Up until today, you have been invited to several campaigns, boycotts, and mobilizations, or

witnessed them; perhaps you even joined some of them.

We invite you to a campaign which will save your life both in this world and in the hereafter: to the Revival with the Prayer mobilization! We invite you to perform your prayers if you already perform them, and to hold fast to your prayers if you do not miss any prayer times. We invite you to discover humility through prayer.

Prayer, to which Our Lord gives the greatest value, commanding it seventy times in the Qur’an, is a must in our religion! Islam’s first obligation is to believe in Allah and the second one is to establish five daily prayers.

COME AND JOIN THE REVIVAL WITH

THE PRAYER MOBILIZATION

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According to the hadiths of the Prophet (pbuh), prayer will be the first deed we will be questioned about in the hereafter. Again, based on His (pbuh) sayings, prayer is “the pillar of the religion”, “the believer’s ascension”, “the key to paradise” and “the glory of my eyes”.

A major reason for the troubles the Muslim world and the entire Muslim ummah are suffering today is the abandonment of prayer. This is because prayer, whose abandonment is not permitted not even in times of war, and whose performance is a requirement upon us, is the reason for Allah’s mercy and blessings.

The main reason for negligence in the matter of prayer is not knowing how outstanding its importance and value is. Unfortunately, until now there has been no serious effort to bring prayer into the national agenda in our country. There are almost no movies, plays, documentaries, novels, stories, poems, songs, radio and TV programs, which inform people of the significance of the prayer.

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Fortunately, in this field there are good books which deal with various aspects of the prayer and try to generate awareness of prayer.

Those of us who have written about the prayer and who have taken up the cause of prayer have come together and decided to bring prayer into our nation’s agenda. Up until now, we, in the name of our assembly, have carried out several gatherings, conferences, panels and programs. We have also planned cassettes, CDs, VCDs, movies, radio-TV programs, symposiums, congresses and similar activities, which deal with prayer.

We, as the volunteers of the prayer platform want to start this mobilization with the Revival with the Prayer booklet. And we want this booklet to reach our people as a gift. For this reason, we are calling for support for the publication and distribution of this booklet from everyone who has heard our call.

In the following days we plan to coordinate consecutive Revival with the Prayer meetings in numerous places. In that matter, we, as the platform, will give our support to organizations of our nation and various corporations.

In this setting, we invite all the employees of religious affairs, teachers, employers, companies and corporations, mothers, fathers, newspapers, magazines, radios and TVs to support the mobilization of the prayer.

We invite you to the mobilization of the prayer, which you can join at any place and at any time.

Let us join together and work towards explaining all aspects of the prayer to people everywhere.

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Being a nation and Muslim community, let all of us strive together for the establishment of prayer. Let us perfect our qiyâm (standing), rukû` (bowing down), and sajdah (prostration), and revive the prayer so that we may attain our salvation.

Let us join the rows of praying believers, in which color, language, social status, sect, or character are not distinguished. Let us join the prayer in recognition of the oneness and uniqueness of Allah. Let us stand together shoulder-to-shoulder, living together in unity and brotherhood.

Let us embrace the prayer so that it would embrace us on the Day of Judgment.

Let us fill our mosques so that Allah’s mercy and blessings will pour down upon us.

Let us love the prayer so that the Prophet (pbuh) will love us.

Come to prayer!Come to revival with prayer!Come to true salvation with prayer!

web site: www.namazladirilis.comThe volunteers of the prayer platform

e-mail: namaz@namazladirilis.com

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MEETING WITH A REAL FRIEND

Allah Almighty created all beings for humanity, and He created human being for Himself. Therefore

human being has the excellent design. Let’s think a tree. When we observe why this tree was

created, we look for what kind of qualities it was equipped with and what is the use of it. From the conclusions we have reached, we figure out the purpose of its creation. This method may be applied to all the creation, and at the same time manifests the value of it.

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The above mentioned method can be applied to Human being, too. When we look at his spiritual and material qualities, we easily understand that this perfect being was created for a paramount objective.

Nobody uses a vase decorated with precious pearls for flower cultivation. That vase would be set to a worthy place as a decoration.

Human being, who has several seen and unseen superior powers, shouldn’t be at the same living level with the other creation. Above the common qualities between them, he must take his place for a much more superior purpose in the scene of the creation.

Allah Almighty proclaims that mankind must be beings consciously communicating with Him. Because only mankind can achieve that with the capabilities of his creation and possibilities he holds.

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In this matter, even if a person experiences all the material joys of this world, gets every thing that he wants, and acquires highest position, rank, and fortune, none of these will bestow him the tranquility. Momentary pleasures and every action staying here in this world and not reaching to the eternity can not go beyond the temporary satisfactions. All of these are on the lower levels of humanity.

Even if you do nothing in this world but only perform your worship, since it is the raison d’être of our creation, that means you have done everything. If you accomplish everything and do not perform your worship to Allah, that means you have achieved nothing. This is similar to a teacher who doesn’t follow the educational plans given him and does every kind of activities outside the educational program, that means he hasn’t done his duty as a teacher.

A living style centered by connection with Allah Almighty is the most ideal living mode. The spiritual universe of the people who continue their lives disconnected from their Creator, since they can not get spiritual nourishment, will not be able to nurture like a plant without water.

People’s connection with their Creator materializes in the worship of prayer as the highest level. Because, prayer is the only type of worship which combines all other types of worship. By means of Prayer, a servant personally goes to the presence of Allah Almighty. He converse with Him. This is the most sublime bliss for a human being. We become friends with the people who understand us

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most. Since only Allah absolutely understands us, our only true fried can be Our Lord. With the prayer and chapters of the Qur’an recited in the prayer, we explain our situation to our Real Friend. When we say “Guide us to the straight path” while reciting the chapter of fatiha, good tidings of “whatever My servant desires is given” suddenly comes. He bestows hundreds of thousands of gifts from the paradise for we meet Him.

In this book, you will find a rich explanation of prayer from different perspectives. You will rediscover it, and you will realize your missed revival with it.

You will perceive that prayer is a solution. You will find the escape from stress, which is one of the biggest problems of our age. You will live that none of the meditation methods offered to humanity for serenity is as effective as it is. You will feel your elevation from lower levels to the highest ranks of the universe.

You will see that prayer turns into a glory and take you to completely different horizons through your spiritual world. Then Let’s come to the prayer, let’s come to revival with the prayer.

Faith in Allah’s unity and uniqueness, which is based on the principle: “There is no deity but Allah”,

transforms into action through the prayer. Standing in the presence of Allah, the servant turns toward the qiblah with a purified heart and a spotlessly clean body and clothes. The believer, who turns towards Allah’s house, the Ka`bah, concentrates his or her heart and thoughts on Allah, and turns away from all the other qiblahs. When the believer raises his hands and utters the words Allahu Akbar (God is the Greatest), he puts

Abdullah Yıldız

TAWHÎDPRAYER IS A REALIZATION OF

(UNITY OF ALLAH)

“Prayer turns the believers into active subjects and not passive objects.”

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all worldly thoughts and concerns behind his hands and fixes his heart upon Allah. Servant who recites Fâtihah every rakats of a prayer renews his “contract of servitude” with his Creator. The servant utters to the Lord of the worlds, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful on the Day of Judgment: “Thee alone do we worship, and Thine aid do we seek” knowing that s/he will eventually need to explain his/her deeds to Allah.

The servant who stands in reverence in front of his Lord with hands crossed should know that the qiyâm (standing) is a physical stand against the worship of false gods.

The rukû` (bowing) is an act of submission and surrender to Allah. In rukû`, the servant declares that she will not submit to any other authority other than Allah. Sajdah (prostration) is the peak of worship, obedience, and liberty. The prostrating believer admits his or her weakness and lowliness while glorifying and praising his Lord. He or she declares that they will not prostrate to any other being. Two units of prostration are symbolic of person’s emergence from the earth and their eventual return to it. In tashahhud, the believer opens his or her heart to the Creator and acknowledges his or her servitude, just like the Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) conversation with his Lord without a mediator during his ascension. Prayer, as an act of tawhîd, turns the believers into active subjects and not passive objects.

Arriving at the door of friends empty-handed is like going

to the mill without wheat. On the day of Judgment, Allah the Exalted will ask to the people: “what gift did you bring for the Last day?” He will say: “You came here empty handed, without provisions, alone and destitute just like the day we had created you” “ tell me what gift did you

DON’T GO TO THE DOOR OF THE FRIEND EMPTY

HANDED

Mawlana Jalalddin Rumi

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bring for the Last Day?” “Or did you not expect to come back from the world to afterlife and stand in the presence of Allah?” “Did you regard news of afterlife in the Qur’an as frivolous?”

If you believe in hereafter, how can you stand at the friend’s door empty handed? Give up sleeping, eating and drinking just a little bit and prepare your gift for the time when you will meet the Truth. O lover of truth be among those who sleep little at night and beg forgiveness of their vices in the middle of the night.

Like a fetus in the womb move and wiggle, so you may be bestowed senses to see the Light. If you get out from this womb-like, distressed, troubled and sorrowful Earth, you will go into a wider and more comfortable world.

“Be among those who sleep little at night and beg forgiveness of their

vices in the middle of the night.”

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I took a deep breath and then forced myself to the floor. Now on my hands and knees, I hesitated for a

brief moment, and then I pushed my face to the carpet. Ridding my mind of all other thoughts, I mechanically pronounced three times, “Subhana rabbi-l ‘ala” (Glory to my Lord the highest!).

“Allahu Akbar,” I called and sat back on my heels. I kept my mind blank, refusing to allow any distractions to enter it. “Allahu Akbar,” I pronounced and put my face again to the carpet.

MY FIRST PROSTRATION

Jeffrey Lang

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With my nose touching the ground I called out mechanically, “Subhana rabbi-l ‘ala, Subhana rabbi-l ‘ala, Subhana rabbi-l ‘ala.” I was determined to finish this, no matter what.

“Allahu Akbar,” I called out and lifted myself from the floor and stood up straight. Three cycles to go, I told myself.

I had to wrestle with my emotions and pride the rest of the prayer, but it did get easier with each cycle. i was even almost calm during the last prostration. While in the final sitting posture, I recited the tashahhud and then ended the prayer by calling “Assalamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullah” with my head turned to the right, and again, “Assalamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullah” with my head turned to the left.

Spent, I remained on the floor and reviewed the battle I had just been through. I felt embarrassed that I had struggle so hard to get through the prayer. with my head lowered in shame I prayed: Please forgive me my arrogance and stupidity. I have come from very far and I have so very far to go.

At that moment, I experienced something that I had never felt before and which is therefore difficult for me to put into words. A wave of what I can only describe as coldness swept through me, which seemed to radiate from some point within my chest. I was rather intense, and initially I was startled; I remember shuddering. However, it was much more than physical sensation, for it affected my emotions as well in strange way. It was as

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if mercy had taken on an objective form and was now penetrating and enveloping me. I cannot say exactly why, but I began to cry. Tears began to run down my face, and I found myself weeping uncontrollably. The harder I cried, the more I felt the embrace of a powerful kindness and compassion…

When I finally stopped crying, I was completely exhausted. The experience I had just had was for me too unfamiliar and overwhelming to try to rationalize at that moment, and I thought that it was definitely too strange to tell anyone right away. I did realize this much, however: I needed God and prayer desperately.�

� Excerpt from Jeffrey Lang’s book Even Angels Ask

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When I heard Sakip Sabanci’s death, I went to Fatih mosque for his funeral prayer even though I had

not known him very well. Because I didn’t know how to pray, I took a friend of mine with me who knew how to pray. One of the most affluent citizens of Turkey was dead, worn his cerements and alone. For a moment I thought “If I were him, would I be different?”

Yaar Alptekin

I WAS REBORN WITH PRAYER

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I decided to pray regularly, after Sakip Sabanci’s funeral. That night my friend, who was with me at the funeral, came to my home and taught me how to pray. At 2 AM, I walked to a mosque. It was closed. I waited two or three hours shivering in the middle of the night. Then mosque opened and I went inside. Then I was startled with loud noise. It was like an earthquake. When I heard the azan, I felt that all of my body cells started to tremble.

I started pray dismissing everything in this world. I was in the presence of my Lord from whom I tried to escape for the last forty years. I threw my past which was fancy on the outside but filthy in the inside. Now I am like four years old. Because I don’t count my years without prayer as part of my life.

“If that man in the coffin were me, would I be different?”\

Prophet said: “Prayer is the pillar of the religion.” Yes, prayer is the first of the main columns of the

religion. If religion is a magisterial tree rooted in the soul

of the society, then its root is faith, its trunk is prayer, around this column are circles of fast, zakat and pilgrimage, its branches are good ethics and behavior, its fruit and flowers are good deeds, kindness, and righteousness.

Sezai Karakoç

PRAYER IS THE BRIDGE TO PARADISE IN

THIS WORLD

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Prayer is a bridge whose one end is connected to faith and the other is connected to good deeds, righteousness, and high deeds.

It is like a bridge to Paradise in this world. It is a hero coming from heaven five times a day and killing all the sources of evil.

It is a ceaseless miracle like the Holy Qur’an.

“A new Muslim convert American professor Jeffrey

Lang explains his first prostration in a remarkable and fascinating passage”

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O my soul! Know that yesterday has left you, and as for tomorrow, you have nothing to prove that it

will be yours. In which case, know that your true life is the present day. So throw at least one of its hours into a mosque or prayer-mat, a coffer for the hereafter

like a reserve fund, set up for the true future. And know that for you and for everyone each new day is the door to a new world. If you do not perform the prayers, your world that day will depart as dark and wretched, and will testify against you in the World of Similitudes. For everyone, each day, has a private world out of this world, and its nature is

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi

PRAYER CAN BE PERFORMED TODAY

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dependent on each person’s heart and actions. Like a splendid palace reflected in a mirror takes on the colour of the mirror, if it is black, it appears as black, and if it is red, as red. Also it takes on the qualities of the mirror; if the mirror is smooth, it shows the palace to be beautiful, and if it is not, it shows it to be ugly. Like it shows the most delicate things to be coarse, you alter the shape of your own world with your heart, mind, actions, and wishes. You may make it testify either for you or against you. If you perform the five daily prayers, and through them you are turned towards that world’s Glorious Maker, all of a sudden your world, which looks to you, is lit up. Quite simply as though the prayers are au electric lamp and your intention to perform them touches the switch, they disperse that world’s darkness and show the changes and movements within the confused wretchedness of worldly chaos to be a wise and purposeful order and a meaningful writing of Divine power. They scatter one light of the light-filled verse,

God is the Light of the Heavens and the Earth over your heart, and your world on that day is

illuminated through the reflection of that light. And it will cause it to testify in your favour through its luminosity.

“O my soul! Know that yesterday has left you, and as for tomorrow, you have nothing

to prove that it will be yours.”

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“Once prayer was a school of discipline, unity and solidarity, and it needs to be like that again. When Persian commander saw the Muslim soldiers performing prayer in straight and tight lines just before the battle of Kadisiya, which defined the fate of pagan Persia, he said that:

Alija Izzetbegovic

PRAYER IS THE SCHOOL OF DISCIPLINE, UNITY AND

SOLIDARITY

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“Look, Omar’s soldiers at field operation”Praying in congregation, which is feverishly

recommended, is another dimension, it is a social dimension… Object of congregational prayer is to bring people together in order to worship and to establish direct personal ties. Thus congregational prayer clearly stands against negative individualism and separation. Life separates people from each other, and mosque brings them together and unites them again and again.

“Life separates people from each other, and mosque brings them together and unites them

again and again.”

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“In my opinion, a Muslim’s prayer is his constant acceptance of himself as the object of the Prophet’s message, and show this acceptance in action. It is an overt proclamation of Allah’s nearest moment to His servants. It is the moment when the faithful feels the existence of Allah in their hearts, and clearly proves the unbeliever that he is with Allah.

At the same time different movements in the performance of prayer proves the harmony between the believer and all the other creation.

PRAYER IS THE ONLY GOOD EXAMPLE TO BE UNITED IN

THE SAME OBJECT

Roger Garaudy

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“Prayer is the expression of that a world in harmony can only be established by

turning to Allah.”

As to all Muslims facing the same direction during prayer is the best and most unique example showing people who do not recognize any power except Allah united in the same object.

I think prayer is the expression of that a world in harmony can only be established by turning to Allah.

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One of my businessman friends asked me during a visit:

“O my friend, I am such a nice person, but I have one misdoing: I don’t perform my prayers. What should I do?”

I told him: “In the state you are in, you are both good and bad. You feel remorse for not

Vehbi Karaka

I AM SUCH A NICE PERSON, BUT I HAVE ONE MISDOING:

I DO NOT PERFORM MY PRAYERS

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praying, which is a proof of your goodness. However, you don’t perform your prayers, which shows your bad side. I will give you an example to redeem you from this badness.

If you heard an invitation coming from the prime minister telling you: “I would like to meet with all the businessmen of Gebze on such and such day and at such and such time in Ankara.” Now honestly think about it. Would there be any businessman in Gebze, who wouldn’t run to Ankara? No, there wouldn’t. Why? Because the order is coming from a high authority. Because meeting with prime minister is an honor.

Now I am asking: Can a man who runs to the invitation of the prime minister, but stays away from the invitation of the Lord of the worlds and Lord of all the prime ministers, and who does not consider this invitation to be the highest honor be an intelligent person, Even if he owns a fortune as great as that of Vehbi Koç”

Therefore, when Satan and your nafs (lower self) want to prevent you from performing the prayer, you must think about the source of the order and the invitation. This thought will make you stand up; it will push you towards the real source of the blessings you have, and it will uplift you with His love. It will tell you that you owe your gratitude to Him and it will tell you that prayer is the only possible way to express your gratitude.

As a matter of fact, not performing prayer is not merely one misdeed, but is one thousand misdeeds. People who do not perform prayers firstly harm themselves, for

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they are not giving Allah His right. People who do not give Allah His right will not pay attention to the rights of others. Even if they do pay attention it will not be acceptable, because Allah will not be pleased, since that person does not perform their prayers. All the actions of a person who performs their prayers turn into acts of worship, and bring that person divine rewards.

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“…not performing prayer is not merely one misdeed, but is one

thousand misdeeds…”

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Years ago while I was traveling on a bus, the time for fajr (dawn) prayer came. The end of the allocated time for the prayer was fast approaching.

I turned to my friend accompanying me and said: “The prayer time is almost over. I will ask the driver

to stop for prayer. If he does not stop, I will get off.” He frowned and retorted:

Cemil Tokpınar

IS IT WORTH CRYING OVER MISSING

THE PRAYER TIME?

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“Are you out of your mind?” I was surprised, saddened, and hurt at the comments

of my friend, who himself prayed regularly. Was I really out of my mind? Should I sleep peacefully in the bus and sit without thinking of my Lord?

I questioned myself. Was I wrong to place so much emphasis on the fajr prayer?

Whereas one morning when my father asked his crying nephew why he was crying, he was given an interesting response:

“We didn’t wake up for fajr prayer. Don’t you see that the sun has already risen.”

Again an old farmer who missed the fajr prayer was constantly weeping and screaming:

“What have I done? What have I done?”A missed prayer is indeed worth crying over. In fact,

it is even worth losing one’s mind over; and indeed one’s life and love. Unfortunately we live in such a time that thinking about fajr prayer is regarded madness, and crying over for missing it is considered weirdness.

Should we really pretend like nothing happened when we miss fajr prayer?

“Should we act normally and do nothing when we miss the prayer time, which is the second most important principle after faith?” Watching the world cup finals all night is deemed reasonable, but is thinking about prayer something that is worthless?

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“Unfortunately we live in such a time that thinking about fajr prayer is regarded madness, and crying over for missing it is

considered weirdness.”

A student who misses the university entrance exam might tear apart everything he owns due to his misery. Well, is fajr prayer, which is twice referred to by our Prophet (pbuh) as “more auspicious than everything in this world and hereafter”, less important than a soccer game? Is the fajr prayer, which is more valuable than all the treasures of this world and afterlife, less significant than a university entrance exam?

Aren’t we supposed to be sad and cry over missing a prayer, which is ordered by our Lord seventy times in the Qur’an?

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Abdullah Umm Maktûm was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). `Abdullah believed

in the Prophet (pbuh) and gave his heart to the Prophet’s (pbuh) cause. His material eyes could not see. In spite of his blindness, however, his spiritual eyes were open. He went to the mosque for every prayer throughout the day. Perhaps you may wonder how he managed to do this. He sometimes did this with the help of his friends, and

sometimes with the help of his cane.

In those days wide roads did not exist. The slightest amount rainfall would leave deep holes in the roads. For this reason, rarely a day would go by without `Abdullah being involved in an accident. His friends felt pity for him in his condition. They told him to seek the Prophet’s

Veysel Akkaya

EVEN YOU ARE BLIND

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(pbuh) leave from attending the mosque. One day he plucked up all of his courage and went to the Prophet (pbuh) in the mosque. `Abdullah said: “O Messenger of Allah! I do not have any relatives to escort me to the mosque. May I be permitted to perform my prayers at home?” The Prophet of Mercy gave him permission. `Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) thought that this was a good decision, and that it was good that he had asked. After a few steps on his way back to home, he heard the Prophet calling him:

“Do you hear the adhân?“Yes”“Then respond to the call and come to the

congregation!” (Muslim, Masajid, 255)It is obvious how important congregation is for the

Prophet (pbuh). He is not even content with a blind companion not attending to congregation. Think about what his reaction would be to those of us who have no such afflictions, but do not attend the congregational prayer.

Then Mosques should be an inseparable part of our life. We need to live a life centered around the mosque. It is impossible to think about the Prophet’s (pbuh) life without mosques or congregation.

“It is impossible to think about the Prophet’s (pbuh) life without mosques or congregation.”

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After iqâmah (standing to prayer), before the Imam starts the prayer, he says: sallû salât al-muwaddi` (meaning: “pray the farewell prayer”); “Pray like those who are leaving this world, like those who are waving to the world and looking at it for the last time!” This was one of the prayer traditions of the Salaf al-Sâlihîn. This important reminder has a positive effect on gaining consciousness of the prayer.

Prof. Dr. Suat Yıldırım

THE FAREWELL PRAYER

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If only this forgotten tradition would be more widespread!

Another custom is that, as stated by Imam Ghazâli, when a Muslim hears the adhân, he or she should remember the final adhân of Judgment Day. In the field where all human beings from Adam (pbuh) until the last human on earth are gathered, the Master of the Judgment Day will invite them all to pray. Those who accept the invitation will be the ones who heard the adhân and run to perform their prayers in this world. In that case, those who hear the adhân in this world should try to remember the echoes of the adhân of Judgement Day; they should try to perform every one of their prayers as if it is their last prayer, and they should accept and rush to the prayer as if they were going to the final judgment. In such a state of consciousness, with such enthusiasm, and in such a manner of servitude!

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The praying servant gains the privilege of remembering Allah by saying “I remember my

Lord with endless praises and thanks, I praise my Lord in the prostration, and I acknowledge that He is free from any defects.”

Prayer is also a supplication, which is a cure for the soul. The praying servant asks for guidance to the straight path by uttering the words: ihdina s-sirât al-mustaqîm (“Guide us to the straight way”).

The praying believer pleads for all past and future humanity by saying: “O Allah, bestow your mercy upon Muhammad and his posterity as You bestowed Your mercy upon Abraham and his posterity.” The lover of prayer finishes his prayer by saying: “Our Lord! Grant us good in this world and in the hereafter, and save us from the torture of

the hellfire. O our Lord! Forgive me, my parents, and all believers on the Day

of Judgment.”

PRAYER CONNECTS THE PERSON TO THE UNIVERSE

Esma Sayın Ekerim

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Prayer should not become a mere mundane ritual. We must continually struggle for the perfection of every aspect of our prayer. We should endlessly strive to make sure that we are not of those who perform their prayers in a state of negligence and forgetfulness, and lost in our thoughts. We should make sure that we do not become one of those referred to in the verse that states: “woe unto those worshippers.”

Ahmet Tagetiren

WITH THE LONGING OF SUCH PRAYER….

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Our prayers should be:A barrier between us and evil;A basis for asking help from Allah Almighty;Light in our eyes;They should be filled with reverence and awe;They should carry relief, tranquility, and satisfaction

into our hearts through the remembrance of Allah. All the efforts of the believer should be “to finish

prayer with a relieved soul.”With these feelings, the believer will enter the prayer,

and with these feelings the result of the prayer will be “tranquility of heart”.

As the Creator of the heart said: “For without doubt, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction,” and as the prayer is formed entirely in the remembrance of Allah, for a believer, turning a prayer in remembrance of Allah should have the highest priority.

“We must continually struggle for the perfection of every aspect of our prayer.”

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Faith and prayer came into existence in the same womb. They are like twin sisters. Faith forms the theoretical aspect of the religion, and supporting this theoretical side and embedding it in the nature of a servant would only be possible by acts of worship such as prayer.

That is why prayer could be called practical faith and faith is theoretical prayer. Those who presume religion just as acceptance of conscience and put worship and

Fethullah Gülen

PRAYER IS THE TWIN SISTER OF FAITH

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devotion away could not escape from falling into polytheism without even knowing their mistake.

In fact prayer is the pillar of the religion. It is river of repentance and fountain of purification in which believer washes him/herself five times a day. It is a very important duty which needs to be performed even at the times of war. It is a secure shelter, a significant means of closeness to Allah, and the shortest path to reach Him.

That is why since the time of our beloved Prophet, friends of Allah have placed the prayer to the center of their lives. They have not contend themselves with the performance of obligatory daily prayers but they have got into the habit of performing hundreds of rakats of supererogatory prayer.

Then those who have dedicated themselves to the service of faith must demonstrate the utmost effort in their lives not just to be protected from the Divine scolding of “O you who believe! why do you say that which you do not do?” (Saff, 6�: 2) but also to be saved from the question of “why did you lie and why did you not represent Islam properly by not doing what you say to other people?”.

“…Prayer is faith in practice, and faith is prayer in theory…”

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“Even during the days that I didn’t have any inclination to convert Islam, I felt an unusual humility and strange feeling of obedience wiggling inside me whenever I saw a man who is bare foot, on a carpet or prayer rug, standing, his hands tied in front of him, his head bent down, unaware of what was happening around, concentrated only on himself, and peaceful.”

Muhammad Asad

PRAYER: HUMILITY AND OBEDIENCE

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You can join to the “the revival with the prayer mobilization” which is initiated by “the volunteers of the prayer platform.”

As a matter of fact activities related to the prayer, which is Our Lord’s most cared worship mode, neither started with us, nor will end with us…

The prayer service has been honestly, sincerely, and with sacrifices accomplished by individuals and institutions with prayer sensitivity for several years, and it will continue to be accomplished.

We only want to direct our attention to the catastrophe of prayerlessness, and increase the activities to cure this disease.

YOU ALSO CAN BE A PRAYER VOLUNTEER!

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As a matter of fact all believers are volunteers of the prayer. Even the hearts of those believers who do not perform prayer bleed with the desire of performance, and their conscience burns for not performing prayers.

If you are among the millions who struggle for “what can I do for the prayer?” let us say right away:

You can accomplish several services for the sake of prayer.

For instance you can present this booklet to the people around you and ensure its distribution by means of sponsors.

Don’t forget: there are brothers and sisters who start prayer after reading only a few pages of this booklet.

If you want, you can organize prayer conferences and panels in your city.

there are thousands of people who start prayer, who joyfully embrace prayer, and who struggle to tell the people around after attending a panel.

Why should not you be one of the volunteers of the prayer, who bring people and prayer together, and reunite them with their Lord?

First you can read prayer books, then you can increase consciousness of the people by informing them. You may even be the promoter of every existing product about prayer and every planned program. You may remind verses, ahadith, aphorisms and interpretations regarding the importance of prayer, and you may send them by regular mail or email to your friends.

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To accomplish all those, no rank is needed, and no membership is required.

Because what we do is an action of volunteers. We do not create a membership and we are not organized under the title of an organization or an institution. We, you, all of us are only volunteers of the prayer.

If you would like to realize the above mentioned and similar activities; if you would like to share your ideas or make a contribution, you may reach us by phone, fax, or regular mail. You may even personally come to us. You may check our services from volunteers of the prayer’

web site: www.namazladirilis.comThe volunteers of the prayer platform

e-mail: namaz@namazladirilis.com