Prayer: Its significance to Religion as Practiced and Observed in Islam, Judaism and Christianity - Essay Example

? Prayer: Its significance to Religion as Practiced and Observed in Islam, Judaism and Christianity Full Prayer is an essential part of the Islamic religion and it is observed five times a day where the schedules are equally distributed through the day, giving all the opportunities for a person to pray. To the Muslims, prayers are recited to ask for Allah’s forgiveness of sins and because in just a few hours there could be sins committed as an individual lives through the day, one is reminded of the schedules of prayer. In addition, mistakes can be committed in a person’s life in a matter of hours and sometimes these wrong judgments can adversely affect one’s self and those around him. It is then obligatory for a Muslim to pray for the guidance of Allah so that a person could do all that Allah wants them to do in relation to what have been planned for him. Probably, prayer is important in all religions because they are a common practice generally observed in expressing one’s beliefs. Those who practice Judaism also have a set of prayers they recite three times a day on regular days but have more on their Sabbath and Jewish holidays (religionfacts.com). Christians on the other hand perceive prayer as a means of expressing one’s self and spending time with God. Unlike Islam and Judaism, Christianity does not mention a set time or number of times that they pray during the day. However, they deem it vital because it is their means of getting close to God, when God listens to them as they speak to him. In Islamic observances, an individual is to perform the Taharah or purification before saying the prayers. Muslims should not pray with blood, feces, urine, vomit, pus, and penis and vaginal discharges on themselves or clothing because the aforementioned substances are considered filthy. However, semen and the woman’s fluid of orgasm are not considered filthy (http://www.beliefs-in-islam.com) so that they are allowed not to be washed or cleansed. Taking extra care of the cleansing of the filthy substances is needed and therefore demands the Muslims to look after their hygienic rituals well. After urinating or defecating, Muslims should wipe the area with tissue and make sure there is nothing left by pouring water over the excretory parts. Wudu or ablution is performed by the washing of certain parts of the body like the hands, wrist, mouth, nose, mouth, ears, forearms and elbows. As they are washing the body parts mentioned earlier, the person should also be praying for his cleansing as his body is being cleansed. The washing of certain body parts is symbolic of the cleansing not only of filthy substances but also of the sinful acts where the body parts were used. For instance, the washing of the mouth brings a person to remember what he said and ask for Allah’s forgiveness should there be anything that he said that caused him to sin. As the hands are washed, the Muslim asks for the forgiveness of the things he did that are not in accordance to the will of Allah. In the Jewish tradition, there are no rituals they observe before prayer times. However, they are to observe proper concentration called kavvanah which is considered essential to prayer (religionfacts.com). Moreover, male Jews are required to use head coverings like dress hats or yarmulke or kipa, as a sign of respect. The tallit or prayer shawl is an obligatory clothing used by the Jews but are not required from visitors. The tzenuit or appropriate dress for a house of worship should be observed and for women, they are required to use long sleeves, long skirts and covering for the hair especially for Jewish married women (religionfacts.com). For Christians, there are no special rituals or clothing requirements that they are supposed to adhere to. Probably, their concentration is more on the prayer itself as they seem to pray for a variety of things not only for themselves but for others, too (psalm121.ca). For the Muslims, they pray on their knees, standing up, sitting down and prostrating. Basically, they do the kneeling with their heads bowed to the ground as a symbol of humility before Allah. They stand up to say their praises to Allah declaring that he is most great and they also recite the same prayer, raising their hands. They bow down reciting three times “Subhana Rabbiyal adhim”, meaning, ‘Glory be to my Lord Almighty’. The actions in the prayer represent the attitude the person praying should have like humility, praise and acknowledgement of the greatness of Allah. For instance, in the prostrating manner, the declaration, ‘Glory be to my Lord, the Most High’, are both acknowledgements of the height of the place of honor Allah has as compared to men. Prostration is probably the most humble and lowest form a person could take because it is the lowest form one could put himself near the ground and therefore is considered as when a person is nearest to Allah. The declaration, ‘the Most High’ is the verbalization of the act of prostrating, acknowledging that whatever is a person’s status or wealth, fame or honor, still Allah is far higher than a person is. In Judaic worship, they also stand and bow during prayer services to show respect to their God but they are not required to prostrate or bow on their knees with their heads to the ground. That is why they have pews because they are required only to stand and bow following the rites set for the day’s prayers. Compared to mosques, where it is void of chairs or pews for people to sit down rather have carpets used to ensure that the place where they bow and prostrate are clean, in adherence to the requirements of wudu, an observance of ablution mentioned earlier. From the Christian point of view about prayer, that it is the speaking of a person to God, it could also be that they pray sitting down, standing up and bowing as one would communicate with other people. Fajir is the morning prayer that is performed before sunrise, remembering God first before starting the day’s work, is considered important because Allah first of all should be the beginning of a person’s life. Putting this in juxtaposition with the morning prayer of the Jews called shacharit where they say the morning blessings and read from the torah and readings from biblical and rabbinic writings, it could be said that this is a comparable practice between the two religions. As mentioned earlier, the Christians do not have a fixed schedule for their prayers that could be compared to the practices of the two other religions mentioned. Dhuhr is the prayer recited after noon to remember God and seek his guidance can be compared to the Jewish afternoon prayer called Mincha where readings from Psalm are recited (religionfacts.com). Asr for the Muslims is the Ma’ariv or Arvit for the Jews, prayers recited at the end of the day to remember God even when men are stressed out during the day’s activities. Prayers for the Muslims do not end here but still have the Maghrib and Isha, prayers recited just after sunset and befor going to bed, respectively. Whatever the religion maybe, the emphasis is the interaction with someone seen higher than anything or anyone in this world and the study of the three religions have shown that prayer indeed is an important aspect of their belief. Prayer then should be placed in a light where it is understood so that it should not just be recited by fanatics as they say but should be done with comprehension, giving meaning to whatever is done whether publicly or privately. References n.a. August 23, 2008. Islam Prayer. Retrieved from http://www.beliefs-in-islam.com/islam prayer/islam-prayer. n.a. 2010. Jewish Worship and Prayer. Religion Facts: Just the Facts of Religion. Retrieved from: http://www.religionfacts.com/judaism/practices/worship_prayer.htm. Walden, Kate. 2011. What is Prayer. I lift My Eyes Prayer Ministry. Retrieved from: http://psalm121.ca/whatpray.html. Read More