Understanding Salat — Page 149
Sajdah 149 reduce S al ā t to a spiritual pastime and amusement. The purpose of S al ā t is to find Allah Almighty, and the moment we find Him, the question of pleasure disappears from our mind. If we look directly for pleasure in S al ā t , then we will only find pain, but if we face our pain in S al ā t , then pleasure will inevitably find us. The Promised Messiah as said, It must also be remembered that this pleasure can- not be likened to the pleasure that an impulsive evil- doer feels in fornication, or to the enjoyment that an admirer of good voices experiences on hearing a melodious person sing —not in the least; one must not be deceived. The soul experiences pleasure when a human being melts and begins to flow towards God in the likeness of water, due to fear and awe of Him. ( Malf ūzā t (English), vol. 2, pp. 121) The posture of Sajdah expresses the sentiment needed to cor- rect our mistake of looking directly for pleasure. Sometimes, Allah Almighty tires us out in our pursuit of pleasure in S al ā t until we finally break. Our frustration pushes us to the point where we give up on doing things our way. Then we fall before Allah Almighty and admit that we are lost and have no idea how to observe S al ā t. That moment of helpless- ness is the first time we let go of pursuing pleasure, and we finally embrace our pain. That is the first time that pleasure