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· Most important is that you implore God alone. [19:48] “I will abandon you and the gods you worship besides GOD. I will worship only my Lord. By imploring my Lord alone, I cannot go wrong.”
When should we implore God?
· Implore God in good times as well as bad times (21:90)
· God sends adversity and hardship because He wants us to implore Him. [6:42] We have sent (messengers) to communities before you, and we put them to the test through adversity and hardship, that they may implore.
· Be mindful not to implore Him only during times of adversity. God tells us this is a human trait. [10:12] When adversity touches the human being, he implores us while lying down, or sitting, or standing up. But as soon as we relieve his adversity, he goes on as if he never implored us to relieve any hardship! The works of the transgressors are thus adorned in their eyes.
· Really we must remember and implore Him all the time—when we get up, when we wash, when we eat, when we talk with others, all through our day.
· Many of the verses with the word “implore” also have “forgive” in them. It must be very important to implore God for forgiveness. [4:106] You shall implore GOD for forgiveness. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.
Sometimes we implore, and God doesn’t seem to answer our prayer. It may be that we’re imploring for things which are bad for us. [17:11] The human being often prays for something that may hurt him, thinking that he is praying for something good. The human being is impatient. (Also 2:216.) Maybe our car didn’t start because had we left at that time we would have been in an accident. God knows while we do not know.
In the January 1996 issue of Submitter’s Perspective, there’s an article (“Implore God with the Best Prayers”) by an unnamed author (living in a country where printing their name might have been dangerous to them)
that addresses this same issue in a concise way, including many prayers from the Quran to help us find the words to implore God.
The most important thing is to remember to implore God alone, and to do so as often as we can.
[55:29-30] Imploring Him is everyone in the heavens and the earth. Every day He is in full control. Which of your Lord’s marvels can you deny?
* * * * *
There is a common belief among many cultures and societies that humans who have died are somehow watching over their loved ones who remain on earth. Even in today’s technological society you can hear things like “Your dad was watching over you” or “Mother must be turning over in her grave to hear you say that”.
Sometimes this belief goes even farther into veneration and outright worship of ones ancestors, but often it is just a “comforting thought” that our dear departed family members and friends are still there with us in some manner.
While the bonds of love may not be broken by the departure from this earthly realm, the Quran is quite definite that actual contact is broken. The clearest statement of this is in 23:99-100
The Dead Never Come Back Until the Day of Resurrection
When death comes to one of them, he says, “My Lord, send me back. I will then work righteousness in everything I left.” Not true. This is a false claim that he makes. A barrier will separate his soul from this world until resurrection.
The argument has been made that verses 23:99-100 refer only to the disbelievers, since the one being discussed is a disbeliever. However we have other examples in the Quran showing that the righteous also lose contact with this world.
In 5:117 God is speaking with Jesus on the Day of Resurrection and Jesus responds in part with: “… I was a witness among them for as long as I lived with them. When You terminated my life on earth, You became the Watcher over them. You witness all things.”
And in 36:26-27 the believing Egyptian appears to wish he could tell his people of his blessings at death: (At the time of his death) he was told, “Enter Paradise.” He said, “Oh, I wish my people knew that my Lord has forgiven me, and made me honorable.”
There has long been a Christian tradition, especially among non-Protestants, of praying to Jesus or Mary or the saints. It is not clear if the Bible condemns this practice, but the Quran certainly does:
The Dead Prophets and Saints
[16:20-21] As for the idols they set up beside GOD, they do not create anything; they themselves were created. They are dead, not alive, and they have no idea how or when they will be resurrected.
[35:14] If you call on them, they cannot hear you. Even if they hear you, they cannot respond to you. On the Day of Resurrection, they will disown you. None can inform you like the Most Cognizant.
So it is especially ironic that many Muslims pray to the saints, or believe that the righteous family members of the prophets can help them in some manner. And many go to Medina to pray to Muhammad, though even when alive, he could not help them:
[7:188] Say, “I have no power to benefit myself, or harm myself. Only what GOD wills happens to me. If I knew the future, I would have increased my wealth, and no harm would have afflicted me. I am no more than a warner, and a bearer of good news for those who believe.”
[10:49] Say, “I possess no power to harm myself, or benefit myself; only what GOD wills takes place.” Each community has a predetermined life span. Once their interim
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