Islam The Voice of Human Nature
3. ISLAM IS THE VOICE OF HUMAN NATURE
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of the right direction in prayer will result in
principled behaviour towards others.
Salah
invests
the devotee with humility before God and with
modesty in general human relationships. One who
has emerged from the mosque, bound by a
covenant of complete obedience to God, will
become for his fellow-men the model of perfect
morality.
Apart from the five regular prayers, there are other
forms of
salah:
the midnight worship (
tahajjud
);
prayer in the event of some unusual happening;
prayer in the hour of need; prayer to seek God’s
will and guidance (
istikharah
);
the Friday and
‘Id
prayers; funeral prayers, etc. All these are meant to
intensify the effect sought in regular worship.
Indeed, if a devotee is able to arrive at the essence
of prayer, it becomes an integral part of his
existence. If in his work he breaks new ground, or
undertakes an entire new project, he performs two
rak’ah
prayers and afterwards implores God’s
succour; if he achieves some major breakthrough,
he expresses his gratitude to God in his prayers. If
he is confronted by some problem, which seems
insoluble, again he tries to resolve it by offering his
