The Straight Path

As of December 2019, I have been living on this planet for a little over thirty-three years. Of all
the ideas and concepts that I have read and heard of, by far the most impressive is that, there is
a Creator and Governor of all existence and every one of us can connect and form a special
bond with Him. According to the teachings Islam, one of the best ways to connect with our
Creator is through the five daily prayers (salat or namaz). Hence, it is of utmost importance that
we understand what we recite in our prayers and we do so with the deepest humility and the
highest reverence. Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings be upon him) said that a
person is closest to his or her Lord when he or she is in prostration (sujood) during prayer. And
this striving to attain closeness with our Creator is the essence of salat or namaz - the five daily
prayers in Islam.

Of course, the five daily prayers like all other acts of worship must be performed with the sole
intention of pleasing our Creator. According to the teachings of Islam, the aim and objective of
life is to please and earn the good-will of our Creator and Sustainer. A smile, a hand shake, a
kind word, being fair and just, kindness to animals - they all count towards our goal, if done
with the sole intention to please The Creator. Therefore, we must be aware of our intentions. If
one does a good deed with the intention of showing off or receiving the praise of people or
some other worldly benefit, then the deed becomes null and void in the sight of our Creator.

Intentions are formed in the heart and it is also the place where our greatest battle - with
irrational and evil impulses, thoughts and emotions - takes place. Whenever, we become aware
of evil impulses and thoughts we are taught in the Holy Quran to seek refuge in our Creator and
try to obtain insight about those feelings and thoughts. Many a times, negative emotions and
feelings are irrational and hence false. Of course, self-awareness of one’s feelings, thoughts and
emotions are of critical importance in this struggle and inner-purification process. However, we
can be successful in this endeavor only with the help of our Loving Master.

Two other concepts are emphasized much in the teachings of Islam and they are the concepts
of gratitude and patience (constancy & perseverance). We are taught to be grateful for all the
blessings we can think of and count, for example, for waking up every morning, for the clothes
we put on, for a glass of water and especially for the perfect way of life – Islam. We are
reminded that we can never enumerate all the blessings of our Creator and hence we can never
thank Him enough. We are taught to be patient when we are having a bad day and when in
difficult situations, that is, we should not vent our anger and frustrations on others and
ourselves, rather we should seek help from our Creator and deal with things in a rational and
sober manner. We are also taught to be constant in good deeds, to be constant in keeping away
from bad deeds and to persevere on the straight path – Islam - which alone leads to true peace
and success in this world and in the next…