Islamic Faith & Practice

By Maulana Manzoor Naumani

Practical Law

As we said in the beginning, the religious teachings the Prophet (Peace be upon him) brought into the world from God fall into two categories, one appertaining to belief and ideology and the other to morality and action. The teachings of the first group we have discussed already, and now we will address ourselves to those of the second. These later ones, to which, exclusively, the term, Shariat, is sometimes applied, are again classified into a number of sections like worship, morality, social conduct, religious endeavor and government and politics.

Just as in the sphere of belief the fundamental articles of faith command the highest preference, in the Shariat worship is of the super most importance bacause it is through it that the relationship between God and his creatures finds its most candid and intimate expression, and it also plays a vital role in the uplift and reformation of all the other departments of human existence.

Worship, in Islam, denotes acts a person performs solely with the object of paying his humble homage to the Glory and Magnificence of God and acknowledging and affirming his own total helplessness, humility, submissiveness and devotion, and of gaining His pleasure and earning nearness unto Him. In Arabic, these acts are also called Kuruba't (meaning, the means of access). They include Namaz (Prayer), Roza (fasting), Haj (pilgrimage to Mecca), Zaka't-o-Sadaqa't (Poor-tax and other propitiatory offerings) Zikr-o-Tilawat (repearing the names, attributes and praises of God and the recitation of the Quran), Kurbani (animal sacrifice) and all other deeds of devotion carried out exclusively to pay reverent service to the Almighty and for one's own spiritual benefit.

Worship is the medium of contact between the worshipper and the worshipped. It extends straight from the one to the other. It is obvious that our prayers and other devotional performances do no good to God; they add nothing his power or Glory. A Tradition has it that, "If all men and all things, first and last, were to become pious and religious in the extreme it would not advance the Magnificence of God by a mere atom, and if all of them were to become sinners and offenders, it would not detract from his Resplendent Majesty and Greatness even by the slightest degree imaginable.",

Our worship, in short, is wholly for our own good and the fulfillment of our spiritual destiny. We have been commanded to it by God so that we may thereby strengthen our awareness of him and make ourselves worthy of his special grace.

It is true that there can be no likeness or comparison between God and man. One is the Mighty Creator and the Supreme Owner of the Heavens and the Earth, the other a hopeless weakling, a creature of a filthy drop of fluid. A worthless, despicable warm can be said to possess greater similarity to the most powerful monarch on the earth than man can ever claim to have with his maker. How, then, is man to obtain access to God and win his favour and love? This can be possible only through making an explicit acknowledgement of God's infinite power and majesty and his own complete humbleness and affirming it through his daily action. This is what brings man closer to God and makes him his beloved, trusted servant.

Man's existence has a two-fold aspect: material or bestial and spiritual or celestial. It is through the later aspect that a link is forged between him and the creator, it being the really valuable part of his personality, the part that marks him out as the most excellent of created beings. Whatever a man does by way of eating and drinking and the satisfaction of the other desires of flesh and blood is related to the animal part of his existence and contributes directly to its maintenance and growth. This part is a manifestation of the material world in him, and in this he is partnered by all other living beings. The other part, the spiritual one, which represents the projection of the celestial world in his personality, and, thus, distinguishes him from the rest of the living things, receives its sustenence from God-worship. By the agency of worship, he, as such, produces a live contact. A warm, intimate relationship between himself and the Almighty. Without it, he simply gets reduced to the level of an elevated animal, or even worse. Worship lifts up a man to the status of a being within whose earthly body dwells the spirit of the angels, and though he walks on the earth, he walks in harmony with the Celestial World.

Besides worship, the other acts prescribed by religion also cary a recognition and a reward. There is, for instance, a reward on regulating one's social and moral behaviour according to the wishes of God and on striving after the success and Glory of the faith; in some cases, in fact, struggle for the victory of faith enjoys superiority that worship has of engendering that inner affinity with the Celestial World and for bringing about the unfolding and the ultimate flowering of the spiritual and celestial aspect of human personality is not matched any other act.

The reason is that all other acts, though they may be performed according to the wishes of God and with the object of winning His good graces, are related, somehow or other, to created beings. For example, ethics and morality, social behaviour, govern- ment and politics, study and instruction, the prohibiting of evil and ordering of good deeds. All these branches of human conduct have for their main basis the regulation and control of the relationship between the individual and the society. They are linked with God only in the sense that he has commanded us to them. But worship is solely of and for the Almighty. When a person engages himself in an act of devotion to him, his face is to claim a fraction of his loyalty or spiritual homage. Herein lies the uniqueness of worship and the great secret of the tremendous importance it exercises in religion.

People whose vision is dominated by materialism fail to appreciate this grand characteristic of worship. They try to discover in it benefits that could be applicable to this material world of ours, men like Inayatullah Mashriqi having touched so low sole purpose is to assist in the spiritual edification of man by enabling his soul to emancipate itself, for a while, from the chains that tie it down to the earth and dwell in the celestial World, that it is a sort of physical exercise or parade for including virtues like punctuality and dicipline among the Muslims. All this arises from ignorance of the essential meaning and purpose of worship.

Once, I and my friend and associate, Maulana Abdul Hasan Ali, were on a visit to a certain place. A few days earlier to that an article by the Maulana, entitled, from home to the house of God,' had appeared in the Haj number of Al-Furqan. It was, in truth, a remarkable article, charged with rare feeling and emotional intensity. I have read it a number of times, and, each time, it has moved me to tears. During our stay, an educated friend, with a fair amount of study of religious books to his credit, came to us. He praised the article lavishly, but, in the end, he said, "There is, however, one great defect in it. It completely overlooks the real motive behind the Haj congregation". I asked him what that real motive was and he replied, "That Muslims form all over the world may assemble at one place to discuss the pressing problems of the day." On being further asked from where had he learnt that motive, he furnished the following reply: "What else", said he, "can the idea be in requiring the pilgrims to make a camp in the desolate plain of Mina, from the 10th to the 13th of the month except that they may have an opportunity of excha- nging views on the on the current affairs of the world, a way from the distractions of the city?" I then, asked if he had performed the Haj and experienced of himself the scene at Mina? The reply was, "Not yet. But when God bestows the good fortune on me....." "when God bestows the good fortune on you, " I interjected, "You will known how grievously mistaken you are".

strangely, people who ascribe such ends and purposes to Haj do not realize that if it really was intended to be something of a Muslim conferenc on international affairs it would be open only to leaders of Muslim opinion in various countries, or, at least, special stress would have been laid on their presence, while, in fact, it has been made obligatory for every Muslim, man and woman, who has the means to undertake the trip, and the obligation holds for only once in a lifetime. More, the wearing of Ihram, the Tawaf, Sai, sacrificial offering of animals, the dash from Mecca to Mina, from Mina to Arafat, from Arafat to Muzdalifa by night, from Muzdalifa, back to Mina and then again to Mecca, and back once more to Mina to make a halt there and carry out the ritual of Rami jamar what can have these apparently meaningless acts, this carious, eccentric behaviour to do with an International Islamic conference? We do not say that no worldly advantages can or should be derived from the Haj, but that these do not form a part of the aim and purpose of this or any other mode of worship. Those who think along these lines suffer from a primary fault. They have not understood the character and spirit underlying the Islamic concept of worship. worship is essentially not a thing of the external world. It is people who are ideologically incapable of seeing anything beyond the range of earthly desires and interests that ascribe petty results and advantages to it in their eagerness to seek an explanation of it in terms of the material world. Attempts like these succeed only in destroying the intrinsic beauty of worship by bringing it down to the level of an ordinary means to an ordinary end.

The real function of worship, to repeat, is to be the source of the winning of God's pleasure and the securing of nearness unto Him, self-purification and the evoluton of the celestial element in man's personality, and of all human deeds and actions it is one to be wholly and exclusively related to the Divine. No one but the Lord can have a share in it. Worship cannot be offered in any from whatever motive to anyone apart from the Almighty. whoever does so condemn himself to the lot of a polytheist. No other human act possesses this high distinction.

Hence, we find that on no other field of our activity have so many restrictions been placed or rules framed with such thoroughness and detail for its conduct:

After this general discussion we proceed to examine, at some length, the four obligatory modes of worship, Namaz, Roza, Zaka't and Haj. These items are included among the basic planks of Islam and are of exceptional importance of faith is raised.

Among them most outstanding the Namaz. The value of an article depends on the need it serves.The price of a motor car is judged not by its colour or shape but the capacity to fulfil the purpose for which it is meant, nor is a buffalo cheap or dear according to the way it walks it is milk it yields that decides. So is Namaz pre-eminent because it plays the most effective role in the realisation of the objectives associated with worship. This will also explain the numerous conditions that are attached to it, e.g., the cleanliness of body, the cleanliness of cress, the cleanliness of the ground on which it is offered and Wazu.

Further, some forms of worship are representative, in particular, of the sovereignty and the omnipotent power of God. By carrying them out the worshipper pays tribute to these qualities of the Divine, making, and the same time, a confession of his own surrender and servility. Zaka,t is classical instance. And, then there are other forms that are related more specially to the lovable, adorable aspect of Divinity. They serve to symbolize the love and devotion of the adorer for the adored, his earnest yearing from him, that he is his heart, soul and everything. The fasts offer an excellent expression to this side of relationship between man and his Creator by calling upon him to shun food and drink in the style of a dejected lover, and so is the Haj a true symbol of love's frenzy the strange dress, the curious rituals, the walking round the house of Ka'aba with someone's thought delightfully embedded in the heart and the frantic kissing of a slab of stone in a corner of that beloved building, the wandering out into the wilderness and staying there for days and nights all these things are there but to portray the Divine ecstasy, the sweet madness of love, which, in truth, constitutes the real spirit of this unique pilgimage.

But, Namaz is comprehensive of both of these aspects. The dignified, yet respectful, presence before the Almighty, the disciplined falling in lne of the devotees, like lowly slaves, and the carrying out by them of fixed movements in an orderly, systemetic manner demonstrate exquisitely the Over-lordship, the Power, the Sovereignty of God and man's total helplessness, while the state of the heart, the feelings of expectancy, of ardent hope and sublime devotion, that work themselves up within it during the prayer, is typical of the tendar emotion of love for the Divine. The Prophet's (Peace be upon him) words, "In Namaz lies the coolness of my eyes" are richly expressive of the later aspect of the Namaz. Often, when the prayer time came, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) would address his Muezzin, Bilal, in this loving manner : "O Bilal! Bring to comfort to my heart, soothe the agony that is rising within it by giving the call to prayer. "It has been remarked by Hazrat Mujaddid Alf-Sani in one of his letters that, "Namaz is the balmfor the aching hearts. 'Bring me comfort, O Bilal!' conveys this truth and "The coolness of my eyes lies in Namaz' imparts this secret."

It is reported that one day Hazrat Abdul Wahid Lahori, a Khalifa of Hazrat Mujaddid, asked, "Will there be Namaz in the Heaven?" "The Heaven is not the 'house of action '", said someone. "It is the house of recompense'. Why should Namaz be there, then?" On hearing it, the Hazrat observed with great anguish, "How will it then be possible to live in the Heaven?"

The tranquillity and joy which people whose Namaz is a real genuine one drive from it can further be imagined from the following utterance of Hazrat Mujaddid: "What Royat is in the Hereafter, Namaz is here in this world : there is great nearness unto the beloved in the world in Namaz as there is in the Royat in the Hereafter."

The distinctive merit of the Namaz, hence, lies in this that it reflects fully the sovereignty and Overlordship of God as well as his Livability and Elegance.In its from it portrays the complete submission of man to his Master ; in its spirit it is filled altogather with the essence of the joy, the tenderness and the rich melancholy of love. It is Namaz alone which unites in itself so success- fully the two seemingly opposite aspects. and this fact, on its own, should be enough to lift it above the other modes of worship.

Another reason why Namaz is so pre-eminently important is that, in it, faith finds a tangible form and a detailed expression. What I mean is that faith, in its essence,. is an abstract feeling, a state of the heart, it gets crystallized in Namaz and attains, through it, a definite, perceptible existence. Namaz is the concrete manifestation of faith, an outer expression of an inner condition. There are certain things which have an abstract as well as a material existence. The same is with faith. In its abstract existence, it is the Namaz. I suppose that it is for this reason that at some places in the Quran the word Iman (faith) has been used to mean Namz as in this verse about which the general opinion of the commentators is that it signifies Namaz where it says Iman.

"And never would God make your faith of no effect." (Quran : Baqara, 17 )

The occasion for its revelation is reported to be that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) had been offering Namaz for a long time with his face turned towards the city of Jerusalem when the command came to him to do so instead towards the house of Ka'aba in Mecca. At this, some Muslims feared what would the fate be of the Prayers they had offered up till then. Would they all be lost? The verse was, then, revealed to assure them that their earlier prayers would, in no case, go waste. They had already found acceptance with God. Anyhow, in it Namaz has been referred to as Iman, and, in my view, for the very fact that Namaz is the outer expression of the inner feeling of the faith. Because of the close affinity between faith and prayer (Namaz) again, I believe, persistent disregard of Namaz has been characterised in the Traditions as the equivalent of infidelity, and, on the strength of this, some founder-doctors of Islamic jurisprudence have proceeded to lay down the law that by wilfully neglecting the Namaz a person loses his title to Islam and goes out of its fold. These jurists do not look upon the neglect of other obligatory duties or the commission of one of the major moral transgressions, but hold that it is equal in its consequences to idolatory or the worship of the crucifix, which are, by their very nature, inimical to Islam. They say that as prostration before an idol or a crucifix is an act amounting to infidelity, even though it may not have been done with that intent, so also the deliberate omission of Namaz. In a word, Namaz is more closely related to faith than any other act of religion. Furthermore, Namaz exerts influence over all the departments of life and transforms the entire existence of a person into one of virtue and godliness. provided, of course, that the Namaz that is offered is real, and not merely nominal, its effectiveness in this direction is of the very extreme. It is said in the Traditions that the conduct of some people will be judged on the last day by the quality of their Namaz has been correct and of the right order, their whole life will be accepted as such, and if not, it will be condemned outright as one of default and transgression. The idea is that Namaz, if it is truly what is should be, is a sufficient proof of the purity and goodness of one's all-round behavior on the earth. I will now offer some suggestions towards improvement in the quality of the Namaz. By the grace of God, we are conscious of the importance of this obligation and discharge ourselves of it regularly. But, unfortunately, most of us are quite content with manner of our doing it and have no ambition for enriching its spiritual content. This is highly lamentable. We have just seen the remark of Hazrat Mujaddid that "What Royat is in the Hereafter, Namaz is in this world. " We can conclude for ourselves from it how kneely desirous should we be to make our Namaz better and better.

There is no limit to the scope for improvement in the inner quality and merit of Namaz. Even the best Namaz can be improved upon a thousand times with sustained effort and perseverance. The first step towards it is to learn thoroughly, if it has not already been done, the regulations relevent to it and make a constant endeavor to say the Namaz in the light of them and with a proper feeling of reverence and humility.

The next is to call within oneself, at the time of prayer, an active awareness of the fact that God is present everywhere and sees everything. It is necessary to strive to one's utmost to the best of one's ability to offer up the Namaz in the manner one would have done had God present right there is his full splendour and Glory, Commanding one to say the Namaz in his presence. This, admittedly, is not an easy task; it is extremely difficult of achievement; but the vital thing is to keep it permanently before the mind's eye as the goal to be striven after with sincerity and determination. The mere effort will make a lot of difference. Its way is to contemplate inwardly, when a person stands up for the Namaz, that God is Omnipresent and all-seeing and though hidden from his view, He is watching him intently nevertheless. The prayer is, thus, being offered in the presence of the Divine. All the acts of the Namaz Kayam, Kauud, Ruku, Sujud, should be carried out in this spirit and under the shadow of this over-riding thought. The realisation of this state, even in the remotest degree, will be a most splendid achievement.

Yet again, some verses from an inevitable part of each Namaz. Their meaning, at least, should be learnt with due care, so that when they are recited the worshipper may know what actually is he saying to God through them, and his inner self may keep pace with the words he is uttering. This will greatly facilitate concentration.

Those who offer Namaz without a proper understanding of its contents do acquit themselves of their duty, but, in a rather poor way, and they will be taken to task for it.

Some modern educated Muslims are prone to take an extreme view in this behalf. They say that the Namaz of men, who because of their ignorance of Arabic, repeat the verses mechanically and do not understand their import and a vast majority of us belongs to this category remains as good. If the purpose of offering up Namaz was only to keep mentally with that one recited in it, the effort of such men would, indeed, be of no avail to them. But the truth is that the Namaz implies many things. It implies, instance, the cutting aloof of oneself from all other interests and occupations as soon as the call is given, the performing of ablution as ordained by the most high and the turning of one's face towards him to the exclusion of everything else, the pres- enting of oneself before him, standing reverentially with arms folded like a meek slave, the touching of the ground with the fore- head as a mark of utter submission and obeisance, and the reciting of what one is bidden by him to recite. Since these aspects of the Namaz find their fulfillment in the case of the common Muslims also who recite the verses without an intelligent appreci- ation of them, it cannot be said that their labours avail them nothing. But, at the same time, it can not be denied that their Namaz lacks and luster which comes only from an understanding of its contents. This, certainly, is a great loss and a colossal misfortune and should not, therefore, be taken lightly. About our worldly goods our desire is that they should be of less solicitous about the worth and quality of our Namaz. If anything, our anxiety in relation to it should be greater by far and we should spare on pains to lift our Namaz to the point of perfection.

Some people are unnecessarily distressed by stray thoughts crowding into the mind at the time of the Namaz and fear that their devotions are ruined because of them. Our endeavor should, of course, be to shut out distracting thoughts from the mind when at prayer, if they still creep in, the quality of the Namaz is not affected by them. It is at all necessary to eat one's heart over the thing. However, the endeavor should always be there, and by saying the Namaz with an intelligent apprehension of the meaning of the verses recited and focussing attention on the presence of the Almighty, the possibility of being drawn away by outside ideas can be cut down to the minimum.

Lastly, it is profitable to spend some time in the company of earnest devotees of God and watch them at prayer whose Namaz is perfect by his grace, or, at least, it is perfect as compared to ours. For those who cannot make use of this suggestion, the next best thing is to study books which are likely to foster in them the desire to excel in their prayers and also furnish necessary guidance, like Imam Ghazali;s Kimya-e-Saadat. There is a small booklet by the person writer, entitled, Namaz ki Haqiqat, that might also prove helpful. In it, he has collected valuable extracts from the writings of the revered theological masters and other Holy men of undisputed excellence and brought them togather. As the contents of the book are, largely, not his own he has only translated most of them from persian and Arabic into simple Urdu he has no hesitation in saying that, whenever, he reads it himself, it does him a lot of good, and inspires him to greater effort. This has been inserted here simply in the hope that it might succeed in inducing the reader to a perusal of the book, leading on to some improvement in the quality and merit of his Namaz, in which case the author, too, would become entitled to a part of the accruing Divine reward on the strength of the Tradition that "A person who guides another to a deed of virtue will have the same recompense for it as the doer of the deed."

An advice given by the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to a Companion may also be usefully recalled in the course of present discussion. The advice, which has the added advantage of not being very difficult to act upon, was to offer up each Namaz in the spirit that it was the last one of his life. In practice it would mean that as a worshipper stood up for prayer he should imagine that it might well be the last opportunity for him to pay homage in that form to the Almighty. Having got into that frame of mind, the urge should be to say the prayers in as fitting a manner as possible. This recipe will, Insha Allah, prove most effective in endowing the Namaz with the warmth and vitality of faith.

Another thing I would like to mention before bringing the theme of Namaz to a close is that, apart from the five obligatory prayers of the day, there are some others known as Sunnat and Nafl. The Sunnat and Nafl prayers that precede or follow the obligatory prayers are happily not neglected by use in the normal course, but where the rest are concerned, viz., Tahajjud, Chasht, Ishraq, Awwabin, which the Prophet (Peace be upon him) used to offer up himself as commend to his Companions, we are found hoplessly wanting and careless. I venture to suggest that those of us whom God has, in His infinite Mercy, blassed with any amount of religious solicitude should realise the worth of the boon and be grateful to Him for it, and the best way t express the gratitude is to derive the maximum benefit from it, one of the methods of which is to recite the Naft prayers at least at the stipulated hours.

The Tahajjud habit needs particularly to be cultivated diligently. from both, the Quran and the practice of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him), it is evident that the Tahajjud occupies the most vital place among all non-obligatory prayers. It seems to me from the manner it has been spoken of in Sura-i-Muzammil that by virtue of its inherent potentialities it should have been an obligatory prayer but was made optional for the sake of the Ummat's convenience. Some theologians are even of the opinion that it was an obligatory prayer at first which was relegated to the possition of the Sunnat as a mark of concession to faithful when the second section of sura-i-Muzammil was revealed. Some of its special virtues and the unique radiance with which it is invested do, indeed, lend it an eminence over every other prayer. It was during the Tahajjud that the feet of the sacred Prophet (Peace be upon him) used to swell up ( due to long stretches of standing), and, yet, he would not cut it short. He would inform that certain special graces of the Lord that were concentrated on the earth at that hour could not be entered into at any other time. He used to wake up his wives when the time for Tahajjud came and advise the Companions to be zealously vigilant in the observance of that prayer. A Tradition of his reads: Hold fast to the Tahajjud for such has been the practice of the devoted servants of God before you. It will take nearer to him as it did in their case, and serve as an atonement for your sins and guard you against evil."

Admittedly, these teachings of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) were not meant for the Companions alone. But for all Muslims and at all times. We should therefore, feel about them as if they were being addressed to us directly by him and reposing full trust in the virtues of the Tahajjud, as described in the above Tradition, try earnestly to carry it out into practice.

The pre-eminence of Tahajjud is further born out by another Tradition in which the Prophet (Peace be upon him) has induced men of faith to avail themselves of its glorious spiritual possibilities in these words: "In the home if the husband wakes up first for the Tahajjud prayer he should try to awaken his also wife also to the extent of administering a mild dash of water on her face, In the same way, if the wife be the first to arise, she should try to wake up her husband also to the extent of administering a mild dash of water on his face. "On such couples the Prophet (Peace be upon him) has conferred a bountiful blessing. At Some places in the Tradition, the words of the blessing are, "May the choicest favors of God be on them ", and at others, "May such husbands and wives thrive forever and remain permanently in bloom.

For no other Sunnat or Nafl Prayer has the Prophet (Peace be upon him) offered such powerful inducements. This is proof enough of its supreme importance among all optional prayers. Indeed, in one Tradition, it is laid down in plain, simple words that " after the obligatory prayers, Tahajjud is the most outstanding ". Yet, as it is very testing for the flesh to leave the bed at that early hour, even the religiously-nclined among us shirk from it, although this very factor is no less responsible for the high value the prayer carries. Says the Quran:

"Truly, the rising by night is most potent for governing (the soul), and most suitable for (framing) the word (of prayer and praise)" (Quran : Muzammil, 1)

It further appears from the Quran that the Tahajjud is characteristically beneficial in the development of moral stemina for struggle in the path of God and his religion. In Sura-i-Muzammil we find the verse given below occuring immediately after the Prophet (Peace be upon him) was advised to offer up the prayer, more or less, during the later half of the night:

"Soon, We shall send down to thee a weighty Message". The aim, ostensibly, was to impress upon the Prophet (Peace be upon him) the truth that the Tahajjud afforded an excellent preparation for the task that lay ahead of him. It had the capacity to impart the rare strength needed for the successful accomplishment of his mission.

It was the custom of the Companions to say a long prayer at the time of the Tahajjud, the chief reason being that the practice of reciting the Quran from the written or printed text had not yet come into vogue. people generally knew the whole or a substantial part of it by heart, and would recite it at the Tahajjud. I have rad it somewhere a Companion once complained against his son to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) that instead of reciting the Quran in the night at Tahajjud, he did it during the day so outrageous did it seen to him. Anyway, it is a well known fact that the Companions used to read out long passages from the Quran at the Tahajjud, as if that was for them the right time for the recitation of the book. We ought to do the same on our part. We should, if we remember any considerable part of the Quran, not seek to get done quickly with the Tahajjud by reciting the smaller Suras. We have just recalled how the feet of Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) used to swell up during it because of the long hours of standing. Besides the Namaz, the Tahajjud is also the ideal time for Zikar and Tilawat. So has said the Prophet (Peace be upon him) : "God is most near to his servant during the later stages of the night; hence, if you can bring yourself to be among his servants who remember him in Zikr at that time, let it surely be so, and waste not those precious hours in negligence".

This was by way; otherwise, our main theme were the Nafl prayers as part of the general discussion on the need for improve- ment in the standard of our Namaz. In addition to Tahajjud, among the prescribed Nafl Prayers, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) has described great merit and advantage in the one known as Chasht. We will confine ourselves to quoting these two Traditions of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) concerning his prayer.

A celestial Tradition (meaning a Tradition spoken by the Prophet (Peace be upon him) on behalf of God) tells that it is a standing offer of the Almighty to everyone of his servants that, "O son of Adam, you take upon yourself only this much of responsibility, that you will render four Rakats of Namaz to me during the earlier part of the day, i.e. at Chasht, and I, in return for that, will suffice for you (i.e. hold myself responsibile to provide for your needs) till the day is done."

The other Tradition says, " Anyone who offers up two Rakats of Namaz at Chasht regularly will be forgiven of his sins even though they be as copious as the foam of the sea."

In the first Tradition, as one would have noticed, four Rakats were prescribed for the Chasht prayer, and, in the second, only two; in some other Traditions, there are mentioned six, eight and even twelve Rakats. This variation is due to the fact that the number of Rakats is not so very important in the Nafl prayers, as in the obligatory ones. if one offers up a minimum of two Rakats at the time of a Nafl prayer one's duty is done, and if more, it is better and will entitle the devotee to greater remuneration.

After the Namaz, the next in order of preference among the fundamentals comes the Zakat. The basic function of Zakat is the same as that of any form of worship. It is the seeking of God's pleasure and the cleansing and purification of the self. It is patent fact that, more frequently then not, sins and crimes have their origin in the just for wealth and the lust for power and between the two, the former is a more common malady. Zakat is a means for breaking the force and the malignancy of the malady of lust for wealth. In the Quran, Zakat is often mentioned simultaneously with Namaz which shows that it is almost equal to the latter in importance in the Islamic organization of worship. When, after the death of the Prophet, some of the Arab tribes refused to pay the Zakat, the Caliph, Hazrat Abu Bakr, felt compelled to declare war upon them, and, in taking that extreme step, he had the full support of the Holy Companions. Such, in a word, is the importance of Zakat in Islam.

The financial demands of the faith from its followers do not end with Zakat. They extend further and assume many other forms. It is clearly stated in a Tradition that, "Besides Zakat, there are some other claims, too, on wealth:. These other claims have been thoroughly enumerated by the theological doctors at their proper place.

The manner in which the virtues of spending in the way of God are extolled in the Quranand the various styles of expression that have been employed for the purpose go to confirm that it is an indispensable constitute of faith. Yet, universal as the indifference of Muslims to their religion has come to be, nowhere is it more evident than in this particular sphere. People have become so selfish these days and the love of money has grown so enormously among them that the practice of sharing one's wealth with a needy and indigent brother is disappearing fast from their midst and, even those who do so, a majority of them are guilty of gross carelessness with respect to the laws and regulations Divinely laid down for it, with the consequence that they do not derive the full benefit from it as promised in the Quran.

When Zakat is a fundamental obligation like the Namaz, the desire should naturally, be to discharge it with equal care and ardency. A Zakat that is paid in an off-hand manner, without the urge to make the most of it by praying scrupulous regard to all the relevent rules and requirements, is akin to a Namaz which is offered up in haste and without proper attention, lacking in both, life and luster. Some of the ways of vesting the Zakat with a greater inner content can be:
First, to get to know all the rules and principles of Zakat and cultivate sincerity of purpose.
Second, to take good care to spend it on what seem to be the most deserving and legitimate parties and object, that is, parties and objects in spending on which there is the hope of the greatest reward from God.
Third, to hate the idea of having bestowed any favour on the person to whom it is given away, nor to look down upon him in any way on that account, but, on the other hand, to feel genuinely obliged to him because it was through his agency that one was enabled to acquit oneself of the duty properly and well, and to acknowledge it ungrudgingly by word and deed.
Fourth, to call up the conviction to the mind, while giving away the Zakat, as in the case of Namaz, that God is present here, there and everywhere, seeing all and observing everything: He is watching this act of mine, as well as the intent that is operating behind it, and it is in his presence and by his command that I am doing this little service to a servant of his.

If the Zakat begins to be paid in the manner and spirit indicated above, its beneficial results can be experienced in this very existence; such abundance and prosperity will be witnessed in trade and agriculture that men will be astounded.

The third prectical plank is the Roza (or the fast) it is a most excellent means for the development of the celestial element in our nature. It purches the self and is specially beneficial for cultivating Divine virtues like contentment, alm endurance, and piety. During the fast a person forges a special link with the Celestial world by crushing down the animal appetites. But these results can be achieved only when it is undertaken with all the solemnity of an act of worship, the instructions laid down in its context are sincerely obeyed and nothing is done that may militate against the sanctity of the deed. The first thing in this regard is to leave all sinful conduct strictly alone, more particularly that which appertains to the mouth and the tongue. If this is not done, the fast will be bereft of all spiritual consequences. We say this on the authority of the Tradition that, "If a person does not abstain from falsehood, deceit and perfidy while fasting, it is immaterial to God that he goes without food and drink, and does hunger and thirst."Another Tradition, to the same effect, reads. "Many are there among those who keep the fasts that gain nothing from them except hunger and thirst."

It follows, therefore, that our ambition should be to obtain the maximum advantages from the fasts as from Namaz and Zakat, in terms of our spiritual progress and evolution. What is required for this, first and foremost, is to refrain from everything that is forbidden, including the Makroohat. The sins emanating from the mouth are particularly to be guarded against, so much so that it is prohibited in the Tradition even to shout or to talk in a loud voice during a fast. Conversely, the endeavor ought to be to practice greater goodness and pay more attention to the deeds of virtue during the period of fasting, especially to those that are associated with the mouth. e.g., Zikr and Tilawat.

Another thing is to meditate, more and more, when fasting, on the Glory of God and on his will and command. The devotee is advised to dwell mentally, again and again, on the theme that God is omnipresent and All-Observing and it is in response to his command that he is refraining from eating and drinking and that the particular act of his is being watched by him. When the pangs of hunger and thirst may grow strong, he should tel himself that although food and water were easily available, he had to go without them because such was the wish of the Almighty and his Divine pleasure; on that day his Lord and creator was pleased with that very hunger and thirst, and the suffering he was undergoing then was to be instrumental in saving him from a terrible agony on the Hereafter.

The Practice of eating lightly at Iftar and Sahar adds to the luster of the fasts, whereas overeating fills them up with gloom and destroys their intrinsic value.

I will now say a word about the Nafl fasts. While, in the case of Namaz, there is scarcely anyone among us who confines himself only to the Farz Rakats and omits altogather those that are Sunnat and Nafl Such a thing is not well thought of generally with the fasts it is not so. We, commonly, do no more than to observe the Ramzan fasts, or if anyone goes very far, he just keeps an additional fast for Arafa, Yaum-i-A,shoora, and Shab-i-Barat, although the Prophet (Peace be upon him) as his habit was to offer up numerous Nafl prayers in addition to the Farz ones and encourages the others to follow his example so also did he keep the Nafl fasts excessively, apart from the obligatory fasts of the month of Ramzan. and persuade his followers to act similarly. He kept the fast nearly always on the 13th and 15th of each month, and, according to some chroniclers, also on every Monday and Thursday. We should strive to revive this tradition of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) by our action. The Roza is a thing of great intrinsic auspiciousness; it possesses a profound ability to sanctify the soul and endue it with Heavenly radiance.

I, moreover, believe that the merit of our fast in the Ramzan suffers a great deal because of the fact that we do not observe fasting at all during the rest of the year. Fasting for a few days each month will keep us in tune inwardly with the spirit of that form of worship and, then, when the month of Ramzan will come, it will find us ready to partake fully of its transcendental glory.

It is narrated about the Prophet (Peace be upon him) that, while his custom it was to keep fast on a number of days every month, he would do so excessively in the month of Sha'ban, sometimes for the whole month. One of the reasons, perhaps, was that he wanted to produce within himself as the blessed month Ramzan approached the right spiritual atmosphere in order to take the fullest advantage of its redoubtable inner richness.

Whatever it may be, it is important to cultivate enthusiasm for the Nafl fasts, as it is for the Nafl prayers, and observe them duly. We should keep fast on the 13th, and 15th of each month for such was the custom of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), and, further, it is stated in a tradition that,"To keep fast yearly during the month of Ramzan and on three days each month for the rest of the year is equal in Divine recompense and reward to fasting throughout the year.

And, lastly, the Haj. The basic purpose of the Haj pilgrimage is the same as that of any other mode of worship the propitiation of the Lord, and, yet, there is also something unique about it.

There exists a special relationship, a peculiar affinity, between the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and, through him, between his Ummat and Hzrat Ibrahim. The Haj, in truth, constitutes, both in its form and essence, the symbolization of the latter's supreme devoutness and matchless submission to the will of God, and the idea underlying its ordainment is that every Muslim who can afford to undertake the pilgrimage should, at least, once in his life, betake himself to the place where the most glorious episode of Hazrat Ibrahim's life of utter dedication to his Creator had taken place, and cast himself, for the time being, in the role of that superbly self-effacing, all sacrificing to the path of that true friend, slave and devotee of the Divine, and of his respectful devotion to the distinctive practices the Lord has ordained for the occasion and create within himself the sincere urge to dye his entire existence, inwardly as well as outwarldly, in the hue of that august patriarch and give his soul a chance to take in its share of the magnificent spiritual glories of the place.

I shall dwell on further on the essential beauty and richness of the Haj because these can be understood properly only when one experiences them personally during the course of the pilgrimage. This much, however, I will certainly say that when, by the Grace of God, you may decide to undertake the pilgrimage concentrate more on preparing yourself inwardly and spiritually for it than on anything else. Sadly enough, people bestow the greatest thought on the material comforts on the journey, they even want to take with them such trivial articles as salt, pepper and pickles and equip themselves with as many as ten suits of clothes, they get occupied with these preparations for months in advance but do nothing by way of making themselves fit spiritually for the great occasion. The result is that gain nothing from it, and come back as they had gone. It is not that a pilgrim is not allowed to furnish himself with material necessities before he sets out for the pilgrimage within a proper limit it is essential to do so, but these things do not make the real equipment for the Haj. The real equipment lies in getting oneself ready with all the information needed for the carrying out the duty and in the acquirement of that inner fitness which enables one to receive the rich spiritual benefits accruing from it. An important part of the endeavour to establish Haj must be to create in the people's mind an awareness of this fact. Without it, the Haj will remain a soulles from and an empty ceremony.

So far we have examined the four fundamental duties of Namaz, Zakat, Roza and Haj in the course of our study of worship in Islam. After the affirmation of faith, they constitute an end in themselves and are to be carried out in their prescribed forms. They provide the practical of a Muslim being really a one.

There are many things occupying a place of importance in religion for which no definite procedure has been prescribed by the Shariat only the principles governing them have been laid down, nor do they make an end in themselves; they are a means to an end. For instance, it is a religious obligation to learn the faith and to reach it to other, and to serve and to defend it to the best of one's ability, but, as you know, no precise method has been formulated for these purposes as in case of Namaz, Zakat etc. These duties are also not an end in themselve the study of faith is necessary because without it people will not be able to discharge their religious oblivious obligations properly; and, so on. But with the four compulsory modes of worship it is not so. They possess, as we have pointed out a few lines earlier, a definite, unalterable form and are also their own end. Finally, the word 'Islam' denotes submission. It is another name for surrendering oneself entirely to God. No other act of religion expresses this condition more reason that suggests itself to the mind is that these duties, if performed in the right spirit, exert their influence on all the spheres of existence and are capable of transforming the whole life into one of faith and submission. The stipulation, of course, is there that they retain some inner resemblance with the Namaz,Zakat, Roza and Haj of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and do not slip into a deed formality. Its is without a trace of doubt that these foundational duties are endowed with tremendous potentialities. If our prayers and our fasts and the Zakat and the Haj not making themselves felt in our lives to any noteworthy degree it is because they do no longer pulsate with life.

One of the changes that come over the followers of the Prophets with the passage of time is that their acts of worship degene- rate into rituals. The Muslims have not proved themselves to be above the operation of this rule. Such of them as have shut their eyes completely to the need of abiding by the compulsory items of worship and are, for practical purposes, leading a life of infidelity are outside the purview of our discussion at the moment. What they are going to end up in will come before them on the day of reckoing. The mournful truth is that even with Muslims like us who observe the basic obligations of worship regularly the case is that we are simply hugging their skeletons from which the spirit has departed. Very few of us can truthfully claim that the generalization we have just indulged in does not apply to them. Or, at least, those sections of the Ummat which still adhere by the fundamental obligations would be finding themselves in an entirely different state today. They would be their own example in the world for moral integrity, for social uprightness and for the excellence of their conduct in the practical and material walks of life. The lives of these men would be the most striking models of piety and goodness. Whoever came to know them would notice in them a peculiar charm and a unique fragrance. This is not a flight of fancy but truth. The few deep-hearted men of genuine faith and endeavor that provide an exception to the general gloom men whose Namaz, Zakat, Roza and Haj have anything in common, in merit and substance, with those offered by the Prophet (Peace be upon him) even today make the finest specimens of humanity and people are struck by an inexplicable magnetism of spirit, an un-definable pervasive quality, as they come into contact with them. The tragedy of our times in that extremely rare as such men have become, the desire to seek them out and to profit by their company has become rarer. Should Allah grant one the good fortune to dedicate oneself to the task of Islamic regeneration, one's chief work would lie in injecting fresh life and vitality into the foundational duties by bringing the Namaz, Roza and Haj of the sacred Prophet (Peace be upon him).