My long way to prayer
Today I want to share with you my story. To my great regret, I began to pray only ten years ago. And I am almost fifty! I think that this is an omission both on my part and on the part of society.
One of the most pleasant childhood memories is the image of my grandparents peacefully praying. This happened every morning, and every evening. At that time, this was not particularly welcomed, but, despite all the prohibitions, my ancestors believed in the Almighty and prayed.
And we, children, always revolved around and repeated the movements after them. At that time, I could not understand why at my request to teach me prayer they stubbornly denied or remained silent, without explaining in any way their unwillingness to fulfill the request. Although one day when grandma was putting me to bed, I asked her to teach me how to read some kind of prayer or at least something. Then she read the words to me several times only in her native (Kumyk) language and they stuck in my memory.
I remember that day with warmth and love. It is a shame that we kids have not been taught our religion from hildhood. After all, a child’s memory is sharp; everything is quickly remembered and memorized. But the most importantly thing was that we had a great desire to know Islam. And I also remember that very often I said, “O Allah!” and felt so good.
As I grew older, I became more and more convinced of the need for prayer, but again, no one taught me how to pray. Nowadays, many adults find it difficult to learn how to pray. But it is possible and necessary. It is necessary for the soul and body. Faith in the soul is the basis of Islam but if it is not manifested in deeds, then our soul has no faith at all. Deeds are part of faith and the best and most important of deeds is prayer.
Today I am very happy that I can pray and that I know many duties of a Muslim and I try to follow them. It helps me in life. I pray and believe that God the Almighty will not leave me and does not leave me. It so happened that in a single day I lost both my spouse and property. It seemed as if the ground had slipped from under my feet and that there was no end to my trials. But I diligently began to pray to the Creator that nothing worse would happen in my life. Well, it was difficult and, yes, it was embarrassing. But next to me were people and children who were close and I coped with all this. And God Almighty was there all the time and He protected us and sent His mercy.
Today I am very glad that I pray. My children also pray and teach me a lot. We urge each other on, reminding each other to pray. I try to show them that prayer makes us happy and, if it is done with sincerity, our happiness is doubled.
And again I remember the day when I started to pray. At first, I studied from a piece of paper, slowly, hiding it from my family. But one day they saw me learning how to pray and were pleasantly surprised and delighted. Especially my husband; he looked with respect at me. It was that moment when my shyness disappeared. I realized that I was doing the right thing and I gained confidence.
So, dear readers, it is never too late to start but you should not delay either. It is not known how much time is allotted to us; we may not have time to start praying. I wish all those who have not yet begun to pray, to quickly turn their faces and hearts to the Lord. Only then will you find peace and blessings.
