Malfuzat - Volume VIII — Page 303
29 December 1905 303 1 اَمَّنِا ُلَّبَقَتَي ُهّٰللا َنِم َنْيِقَّتُمْلا اَمَّنِا ُلَّبَقَتَي ُهّٰللا َنِم َنْيِقَّتُمْلا Meaning that, without a doubt, Allah the Exalted only accepts the worship of the righteous. It is absolutely true that only the Prayer and Fasting of the righteous are accepted. What consti- tutes the acceptance of these acts of worship, and what is meant by it? What is Meant by the Acceptance of Worship So, it should be remembered that when we say that the Prayer has been accepted, it is meant that the effects and blessings of Prayer have been created in the person who offers the Prayer. Until those blessings and effects arise, the Prayers amount to nothing more than banging one’s head on the ground in prostrations. What benefit accrues from that Prayer or Fasting when—in the very mosque where the Prayer is offered—someone back- bites and complains against another, or someone commits theft at night, or breaches the trust regarding another’s wealth or property, or—out of miserliness and envy—attacks anoth- er’s honour conferred upon him by God Almighty, or maligns someone’s reputation? In short, if a person remains involved in these kinds of ills and evils, then tell me, what benefit has his Prayer brought him? What should have happened is that with Prayer, the evils and defects he suffered from would have been reduced, and Prayer is an excellent means for achieving this. So the first stage, and difficulty, for a person who wants to become a believer is that he refrains from evil deeds. This is indeed what is called taqw a. 1. S u rah al-M a’ idah, 5:28 [Publisher]