Attention to God, People Main Component of Supplication

TEHRAN (IQNA) – The supplication recited on Sahar (period before dawn) should elevate one in two ways: on the one hand it draws his attention to God and on the other hand it would not make him neglect the society’s problems.

This is according to senior seminary scholar Hojat-ol-Islam Mohammad Soroush Mahalati, speaking about the importance of prayer in a session on explaining the Supplication of Sahar. Here are excerpts from his remarks at the session:

The language of supplication is a special one not just because the one who is addressed (God) is different from usual addressees. In supplications, one talks to God whereas in other conversations, he talks to other people.

There is another significant difference here as well: That issues are mentioned in supplications that are not mentioned in normal conversations.

The supplications that have reached us from the Infallibles (AS), like the Supplication of Kumayl, Abu Hamza Thumali, Shaabaniyah, Sahar, etc, are different from the Hadiths that have reached us from them because the Infallible Imams (AS) speak differently when they talk to other people and when they speak to God in the form of supplications.

The first difference is that in supplications, teachings are mentioned that are at a higher level than that of people in general. Usually when speaking to their companions, the Imams (AS) speak at the level of their thoughts and understanding. The understanding of the addressees is a limit. But when they are talking to God, there is no such limit.

That is why there are many intricate points and profound teachings in the supplications narrated from the Infallible Imams (AS) that are not seen in Hadiths. The Sahar Supplication is one of these supplications.

The second difference is that in the language of supplication, the Infallible Imams (AS) are not facing social and political restrictions either. That is why they point to some political issues in supplications whereas such issues are not found in Hadiths.

For example, there is a supplication that Sheikh Tousi narrates in the book Al-Misbah al-Mujtahid that is recited in the Ghunut of the Witr Prayer. There is a political philosophy in this supplication.

So it is not the case that one should abandon social and political concerns because he is talking to God in Sahar. Even in his nightly seclusion praying to God, a believer should not forget his society and the problems like hunger and poverty that people are facing.