Actually, What's the Use of We Pray?
A toddler, rushes to the toilet because he wants to pee. Arriving at the toilet door, he stood frozen, then urine flowed down his pants to the floor.
"Why didn't you go to the toilet immediately, instead urinate there?" Asked his parents furiously.
enter the toilet. Because trying to remember the prayer, finally urinating in front of the door, "said the innocent child. That's the story of a friend about his child, which makes me laugh.
Besides prayers in prayer, since childhood, Muslims are usually taught various kinds of prayers. There are prayers before and after meals, prayers before going to bed and waking up, prayers before learning, prayers for father and mother, and others. As adults, more and more prayers. There are prayers of congratulations, prayers for forgiveness, prayers for brides and prayers before having a husband and wife.
These prayers are generally in Arabic. Some are taken from the verses of the Qur'an, the traditions of the Prophet, and some are composed by the scholars. For children, these prayers are taught by teachers at school or parents at home. Sometimes the Arabic sentences are taught without being told what they mean. However, because Arabic is considered sacred in Islam, its religious nuance is still felt.
The penchant for these prayers continues into adulthood. In Banua, one type of traditional scholar who is favored by the people is the ulama who often generously distributes various readings and prayers to their congregations to be practiced. Especially if the cleric is pleased to write the readings and prayers on paper, complete with their translations, then reproduced in photocopies.
People might ask, why not just buy prayer books that are abundant on the market? For them, the prayer taught directly by the ulama was far more powerful because it was given based on the diploma, which was a spiritual permission to practice it. The permit was a long chain from the teacher to the teacher, and continued to the Prophet Muhammad himself or to a great scholar in the past.
Among people who were said to be smart, prayer was often criticized. For an atheist, prayer means nothing but an expression of human helplessness. For a rationalist, prayer is considered useless, because what can change human life is not speech, but action. It's useless to pray day and night, if you don't work. On the contrary, people succeed when working hard, even if they don't pray.
But according to Dale Carnegie, prayer is very useful. First, by praying, people feel not alone in their lives. There is a God who always accompanies it. Secondly, in a frantic state, people are usually confused, not really clear about what the problem is. Through prayer, the problem will become clear. Third, prayer actually encourages people to act.
For Sufis like the Fritjhof Schuon (Muhammad Isa Nuruddin), prayer is when the heart rises to replace the brain, then the brain falls asleep in holy peace. Prayer is a means that connects the born and the inner, the relative and the absolute. Prayer is a struggle to overthrow the ego, so that people are free from arrogance and pride. Prayer makes man see himself as he is.
Of course, prayer in the Sufi view is not a prayer uttered by a mantra without understanding its meaning. Nor is it a beautiful rhyming prayer that is read out loud in public, as if shown to God, but it was actually aimed at the audience to be fascinated. Nor is political prayer, which praises and licks the rulers. True prayer is sincere prayer, rises from the heart.
In the end, sincere prayer may not be a prayer that can change destiny, namely God's provisions on human life and the universe, but prayer that prepares us to meet life whatever destiny will happen later. Meaningful prayer is probably a prayer that successfully transforms us into a better, not a change that cannot be changed.
As Muhammad Iqbal said, your prayer is that your destiny be changed. My prayer is that, you your self be changed. Your prayer is to change your destiny. My prayer is for yourself to be changed.
(19459006) Author of Mujiburrahman Professor at the Faculty of Islamic Law and Humanities, IAIN ANtasari Banjarmasin, Alumni of Al-Falah Islamic Boarding School Banjarbaru. IAIN Antasari Vice Chancellor 2013-1017 This article is taken from the book Humor, Women and Sufis [Quanta, 2017] with the author's permission )
This Article Was Published On : ISLAMI.CO
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