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-The form of prayer ought not to become a matter of
dispute. Which side you turn your face is certainly not essential
to the spirit of prayer. The Quran is clearly on thus point.
"The east and west is Gods: therefore whichever way you
turn, there is the face of God.
Yet we cannot ignore the important consideration that the posture
of the body is a real factor in determining the attitude of the
mind. The choice of one particular direction in Islamic worship
is meant to secure the unity of feeling in the congregation, and
its form in general creates and fosters the sense of social equality
inasmuch as it tends to tends to destroy the feeling of rank or
race-superiority in the worshippers. What tremendous spiritual revolution
will take place, practically in no time, if the proud aristocratic
Brahmin of South Indian made daily to stand shoulder to shoulder
with the untouchable!
The division of mankind into races is for purposes of identification
only. The Islamic form of association in prayer, besides its cognitive
value, is further indicative of the aspiration to realize this essential
unity of mankind as a fact in life by demolishing all barriers which
stand between man and man.
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