A065
Surah: 029 - Ayah: 065
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29:65
In order to adopt the real spirit of the prayer which is in the Qur’an, it is necessary to act strictly and regularly upon all those conditions which are mentioned in connection with the great Qur'anic subject of “Prayer”, such as, faith, piety, benevolence, sincerity, hope and fear, humility, having recourse to God in difficulties (ruju`), etc. Without fulfilling these conditions, neither can the door of acceptance of prayer open, nor can the spirit of the Qur’an be acted upon. Thus the holy Qur’an has not only commanded to act upon these conditions, but has also mentioned many effective and impressive practical examples, such as: “And when they embark on the ships they pray to God, making their faith pure for Him alone, but when He brings them safe to land, behold! they ascribe partners (unto Him)” (29:65). In addition to this, see also verses (10:22; 31:32), so that from the collective meanings of these verses, it will be clear that although the sincerity, humility, having recourse to God, etc. of these people on the ship when encountering fear and danger is not permanent, but transient, how wonderful it is that the importance of the fear of God and the acceptance of prayer can be estimated from it! This hidden humility of the heart is called tazarru`-i khufyah (6:63), which implies weeping and crying of the heart and this meaning is so comprehensive that it contains and comprises all the conditions of acceptance of remembrance and prayer. See the subject of tazarru` (humbling oneself, imploring) in these seven noble verses: 6:42-43, 63; 7:55, 94, 205; 23:76.
(11) Ikhlas (Purity, Sincerity):
In the fourth verse of the Fatihah, first is mentioned ikhlas or sincerity, that is, to purify one’s belief regarding the unity of God from all things other than Him. Ikhlas literally means to purify something from adulteration and mixture. Therefore, everything which can possibly be adulterated and alloyed, but is found pure in true sense is called khalis (pure), such as gold, silver etc. Nonetheless, in religious terms ikhlas means that state of heart in which its attention is towards God alone and in this state, there is not the slightest mixture of other imaginations and thoughts. Regarding this state of the heart, an example from the wise Qur’an is presented here, which is: “And when they mount upon the ships they pray to Allah, making their faith pure for Him only, but when He brings them safe to land, behold they ascribe partners (unto Him)” (29:65).
The purport or meaning of this verse depends purely on wisdom. That is, most of the believers in God do not apparently start to pray to Him purifying their faith for Him when they embark on a ship, nor do they unusually ascribe partners to Him instantly upon coming ashore. However, it is true that due to the fear in their heart when embarking on a ship they become attentive to God, in such a way that no worldly thing can divert their attention from Him, but after landing, this state of the heart, which according to God is called ikhlas or ‘pure faith’, vanishes and worldly imaginations and thoughts start to enter their hearts. This state of the heart, according to God, is called shirk or ‘ascribing partners to God’. Thus, ikhlas is the name of that state of heart in which attention is directed towards God alone, just as the people of a ship in a dangerous sea are attentive to God alone.
This verse has been referred 4 times.