Aren’t prayers and the remembrance of Allah (swt) the same or have the same value?
The Holy Qur’an states:
Recite what is sent of the Book by inspiration to thee, and establish regular Prayer: for Prayer restrains from shameful and unjust deeds; and remembrance of Allah is the greatest (thing in life) without doubt. And Allah knows the (deeds) that ye do. 29:45.
Allah (swt) wants us to recite His book: The Holy Qur’an and He also want us to study it, and to understand it, as it should be studied and understood. We must also meditate on it, so as to accord our knowledge and life and desires with it, and with all respect to it.
Then comes prayers: Prayers help us with self restraint from all wrongful deeds (act, plan, thought, motive, words etc.) of which we should be ashamed of. And now (as stated in the above verse) the greatest is the Zikr of Allah (swt). Through the Zikr of Allah (swt) one can feel or realize the presence of Allah (swt) and also the remembrance of Allah (swt) is the bringing to the mind of things as present to us, which might otherwise be absent to us, and this is the greatest thing in life. It is subjective to us; It fills our consciousness with Allah (swt).Prayers and Zikr (remembrance of Allah) is a form of worshiping Allah (swt), but one have more value than the other. For example:
- Some people goes towards their jobs and return home, take something to eat and goes right to bed, without even paying attention to their family. Whereas some people after returning from their jobs, comes home with a great big smile on their face, hurrying to be with their loved ones, kissing and hugging them, listening to their complains and supporting them with kind words and comforting them with a lending shoulder.
How beautiful is the feelings here! Between the two examples, both people would receive their rewards from their jobs, but in the case with the first person, he wouldn’t receive any benefits from his loved ones, while the second person in addition of receiving rewards from his job, he would receive a warm welcome home and a joyful feelings of happiness that would envelope them everywhere they go, how rewarding is this! The Zikr is indeed extra special.
The Zikr of Allah (swt) can help bring one to prayer with sincerity of the heart; it can help one to reach their spiritual goal of wisdom and understanding. Prayers with sincerity of the heart is the most hardest thing for a person to do, since one cannot feel the presence of their Lord, they would not be able to pray sincerely and as such they would pray with a weak faith, which Allah (swt) dislikes, and which the Shaitan likes. For weakness in faith help one to get themselves entangled in the Shaitan clutches.
The Holy Qur’an states:
O ye who believe! Let not your riches or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. If any act thus, the loss is their own. 63:9
Comments are closed.