Remembrance and Prayer

As has been recorded in different books of Hadith Ayesha said: “The Prophet Muhammad used to remember God on every occasion.” (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 373)

This tradition does not relate to worship. Certain people describe it in the sense of the repetition of such words as Bismillah, Alhamdulillah, Inshallah, Mashallah, et alia. But this interpretation does not describe the real meaning of this tradition.

The fact is that remembrance and prayer are the expressions of the soul which has discovered and realized God. A person has to face different types of occasions in his life. If he has the thinking and learning ability, he will find that there is some aspect of remembrance of God on all occasions. By making these occasions points of reference he can transform them into a high level of remembrance and prayer. Ayesha found this very phenomenon in the life of the Prophet of Islam. She saw that the Prophet Muhammad remembered God by making every occasion a point of reference.

The truth is that remembrance and prayer are not just the repetition of some standard words. Remembrance and prayer stem from different occasions and different circumstances which remind a person of God. In every experience he can see aspects of God’s greatness. According to this heightened consciousness, the words that come spontaneously to the lips of such a person are called remembrance and prayer.