Understanding Salat — Page 115
Qaumah 115 of the tongue until it creates the spirit of obedience, until that obedience takes the form of action. Thus, that praise, which does not rise from the heart and does not carry deep truth, is not heard by God. When praise results in our having started obey- ing, when man has started offering sacrifices, when he has started creating pure changes within himself, then his praise is worthy of being heard. It is this sub- ject that the Holy Quran describes when it says that good words are exalted by righteous conduct. Until good actions are combined with good words, those words are not elevated and they do not reach the throne of God; they do not reach their destination. Thus, Ruk ū ‘ has taught us that if we wish to praise Allah in a way that is heard by Him, then we must obey Him and bow down before Him. Then we will hear these words, “Allah accepts that praise which is true praise” ( ُ سَمِع َ هللا ُ لِمَن ْ حَمِدَه ). Now God says, “Yes, I hear that praise, I hear that person who praises me with a true heart. ” ( Dhauqe ‘Ib ā dat , pp. 494, 495) Allah Almighty has not placed the words ‘Allah hears’ ( َ ُ سَمِع هللا ) at the end of Qiy ā m because we had not yet come under the full definition of ‘him who praises Him’ ( ُ مَن ْ حَمِدَه ). We had spent Qiy ā m praising Allah with the most perfect of praise in S ū ratul F ā ti h ah , but we still were not worthy of being called ‘him who praises Him’ ( ُ مَن ْ حَمِدَه ). The reason is