Du`a – Essence of `Ibadat Part One - Sirat-i Mustaqim (Straight Path)
Sirat-i Mustaqim (Straight Path)
Tags: Sirat-i Mustaqim, Straight Path, Guidance
The first example and the first prayer (du`a) of the wise Qur'an, in which all Muslims seek knowledge and success from God to enable them to recognise the true religion and to progress in it begins with the words: “Idhina's-sirata'l-mustaqim = Guide us on the straight path”. That is: O Allah! make us benefit from the external and internal means of knowledge and success of True Islam, so that we may advance on the straight path solving all those new problems which crop up due to the states and events of the time, or due to intellectual progress. Here, the knowledge, success and high ambition, which are sought in order to be able to see and walk on the straight path signifies that the true religion really resembles a straight path, whose length and distance with respect to spiritual progress is from azal to abad; with respect to physical progress, from the cycle of Adam till the Resurrection; with respect to every ummat (community), from one lord of shari`at to another with respect to [Islam from the advent of] the holy Prophet till the Resurrection; with respect to the personal life of an individual, from his birth to death and with respect to tasawwuf and haqiqat from birth to the self-recognition (khwud-shinasi) of every individual.
Thus, it is evident that true religion resembles a straight path, which is as difficult to see and walk on, as it is easy. It is easy in the sense that God, Whose favours have been praised from al hamdu to nasta`in, has created all the means to see and walk on the straight path through His providence and mercy, and nothing at all is lacking in this connection. It is difficult in the sense that an extremely cunning and artful enemy, namely Satan, who sometimes appears in the guise of humankind and sometimes disguises himself in the attire of jinn, waits on this path with his countless army of horsemen and infantry, to attack suddenly and to cause every individual and group that turns its face to this path and those who walk on it, to flee. For further details on this subject, see the holy Qur'an: 7:11-25; 17:61-70.
If it is accepted that Satan always exists in this world and that he will continue to divert people from the straight path until the Resurrection, then the law of Divine justice also necessitates the presence of a means to guide people on the straight path until the Resurrection. This means of guidance is the holy Prophet Muhammad and his progeny, i.e. the Imam of the time, who is the light of the Prophet and Imam `Ali, about whom God says: “(O Muhammad!) You are a warner only and for every people there is a guide” (13:7). It is obvious that warning (which is possible by the appearance of miracles and occurrence of calamities or by purely conveying the message) is the work of Prophets, whereas the hidden guidance related to the exoteric and esoteric [aspects of religion] is the Imams' work. Thus, it is evident that, as long as people exist in this world, a guide also exists and is present in it, for according to this verse, the guide and the people, i.e. the people of the time, are attached to each other. This is because of the fact that God said to the Prophet that, through the Qur'an and his own Sunnat he was only a warner to his community until the Resurrection, whereas its guidance would be carried out by the guide, namely, `Ali and the exalted Imams from his progeny.
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