As Imam as-Sadiq (a.

As Imam as-Sadiq (a.s) said: مَنْ أَحَبَّ أَنْ يَعْلَمَ أَقُبِلَتْ صَلاَتُهُ أَمْ لَمْ تُقْبَلْ فَلْيَنْظُرْ هَلْ مَنَعَتْهُ صَلاَتُهُ عَنِ الْفَحْشَآءِ وَ الْمُنْكَرِ فَبِقَدْرِ مَا مَنَعَتْهُ قُبِلَتْ مِنْهُ “One, who desires to know if his prayer has been accepted or not, should observe if it has kept him away from indecency and evil, or not; the measure in which it has kept him away (is the measure of his prayer that) has been accepted.” (3) Continuing with the verse, Allah says: وَ لَذِكْرُ اللٌّهِ أَكْبَرُ “Allah’s dhikr (remembrance) is superior and most virtuous.” The apparent meaning of the above sentence appears to mention a more important philosophy for ritual prayers.

It mentions another effect of prayers – an effect that is even more important than ‘keeping one away from indecency and evil’ – and that is, it causes man to remember Allah – this being the basis of every goodness and the foundation of all felicities. In reality, its superiority and importance are due to the fact that it is the cause for it (keeping one away from indecency and evil).

Basically, remembrance of Allah keeps the hearts alive and sets them at rest, and no other thing can be likened to it in significance and importance. أَلاَ بِذِكْرِ اللٌّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ “Surely by Allah’s Remembrance are the hearts set at rest.” (4) Essentially, the soul of every act of worship – whether it is a ritual prayer or something else – is the remembrance of Allah.

The preliminary acts of the prayer, the recitations and actions in it, the supplications after the prayers – all of these – serve to revive the remembrance of Allah within a man’s heart. Worthy of attention is that an allusion has been made to this fundamental philosophy of prayer in Surat Taha when Prophet Musa (a.s) is addressed as: أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِذِكْرِي “And keep up prayer for My Remembrance.” (5) In a tradition, Mu’adh b.

Jabal states: No deed of man, for protecting him from divine chastisement, is greater than ‘remembrance of Allah’. When he was asked: Not even Jihad in the way of Allah? He replied: No (not even Jihad), for Allah has said: “Allah’s dhikr (remembrance) is superior and most virtuous.” Although the philosophy of ritual prayer is not something that is hidden from anyone, a more careful study of the text of the Qur’an and the traditions guide us towards some more subtle points in this regard: 1.

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