The form of prayer, or rakʿahs, as given above, admit of no variations whether they are used in private or public, and consequently, notwithstanding the beauty of its devotional language, it is simply a superstitious act, having very little in common with the Christian idea of prayer.
We translate the Arabic Ṣalāt, and the Persian Namāz by the English word prayer, although this “second foundation” of the religion of Muḥammad is something quite distinct from that prayer which the Christian poet so well describes as the “soul’s sincere desire uttered or unexpressed.” It would be more correct to speak of the Muḥammadan Ṣalāt as a service; “prayer” being more correctly rendered by the Arabic duʿāʾ. In Islām prayer is reduced to a mechanical act, as distinct from a mental act; and in judging of the spiritual character of Muḥammadanism, we must take into careful consideration the precise character of that devotional service which every Muslim is required to render to God at least five times a day, and which undoubtedly, exercise so great an influence upon the character of the followers of Muḥammad.
The devotions of Islām are essentially “vain repetitions,” for they must be said in the Arabic language, and admit of no change or variety. The effect of such a constant round of devotional forms, which are but the service of the lips, on the vast majority of Muḥammadans, can be easily imagined. The absence of anything like true devotion from these services, accounts for the fact that religion and true piety stand so far apart in the practice of Islām.
The late Dean Stanley remarks (Eastern Church, p. 279), “The ceremonial character of the religion of Musalmāns is, in spite of its simplicity, carried to a pitch beyond the utmost demands either of Rome or of Russia.… Prayer is reduced to a mechanical act as distinct from a mental act, beyond any ritual observances in the West. It is striking to see the figures along the banks of the Nile going through their prostrations, at the rising of the sun, with the uniformity and regularity of clockwork; but it resembles the worship of machines rather than of reasonable beings.”
PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD. According to the teaching of Muḥammad, it is the duty of all true Muslims to pray for the dead. (Durru ʾl-Muk͟htār, p. 135.) See also Mishkāt, book v. chap. iii.
“God most certainly exalts the degree of a virtuous servant in Paradise, and the virtuous servant says, ‘O my Lord, from whence is this exalted degree for me?’ and God says, ‘It is on account of your children asking pardon for you.’”
“The Prophet passed by graves in al-Madīnah and turned his face towards them, and said, ‘Peace be to you, O inhabitants of the graves! may God forgive us and you. Ye have passed on before us, and we are following you.’”
“A dead person in the grave is like one over his head in water, who calls to somebody to take him by the hand. For he has hope that his father or mother, or his brother, or his friend will pray for him. For when the prayer reaches the dead person, it is more esteemed by him than the whole world, and all that is in it; and verily God most certainly gives to the dead, on account of the prayers of the people of the earth, rewards like mountains, for verily the offerings of the living for the dead are asking forgiveness for them.”
[Sūrah lxxi. 29]: “And Noah said, O my God, forgive me and my parents.”
[Sūrah ix. 114, 115]: “It is not for the Prophet to pray for the forgiveness of those, who, even though they be near of kin, associate other gods with God, after it hath been made clear to them that they are to be the inmates of hell. For neither did Abraham ask forgiveness for his father, but in pursuance of a promise which he had promised him, and when it was shown him that he was an enemy of God, he declared himself clear of him: yet Abraham was pitiful and kind.”