Blessings of Prayer — Page 9
9 requests will be granted which have already been decreed. And yet the promise of the acceptance of prayer is a general promise and admits of no exception. Moreover, as some verses of the Holy Quran indicate that things which have been decreed not to be granted are never granted, and at the same time it is evident from some other verses that no prayer is rejected and all are accepted—what is more, God Almighty has promised to accept all prayers, as indicated in the verse: 7 There can be no other way of reconciling this contradiction and inconsistency between the verses, other than to interpret the acceptance of prayer as the acceptance of worship, i. e. , to consider prayer as a kind of worship which God Almighty has promised to accept when it is offered earnestly and with humility and submission. Thus the reality of the acceptance of prayer is that it is only a form of worship and it is merely on this account that it deserves merit. Of course, if the granting of something has already been determined and, perchance, a prayer is also offered for it, it will be granted—not because of the prayer, 7 Ibid.