Maarifah or realisation of God is a discovery of one’s helplessness in relation to God. We must learn that God is Almighty and man exists in the state of total helplessness. When this discovery becomes a part of human thinking, penetrating to the innermost recesses of one’s psyche is genuine realisation. Once a devoted father wrote a letter to his dear son addressing him thus: “O Moon, brightening the deepest recesses of my heart.” When such sentiment is engendered in relation to the Lord of the World, this is true realisation of God.
When you study the Quran and reach this verse: “If all the trees on earth were pens, and the sea [were] ink, with seven [more] seas added to it, the words of God would not be exhausted.” (31:27). While studying this in the Quran, your heart trembles with tempestuous feeling. You think that if God in His Omnipotence is at one extreme, man in his helplessness is at another extreme. At that time you exclaim with tears in your eyes: “O God, just as Your attributes will never come to an end, so also will the words of God never be exhausted. In the same vein, my helplessness with respect to You is of an extreme degree.”
This is the ultimate extent of the discovery. It is on reaching this point that a person forms a picture of the final extent of his helplessness as compared to the omnipotence of God. This is the acme of human consciousness, the experience of which no creature other than a human being can ever experience.
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Prayer is form of worship of God. Prayer has been enjoined on believers five times a day at appointed hours:
Believers are under the obligation to say their prayers at the appointed hours. (Quran 4:103)
These prayers are performed either individually at home or in congregation in mosques. A believer begins his prayer by uttering the words “God is Great”. These words acknowledge that all greatness belongs to God and that the worshipper will lead a life of modesty and humility. Each prayer is segmented into several rak’ah, or units. In each rak’ah a person stands, bows and prostrates, reciting verses from the Quran and other prayers. These are the five obligatory prayers:
1. Early morning prayer (Fajr): two rak’ahs between dawn and sunrise
2. Noon prayer (Zuhr): four rak’ahs, between noon and mid-afternoon
3. Afternoon prayer (Asr): four rak’ahs. The time for prayer starts when the length of any object’s shadow reaches a factor (usually 1 or 2) of the length of the object itself plus the length of that object’s shadow at noon. The time for the prayer ends at sunset.
4. Sunset prayer (Maghrib): three rak’ahs between sunset and early evening
5. Evening prayer (Ishaa): four rak’ah from the disappearance of twilight until dawn
During the prayer, a believer refreshes his memory about God’s commandments regarding himself. Then he kneels and prostrates himself before God, in physical expression of the idea that the only course that befits him is to lead his life according to the creation plan of God. The prayer is concluded by turning the face first to the right side, then to the left, and uttering the words Assalamu-alaykum, which means, ‘May the peace and blessings of God be upon you!’ This is a demonstration that spiritually conditioned by prayer, the worshipper is now entering into the world with no other thoughts and feelings in his mind but those of mercy towards others and peace for all mankind.
Prayer strengthens a believer’s resolve to remain a peaceful member of the society, and to harbour no ill-feelings towards anyone. Prayer in one respect is to surrender before God, attributing all kinds of greatness to Him alone. In yet another respect, prayer prepares the individual to lead a worthy life among fellow human-beings, adopting an attitude of modesty, sympathy and good-will in all his dealings. In short, prayer perfects a person’s relation with God as well as with other human beings. According to a verse, a believer is enjoined thus:
Prostrate yourself and come closer to God. (Quran 96:19)
The cadence of praying five times formally was prescribed so that congregational prayers could be undertaken. A believer otherwise must engage in prayer in an informal way throughout the day, whereby he remembers the blessings of God and shows gratefulness to his Creator. This has been alluded to in the Quran in the following words:
When you have finished the prayer, remember God while standing, and sitting, and lying on your sides. When you feel secure, say your prayers in the prescribed form. (Quran 4:103)
The secret of this discovery lies in comparison. We should compare God’s power of bringing about rain with our powerlessness and inability to bring about rain, grow grain and make the sun shine. And if a person cannot do it, he should think how all this is happening on a universal level? If I could not put in place the life support system, how did it come about? If we make this comparison, then on the one hand we will discover that we are all powerless and that God is all-powerful. If you become sick, you should not become a victim of frustration, rather discover that I am powerless and there is a Creator above me who is powerful. Then you will discover both the Creator and yourself.
Source: The Seeker’s Guide
The state of helplessness makes you competent to pray. When a person is in the state of helplessness, he calls out to God with prayers that invoke divine help.
It is a fact that God is All-Powerful and man is completely helpless. But this reality does not dawn on man till he faces problems and shocks that he cannot manage. When a state of helplessness is awakened in man, he realizes that God is All-Powerful. When this discovery becomes a part of human thinking, penetrating to the innermost recesses of one’s psyche is genuine realisation.
Maarifah or realisation of God is, therefore, a discovery of one’s helplessness in relation to God. When man becomes fully aware of his own helplessness, he comes to acknowledge God’s bounties in the true sense of the word. Having discovered God as one’s Creator, Sustainer, one’s whole being turns toward God. His soul lies prostrate before God. When all these feelings find verbal form, they are called praise and gratefulness to God. God is the greatest being of the universe. Yet, in a universe visible to all, God’s supreme glory remains invisible. Realisation of God is to discover this hidden greatness. This realization finds expression in words such as ‘Praise be to God—Lord of the Worlds.
Source: Love of God
