you all in time to come. According to the Promised Messiah as the principle of prayer is that there is a mutually attractive relationship between man and his Lord and prayer leads to the realization of the existence of God. When this relationship reaches its zenith, God manifests his glory and power in support of his beloved servants in such a way that all that is under the command of God Almighty comes under their command, and the stars of heaven, the sun and the moon, the oceans, air and fire hear their voice and recognize and serve them. (Blessings of Prayer) This intersection of the power of prayer and complete trust in Allah has been illustrated time and again by the prophets of Allah. Who can forget the case of Prophet Ibrahim as, when he was about to be cast into the fire and Gabriel, the angel of Allah appeared and said O Abraham, if you wish I can destroy these people. Most of us in this situation would take the opportunity of escape and let the transgressors be destroyed but Abraham declined and said Hasbul Allah wa Ni mul vakeel (sufficient for me is God, and how good He is as a refuge).

3 Because of his unwavering trust in God he was saved by Allah by cooling off the flames. Thinking of this incident we are all reminded of an Ilham of the Promised Messiah as : Fire is our servant, rather it is the servant of our servants. It is interesting to note here that in the beginning Hadhrat Hakim Maulvi Nurruddin used to be of the opinion that the fire mentioned in Surah Al-Anbiya verse 70 was the fire of opposition; but the Promised Messiah observed: There is no need to have recourse to such a construction. I too have been called Abraham as by God. Those who are unable to comprehend how the fire was cooled for Abraham as are welcome to throw me into the fire and see whether I emerge safe from it or not. Also in Surah Al-Anbiya we read And we subjected to Solomon the violent wind. It blew at his bidding, towards the land, which We had blessed. And We have knowledge of all things. (Al-Anbiyah, 21:82) This verse talks about the trade that the vessels of Solomon conducted between Jerusalem and other countries as they plied in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. In his commentary of this verse, Hadhrat Musleh Maud as writes that even though the wind blew fast, it was gentle enough to not do damage to Solomon s ships. We see the example of Prophet Moses as as he stands with his people at the foot of the sea with the Pharaohs troops closing in, death staring them in the face, and seemingly no chance of escape. Prophet Moses s companions fearful utterances are recorded in the Surah Al- Shuara verse 62. And when the two hosts came in sight of each other the companions of Moses said, We are surely caught. What was Prophet Moses response, Surely my Lord is with me, He will guide me to safety. (Sura Al-Shu ara, 26:63) Then under the direction of God, he struck the water with his staff and a pathway was created as the sea ebbed away and Hadhrat Moses as and his followers escaped while the Pharaoh s army drowned and was destroyed. Similarly at the battle of Badr, the Muslim army was ill equipped, numerically outnumbered 3 to 1 and faced certain defeat. The Holy Prophet Muhammad saws spent the whole night praying: My God, over the entire face of the earth just now, there are only these three hundred men who are devoted to Thee and determined to establish Thy worship. My God, if these three hundred die today at the hands of their enemy in this battle, who will be left behind to glorify Thy name? (Tabari) God heard the supplication of His Prophet and His help came in two ways. First, rain came overnight before the battle had started and the sandy part of the field which the Muslims occupied became wet and solid. On the other hand the dry part of the field occupied by the

4 enemy became muddy and slippery and unsuitable for fighting maneuvers. Then during the battle the Prophet was instructed by God to throw a handful of pebbles and sand at the enemy and this act was followed by a strong wind and sandstorm which led to the destruction of Abu Jahl and the routing of the Meccan army. This second incident is mentioned in Surah Al-Anfal And thou threwest not when thou didst throw, but it was Allah Who threw (8:18) The Promised Messiah states that the acceptance of prayer requires that the supplicant behold God as perfect and all powerful and to consider His mercies, His benevolence, and His grace essential to the existence and preservation of the worshipper. Secondly to consider himself and his fellow beings helpless and poor, and dependent upon God s help. These two matters are perfectly encapsulated in Surah Fatiha i.e., the greatness and mercy of God and the helplessness and humility of his servants. The Promised Messiah as writes that just as God has appointed rules for other matters, there is a particular rule for prayer and that rule is set out in Surah Fatiha. There was an event in the life of Hadhrat Umar bin Khattab ra that perfectly illustrated the concept noted above. During a particularly bad drought, Hadhrat Umar led the believers in two rakaats of Salaat-e-Istikaa or special drought prayers. He then reversed his sheet, spread his hands and pleaded to his Lord, Oh my Master! We ask for your forgiveness, and look towards You for the merciful clouds. Rain started falling before he even moved from his position and some Bedouins came to him and said, Oh Ameerul-Momineen! We saw a cloud in the sky and heard a voice from it saying, Abu Hafsa! Clouds of mercy are coming your way. Abu Hafas! Clouds of mercy are coming your way. As mentioned earlier, the Promised Messiah stated that The truth is that our God is recognized only through prayers. A foolish one thinks that prayer is a vain and useless thing, but he does not know that it is because of prayers that God the Glorious manifests Himself to His seekers and conveys to their hearts the revelation: I am the All-Powerful One. Everyone who is hungry and thirsty for certainty should remember that for the seeker of spiritual light in this world, prayer is the only means, which bestows certainty with regard to the existence of God Almighty and removes all doubts and suspicions. (Ayyamus Sulha Page 10) Essence of Islam Volume II Page 164. In his biography Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Khalifa tul Masih IV rh relates his experiences as a 14 year old when he began wondering if God existed. After having exhausted investigating the possibilities of the existence of God on a logical basis he turned to direct prayer. Sometimes he would go to the mosque and pray for hours and sometimes in his room he would pray all through the night. Hadhrat Khalifa IV rh writes, I would pray to God: If you exist, then I am in search of you. Let me know that you are there otherwise I may drift astray He says, one afternoon, he went through an experience in a state of semi consciousness, where he saw the entire earth squeezed into a ball. There was no creation of any sort visible

5 no life, no cities, nothing just the earth. Then I saw each particle of the world tremble and burst out into a slogan: OUR GOD! Each particle was proclaiming the reason for its existence. The whole world was flooded with a strange light and every atom of the earth began to swell and contract in rhythm. I found myself repeating the words OUR GOD. This experience resolved for him forever the question of the existence of God. The concept of the power of prayer and trust in Allah also has another aspect and that is submitting to the will of Allah. The Promised Messiah as wrote, that it needs to be remembered that it is a wrong notion that every prayer of those who are God s favorites is accepted. God treats his servants like friends; sometimes He accepts their prayers and sometimes He imposes His will upon them. This is what happens in friendship. At one time, a person accepts what his friend proposes and acts accordingly, and at another time makes him accept what he himself wishes. For this reason until I see the signs of acceptance of my prayers I resign myself to accept Allah s will with greater pleasure than I derive from acceptance of prayer because the fruits and blessings of being pleased with Allah s will are much greater. Allah says in the Holy Quran And We will try you with something of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth and lives, and fruits; but give glad tidings to the patient, who when a misfortune overtakes them, say: Surely, to Allah we belong and to Him shall we return. (Al-Baqarah, 2: ) Who can forget the Biblical account of Jesus as prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane My father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be done. The cup here is the punishment of death by crucifixion. Even though Jesus as was praying before God to deliver him from this punishment, his prayer recognizes God Almighty s right to determination and those last words, My father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be done show Jesus as submission to the will of Allah. My dear sisters: history is filled with examples of the power of prayers. At this time I would like to turn our attention back to our khalifa. At a time when we as Ahmadis are facing persecution in many nations, Hudhur atba has asked us to accelerate our efforts in prayers and to turn towards God like never before. In a recent sermon, Hudhur atba explained that unconsciously from the very beginning his topics turn to that of prayer. I d like to end this speech with his words in the sermon of November 11, 2011: Hudhur says: We need to turn towards prayers with incredible intensity. As I stated before, the reason why I drew attention towards prayers is so that you should pray with such intensity that your prayers reach and stir the heavens. Then we will quickly witness triumph and success InshaAllah, and the enemy being destroyed. May Allah the Almighty grant me and you the ability to pray more than before. Ameen!