My (earnest, irate) thoughts

The fact of God’s existence is evident in every flower, every insect, and the fact that our earth is sustained in space unaided. Evidence is everywhere, from the mysteries of the human brain to weather patterns to babies being born. We can define and categorize these things, but we cannot create them. Believing in God is logical and natural.

Belief in God is the easy part of religion. It’s finding which set of dogma to subscribe to — if any — that’s the hard part. But it’s a necessary search, I think. As religious practice without fiery belief would quickly become dry ritualism, a prelude to hypocrisy and legalism, fiery belief without religious practice would be unstable and easily extinguished. The first is an empty lantern, providing no warmth or light. The second is a candle with no lantern, easily snuffed.

In Islam, remembering death is not morbid. It’s just good common sense. Every one of us will die, whether we are sick or healthy, young or old — and whether we or our families want us to or not. Remembering that each of us has an ordained number of steps to walk and an ordained number of breaths to inhale is vital to enjoying life on earth.

People bent toward the material side of life often point out that our five senses perceive only this world, but that is only part of the truth. To imagine that these 7 to 70 years are all we get is mentally and emotionally painful, and many people continually use various mind-altering substances to escape from this one disturbing fact. To imagine that this life is all we get, is also to completely discount the unceasing nature of the soul. Each of us longs for eternity, and desires for good to be rewarded and evil to be punished justly. Even if God didn’t exist, humans would have to invent religion to have peace from the world’s strife. Even if God didn’t exist, humans would have to invent heaven and hell in order to make right the world’s injustice.

Muslims pray five times a day. It seems excessive at first, until we realize how much we need each of those communions with God. The idea is that a man cannot become too dirty if he is washing in a river five times a day. Ritual prayer, then, purifies our days.

Each prayer corresponds to a season and part of human life, keeping us mindful of the passage of time, and keeping us grateful for each breath God allows. The dawn prayer, performed before sunrise, reminds us of birth and springtime. The noon prayer, performed after the sun is at its peak and before it’s halfway down its arc, reminds us of youth and summertime. The afternoon prayer, performed between the halfway point of the sun and its disappearance, reminds us of old age and autumn. The sunset prayer, performed after sunset and before total darkness, reminds us of death and winter. The night prayer, performed anytime during the blackest part of night, reminds us of the grave.

Before the prayers, we wash our faces, hands and feet. We turn a clean prayer rug in the direction of Mecca, where Prophet Abraham built the first temple to God, and we recite some chapters from the Qur’an, the holy book revealed to Prophet Muhammad(1). We bow and prostrate and sit for short periods. Altogether, the washing and prayers take less than one hour of each day. Thus we invest one-24th of earthly life, for a 99 percent chance at forever.

Footnotes

1. Peace be upon them both.

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