Understanding Salat — Page 118
Understanding S al A t 118 upon the Prophet sas. The Messenger of Allah sas said: “Supplicate, you will be answered; ask, you will be given. ” (Nas āī , Book 13, Chapter 48) The wisdom of this etiquette is that the praise of Allah cor- rects our priorities. For example, we may be praying for a job because we desperately want to be rich and have status. Our heart is filled with praise of the beauty of money, not praise of the beauty of Allah. That prayer is not motivated by spirituality; it is motivated by materialism. Allah is not the objective of our prayer; He is just a means to an end. He is a stepping stone that we step on to get money. When we go directly into prayer without glorifying Allah, our prayer may come from a heart that is filled with glorification of money. When we weep in prayer with humility and beg Allah for that job, our weeping is not out of a desperation to be near to Allah Almighty. That weeping is out of our desperation for money and status. Hadrat Khalīfatul Masīh IV rta said, Praise is only attributed to God in words, whereas in reality, it is other things in God’s world that are truly worthy of praise in man’s eyes. When he cries before God, he does not cry because of praise of God. He cries because his desire is not being fulfilled. When a sick person screams, he does so because of some pain. His screams are not going to cure his illness; he will