They are on record praying to Allah thus...

They are on record praying to Allah thus, “We have not been able to justify Your Mystic knowledge. Step 2: The Reason For Creation Of The Universe There are numerous verses of the Holy Qur’an and several traditions of the Prophet (S) and the Imams that illustrate that the purpose of the creation of the universe, and all the creatures living in it, is for the sole purpose of worshipping the Creator, Allah. We should know that prayer and knowledge of Allah have to be compulsorily together.

Without knowledge of Allah prayer is futile and without prayer any claims of knowledge of Allah are not of any use. There are certain conditions that are the very spirit of prayer, for example humility, fear of Allah and dedication of the heart. If these things are not there then the prayer is not of much use. These things prevent the worshipper from undesirable acts.

If the prayer is not implicitly in accordance with the established norms, then it can, at best, be termed as praying just out of habit. For the acceptance of our prayers we have to consider whether it is preventing us from the undesirable acts of the daily life. If this is not the case, we are not fulfilling the very purpose of the Creator prescribing prayer for the human kind.

The prayer of such persons will be hypocritical, tantamount to going through the ritual for making a show in the social environment. Step 3: The Conditions For Prayer Going into the details of the steps of prayer is not in the purpose of this book. But briefly, the most important aspect of prayer is the intent of the worshipper who offers prayer. The Prophet (S) has said, إنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ.

“The actions of a person depend on his intentions.” Imam Ja’far As-Sadiq (as) has said, “the intent of a pious person is better than his actions.” The intent in which there is no desire for nearness is useless and the nearness without intent too is not of much use. Here the nearness is not meant to be the physical nearness but the nearness of spirit. One should know that physical nearness with Allah is impossible because He is devoid of any physical existence.

However pure the intent for prayer there is no other intent in the act than the nearness to the Creator. For example the people in the community start considering a pretender very pious because a rich person got impressed with his prayers and gave him material benefits. The translator here recalls the story of a thief who planned to burgle the palace of the king.

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