The spirit...

The spirit, foundation, objective, result and ultimately the philosophy of prayers is the remembrance of Allah – the same ذكر الله, which, in the above verse, has been referred to as the optimum result. However, it should be a remembrance that brings about ‘reflection’ and a ‘reflection’ that leads to ‘deeds’.

In a tradition, Imam as-Sadiq (a.s), interprets the sentence: وَ لَذِكْرُ اللٌّهِ أَكْبَرُ said: ذِكْرُ اللٌّهِ عِنْدَ مَا أَحَلَّ وَ حَرَّمَ‏ “Remembrance of Allah at the time of performing a lawful or a forbidden act.”(6) It means to remember Allah and seek that which is permitted and refrain from that which is forbidden. 2. Prayers are a means for washing away the sins and achieving divine forgiveness since they invite man towards repentance and rectification of the past.

Hence we read in a tradition that once the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a) questioned his : If there flowed, at the doorstep of one of your houses, a river with pure and clean water and if the owner happened to wash himself in it five times a day, would there be any dirt…