Page 56 - Prayer in the Qur'an

54 PRAYER IN THE QUR'AN

House in an uncultivated valley. Our Lord! Let them establish
prayer! Make the hearts of mankind incline towards them and
provide them with fruits, so that hopefully they will be thank-

ful. Our Lord! You know what we keep hidden and what we di-
vulge. Nothing is hidden from Allah either on the earth or in
heaven. Praise be to Allah Who, despite my old age, has given
me Isma'il and Ishaq. My Lord is the Hearer of Prayer. My
Lord! Make me and my descendants people who establish
prayer. My Lord! Accept my prayer. Our Lord! Forgive me and
my parents and the believers on the Day the Reckoning takes
place. (Surah Ibrahim: 37-41)

As is seen, in his prayer, the Prophet Ibrahim (as) remembered
Allah's attributes and also gave thanks to Him. What he asked from
Allah were those things that would draw him nearer to Allah and
help him be forgiven in the hereafter.

The Prophet Lut's (as) Prayers

The Prophet Lut (as), who is mentioned in the Qur'an as a
prophet who was given "right judgment and knowledge," (Surat al-
Anbiya': 74) conveyed Allah's message to his people for long years.
However, his people, who transgressed Allah's limits and practiced

homosexuality, always reacted negatively to him:
And Lut, when he said to his people, "Do you commit an ob-
scenity not perpetrated before you by anyone in all the worlds?
You come with lust to men instead of women. You are indeed a
depraved people." The only answer of his people was to say,

"Expel them from your city! They are people who keep them-
selves pure!" (Surat al- A'raf: 80-82)