Understanding Salat — Page 139
Sajdah 139 do not know of the reality of Allah Almighty, and it moves us towards Sajdah. For example, you and I may have a vague idea of how vast the universe is, but our comprehension of the unknown is very limited. On the other hand, an astron- omer or an astronaut has a much better grasp of how vast the unknown is. Their better understanding of everything we know about the universe is directly proportional to how better their awareness is of how much we do not know about the universe. You and I look up at the sky and an astronomer looks up at the same sky, but they feel a greater awe of how much is unknown. This is because of their greater knowl- edge of the known. Similarly, the more our knowledge about Allah Almighty is, the greater our realization is of how much is unknown to us. We go into Ruk ū ‘ out of a realization of how close our Lord is to us, and we go into Sajdah out of a realization of how distant our Lord is from us. That feeling of overwhelming distance creates the desire to express our helplessness with prostration. Our heart goes into Sajdah first, and then our body follows. We fall in humility, we feel awe at how beyond us ‘the Most High’ ( َعْلَى اَلْأ ) is, and we then helplessly beg our Lord for His nearness. That moment, when we feel helpless, is the perfect time for prayer. Even without words, that moment of humility in itself is a prayer. That is why we are encouraged to pray in Sajdah. The Holy Prophet sas said,