Sin, which is disobedience to the Creator, is a practical...

Sin, which is disobedience to the Creator, is a practical expression of polytheism, whereas the worshipper declares the Non-composite and Infinite reality of His Creator which is equal to the impossibility of even the assumption of a second. In simpler terms: The Holy Quran informs us of a people who worship their vain desires and consider them as their God: أَرَأَيْتَ مَنِ اتَّخَذَ إِلَهَهُ هَوَاهُ Have you seen him who has taken his vain desire to be his God?

[^7] Therefore "obeying" one's vain desires is to worship them, which is tantamount to polytheism. In other words whosoever prefers his vain desires to some of the commands of Allah is practically declaring polytheism. If the musulli were to understand the above, and realized the meaning of takbir, and mold the heart accordingly, he would always be deterred from sin.

Small wonder it is that the Holy Qur'an says: وَأَقِمْ الصَّلاةَ إِنَّ الصَّلاةَ تَنْهَى عَنْ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنْكَرِ ...And keep up prayer; Surely prayer restrains one from indecency and the forbidden... [^8] Finding Unoccupied Time And Unoccupied Heart A very important method of attaining huduru'l qalb suggested by some scholars of ethics is to apportion a specific time for prayer, a time in which you have no preoccupations to busy your mind and heart with.

Habituating oneself in praying with a free mind would really help the novice in the path of Allah to attain concentration and maintain the same throughout his worship. It is only by means of proper discipline and organization that such a practice can be achieved. It is impossible for the contemplative who has realized the close link between his prayer and his deeds to be slothful and give less importance to prayer. [^1]: Imam 'Ali (`a), Nahju'l Balagha, letter no.

27 [^2]: Holy Qur'an, 18:103-104 [^3]: Ibid, 1:2 [^4]: Ibid, 32:7 [^5]: Ibid, 20:8 [^6]: Ibid, 2:115 [^7]: Ibid, 25:43 [^8]: Ibid, 29:43 Previous…

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