Importance Of Faith And Prayer In Islam Religion Essay

The quotation from the course textbook (page 225) gives tremendous significance to faith and rituals of the Islamic culture, both of which are greatly highlighted in the holy book of Quran. The main source where Muslims gain an enormous amount of faith is from reading the holy book of Quran. One must fully believe and understand the messages written in the Quran to have complete faith in it as a Muslim individual because without faith, performing those rituals are useless. For centuries, the Quran has been preserved in its original form as it was first revealed to Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H). Any slight change in it can be easily detected, since over the years, the Quran has been memorized by millions of Muslims all over the world. The originality of the holy book for over a decade is a huge fascination on its own. Since its original script is from God, the Quran is able to hold a great extent of value in the hearts of its followers.

The term religious rituals, as explained in our text are basically “repeated actions or words that connect an individual to God”. The religious rituals in Islam are a few in numbers, but each hold great importance to Muslims. The quote from the text reminds Muslims to keep up with prayers. The ritual of prayer, known as Salat, is the second of the five Pillars of Islam. These five pillars are the five practices that every Muslim is encouraged to perform throughout their life by the holy book of Quran. The ritual of Salat is a distinctive mark of a true believer. This ritual, performed five times during the day, provides a Muslim individual with direct communication with the Creator, the Almighty.

The religious ritual of prayer is essential to all Muslims. An individual performs a ritual ablution (wadu), before each prayer, to be in a state of purity. Praying five times provides Muslims with a sense of punctuality in their everyday lives. An individual carries out a prayer in order to praise and admire God for his benevolence. Prayer gives one an opportunity to ask for forgiveness for all the misdeeds committed and also to ask the Almighty to guide him/her in the straight/ right path. As described in the Hadith, one of the sayings of Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H) relates prayer to the convenience of having a stream flowing outside one’s door. If an individual could easily bathe in this flowing stream of water five times during the day, he/she will have no filth left on him/her. Likewise, praying five times daily washes away one’s sins. This repeated performance of the ritual keeps everyone remembering and fearing God throughout the day.

The quote from the text refers to highly important claims and one cannot help but agree with them. Reciting the Quran and keeping up with prayers are the key factors that keep a Muslim connected to Allah, the greatest. Remembering the power of Almighty several times during the day is beneficial in endless number of ways such as keeping an individual away from evil or committing misdeeds and reserving a place in the afterlife (Jannah). These benefits clearly link the ritual of prayer with morality. The term morality, as defined in the text, is “a set of norms designed to regulate and govern the conduct of humans”. Religious rituals, on the other hand, help keep an individual connected to God and following in the path of guidance of the divine being. Prayer requires complete submission of an individual’s mind and soul to the Ultimate. It reminds everyone that the Creator, the Almighty owns everything, including the Day of Judgment. Praying is not done by choice, but is rather obligatory starting at the age of seven. The religious ritual of praying can be seen as a true sign of having faith and the quote from the text greatly helps to signify its importance as mentioned in the Quran.