FROM THE SPIRITUAL TREE

There is a tree beside my house. I call it the 'Spiritual Tree'. I derive spiritual inspiration from it. A tree is an evergrowing being that was initially a seed possessing the potential of becoming a full-grown tree. A seed takes food from the universe around it and then grows into a tree. The same is true with spirituality, the desire for which is intrinsic to, and an integral part of, the very nature of, every human being. To realize this spirituality, Man must derive spiritual food from the universe around him. A tree converts carbon-dioxide into oxygen; a spiritual person is one who can take positive lessons from negative situations. From this perspective, a tree is an embodiment of a spiritual personality. —Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

PRAYER FROM THE HEART

ANY person who has become conscious of the existence and presence of God has experienced the most important and heartshaking of experiences. Suddenly, the world and that individual’s place in it takes on a completely different aspect and meaning. In fact, maybe for the first time, that individual realizes that the universe and his place in it actually have a meaning.

So many people wander through their journey of earthly life without discovering what that meaning is—they are born, grow, eat and drink, mate, age and die, without ever realizing that their physical components of atoms are as minute and insignificant as those of one tiny ant lost on a huge planet; but these atoms are only the temporary belongings of a soul which inhabits a vastly different plane of existence.

The realm of al-Ghayb, that which is unseen and unknown to us within the limitations of our human lives, is vast indeed. A believer becomes a believer when some inkling of that reality enters his conscious mind. This awareness may steal in gently as the invisible air we breathe, or it may break through our envelope of ignorance like a flash of lightning. The person may never have thought about God at all, or realized that the faith of others was relevant; or that person may have prayed routinely and out of familiar duty for years. The moment of realization, if it comes, is different for each individual.

But once it comes, life has changed forever for that individual. It is not only the overwhelming realization that there really is a God, an Almighty and Supreme Being, but that the power and ‘heart’ of this Being created and now maintains all that exists, encompasses the entire vastness of all the universes, and yet at the same time is aware not only of each person as an individual, but of each ant, and of each microbe that may live within the body of that ant.

When believers pray using the physical movements of their bodies, they are acknowledging certain things. Firstly, as they stand quietly before God, shutting out ‘the world’ they are realizing their absolute helplessness and insignificance in the light of their Creator’s presence, and they are overwhelmed with the need to ask forgiveness for their shortcomings that took place in those moments when they were not aware. Then, in humility, they bow as they draw closer to consciousness of that Great Being’s almightiness and power. Then as they feel the divine love and compassion flood their souls, they kneel with their faces on the earth, and love Him in response.

Prayer is an acknowledgment of our absolute dependence on God on one hand, in contrast to God’s absolute power on the other. The act of prayer puts us in our true place, and also acknowledges God’s rightful station.

Prayer, then, is not the wishful thinking or illusions of the pious but is actually acceptance of things as they are; in prayer, consciousness is the ultimate degree of realism; and the apprehension of reality, in turn, is the most excellent of all actions. For, in this world, where we have been given a choice between belief and disbelief, there is nothing greater than acceptance of the true nature of things which lies beyond the consciousness of those who are merely living on the animal level.

Although He is the Great Almighty Lord of all that is, God declares of Himself in the Quran that He is One Who hears all prayers and is so close to us that He uses the image of running in our own bloodstream, closer to us than our own jugular vein. He urges us over and over again to pray to Him, to place our trust in Him, to turn over the motivation of our lives to Him, that we may prosper both in this world and in the life to come.