Prayer

In Islam prayer is considered one of the most important duties, which must be performed by all those who have reached maturity. It has been called "the pillar of religion" and "the best means of approaching God" after the knowledge of God himself. Given its importance and centrality in the life of the believer, it has been prescribed since the early days of the prophetic mission.
Prayer is the path of righteousness (istiqàma) which leads to proximity to God since it is an act of adoration and an action of grace; it is God himself who calls and honors us, with his service prayer brings us closer to him. Prayer, as a rite, is an act transmitted by revelation and for this reason it is in itself a way of revelation. Prayer is not a simple formal act, but a rite that produces its beneficial effects at all levels: corporeal, psychic, spiritual. The "five" prayers follow the rhythm of the sun: sunrise, noon, afternoon, sunset, and night, in unison with the Universe. It is a rite that must be performed with attention, concentration and humility, regulated by precise rules that play a fundamental role in training and improvement. For example, the prayer must be performed at specific times respecting the order of execution of its various parts.
The efficacy of prayer is not only found on an individual level, but also on a social level, since there are various prayers that must be performed collectively, among which the most well known one on Friday. Friday prayer has a strong community connotation, strengthens the union among believers and is a means to understand each other and be informed about the problems of society. In fact, the two sermons prescribed before execution instruct the science and the doctrine of Islam but also touch on specific social and political issues.
The mystic poet Rumi in his famous work Mathnawi thus describes the lamentation of the human soul (compared to a red flute), which suffers for its earthly, contingent and unstable dwelling, and longs for the heavenly home: "Listen how this red flute laments stories of lost happiness and present punishment! With me, torn before time by the native banks, they cry young whispering love, and sweet-eyed virgins. Oh, let the Heart, lacerated by absence, hear my song, and cry my lament: who wanders in exile, far from his Garden, quivers for the return and reproaches the hour of delay ". Prayer is a divinely inspired and taught by the Prophet to "fly" and "rise" to his heavenly home.
But the human being must respect the outer and inner elements of prayer, and in particular the Presence of the Heart (hudhurul-Qalb) is one of its basic conditions, without which it has no significant effect or even leaves a negative effect on the believer. . He must be able to constantly focus his attention on the act he is doing, so that words (in Arabic, the sacred language of Revelation) originate from the depth of his being. The Prophet said that "when the prayerful prays, he whispers to his Lord" intending to understand that prayer is a sort of "special conversation" between God and man.