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LOVING GOD IN TRUTH...NOT JUST VIA RITUALS.
The sunset is certain,
As the mosques resound with calls,
Inviting the devout Muslims to prayer.
Those who are pious rush,
To fulfil God's commandment.
Some are just following the sincere.
"Come, O ye believers",
"Come, one and all, towards prayer,"
"Come, one and all, rush towards success."
The call rents the air,
And soon a quiet silence pervades,
And I know that the prayer has begun.
Then I see how some rush,
Rush out of the mosques as if,
Something more important lies outside...
Outside the House of God,
Then I hear some yelling,
That their slippers have been stolen,
And they are quite enraged at all this.
Then I pause and reflect,
About these men and their prayer,
Who want to return to worldly matters.
And I even stand perplexed,
At those shouting for stolen shoes,
Making a hue and cry in the mosque's precincts.
My mind takes me back,
To Mansoor Al Hallaj's* life and times,
When Baghdad was the centre of Muslim rule.
And then too on a Friday,
As the 'devout' rushed after prayer,
How Hallaj called them all as hypocrites.
God is not in need,
Of any of our ritual prayers,
As He is the Eternally besought of all.
We are told to pray,
And remember him five times a day,
Not because He needs us but vice versa.
Allah is independent,
Unique in His greatness of power,
It is we who need Him all the time.
Hallaj was crucified,
For calling the so-called devout,
As the greatest hypocrites of his age.
But can I be Hallaj?
And call these mosque goers hypocrites?
Am I ready to be martyred by the hangman?
Whatever, my heart says:
Leave everyone to his own misconception,
You just cannot embrace true martyrdom.
And I also get answered,
Yes, there is a great difference,
Between these mosque goers and myself.
I love my Allah,
Don't pay heed to mere rituals,
As showing off is just not piety.
I walk home gazing,
At the half-awaken moon and see,
How smilingly God's grace greets me.
Yes, I have won,
Yes I have found real success,
As my heart and being glorify my Allah.
And a lark sings softly,
Only Allah is the glorified greatest,
And I know why Hallaj was crucified.
Why can't we be true,
In our faith and our belief,
And honestly love and worship Allah?
He doesn't need us,
Yet we do need him if we really mean,
That there is no other God than Allah.
This is the test,
The point that separates us Muslims,
From the idol worshippers and heathens,
The real love of Allah...not just rituals.
