Anxiety And Prayer

by Abbas Adil

The father left his son in a state of shock and went to his bedroom where his wife was waiting anxiously for the result of the meeting. He asked her with a smile on his face:

It seems that you have heard the discussion, haven’t you? She answered: “Yes, but can he handle this shock?”

“I think so”, he said, “like his brother had done before”, he continued.

The mother sighed praying: “O Lord, guide him, lead him to obey You and assign him to serve You.” Then she addressed the father: “I remember his brother when he reached puberty. I was very worried that day when I told you that you’re playing a dangerous game that may lead to the deviation of your son. But you reassured me and explained the necessity of that process. And now we can see the outcome. He is currently one of the prominent figures in Europe who leads people to God. Ignorance has never reached or contaminated our son and couldn’t lead him astray from the right path.”

The father thought for a moment and then said:

If we had left him with his traditional way of worship, the usual prayers and the inherited ideology derived from home and society, he might have deviated when facing different ideologies, social trends or traditions while living abroad.

“My dear son! How are you going to spend this night?” The mother sighed and glanced towards the room of her son.

The father had a meaningful glance as he said: “How did Abraham spend the nights as he was thoughtfully looking at the skies and the earth until he believed. This was only resolved when he turned his eyes to the Originator of the skies and the earth as a true Muslim and monotheist.”

After the father closed the door of the teenager’s room, the boy stood still in a state of shock, and then he felt dizzy and threw himself on the bed. Ongoing and conflicting thoughts continuously roamed in his mind, but he couldn’t understand what was happening and how to deal with it. He felt that his head was about to explode, but then he remembered what his mother usually does in tough times; she sits down on her prayer rug towards the kiblah1,1 raising her hands and saying with a humble voice: “O God, whom I have no one but You to turn to and ask for help and guidance, put me on the right path.”

Hurriedly, he stood up and went to the sink to perform ablution and get ready to pray. With conflicting thoughts in his mind and sense of fear and worry roaming over him, he was praying while he was thinking of his father’s words:

“All you have learnt about religion before your puberty was wrong.”

He had a pause during his prayer and was about to terminate it, but he continued his efforts in focusing on what he was saying. His father taught him to concentrate in his prayer and to pay attention to the meaning of what he says. His father’s statement had interrupted his thoughts:

“Who is God?”

He was shaking, but he tried to control himself until he reached the Qunut2. Then he raised his hands and uttered the following words strongly and meaningfully:

“God… the Leader of the confused, the Guide of the misguided, the most Merciful, it is You Who is closer to me than my jugular vein; please save me from my confusions and guide me to the right path.”

He stopped for a few moments. He had conflicting thoughts and his heart was beating rapidly. After a while he felt better when he remembered the verse that he had always read in the mosque and suddenly felt confident:

“When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): Ilisten to the prayer of every suppliant when he called on Me: Let them also,with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in theright way.”

faces to during prayers.

towards the heavens, supplicating the Lord.


  1. Kiblah is the direction of the Kaaba that Muslims must turn their 
  2. Qunut is a part of prayers in which a person raises his/her hands 

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