The Essence of Islam – Volume II — Page 338
338 Essence of Islām II ship with prayer. Prayer averts the operation of a sus- pended decree. Prayer is certainly effective against difficulties. Those who deny the effectiveness of Prayer are under a misconception. The Holy Qur'an sets out two aspects of Prayer. In one aspect God Almighty enforces His own will and in the other aspect He responds to the prayer of a servant. In the verse: وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ بِشَيْءٍ مِّنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ 119 God Almighty requires obedience to His will. The meaning is that man's response to an absolute Divine decree must be: نا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِرُ جِعُونَ 120 The other time is of the upsurge of the waves of the grace and mercy of God Almighty; it is indicated in: ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ 121 A believer should have knowledge of both these aspects. The Şūfīs say that a person's absolute dependence upon God does not become perfect without his being able to distinguish the proper place and occasion for supplica- tion. It has been said that a Şüfi does not pray till he recognizes that it is time for prayer. Sayyed 'Abd-ul-Qadir Jīlānī (may Allah be pleased with him) has said that through prayer an unfortunate one is rendered fortunate. He has even gone so far as to affirm 119 'And We will try you with something of fear and hunger. '-Al- Baqarah, 2:156 [Publisher] 120 'Surely, to Allah we belong and to Him shall we return. '-Al- Baqarah, 2: 157 [Publisher] 121 'Pray unto Me, I will answer your prayer. '-Al-Mu'min, 40:61 [Publisher]