Prayer is Worship

There is a tradition which states that prayer (dua) is the real essence of worship (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 3371) rather prayer is worship (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 2969). This same truth has been set forth in the Quran as well as in the Hadith. It is natural for prayer to be real worship. Indeed, when a believer discovers God with His perfect attributes, he also discovers his total worthlessness in comparison to God.

God is the Lord, I am His servant. God is the Giver, I am the taker. God is the All-Powerful and I am submissive and helpless. This feeling immediately makes the suppliant capable of prayer to God. Prayer is that greatest of relationships through which a believer comes close to God. Prayer is the source of connection between God and the believer. A person receives everything through prayer. All the forms of worship make a person capable of praying to God, so that he may become the receiver. For example, in the Quran, after giving the command to fast in the month of Ramadan, the following verse says: “When My servants ask you about Me, say that I am near. I respond to the call of one who calls, whenever he calls to Me: let them, then, respond to Me, and believe in Me, so that they may be rightly guided.” (2:186)

The same adjuration was expressed by Jesus Christ: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)