Logic in praying in one direction
Mu' meneen
Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
salaam,
what's the logic of this praying in one direction? no
quotes, just reason.
(There may be some
grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not
change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers
for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
Logic in praying in one direction
In the
name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness.
Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray,
none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no
person, no grave, no prophet, no imam,
no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Firstly,
it is safe to assume that every people who wish to pray would have to face some
direction in their prayer. The Hindus
pray towards their idols, or the Christians pray towards their
alters, or the Jews pray towards the
Allah Subhanah commanded the believers to turn to one direction
while offering their conical prayers to underline the Unity of the Muslim Ummah, the discipline of the believers all united in their
worship of their One Lord, in the obedience of the one Prophet and the
obedience of the One Message!
Just
imagine the confusion if everyone went to a mosque and gathered for their
congregational prayers, and one was praying in one direction and the other
praying in another direction! There can
be no leadership and no unity in such a system!
One only
has to look at an army parade to realize what facing in one direction, or
obeying the appointed squadron leader means!
Imagine the state and confusion of the army parade, or a class room, or a
lecture, or a concert, or a cinema or playwhere the focus of direction is not
quantified!
When
simple decency and good etiquettes and manner demand that we focus and face our
direction towards even a simple leader of a county, or a paltry king of a nation,
or a Judge of a court, etc.; what may one think and do when the King of all
kings, the Judge of all judges demands that we direct our direction to the
place appointed by Him when His Words are read out in prayer??? Does the Creator of the heavens and the earth
not deserve our undivided attention and submission???
Whatever
written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allahs Assistance and Guidance,
and whatever of error is of me. Allah
Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in Islam,
Wister