Prayers Or Acts Of Kindness?
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According to QuranWhat is more important, prayers or acts of kindness?
Sura 107Al-ma`un
Have you thought of him who denies the last judgement?
It is he who turns away the orphan and does not urge others to feed the poor.Woe to those who pray,
But in their prayer are careless;
Who make a show of devotion,
But refuse help to the needy.274-Those who (in charity) spend of their goods by night and by day in secret and in public have their reward with their Lord on them shall be no fear nor shall they grieve. sura 2al-bakarah
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peace be with you jaxal,
thanksyou are right brother ofcourse they are both important for us, the question is "according to these verses of Quran" what seems to be more pleasing to God, our prayers or acts of kindness? and what is more pleasing to God should be more important for us in preferrence.
take care wink
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SaLaM Nabpeace
From my reading of the Quran, i would have to say that i see more reference to prayers than being kind. Or maybe the better way to say it is that from my reading of the Quran, i find that praying is more important than being kind. For example, i can live my life in solitary and be alright if i pray. On the other hand, i can be the most popular person on the planet and still go to hell if i dont pray. What do u think?
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Peace Nab,
In my opinion it is talking about those who follow and follow in all emptiness. Lilmusalleena does not mean those who pray in my opinion. I'm not sure how people who are proponents of the roots of s-l-w in the quran being prayer would explain it. What we do should be meaningful.
Joe
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Salaam Nab,
Very clearly - acts of kindness.
chapter 107 tells us that those who fail to help orphans and feed the poor are denying/deactualising ad-deen itself!
However, as Joe points out, as-salaat, al-musalleen etc aren't referring to praying, whether in a supplicatory or ritualistic sense. h
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peace be to you all,
3- Al-i'Imran
92-By no means shall ye attain righteousness unless ye give (freely) of that which ye love; And whatsoever ye spend, Allah is aware thereof.so you cant attain righteousness unless you do what?
brother jaxal I thought solitary life is not encouraged in our religion? correct me if I am wrong.
Dont you think it will depend upon the nature of popularity?thank you brother mquran and thenabi lol for your explanation.
God bless you all.
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SaLaM nabpeace
Lol i didnt mean that we live a solitary life. What i meant was i rather be the one who perform salat and not deal with being kind than to be the one who is kind but does not performs salat. For me, performing salat is more important than being kind. I knew a girl who worshipped satan. the whole shibang. she was kind. but that is not what will get her in God's graces. On the other hand, i knew a person from class. Very quite, always kept to himself for whatever reason. But i always saw him perform his salat (my univeristy has a room for prayer). So i believe that its the act of salat that is more important than being kind.
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Peace Nab,
In the system/sunnah of Allah there are many methods by which Allah tests the people . Allah will deprive people, or straiten their goods or He may bestow much upon them . There are people who hold onto their wealth and give it grudgingly , or to make themselves seem better in the eyes of others . There are poor people who will be the same way. Others can be giving freely for the good of themselves and of others . We cannot fall in love with the wealth and adornments of this life . Wealth can inhibit man .
Joe
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Salaamun alaikum Nabpeace and Joe,
3/92 is an excellent example of what I mean, yes. One of the fundamental underlying theme in the philosophy of al-quraan is the belief in the unseen. When you believe in the unseen (in this case, Allah and His Laws), you trust it enough to overcome your love of something seen and tangible (in this case, your wealth). In this case, akhirat (a period of otherness, furtherness) over dunya (immediacy). This is what al-islaam is all about, essentially.
Good topic indeed.
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SALAM BROTHER JAXAL,
I respect your opinion, salat is a personal contact between us and God, when we recite sura fatihah during salat we are asking the omnipotent to guide us to the straight path, the path of those to whome Allah has been gracious and not the path of those who have incurred His wrath and gone astray. so if we perform salat regularly but do not follow the right path in practical life, it is for me like taking an oath in words but not fulfilling it in actions
The person you mentioned who is quite and perfoms salat? If he is not hurting anyone, then he will command great respect from me.
God bless you -
SaLaM nabpeace
Ok sorry brother. I think it im still not saying it right. OK how about this. Forget every human characterestic except two. Being submissive to God and being kind. And just becoz someone is not being kind to someone doesnt mean that he/she is being mean. lol. Now, I beleive that it is better to be submissive to Allah and perform salat and not be kind than to be kind and not perform salat. Lool sorry nabpeace im bipolar so its hard for me to put in words what i think.
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Hi Nabpeace,
how would u define prayer? reciting quran or standing by Quran?
i think prayer is a form of communication with God. its meant to strengthen u and guide u. and this prayer should be real and sincere from one's souls with all honesty.
being righteous, doing kind deeds, living humble are the codes of life, that have been emphasised upon. praying is meaningless without the other. but if one is living a righteous life(kindness included) his act of praying will strengthen the goodness of his soul much more. -
SaLaM PM
Yes but a person can still please God if he/she prays but is not kind to others. I mean that, say that you just never had a chance to be kind to others. You can still please God if you pray. But what is the use of being kind to everyone if you dont perform salat? I hope you understand.
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I mean that, say that you just never had a chance to be kind to others. You can still please God if you pray.
chance to be kind such as?
kindness can be lived upon every moment.
say u smile at ur employee and say thank u for the job. thats kindness.
say, u give on charity, a quit, 10 quit , how much ever u wish, thats kindness.
say, ur mom is cold and u guys are out, and u offer her ur coat, thats kindness.
say u r upset, and ur kid disturbs u, and u act kindly with him and refrain from being rude. thats kindness.
its as simple as that. its about 'not being self obsessed'. its about respecting humanity. u dont have to give off all ur money or give ur life as an act of kindness.
now, ur turn to answer. say a person is selfish, proud and rude, and performs all salaats? do u think Allah will be pleased? -
Salaamun alaikum PM,
Is this really what WE THINK Allah will be pleased with? If we drop all, these words 'prayer' and 'kindness' etc and focus on Quranic statements, we will have a clearer picture.
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Firstly , we ask 'is salaat PRAYERS' ? My answer is no.
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2/254 tells us to SPEND before comes a day where nothing will avail us. SPEND, not pray.
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Spending isn't just smiling, but to give from your self and wealth in the path of Allah.
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Hi mquran,
Is this really what WE THINK Allah will be pleased with? If we drop all, these words 'prayer' and 'kindness' etc and focus on Quranic statements, we will have a clearer picture.
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Firstly , we ask 'is salaat PRAYERS' ? My answer is no.
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2/254 tells us to SPEND before comes a day where nothing will avail us. SPEND, not pray.
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Spending isn't just smiling, but to give from your self and wealth in the path of Allah.
Spending on Charity is an act of kindness. so is being good to people around u. so is being kind with ur attitude and behaviour in ur every day. so is doing little kind deeds, such as helping a person in trouble, helping a person at work etc. its about thinking beyond ur self.
thats why we are to spend the money that Allah has blessed us with, to help others.
2/254 does speak of spending money. if u read the other verses, Allah mentions quite repeatedly that we should be kind, humble and helpful.Charity is obligatory. but the amount again depends on ur financial capabilities. so, its not a question of getting a chance to be kind. and whatever one does, he should do with good intentions.( that being to help and not merely to earn rewards).
we need to look at Quran with a wider mind set. if Allah says in a verse, be good to ur parents, does that mean u should not be good to ur grand parents, aunt, uncle and so on... the message should be understood loud and clear.
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hi mquran,
'Taqwa is acting in obedience to Allah, hoping for His Mercy, upon light from Him, and taqwa is leaving acts of disobedience to Allah out of fear of Him, upon light from Him.'
o.k
agreed. but what are u trying to say?