MASHA HASSAN, Speaking Tree, The Times of India
The vibrating strains of Azaan always have an enchanting effect on me; they resonate in my mind, filling my soul as well as the atmosphere with their sound of solace .
I don't offer namaz (being too young for it). Yet, the prayer makes me feel like surrendering myself submitting to the spirit of Islam that stands for peace and purity, humility and discipline. The term 'submission to God' is a deep and divine term when it is followed in true spirit. We are not expected to visualise God but to worship Him and adore Him as a Protector.
I wake up everyday, my eyes opening to the serene sound of the Azaan, every word finding its way into my consciousness as the new day dawns with the promise of a new beginning. I don't know Arabic, but the words and their impact are so evocative that it is easy to recognise and submit to the One Power that protects and guides us, and surrender and submission to the Almighty is but an expression of Divine trust.
The day goes on with nothing but a daily routine. My holidays are going on, but with the 10th boards ready to occupy my mind, I tend to frown a lot, worrying about the future. The evenings are meant for tuitions but the brighter side is that on my way I can hear the beautiful sound of the evening prayer. The sounds of solace give me a feeling of protection and this prayer tells me that someone is out there to hear and know. It takes me to a different world, a world that may not be real in this day and age but is still alive and these prayers have kept it alive in a conventional kind of way.
Salat or Salawat is the name given to the formal prayer of Islam that serves as a formal method of remembering Allah. The prayer, one of the obligatory rites of the religion, is performed five times a day - at dawn (fajr), noon (dhuhr), in the afternoon (asr), at sunset (maghrib) and nightfall (ishaa). Prayer is also cited as a means of restraining a believer from social wrongs and moral deviance.
These prayers are a medium and it helps us to remind ourselves of a God who looks over us. Whatever we do, we will receive compensation or otherwise in the here and now. Heaven and Hell are not places to which we are destined to go, but they are states of our own mind. Any religion, which can successfully help us overcome material influences, has to be scientific, and spiritualism is just that.
For me spiritualism is not a compulsion or a daily routine. It is a feeling I get when I smell a flower or look at the clouds. For me helping an animal is spiritual. I remember the day when I helped a cow with a broken leg. It was hard to move her from the middle of the road but my father, determined, called the Sanjay Gandhi hospital and meanwhile we gave the cow water to drink. Seeing her being rescued from pain and the maddening summer heat I felt liberated as it brought me closer to the Almighty and His Creation. It was like offering a prayer and being rewarded, too. The happiness and joy I felt at that time was immense. That is spiritualism to me; that is my namaz.
(The writer is a tenth class student in a Delhi school.)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-4729763,prtpage-1.cms
