Islam: Submission to God

This week, we are reading Armstrong's account of the rise of Islam, a response to the loss of an old Arabian ethic of equality. Equality is a common theme in all religions. Why is it important?

Unlike much Christianity, which focuses upon ideas about God, Islam is a religion of practice and poetry. Muslims pray five times a day. Prayers involve purification. They engage mind, heart and body. In his book Being Muslim, Asad Tarsin writes:

Each of the outward acts of prayer (ṣalāh) has symbolic meaning that you should reflect on to further develop your spiritual state within the prayer. When you hear the Prayer Call (Adhān), you are in effect being summoned by God, the sublime and exalted. You should reflect on the willingness with which you respond to His call, and in doing so, prepare for the greatest of His calls, when we are all resurrected on the Day of Judgment to stand before Him. 

When you purify the things around you in progressively closer layers— the area of prayer, your clothes, and finally, through wuḍū’ (ritual washing), your person— reflect on what is innermost, the state of your soul, and be reminded of its need for inner cultivation and refinement. 

When you face the prayer direction (qiblah), turning away from all other directions, remind yourself of the need to commit yourself to God the sublime and exalted, pulling your heart away from all other distractions and attachments. 

When you stand in prayer, remember your need to be upright in character. 

When you bow, renew your sense of submission and humility before God Almighty. The invocations in this position assist you in confirming this reality in your soul. 

When you perform prostration (sujūd), realize that this is the supreme symbol of submission and the point in prayer at which you are closest to God the sublime and exalted. In it, you bring the noblest part of your body, your face, to the lowest of places, the earth. When doing so, reflect on your humility before God the sublime and exalted and your immeasurable debt to Him. The invocations will help you internalize this reality. Then, while still in this position, hope for the mercy of God the sublime and exalted, for it descends on those who are humble. 

When you are in the sitting position and recite the Testimonial Invocation (at-Tashahhud), reflect on its meanings and the reality they describe. Bring to the forefront of your mind that all you do is for God the sublime and exalted and be aware of Prophet Muhammad blessed be he as you send blessings (ṣalawāt) upon him. 

Conclude the prayer (ṣalāh) with a sense of gratitude to God the sublime and exalted for having enabled you to obey Him, and remorse for the inherent deficiencies we suffer in our attempts to concentrate, comprehend, show reverence and awe, have hope, and feel a sense of shame before God the sublime and exalted.

Muslim visual art is calligraphic, to celebrate the Word of God. It has also produced beautiful poetry, by both male and female poets. Below, a poem by a woman, Rabia, who lived in the 8th century.