Spiritual Arson
I imagine
it more common than those of the faith to feel a sense of “lack luster”
regarding prayer. I for one have been struggling with this for some time.
Whether its forgetting prayer, rushing through it, falling on to bland
memorized prayers, not feeling the presence of God, etc. While the list of lack
luster prayers can be lengthy you are starting to see how I was feeling about praying.
If any of those factors may apply to you then you may find this post of
interest.
This is the fourth post that was
initiated after listening to the Spiritual Arson podcast. On episode #27-
Ritual Comprehension (Spiritual Arson, 2021). If you would like a
greater context to this post I suggest stop reading, or listening, and go
listen to that specific episode which runs about 76-minutes. If you have
already then you know the basis of what I will talking about today.
That episode resonated very deeply
with me. I pondered several days on what was discussed. Since its been some
time since I listened to that episode, I don’t recall what exactly lead me to
my current spiritual experimentation. Maybe, I should have written that thought
down in my spiritual journal? I recall thinking about a deployment of mine to
the Middle East. Walking down the streets of an outdoor market I heard for the
first time in person the Adhan which is the Islamic call to prayer.
That memory has led to me gaining a
deeper meaning behind prayer, removed some personally incorrect convictions
about Islam, feeling closer to my God, and many other hidden blessings. I want
to share what I have learned briefly in the hopes that it may help some of my
fellow Latter-day Saints. While this experiment is still in the trail phase, I
do have some insights I think will be useful for you.
Compulsory Prayer
Everyday around the world some 2
Billion Muslims are praying through out the day. Islam is an Abrahamic religion
founded by the prophet Mohammad in which he revealed the revelations given to
him through angelic visitation (Gabriel) as well by spirit of prophecy. In
Islam there are five pillars of faith, which everyone who claims to be a Muslim
must complete. As these five pillars are obligatory (compulsory). One of these
pillars is five daily prayers called salat.
Huda (2019) of Learn Religions describes
each daily prayer comprised of two components. The first being Wudu which is a
ritualistic washing of the body, often referred to as ablution, a washing of “the
hands, feet, arms, and legs” (p. 2). The second component is recitation of surah
which are verses of the Qur’an with specific worshipful phrases with verses of
the Qur’an while calling on Allah. These two acts together make up a completed
act of prayer.
The five obligatory prayers occur
throughout the day based off the light of the sun. Farj starts the day at dawn
or first light, Dhuhr which would be the suns highest point, Asr is generally
the afternoon although this is debated by some scholars, Maghrib denotes
sunset, and finally Isha is the last of the obligatory prayers for final light
or Dusk (Amr et al., n.d., p. 2). Huda (2019) notes that in times past a
faithful Muslim would judge when to pray by simply looking at the sun. “In
modern days, printed daily prayer schedules precisely pinpoint the beginning of
each prayer time. And yes, there are plenty of apps for that” (p. 3).
In Islamic neighborhood, cities, or
nations, the Adhan is the call to prayer, and the signal for one to perform
Wudu. Prayer has other specific rules guiding when, where, and how prayer
should be done to be acceptable to Allah. For Islamic theology Salat is
foundational to all other blessings.
“Prayer is the
connection of man with Allah and brings about purity of the soul, cleanliness
of the heart, achieves the spirit of piety, trains man and makes him wary of
sin and disobedience. From the narrations it is determined that prayer is the
most important of worship. If prayers are acceptable to Allah, He will accept
the other types of worship besides prayer. When the prayer is rejected, worship
other than prayer will also be rejected” (Shirazi, 2021, para. 1-2).
Prior to a
Muslim performing prayer their heart must have the intent of prayer. Once the
procedures for prayer have started from Wudu to the actual recitation of the
Prayer nothing should distract you. Prayer is taken seriously is Islamic theology
and requires one to continue to perfect the prayer. For instance, if you are
flatulent during a prayer Wudu is now invalid, and you must start all over
again for your prayer to be accepted (Dependable Entrepreneurial Engineering
Division, 2005, para. Fiqh 1.35). “Presence of the heart is the spirit of
prayer and it is necessary that the worshipper avoid all matters from his
affairs that break the attention (in prayer) and occupy the senses” (Shirazi,
2021, para. 6).
To keep the
prayer valid, one must also make sure the setting of prayer is correct. Best
practice is to attend a Mosque or a Masjid, if you are unable to attend either
a Mosque or Masjid, then finding a good clean environment is best. Shirazi
(2021) states that one should be presentable as in wearing clean clothing
(prayer cannot be performed naked as men must cover the navel to knees, and for
women they must cover the entirety of their bodies), having combed ones hair
and beard for the men, brushing your teeth, applying perfume, relieving
yourself prior to prayer, etc. (para. 10).
There are
additional requirements for prayer setting. For home or traveling the use of a
prayer rug is recommended. I recall seeing a video in which a faithful Muslim didn’t
have a prayer rug and was using some large banana leaf’s as a proxy rug. The
rug offers cleanliness, and level of comfort, while performing prayer through
various points of prostration. Areas should be free of filthiness (such as
feces), but as some scholars point out the prophet Mohammad would pray sometimes
directly in the sand (Shirazi, 2021).
Trial and Error
Having
found my copy of the English translation of the Quran I began a study of Islam.
While studying I found that for a faithful Muslim there are few people who will
out do them in daily prayers. This extends so much that vehicle audio systems being
purchased from Middle Eastern Distributors come with recorded prayer for travel
that plays when the radio is powered on. I started to wonder if the principles
in this religion could aid me in my yearning for better prayer. After all we believe
to seek out all righteous principles, “ff there is anything virtuous, lovely,
or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things” (The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2021b).
At first, I found a Muslim Prayer
reminder app, and have tested a couple of them out since then. Some of the apps
would even ask what school of thought you follow; this adjusts the prayer times
accordingly depending each schools’ dictations. The apps will play the Adhan on
give a pop up of the Shahada which is the Islamic declaration of faith. Some
apps even show you the proper steps to initiate Wudu. Placing the app on silent
notification worked as a soft reminder. Upon recognizing the notification, I
would say a short prayer.
About two weeks into this process
of seeing the notification I started to be more cognizant of the time of day in
relation to prayer times. Three weeks in started to look forward to the five
different prayer times throughout the day. For part time school schedule, it
also helped me separate times out for tasks, and I felt more focused while
working on assignments. Just last week I was working longer then normal eight
to nine-hour workdays. I felt having the prayer times kept me motivated through
out the day.
The second thing I experimented
with is a prayer rug. From the missionary days I grew accustomed to kneeling at
my bedside saying a prayer. Which ends in either getting up for the day or
sliding in for the night. I had issues with nighttime prayers depending my
level of exhaustion that day. I feel like separating where I am praying has been
very helpful. I think brain associated bedtime prayer with sleep. I found it
hard to really get into prayer kneeling at my bed. Using the prayer rug has
been rejuvenating. To me the prayer rug says I’m about to commune with my Father
in Heaven, and I should put focus on the purpose of the prayer.
I should note here that for a
practicing Muslim they pray facing towards the Ka’ba at Mecca. They believe that
the Ka’ba is the site where Abraham built his shrine. While I could face Mecca,
I felt it more appropriate to face towards the direction of the closest temple.
I recall on my mission during one of the many district conferences my mission
president talked on this subject. He said that we technically should pray
towards the holy land, praying towards the Temple Mount or Ka’ba. However,
since we believe in a restored gospel, that means we have active temples across
the world. The direction of prayer became less important by increasing number
of temples.
While I don’t imagine the black
square block of the current Ka’ba, I do imagine the many temples I have had
chance to enter. I think of the feeling I feel when going to the temple, and
the spiritual feelings I have felt there. This really helps focus the prayer,
as I gather my thoughts on what I’m to pray on. Due to COVID-19 the last time I
was in a temple was 2019. This has really helped feel connected to the temple.
While I don’t recite the Shahada, I
do go through the steps washing hands, face, arms, and feet. I start thinking
about what I want to prayer about whilst doing this. By the time I make it to
the prayer rug it has helped ready my thoughts. It also has enabled me to
notice if I need to relieve myself prior. The worst thing is starting to pray
and having go to the bathroom. One more additional thing I have added is after
prayer. Scripture reading for a page or few short verses. While I don’t think
this will substitute an actual block of time for spiritual study. What I have
noticed is being more thoughtful throughout the day.
“Ye must always pray unto the
Father in my name” (3 Nephi 18:19). We should live as disciples all the time
not just at church, not just in prayer, not when we are doing our callings,
etc. We should remember God in all that we do and remember Him in all that we
have. We should be grateful every day. As it’s another opportunity to commune
and draw closer to our Father in Heaven. Now I don’t think you should do what I
have been doing, but I think I can offer some short insights and suggestions
for you and how you pray.
Insights
First, make time to pray, and do so
consistently. We all have hectic and busy lives. If you find that through out
the day that you don’t pray often my suggestion is to set an alarm. Its easy to
get caught up in what we are doing to were we just forget to pray. How many
times a day is debatable, as in ancient Judaism they would “pray three times a
day, as David did (Ps. 55:17; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
2021c, p. 1). This I think will help us be better about it as we are commanded
to pray always (Luke 21:36; 3 Nephi 18:15; Doctrine & Covenants 31:12).
Second, be ready to pray by being
cleaning, and making sure you have a prayer conducive environment. Wash your hands
and rinse your mouth. If you must lock yourself in a closet, then do that if
you need to. Obviously, move the items out of the way, it would be hard to pray
if that ugly sweater you wore one time was slapping you in the face. If you
would like a recommendation for a prayer rug let me know I can get you the
information about where I purchased mine from. The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints (2021c) notes that in ancient Judaism prayer faced the sanctuary,
occurred “on the house top or in an upper chamber,” and that Jesus Christ
himself prayed on mountains or in solitary depending the setting (p.1).
Thirdly, ponder and give reverence
to God. Prior to praying think about what you want to say and think on the many
wonderful blessings you have. I think the more appreciative we are the easier
it will be for us to give our best efforts for sincere prayer. For those who
have gone to the temple I would suggest also thinking on the temple and temple experiences.
For those who haven’t had that opportunity, I suggest you think on your
baptism, or a time you really felt the whisperings of the Holy Spirit. As the Gospel
Topics explains that “throughout each day, we can maintain a constant
feeling of love for our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son” (the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2021a, p. 1).
Forth, we should study prayer, and
ponder how we can improve. I would say this is the biggest lesson I learned
thus far. This has been roundabout way to also learn also about getting back to
basics with about gospel study as well. For people who know how to ride motorcycles
it’s a fun and thrilling mode of travel. Many countries regulate learning how
to ride and have classes to instruct important principles. A lot of these
skills are perishable but need to be continually practiced. If you haven’t gone
to an empty spot and worked on drills such as swerving, stopping, etc., then
you are doing yourself a disservice.
It may be tempting to hope on and go for 300-kilometer ride, but sometimes we need to refresh our skills and work on the basics. I may have been treating my prayer this way. I have also gained a profound understanding of another faith’s ideas, and concepts in relation to prayer. Something I’m jealous of is the culture of prayer associated with Islam. I think its wonderful that starting a car causes a prayer to be played. I wonder what life will be like spiritually and culturally in the Millennium. How will our prayers be different then, and should we be striving to prayer as if we were post-Second Coming?
References
Amr, D., Bolbol,
S., Rashwan, K.S., & Fekey, R. (n.d.). Islamic prayer times determined
from geodetic astronomic principles. Benha University. https://feng.stafpu.bu.edu.eg/Surveying%20Engineering/3666/publications/Saad%20Zaki%20Bolbol_pdf.pdf
Dependable
Entrepreneurial Engineering Division (2005, November 17). Fiqh-us-Sunnah. International
Islamic University Malaysia, Dependable Entrepreneurial Engineering. https://www.iiu.edu.my/deed/lawbase/fiqh_us_sunnah/vol1/fsn_vol1a.html#top
Huda. (2019). The
5 daily prayer times and what they mean. Learn Religions. https://www.learnreligions.com/islamic-prayer-timings-2003811
Shirazi, N.M.
(2021). Summary of rulings: Rules of prayer. Al-Islam. https://www.al-islam.org/a-summary-of-rulings-makarim-shirazi/rules-prayer
Spiritual Arson.
(2021, February 14). #27- Ritual comprehension [Podcast]. Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2sJYi8Co9izT9qwbvdkKSD?si=YdiULdvmQem17CIHxSvJFQ
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (2021a). Gospel
topics: Prayer. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/prayer?lang=eng
The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (2021b).The articles of faith of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/a-of-f/1?lang=eng
The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (2021c). Prayer. The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bd/prayer?lang=eng
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