The Prophet Sulayman's (as) Prayers
One of the most telling attributes of the Prophet Sulayman (as) was the great power he held. Allah granted him also many superior talents. Exercising control over jinn, and even talking to animals were among his superior abilities. His understanding of the language of animals is related in the Qur'an as follows:
Sulayman was Dawud's heir. He said, "Mankind! We have been taught the speech of birds and we have been given everything. This is indeed clear favor." (Surat an-Naml: 16)
The Prophet Sulayman (as), who gave thanks to Allah for the superiority granted to him, turned to Allah in prayer:
... "My Lord, keep me thankful for the blessing You have bestowed on me and on my parents, and keep me acting rightly, pleasing You, and admit me, by Your mercy, among Your servants who are true." (Surat an-Naml: 19)
Apart from the Prophet Sulayman's (as) special talents, he was granted ample material wealth. In return for this, he gave thanks to Allah and prayed thus:
He said, "My Lord, forgive me and give me a kingdom the like of which will never be granted to anyone after me. Truly You are the Ever-Giving." (Surah Sad: 35)
In previous pages, we stressed that believers must avoid limiting their prayers to personal wishes or mundane desires. In fact, the Prophet Sulayman's (as) asking for "a kingdom the like of which will never be granted to anyone" is far from being a mundane wish: it is, in fact, a wish intended for the hereafter. We can understand this also from the verse, "... Truly do I love the love of good with a view to the glory of my Lord." (Surah Sad: 32)
If a person puts their material resources into use to seek Allah's good pleasure and if this wealth draws them nearer to Allah and makes them remember Allah, then there is no reason to feel hesitant about asking for worldly blessings, for these blessings are the means to drawing them nearer to the hereafter.
The Prophet Zakariyya's (as) Prayers
Three surahs in the Qur'an refer to the Prophet Zakariyya's (as) prayers. When he grew old, he asked Allah for a successor who would uphold faith amongst his people after his death. Being too old a man to have a child and having an infertile wife, he called on Allah as follows:
When he called on his Lord in secret and said, "My Lord, my bones have lost their strength and my head is crowned with white, but in calling on You, My Lord, I have never been disappointed. I fear my relatives when I am gone and my wife is barren, so give me an heir from You to be my inheritor and the inheritor of the family of Ya'qub, and make him, my Lord, pleasing to You." (Surah Maryam: 3-6)
Then and there Zakariyya called on his Lord and said, "O Lord, grant me by Your favor an upright child. You are the Hearer of Prayer." (Surah Al Imran: 38)
And Zakariyya when he called out to his Lord, "My Lord, do not leave me on my own, You are the Best of Inheritors." (Surat al-Anbiya': 89)
As the verses above highlight, the Prophet Zakariyya (as) called on his Lord secretly. This is one of the most evident signs of sincerity. Indeed, Allah answered his prayer which was truly heartfelt:
We responded to him and gave him Yahya, restoring for him his wife's fertility. They outdid one another in good actions, calling out to Us in yearning and in awe, and humbling themselves to Us. (Surat al-Anbiya': 90)
Zakariyya! We give you the good news of a boy named Yahya, a name we have given to no one else before. (Surah Maryam: 7)
The angels called out to him while he was standing in prayer in the Upper Room: "Allah gives you the good news of Yahya, who will come to confirm a Word from Allah, and will be a leader and a celibate, a prophet and one of the righteous." (Surah Al Imran: 39)
According to another verse, the Prophet Zakariyya (as) was in awe at the notion of having been granted a son despite his old age. The angel whom Allah sent to give him glad tidings of a son reminded him of Allah's might:
He said, "My Lord! How can I have a boy when my wife is barren and I have reached advanced old age?" [An angel] said, "It will be so! Your Lord says, 'That is easy for me to do. I created you before, when you were not anything.' " (Surah Maryam: 8-9)
In previous sections, we emphasized that Allah answers His servants' prayers and that He is the sole friend and helper of people who wholeheartedly call on Him. This being the case, Allah granted a son to the Prophet Zakariyya (as), even though it seemed impossible.
The Prophet Yunus's (as) Prayers
In the Qur'an, Allah refers to the Prophet Yunus (as) as follows:
Yunus too was one of the Messengers. When he ran away to the fully laden ship and cast lots and lost. Then the fish devoured him and he was to blame. (Surat as-Saffat: 139-142)
The Prophet Yunus (as) abandoned his people to whom Allah sent him as a prophet. As these verses convey, he got on a ship, where he "cast lots and lost." As we understand from the Qur'an, the Prophet Yunus (as), who could not persevere in the task Allah had given to him and abandoned his people, was thrown out of the ship to the sea where he was swallowed by a fish. In regret, the Prophet Yunus (as) turned to Allah in prayer, as in:
… "There is no god but You! Glory be to You! Truly I have been one of the wrongdoers." (Surat al-Anbiya': 87)
In return for his sincere prayer, Allah miraculously rescued him:
We responded to him and rescued him from his grief. That is how We rescue the believers. (Surat al-Anbiya': 88)
Then, Allah sent the Prophet Yunus (as) to an obedient society:
We sent him to a hundred thousand or even more. They had faith and so We gave them enjoyment for a time. (Surat as-Saffat: 147-148)
In previous pages, we said that Allah may answer a prayer in the form of a "cause and effect," or if He wills, He may miraculously answer a prayer. This is easy for the Lord of the heavens and earth and everything in between. In the Prophet Yunus's (as) case, Allah removed all seeming obstacles and saved him from a fish's stomach. This is a striking example showing that people should never despair of Allah's forgiveness and be steadfast in their prayers. As long as one wholeheartedly turns to Allah, he will encounter a definite response.
The Prophet Musa's (as) Prayers
Allah sent the Prophet Musa (as) to the Children of Israel as a messenger. When he was still a baby, his life was put in jeopardy. Pharaoh ordered all male children killed and the females spared for slavery. Allah inspired his mother to save him. She followed what was revealed to her and put him into a chest and sent it floating down the Nile. Pharaoh and his family found Musa (as) and adopted him as their own son. (Surat al-Qasas: 7-8) When Musa (as) grew into adulthood in Pharaoh's palace, Allah granted him "judgment and knowledge." (Surat al-Qasas: 14)
The Qur'an provides an account of an event that led the Prophet Musa (as) turn to Allah in prayer:
He entered the city at a time when its inhabitants were unaware and found two men fighting there-one from his party and the other from his enemy. The one from his party asked for his support against the other from his enemy. So Musa hit him, dealing him a fatal blow. He said, "This is part of Satan's handiwork. He truly is an outright and misleading enemy." (Surat al-Qasas: 15)
Upon this incident, the Prophet Musa (as) asked for forgiveness from Allah and promised Him he would not support evildoers again:
He said, "My Lord, I have wronged myself. Forgive me." So He forgave him. He is the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful. He said, "My Lord, because of Your blessing to me, I will never be a supporter of evildoers." (Surat al-Qasas: 16-17)
When the news about this incident was heard, the prominent people of the city planned to kill the Prophet Musa (as). Under this circumstance, the Prophet Moses (as) again turned to Allah in prayer:
So he left there fearful and on his guard, saying, "My Lord, rescue me from the wrongdoing people!" (Surat al-Qasas: 21)
Allah answered the Prophet Musa's (as) prayer and led him to a secure place. Meanwhile, he never lost his bond with Allah and implored to Him:
When turned his face in the direction of Madyan, he said, "Hopefully my Lord will guide me to the right way." When he arrived at the water of Madyan, he found a crowd of people drawing water there. Standing apart from them, he found two women, holding back their sheep. He said, "What are you two doing here?" They said, "We cannot draw water until the shepherds have driven off their sheep. You see our father is a very old man." So he drew water for them and then withdrew into the shade and said, "My Lord, I am truly in need of any good You have in store for me." One of them came walking shyly up to him and said, "My father invites you so that he can pay you your wage for drawing water for us." When he came to him and told him the whole story he said, "Have no fear, you have escaped from wrongdoing people." (Surat al-Qasas: 22-25)
These sequence of events led the Prophet Musa (as) to settle in Madyan, where he established a family. After about 8-10 years, Musa (as) and his family left Madyan. On his way to the valley of Tuwa, where he was destined to receive Allah's first revelation, Allah commanded him to go to Pharaoh to convey His message. However, the Prophet Musa (as) felt concerned and told Allah frankly that he was afraid, hesitant and insecure:
He said, "My Lord, I killed one of them and I am afraid they will kill me; and my brother Harun is more eloquent than me so send him with me to support me and back me up. I fear they will talk me out of it." (Surat al-Qasas: 33-34)
As we learn from the Qur'an, it was in Musa's (as) nature to feel excited from time to time and he was afraid that this character trait would hinder him from fulfilling his duty of conveying the message. For this, he turned to Allah in prayer:
He said, "O Lord, expand my breast for me and make my task easy for me. Loosen the knot in my tongue so that they will understand my words. Assign me a helper from my family, my brother Harun. Strengthen my back by him and let him share in my task, so that we can glorify You much and remember You much, for You are watching us." (Surah Taha: 25-35)
In return for the Prophet Musa's (as) sincerity in his prayer, Allah took him under His protection and told him:
He [Allah] said, "We will reinforce you with your brother and by Our Signs will give you both authority, so that they will not be able to lay a hand on you. You and those who follow you will be the victors." (Surat al-Qasas: 35)
The Prophet Musa's (as) miracles made some of Pharaoh's magicians and a small group of young people embrace faith. Meanwhile, Pharaoh and the majority of his people insisted on denial. The Prophet Musa (as) prayed as follows:
Musa said, "Our Lord, You have given Pharaoh and his ruling circle finery and wealth in the life of the world. Our Lord, is it so they may lead [us] off from Your way? Our Lord, obliterate their wealth and harden their hearts; they do not have faith until they see the painful punishment." He said, "Your request is answered, so go straight and do not follow the way of those who have no knowledge." (Surah Yunus: 88-89)
Following the Prophet Musa's (as) prayer, Pharaoh and all the disbelieving people around him were destroyed and the Children of Israel left Egypt. After a while, leaving his tribe under Harun's care, Musa (as) went to Mount Sinai, where he was to receive Allah's revelation. Upon receiving the revelation, he asked Allah:
"… My Lord, show me Yourself so that I may look at You!.." (Surat al-A'raf: 143)
Allah answered the Prophet Musa's (as) wish as follows:
"You will not see Me, but look at the mountain. If it remains firm in its place, then you will see Me." But when His Lord manifested Himself to the mountain, He crushed it flat and Musa fell unconscious to the ground. When he regained consciousness he said, "Glory be to You! I repent to You and I am the first of the believers!" He said, "Musa, I have chosen you over all mankind for My Message and My Word. Take what I have given you and be among the thankful." (Surat al-A'raf: 143-144)
During Musa's (as) absence, Harun (as) led the Children of Israel. Meanwhile, the unbelievers among Musa's (as) people took advantage of his absence. Insolent to Harun (as), they built a statue of a calf and worshipped it. Upon this, Musa (as) chose the believers in his tribe and together with them, he set off to the appointed place Allah had revealed to him previously. Yet, before reaching there, they were terribly shaken. Musa (as) asked for forgiveness both for himself and the believers traveling with him:
… "My Lord, if You had willed, You could have destroyed them previously and me as well. Would you destroy us for what the fools among us did? It was only a trial from You by which You misguided those You willed and guided those You willed. You are our Protector so forgive us and have mercy on us. You are the Best of Forgivers. Prescribe good for us in the world and the hereafter. We have truly turned to You." He [Allah] said, "As for My punishment, I strike with it anyone I will. My mercy extends to all things but I will prescribe it for those who do their duty and pay alms, and those who believe in Our Signs." (Surat al-A'raf: 155-156)
The most telling attributes of the Prophet Musa's (as) prayers related in the Qur'an are his sincerity and frankness. He prayed to Allah sincerely and asked for help from Him and by Allah's will, what befell him made him grow into a prophet holding great power.
One of the most important attributes of prayer is sincerity and that it be heartfelt. At this point, one of the obstacles that may mislead one is, out of feelings of embarrassment towards Allah, disinclination to confess one's sins and flaws to Him. This attitude may make some people pray very "formally" and, either out of embarrassment or pride, hinder them from divulging their troubles to Allah, although He knows our every sin, mistake, and any irrational or erroneous attitudes or thoughts.
This being the case, what we need to do is to turn to Allah in sincerity and frankness and share our every secret with Him. The inner awe one has for Allah is definitely not an obstacle that will turn the relation between Allah and His servant into "formality," but an encouragement that will draw him closer to his Lord and make him more submissive and sincere to Him.