Communicating with Allah: Rediscovering Prayer

Review
“I read this book on a train journey and every five minutes I looked up from the book to share … bits from [it]. There were so many gems” — gildeddunya.com

“From the one who struggles to do their daily Salah to the one who never misses them, we all still struggle to make each and every Salah meaningful and full of khushu. This book is great for both kinds of people.” — gildeddunya.com
About the Author
DR. BASSAM SAEH holds a BA in Arabic literature from Damascus University, Syria, and an MA & PhD in modern Arabic poetry from Cairo University. He has been Head of the Arabic Department in Tishreen University, Syria (1977) and has taught in a number of other universities, including: Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Oxford. He was the founder and principal of Oxford Academy for Advanced Studies (1990 – 2005). He has been presenter of several radio and TV programs and author of several books.

Muslims are required to pray five times a day, but for too many of us these are little more than physical movements devoid of any spirit or divine connection? In contrast, the Prophet characterised prayer as “the spiritual ascent (mi’raj) of the believer.” In a modern world of constant distraction, how are we to achieve the communion with the Divine that prayer is supposed to be? How can we reach the state of the Prophet who would ask his Companion Bilal to give the call to prayer with the expression: “Give us repose through it, O Bilal.”

The present short but valuable work provides us with the answer. Dr Bassam Saeh, a scholar of the Arabic language, casts a refreshing new perspective on prayer in the modern context. With practical examples, and in contemporary idiom, he charts a path for the seeker of God’s pleasure to attain a deeper sense of consciousness and devotion in prayer. The short chapters of this work are designed to be read and reread as constant reminders for us to renew our commitment to the Divine in our prayer.