The Importance of the Intention in Prayers

Know that the intention (niyah) is to decide or to determine to do something. It is the soul's decision on performing some act after conceiving it and then acknowledging its advantage and judging its necessity. It is a psychological and conscientious condition, which appears after the said procedures. It is, then, expressed as to be a decision, a determination, a want, a will, an objective and the like. It appears in all voluntary actions, as there can be no voluntary act without undergoing the said process, and it is there in the entire action, in reality, not allegorically. It does not need, however, that the details should be in the mind from the very beginning or even during the process, nor should one necessarily imagine the objective and the decision in detail. It sometimes happens that man does the act according to a decision, and yet he is completely unaware of the detailed picture of the act and the decision, while the fact is there, and it takes place in the outside motivated by that fact. This is quite consciously obvious in the voluntary acts.

In sum, this decision and determination, which is the niyah in the terminology of the faqihs \[may Allah be pleased with them], is, inevitably in every act, such that if one wanted to do a voluntary act without it, it would not be possible.

Sujood

Prayer, the most beautiful manifestation of servitude

The philosophy of creation of mankind is servitude and worship of the Almighty Creator. The holy Qur'an, the last and final revelation of God to mankind explicitly says in ayah 56 of Surah Zariyaat:

 

"And I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should serve Me."

Why Do We Pray

Why do we do it? As societies worldwide flourish and Islam stands to be the fastest growing religion of the world, we sometimes see a disturbing deviation within the Muslim Ummah. Forget society, forget those who are converting and reverting, forget those who are just introducing themselves to Islam. I'm talking about us: those born and raised into Muslim families and taught the values of Islam and the teachings of the Prophets and Imams (peace be upon them). For everything that we have been taught and nurtured with, we find ourselves constantly doubting the actions we perform and the teachings we follow. But Islam stands to be a religion of logic, from the time of Muhammad, and it will remain so till the mountains crumble, the Earth flattens, and the final trumpet is blown.

One of the most asked questions within our community today is, ‘Why do we have to pray?’ More often than not, we see arrogance taking over people's minds, boasting that there is no need for prayer. And if they do pray, it is ritualistically and taken very lightly.

So people ask, why do we have to pray? And I only respond, ‘

Do you not find it worthy to thank Him, the One who has given you everything, and the One Who can take all that away from you if He so wishes overnight?’