Many of us associate prayer with
stillness and quiet reflection in a
place removed from the distraction
and noise of everyday life. As a
personal communication with or
petition to the divine, prayer is understood primarily as involving
the soul. However, in most spiritual
traditions, prayer is believed to be at
its most powerful when it combines
reiterated physical action and
speech. Preparation for prayer often includes
some form of ablution. Shinto
worshippers wash their hands and
rinse their mouths before ringing a
bell or clapping to attract the gods'
attention. Participants in North American traditions are brushed with
burnt sweet-grass in a purification
ceremony called "smudging".
The characteristic bodily attitudes of
prayer — bowing, kneeling,
prostration — are gestures of humble submission. On entering a
church or approaching the altar,
Roman Catholics genuflect, touching
one knee to the ground to
acknowledge the presence of the
Body and Blood of Christ. They also make the sign of the Cross as a
gesture of reverence. When visiting
a temple, Hindu worshippers
prostrate themselves in prayer
outside the inner sanctuary, which
only priests can enter. Most organized prayers take one of
five standard forms: supplication,
adoration, praise, contrition or
thanksgiving. While supplicating and
contrite prayers are usually offered
kneeling or bowing, gods may be praised or thanked standing with
arms outstretched. The latter
position invites the divine to enter
into the heart. Hand positions are
also important. In many cultures,
people simply pray with their hands together or clasped. During Hindu
and Buddhist rituals and dances,
participants use mudras, or hand
gestures, to convey hundreds of
different concepts or principles.
Offerings or sacrifices also play an important part in the prayer ritual,
and are methods of honouring or
appeasing the divine. In countries
where food shortages are common,
edible offerings can often be seen in
temples and shrines. In cultures where money competes with the
divine for worship, religions may
suggest that a person should
willingly give a percentage of his or
her income to the church, mosque,
synagogue or temple. Although private prayer is
recognized by every religion, public
prayer as part of a congregation is
thought by many traditions to be
more uplifting. Both Jewish and
Christian religious services combine song, readings and set prayers to
create a specific, sometimes fervent
atmosphere. Prayer is one of the
Five Pillars of the Islamic faith, and
on Friday afternoons congregational
prayers at the mosque are obligatory. During the rest of the
week, Muslims may perform the salat
— the ritual of movements and
words given in the Qur'an to be
carried out five times per day — on
their own. The first part of the prayer involves deliberately shutting out the
distractions of the world. The
splendour of Allah is acknowledged
by standing at attention, raising the
hands to shoulder level and
proclaiming Allah as the most high. Then, as the hands are crossed
over the heart, the prayer seeking
shelter from Satan is chanted.
Several prayers follow, alternating
with bows, after which, aligning
themselves toward the holy city of Mecca, the worshippers prostrate
themselves at full length, touching
the ground with hands, forehead,
nose, knees and toes. Worship ends
with a prayer for forgiveness, and
the last action is the salaam, in which the head is turned from left to right to
greet other worshippers and the
watching angels.
The quran openly states that such a
rigid programme of prayer is meant,
in part, to encourage believers to obey Allah unconditionally. Indeed,
the word islam means the active
recognition of, and submission to,
the will of Allah. The physical actions
of the salat help to channel
worshippers' thoughts toward humility and thanksgiving, and to
unite fellow believers. by yusuf soliu