Malfuzat - Volume VII — Page 21
28 October 1904 21 never thinking about progress, not scrutinizing sins, and not seeking true taubah [repentance]. Consequently, they remain on the very first step. Such a person is no less than a beast. Such prayers draw the curse of God. Prayer is that which brings progress with it. Consider the case of a sick person being treated by a doctor. He uses a prescription for 10 days, but it causes him harm day by day. When there is no benefit after so many days, the patient suspects that this prescription must not suit his disposition and should be changed. Thus, ritual and ritualistic worship is not right. The Importance of Supplications The supplications and Dur u d recited in Prayers are in Arabic, but it is not forbidden for you to also supplicate in your own language. Otherwise, there will be no progress. The command of God mandates that Prayer be that in which earnest supplica- tion and presence of heart exist—this is the only way the sins of people are removed. Accordingly, He said: 1 َّنِا ِتٰنَسَحْلا َنْبِهْذُي ِتٰاِّيَّسلا َّنِا ِتٰنَسَحْلا َنْبِهْذُي ِتٰاِّيَّسلا Meaning that good deeds remove evils. Here the meaning of َٰنٰت س َ ح َٰنٰت س َ ح [ h asan a t —‘good deeds’] is Prayer. And the presence of heart and earnest supplication is attained by supplicating in one’s own language. Therefore, you must pray in your own lan- guage sometimes, and the best supplication is S u rah al-F a ti h ah [the first chapter of the Holy Quran] because it is a compre- hensive prayer. 1. S u rah H u d, 11:115 [Publisher]