Invoking God’s Mercy

Prayer is no simple matter, prayer is to invoke God, calling upon Him to exert His powers. Without doubt, we can say that when a true prayer comes out of the lips of a helpless person, it is akin to a challenge to God’s honour. When a helpless person becomes a true seeker and raises his hand in prayer before God, he makes his problem God’s own problem. At that time, it is not possible for God to send him away empty-handed. This is the reality which has been expressed in one particular tradition of the Prophet. (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 3556)

One way of praying is to learn some words of prayer by rote and keep repeating them as a ritual in order to ask God to grant us the best of this world and the best of the next world. Another more effective way of praying is to make some event the point of reference of the prayer. For instance, during the British era, there was a Collector in Lucknow, by the name of Siddique Hasan (ICS). He once arrested a dacoit called Sukhwa and locked him up in a room in his large bungalow, where he himself was staying. It was a very severe winter. At night, Siddique Hasan went out to take a roun, when Sukhwa saw him. He said: “Sir, your Sukhwa is getting very cold.” On hearing this, Siddique Hasan went to his room, picked up his own blanket and gave it to Sukhwa.

 Sukhwa was a criminal but he was a helpless person when he was arrested. The Collector seeing his helplessness separated his criminality from his helplessness and treated him sympathetically. If some servant of God makes a supplication such as: “O God may You also treat me similarly sympathetically in spite of my having committed many wrongs. O God, ignore those errors of mine and deal mercifully with me, a helpless person.” For one who prays in such a manner, it is quite possible that God will accept his entreaties and forgive him.