Understanding The Prophet's Life
From Issue: 949 [Read full issue]
The First Cause
Followers of all five schools of Law have narrated from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that "Prayer is the armament of the believer." [Hakim] The Prophet also said, "Call upon God and you can be confident that it will be answered." [Tirmidhi]
If one prays and at the same time is pessimistic or doubtful about its outcome, then it shows that the prayer is just a formality, the supplicant has no real intention of asking for it. And the traditions forbid asking for a thing which one is sure will not come about.
Supplication must be purely for God. This does not negate the positive causes which God has created as instrumental links between the things and their needs. But these instruments are not independent causes. The Independent Cause is only God. The human being has an inner feeling of this fact. He or she feels by his or her nature that there is a Perfect Cause who fulfills his or her needs and who can never fail in bringing about the desired effect. On the other hand, he or she knows that all the apparent causes which are expected to produce an effect, sometimes fail to do so. Thus he or she knows that the First Cause, Who is the Source and Origin of everything and upon whom every need relies and depends for its fulfillment, is other than these apparent causes. Once he or she realizes it, he or she will never entirely rely on these causes, forgetting the Real Cause. The human being may appreciate this fact after just a little thinking.
Compiled From:
"Tafsir al-Mizan" - Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i