(Islami Namaz) before being reproduced in Volume I of Anwar-ul-‘Uloom. The second edition included additional material that was published with Huzoor’s approval and which has been incorporated in this translation.Forms of worship have existed for millennia. Anthropologists have been able to trace the history of devotion back to at least 5000 years. The most common of these acts is prayer—a conscious invocation which seeks to create a relationship between the worshipper and God.
Modes of prayer are as wide and varied as the people who perform them; ritualistic ceremonies, dance, hymns, meditation and prescribed religious observances are some of the many historical forms prayer has taken. However, despite this diversity, prayer methods across religions and cultures have tended to follow certain fixed patterns which commonly include benedictions, litanies, doxologies and devotional acts intended to induce a state of transcendence and divine nearness.
As with all religions, prayer is fundamental to Islam. Its principle expression is the five daily salat or namaz which Muslims are expected to assiduously perform. In The Islamic Mode of Worship, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih II(ra) expounds on the methodology and philosophy of the Islamic prayer for a non-Muslim audience. The aim of this book is not only to explain its basic functions, but to show that the Islamic prayer is as universal as its core message and incorporates acts of devotion common to all cultures and faiths. In this way, it can be considered the highest form of worship as it offers all of humanity a pathway to their creator.
This is a revised version of an essay which Huzoor wrote for the Review of Religions in March 1914. It was later published as a standalone title under the name (Islami Namaz) before being reproduced in Volume I of Anwar-ul-‘Uloom. The second edition included additional material that was published with Huzoor’s approval and which has been incorporated in this translation.