I was glad to be present at the holy shrine of Imam ar-Rida ( ‘a ) and to have started writing this booklet, the drafts of which I had prepared earlier, prior to the beginning of the (Iranian) New Year 1374 AHS (which commenced on March 21, 1995).
In line with the efforts made after the {victory of the} Islamic Revolution in establishing the performance of Islamic prayer { salah } in schools, universities, military garrisons, and other public places, I also decided—after writing the books, Partu-ye az Asrar-e Namaz {Radiance of the Secrets of Prayer}, Hamrah ba Namaz {In the Company of Prayer} and Yeksad va Chahardah Nokteh Darbareh-ye Namaz {One Hundred and Fourteen Points about Prayer}—to write about a commentary on the recitals { adhkar } in prayer such as the takbir {recital of Allahu akbar at the beginning of the prayer} and the recital of Surah al-Fatihah and another surah, bowing down { ruku‘ }, prostration { sujud }, tashahhud and salam so that we could understand better what we are uttering to God in this regard, and have a conscious and gnostic involvement in the act of worship.
Before embarking on the subject proper, let us first take a cursory glance at “Worship { ‘ibadah } and Servitude { ‘ubudiyyah }” which is the soul of prayer as well as all other devotional duties so as to better internalize its sublime station in our lives. Muhsin Qara’ati Previous Next