Nothing is astonishing about God speaking to a human: to create something is to have God speak to it. Everything comes into being through words; when God says “Be,” it becomes. Therefore, beings are referred to as God’s words. Considering created beings as God’s words is a conceptualization highly valued by Muslim metaphysical Sufi thinkers.
Everything is made of words and the entire universe is a word: a word that is spoken, heard and interpreted! Thus, the issue is not that God speaks to someone but that the word is heard. Words are spoken under special conditions and when heard by the one to whom they are spoken, this is called “revelation” and the one who hears it is called a prophet.
The servant also speaks with God. This speech is certainly heard by God; there is no doubt about that. However, the doubt lies here: Does the person really exist in the speech, or are words flowing from their mouth unconsciously? Is the person like someone speaking in their sleep? If the servant truly exists in the speech and hears and understands their own words, this is called “munajat” (intimate prayer).
If this munajat occurs in the forms prescribed by religion, it is called “salah” (prayer). The servant must speak to God as though God is hearing (Ihsan). Thus, the conversation between God and the servant can be called “munajat” depending on the servant. The more present the servant is in the speech, the more the act becomes munajat and the prayer becomes an act of worship.
Worship is a conversation. Salah, in particular, is such a conversation. Believers do not only believe in God’s existence. They believe that He is their speaking, seeing, hearing and knowing Lord. Believing in God in this way makes a person a believer. Believing in the existence of God directs our attention to the universe outside us: “God created the universe” takes us away from the here and now, leading us into the unknown.
Contemplating the history of the universe means embarking on an impossible path for many. Can we truly grasp an event that happened billions of years ago? When we begin to speak of God’s attributes, we turn toward humanity and its world. Now, to think about God and perceive Him with deep awareness and ecstasy brings us into a living and real relationship with God. In this way, we build and perceive the connection between God and us through ourselves. Prayer enters our lives as proof of this connection and binds us to God.
All acts of worship share the quality of being a conversation or “munajat” with God. Salah is somewhat more so. Salah holds a special status among acts of worship due to its nature as “munajat.” “Salah is the ascension of the believer” because ascension is a divine aid for a person to speak with God and see Him.
Salah is a conversation in three languages: speech, action and state. When speaking, verses flow from our tongue and we say phrases of glorification and praise. Aware of God’s greatness and majesty, we apologize in advance for our prayer words. Glorification and praise provide this. Then, we recite the verses told to us. These verses show us how to speak with God. Surah Al-Fatiha is a pillar that establishes prayer. In this surah, the Muslim commits to worship and seeks guidance after praising God.
In prayer, we also converse through actions: we stand, placing ourselves in the divine presence. By standing, we acknowledge that the aspect of us that separates us from all other beings is our act of standing. This action signifies our commitment to distance ourselves from all attributes that contradict standing: we bow before God to show that we will not bend before anyone else, we prostrate to show that we will not submit to anyone, we sit to listen to His bounties and we transition from prayer to continual prayer (salat al-dawam) in a state of peace.
Prayer also involves speaking through one’s state; this is not granted to everyone. For most people, prayer remains an act of physical and verbal speech. Speaking through one’s state is the recognition of high states like piety, humility, fear and hope during prayer. This final form of speech makes prayer truly prayer: the trembling and reverence that arise from being in God’s presence become the believer’s language. Such a prayer elevates the believer to ascension. Perhaps other prayers are accepted through the prayers offered in this manner.
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