What Do Muslims Pray For?

For Allah to grant goodness both in this world and the Hereafter

I seek refuge in Him from the accursed Satan: "When a Messenger comes to them from Allah confirming what is with them, a group of those who have been given the Book disdainfully toss the Book of Allah behind their backs, just as if they did not know." (Al-Baqarah 2; 101) In Arabic the word ‘maruf’ means goodness, grant, good tradition, this is the suitable and desired manner according to the moral values of Islam. Talking with Wisdom Talking with wisdom means a person makes the truest, the most useful and the most appropriate conversation possible. However, there is no rule about talking with wisdom, and it has no connection with the individual’s level of intelligence, culture, state of education or technical knowledge. An individual who has wisdom would have no desire to sell oneself to other people. He knows that God is the One Who will give him wisdom and make him talk, and submits to Him and in talking only seeks His Approval. As always, he is aware that he is not in the sight of people, but in the sight of Allah and that his speech can only be effective with His will. He prays to Allah to make his words effective and wise. Allah wants Muslims not only to worship Him, but also to be determined about worship In return for this sincerity, one’s conscience inspires in the individual the most beautiful words to say. In one verse, the importance of talking with wisdom is revealed as such: "He gives wisdom to whoever He wills and he who has been given wisdom has been given great good… “(Al-Baqarah 2, 269) Being Determined in Worship “Determination” is showing patience about something, stopping at nothing to reach the goal, and fulfilling what needs to be done no matter what by acting with steadfastness. Allah wants Muslims not only to worship Him, but also to be determined about worship: "He is Lord of the heavens and the earth and everything in between them so worship Him and persevere in His worship. Do you know of any other with His Name?" (Maryam 19; 65) Worship means being a servant. Every behavior, action, conversation, and attitude people do for the cause of Allah is an act of worship. As performing the prayer five times a day is an important and obligatory act of worship for a person, in the same way, overcoming anger, saying a nice word, warning people, not to make an assumption or not to be argumentative are also acts of worship. Therefore, God’s Command “to be determined about worship” is valid for both factual prayers and good moral values. However, while Muslims are commanded to be determined in the verses, there is one more important point revealed. This is the explanations revealing that Muslims’ steadfastness will be tested. Almighty Allah may test Muslims’ steadfastness to live according to the morality of religion both through events that appear to be negative and with blessings such as prosperity, health, richness or power. In short, Muslims are tested with both difficulty and accommodation. However, in both situations, sincere believers would experience no negative change in their behaviors, and they live the morality of Islam in every situation and environment with the same determination. Allah commanded believers to have a good morality and, no matter what happens, never to give up these good qualities What Does it Mean to Be Honorable Against Disbelievers? Allah commanded believers to have a good morality and, no matter what happens and what kind of an attitude they are faced with, never to give up these good qualities: {You who have faith! If any of you renounce your religion, Allah will bring forward a people whom He loves and who love Him, humble to the believers , fierce to the disbelievers , who strive in the Way of Allah and do not fear the blame of any censurer. That is the unbounded favor of Allah which He gives to whoever He wills.… } (Al -Ma’idah 5; 54) The life of disbelievers contains completely opposite attitudes to the good moral values of believers. When believers come across these attitudes of disbelievers, they do not descend to their level, and instead respond with an honorable attitude. They never make concessions to the Qur'an, in the face of their behavior, and show a strong determination about this. They respond to a bad word with a good word, to arrogance with humility, to injustice with justice and to ruthlessness with mercy.