Page 45 - Prayer in the Qur'an

THE IGNORANT UNDERSTANDING OF PRAYER 43

they had always doubted the efficacy of asking for help from Him.
No one reminds them now to pray to Allah, and indeed there is no
need for this, for they know deep down, that it is Allah alone Who
can help them.
Being so close to death, people will quickly review their life and

imminent doom and suddenly start thinking about life after death;
they will see that they have not engaged in deeds that are worthy of
Paradise and suddenly this will be their greatest fear. They will
think about how they spent their time in this life. They cannot now
be arrogant nor any longer remain negligent or reckless towards is-
sues concerning religion. They act as though they were not the ones
who rejected Allah. Meanwhile, they are truly aware of their un-
gratefulness: that they feel the need to pray now that they are in a
desperate situation indicates that, in actuality, they knew all along
how they should be behaving. However, surprisingly, as the Qur'an
informs us, a disbeliever who turns to Allah in these kinds of dire
circumstances, acknowledging that Allah is the All-Mighty, all of a
sudden loses his sincerity once the threat is over. In an amazing

manner, they return to their former idolatrous ways. Their regret
and relying on Allah is all of a sudden replaced by disbelief and in-
gratitude. They lapse back into their former state of heedlessness.
The enlightenment they experienced in the face of danger suddenly
disappears. With the security instilled by relief and the disappear-
ance of danger, they never feel the need again to pray.
This abnormal psychology of the people of ignorance and their
ingratitude is described in the Qur'an as follows:

Man never tires of praying for the good and if evil touches him,
he despairs and loses hope. But if We let him taste mercy from
Us after he has suffered hardship, then he says, "This is my