The Meaning of Prayer (1)

The prayer begins with which means Allah is Greater. It has been mistranslated as only Allah is
Great but its true meaning is Allah is Greater. The word Allah is a more formal way to address God
(although that is not to say it is impersonal). Allah is the word used to represent the essence, in all spheres, of
God and is the most perfect of names. The Sufiyyah have interpreted this as a declaration: s/he who begins
prayer does so by affirming the greatness of God, but does so with relative terms. We can never know how
great Allah is, and so we say He is Greater. To what is He greater? To everything else.
This is not itself part of the main prayer, but it is the declaration with which it starts. The Prophet
Muhammad has said that prayer begins with this and ends with the salam. No one but a Muslim can pray
the Salat, for no one but the Muslim recognizes why it is required. Prayer is a means to go from a human, a
physical understanding (of joy, sadness, wealth) to a godly understanding of it. Through prayer we speak,
and become part of the Divine. For Allah has said that He blew His spirit into man.
So we begin prayer with this very declaration. We have declared that Allah is greater than everything else.
He is greater than our pains and our tiredness, than our doubt and our weaknesses, and our ego and our Id.
This is an important declaration because (as we have mentioned) it establishes the preliminary rock which
we must make into a mountain. The understanding that we need Allah, and only through Him is
transcendence. So it is the takbir, the first element of our faith. Verily, Allah is greater.
After having made the declaration, the takbir, we read the first dua in our Salat. It is a beautiful dua:

The dua begins with the (root) word: SubanakAllah which has a meaning so beautiful an entire thesis could
be written on it alone. The best understanding of this word may be: Allah is pure. But purity here take on a
great deal of connotations. The first thing we have to understand is that this dua too is part of the
preliminary.
So how is Allah pure? Allah is pure from, and innocent of all the evil and the sins of the world. It is Allah
who has blessed man. It is Allah who taught man the pen, taught man that which he knew not. The world
has so much sin and evil, and many times Muslims and non-Muslims will blame God for the suffering. This
is an affirmation of our loyalty to Allah. We recognize that Allahs plan is greater than our knowledge. That
worldly suffering is as temporary as a blink of an eye, and that all thinks contain goodness. The Muslim who
believes in these words will never suffer from depression or anxiety, for he has recognized that the
maintainer of this world is just and pure. So the suffering that exists is either due to our own fault or part of a
plan we do not understand. The Prophet Muhammad has said that when a believer is put in pain his/her
sins are forbidden, and has also said that when a believer encounters hardship, they say that Allah has saved
them from a worse fate.
Allah is also pure from any emotion or human passion. He needs not sleep. Say: He is Allah, the One. This
also entails that Allah has given humans free will. I swear by this City, you are free from restrictions herein
says Allah in Surah Balad and its larger meaning is that Allah has given us the freedom of intention. So
intend to do good to all. There is more to be said on how exactly free will exists but that is separate issue. I
shall now move on to the next part (though there is much left unsaid).
The last part of this first part connects these words: Allah is pure to and to Him belong all praise. This is
interesting because surely other people deserve praise as well? The man who feeds the hungry, the doctor
who relieves pain? And indeed this phrase uses the special word for praise: hamd. This word is used for
praise which only Allah deserves because it means praise for an act which one has accomplished without any
aid or help. We say Alhumdillah because only Allah deserves the praise of being able to do something
without any foreign help. This is another declaration, and with it we have not only understood that Allah is
pure, but we admit that we need Allahs help for all things, and that only He deserves the ultimate praise.
Allah has said that verily man is in a state of loss, and man is ungrateful and we are only ungrateful
because we believe ourselves to be self-sustaining, completed. We begin the Salat by understanding we are

not complete, that we need to go towards a greater reality, and in this we will need Allahs help
continuously.
So this was the explanation of: SubhanAllahi wa bi hamdik. The next part is: Wa ta bara kasmuk, and Wa
taAla jaduk.
This translates to: blessed is your name, and exalted is Your Majesty. We must understand that this is a
continuation. We do not stop. We continue saying wa which means and and so we must piece together
these beautiful parts to fully comprehend its meaning.
The above is another affirmation. This is, as I have said, the preliminary of Salat, and so we are affirming the
truths with which we approach Him. We have understood the reason of prayer, and we have declared
ourselves in need of Him, and Him pure and praiseworthy. Now we also declare, without doubt, that the
answer to our problems, to our incompleteness, lies with God. It is not only so that we need Him, but that He
shall fulfil us. He is enough. Allah is enough. It is His name that is blessed, and He is exalted. The problems
we take to Him and the secrets of ourselves lies in His name. There is no other we need to ask.
Most Muslims dont understand the important of this affirmation. This is the ideas with which we must
approach prayer for it to be proper prayer. Allah has told us, has made it so easy, for us to recognize what
shall constitute a true Salat, and with what thought we must approach it for it to help us.
The last part of this dua is: wa la iLaha ghairuk. And there is no god but Allah. To be certain it says there is
no lord but Allah. There is none worthy of worship except Him. There is no Reality outside of Him. Our
desires, our pleasures, our sadness, our very Self shall melt away when we approach Him. We do not exist,
only He does. The Muslim does not do anything but submit.
If you were to meet your prime minister, your idol, your lover, your beloved, your king, and your friend, you
would have certain approaches. All of that is made one, one approach, when you approach Allah. Allah alHaqq. Allah the Truth.
The last part of our preliminary is:


We have now made clear our intention and our understanding of prayer. We have declared and understood
the mind-set with which we are approaching this most august of meetings. And now we affirm our belief: I
seek refuge from the accursed Satan is the first part.
The most important part here, of course, is the understanding that this prayer is a refuge. A safe place from
all else, from Satan. The French psychoanalyst, Lacan, hath destroyed ego psychology and geniusly
proclaimed that our desires are part of the Other and not our own Self. And so this is our refuge to find ourself. If I am not that which I desire, who am I? Pray and you shall know that the question to ask is your
answer.
In any case we come here to seek refuge, to speak with our Lord. Caliph Umar al-Khattab said that when he
wishes for God to speak with him he reads the Quran, and when he wishes to speak with the Lord he prays.
And so we have come to seek an audience with Allah, and speak with him. And speak with Him with the
understanding of all and more of what we have already mentioned. And speak to Him that which shall
liberate us.
The second part is: In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Kindest. We do everything in the name of
Allah. This is a dedication, and a promise. We have understood what prayer is, and we now approach it with
knowledge of the heaven, the refuge it is. However, we must swear loyalty to it. We swear that we dedicate
our lives and our very being to Allah. We shall now do everything in the name of Allah. Nothing short of
completeness will do. Our every breath, our every action will now be for Allah.

And in doing so we recognize His attributes. This is the first time we are allowed to address Allah by His
personal forms: His names. And the names He has given for us to utter are: Mercy and Kindness. The
difference here, as said by Imam al-Ghazzali is that mercy is given to those who deserve it. And so Allah
shall be there for those who deserve it. However, we also name Him as Kindness, and kindness is given to
those who do not deserve it, and so we understand that Allah is even with those who do not deserve it.
And so we need not be perfect, but only strive towards it. Allah will reward us for our actions, and he will
also reward us for our nothingness. The hoopoe in Attars Conference of the Birds consoles a bird by
saying:
And fear not for Allah will bless the saints holiness,
And He will bless your nothingness
When the bird fears that it does not have spiritual worth. And so we end with the preliminary part of our
Salat and the first part of this series. I have tried to remain brief whilst explaining this, but special attention
had to be paid here because it delineates the rest of our prayer.
There are many who complain they do not understand prayer, or that their prayer is not like that of the saints.
Allah has given them the answer Himself, has made it easy for them. And perhaps if one approaches prayer
the correct way, then one will be given its full benefits.
And Allah alone knows best.