ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Soaring to the Only Beloved Part 7: The Meaning of Prayer ...In Islamic traditions we understand the real meaning of 'takbir' as ' Allahu Akbar min an yusaf ' (God is greater than what is described of Him) ...His ownership is real and ontological (haqiqi and takwini): He has total control over all His creation, and can lay any kind of effect on any one of them.

Therefore, every sort of knowledge, wisdom, wealth and treasure is His, and totally under His control... we should engrave in our minds the fact that we are placing the most honored part of our body (our face) on the most insignificant of things (earth).

The scope of this short appendix is too limited, and hence we shall only explain some parts of prayer here below: Niyya (Intention) It is not necessary for one to pronounce the niyya verbally, for the its reality is "the intention of doing an action". The musalli (the one who prays) has it in his mind and knows what prayer he is going to recite. The fuqaha in their books of jurisprudence mention the necessity of the intention of qurb (attaining nearness of Allah).

They say that we must pray with the intention of attaining nearness of Allah. The worshipper is advised to be extremely watchful lest his intention mixes with any of his worldly interests, for that will destroy the edifice of his prayer. Ethicians or the `ulama-u1-akhlaq have underscored with convincing proofs the fundamental importance of niyya or intention.

Another very important necessity is to maintain one's niyya till the end of his Salat; for at times, the musalli may begin with a purely Divine intention, but when he senses an onlooker around him, he changes his attitude due to the latter's presence. Takbiratul Ihram الله أكبر Allah is Greater This is when the musalli pronounces the words ' Allahu Akbar ' translated as `God is the Greatest' or `God is greater (than every other being)'.

When uttering these words he must inculcate in himself the fact that no being in the world of creation is greater than Allah. He should visualize the reality that every element of his body and soul is totally dependent upon Allah's Will. Hence he has no reason to think for himself as possessing any degree of greatness whatsoever. Instead he should express his lowliness in front of his Great Lord in a way that he tangibly senses his total dependence to Him.