Regular prayer

Remembrance of God. Obviously there are other benefits to prayer, but having a way to consistently remember God seems especially important in today's world where we seem to be bombarded with concepts and ideas that have the potential to lead us away from faith.

format_quote Originally Posted by glo

Thank you, Tyrion

Yes, I can relate to that.
Do you ever return from your prayer and find that something which really bothered you or seemed important to you before, has suddenly lost its significance. That the time you have spent in prayer has refocused you on more important things in life?

Yeah, I can definitely say I've had that feeling before.

format_quote Originally Posted by glo

Why are we meant to pray?

Is it of benefit to God or of benefit to us or both?
Any thoughts?

Well, I think from an Islamic point of view, it's entirely for our benefit since God needs nothing from us. We pray to him to ask him for guidance, and because he is worthy of worship. Also because that was the purpose of our creation.

format_quote Originally Posted by glo

Why are we meant to pray?

Is it of benefit to God or of benefit to us or both?
Any thoughts?

A benefit to us alone, as mentioned before, god does not need anything from us. It brings us closer to allah, it is a constant reminder of a supreme being and an opportunity to break away from this temprorary world. Recently at times I have been feeling this extreme serenity within myself when I pray. I have never felt that way in any other type of activity before, it has to be experienced to be appreciated.

Ah, sorry. The tongue sticking out is basically just a bad habit I picked up from using the internet too much. it's basically just my version of a smiley face, so I just use it to try and make the conversation more friendly.

And yes, I think the idea of submission is very much like the idea of giving oneself up to God, but I just think that Muslims tend to go a bit further with it by calling themselves slaves of God, which to me is just a very beautiful way of putting it. To absolutely give yourself up to God, and to accept that he is the Lord and you are His is humbling and an amazing feeling. (Not to say I've reached this state yet, but I'm trying )

Often, during the day, I get so wound up at work, and only remembrance of sholat that makes me to pause, stop and regain my balance.

meanwhile during night prayers, I often "pour my heart out" as a result of all my worldly and personal affairs, and I feel much more peaceful and calm after.

I can identify with what a lot of the posters here wrote about prayer. When naidamar talked about regaining his balance, I could identify with that, except I call it centering myself or finding my center. It really is a refocusing and finding ones balance.

When tyrion talked about a consistent remembering of God, that is so true also. That is what I like about the story of Mohammed and God and when God told him to pray all those many times a day and he said if he did then he would not be able to do anything else, so God reduced it to five and said those five would count for the rest. (My short version of the story, I hope I didn't butcher it in my brief re-telling.) The story and the message to me is the essence of when Paul says in the Bible to pray without ceasing. The essence of it is about a continuous communion with God, and the constant act of being in his presence.

When muslimeen talked about prayer bringing us closer to God, yes! Prayer is a part of relationship building with God, and drawing closer to him.

Sometimes when I pray, I talk to God as though he is my best friend and confidant. Sometimes when I pray, I talk to God as though he is my master and king. He is all that and more to me.

I agree with those who said that god needs nothing from us. Even in the Bible there are verses that say that, and Christians believe that as well. But I would agree with Glo that through our time and devotion we are "giving" ourselves to God. By willful submission to God, we are giving our everything to him. We give him praise, we give him honor, we give him glory, etc. It is not that he needs it. He is almighty God. But we do it out of our love and devotion. I believe our love and devotion, submission, makes God happy, and our disobedience does not. God loves us and desires that all should come to know him.

format_quote Originally Posted by glo

I realise that I don't know as much about Islamic prayers as might be expected.

One day, glo, you should find a muslimah in your area and ask her to teach you to pray as a muslim prays. When I learned to pray as one, I felt for the first time that I truly understood what it meant when God told Moses to take off his shoes for he was standing on holy ground. From the preparing ones body for prayer, to the intention made for prayer, to the actual prayer itself. The complete reverence before God is awe inspiring. I think Christians often fall into becoming too casual with God. Yes, he is our closest friend, but he is also the almighty God.

I feel like it's necessary to point out that prayer may not be the most accurate way of translating Salat. I'm not particularly knowledgeable on the subject, but based on what I've been taught it seems that the way most Christians pray is more comparable to the supplications (duas) Muslims offer, either after Salat or throughout the day. I don't want to say too much out of fear of making a mistake, so if anyone with more knowledge could follow up to this it would be much appreciated.

format_quote Originally Posted by Tyrion

I feel like it's necessary to point out that prayer may not be the most accurate way of translating Salat. I'm not particularly knowledgeable on the subject, but based on what I've been taught it seems that the way most Christians pray is more comparable to the supplications (duas) Muslims offer, either after Salat or throughout the day. I don't want to say too much out of fear of making a mistake, so if anyone with more knowledge could follow up to this it would be much appreciated.

I would agree with you and also disagree with you...... if that is possible.

Yes, the way most Christians pray would be similar to how muslims make du'a. I agree with that. In fact, there are often discussions and reprimands amongst Christians who dislike how some treat God like a santa claus in the sky. (Although not all prayer, nor du'a, are of that nature either.)

The way that I disagree with you is that the Lord's Prayer, from my understanding, is the same basic structure as the Islamic prayer (salat). (This is not my own conclusion, as I have never honestly examined the two side by side, but I read an entire chapter about this in a book once many years ago, written by a man who was not a Christian.) As Christians, we are often taught that the Lord's Prayer is the model for prayer. The structure of it should serve as a model for how we should pray. So, in that sense, Christians who follow the model of prayer, is very comparable to salat.

I would say that what we Christians simply call "prayer" would include both du'a and salat for a muslim. For Jews it is more similar to Muslims.

format_quote Originally Posted by glo

Yes, I might try that.
Something that makes me a little hesitant, and perhaps you can help me there - is there anything said during Islamic prayers which I might find ... ermm ... goes against Christian teaching? That's the only thing which I couldn't do.

Well, you don't have to answer this, but the only things I can think of that may go against would be the following two things: (And like I said, you don't have to say if they do or not if you don't want to.)

1) Some Christians might have a problem with facing "east" while praying. (I say east in quotes, because it may not be very east from where you are, but more south east....) For some Christians this would be a problem possibly because of what they may feel it signifies. I think, in perspective, it shouldn't be a problem. Jews also pray facing (Jerusalem) and early Christians did as well.

2) You may have a problem with saying that you believe Mohammed is his messenger and things along that line, if you do not believe he was a messenger of God. (You don't have to say if you do or do not.) But that is the main thing I think a Christian would have a problem with..... stating someone is a messenger of God if they do not believe that person was a messenger of God.


I looked for an English translation of the prayer on-line and this was all I found: http://muslim-canada.org/salaat.html (The translation is next to the pictures.)

Maybe someone here has a better translation. I have a book here and the translation in it is slightly different, and imo slightly better. LOL But you can look at the words yourself and see if there is anything else you think might be offensive to you.

Actually, now that I think about it, there is a third thing that a Christian might find offensive. I tend to forget that most Christians do not recognize Allah as God. (Since I believe we worship the same God, I tend to forget that I am in the minority. LOL)