Why Pray?

People pray in many different ways and for many different reasons. Some pray only when they have problems:

Bad Weather Friends

If you are afflicted in the middle of the sea, you forget your idols and sincerely implore Him alone. But as soon as He saves you to the shore, you revert. Indeed, the human being is unappreciative. (17:67)

And some pray only when things go their way:

Fair Weather Friends

Among the people there is the one who worships GOD conditionally. If things go his way, he is content. But if some adversity befalls him, he makes an about-face. Thus, he loses both this life and the Hereafter. Such is the real loss. (22:11)

Others pray when things go well, out of thanksgiving to our Creator:

We responded to him [Zachariah] and granted him John; we fixed his wife for him.

That is because they used to hasten to work righteousness, and implored us in situations of joy, as well as fear. To us, they were reverent. (21:90)

For me, prayer provides a way of expressing the love I have for God. It also gives a way for my soul to connect with our awesome King and Master. But perhaps the most important reason I pray comes from the fact that my soul yearns to do so!

The Quran tells us God’s own hands created us out of earthly material. He then blew into us from His spirit:

He is the One who perfected everything He created, and started the creation of the human from clay. Then He continued his reproduction through a certain lowly liquid. He shaped him and blew into him from His spirit.… (The Quran 32:7–9)

To me this indicates that a tiny part of His sacred breath forms our souls. Thus, those souls yearn to reunite with their Creator, who also created our bodies (as the above verses show).

As I understand it, Salat allows our souls direct contact with God. So, by praying we nourish our souls and allow them to grow.

If we continue to pray throughout our lives and obey the other forms of worship, our souls can grow enough to withstand and enjoy God’s awesome energy. As Submitters we know we must also bear witness to God that there is no other god, give charity, fast during the month of Ramadan if we are physically able to, and make the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca when and if we can afford it.

Because we pray the Contact Prayers, Salat, five times a day it especially nourishes our souls. When I perform the Salat, I feel its blessed words flowing over me like water flowing on parched earth. And just as the water softens soil and allows it to germinate the seeds of many beautiful plants, the Salat prayers soften my heart, filling it with the joy and awe of a direct contact with my Merciful Master and Creator.

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