The Disciplines of the Prayer

It is said in a Hadith that the prayers are the most important of a person's good deeds. If the prayers are accepted, then all the other good deeds of a person will be accepted, and if they are rejected, then likewise all the other good deeds of a person will be rejected as well. The last is a particularly jarring thought - imagine all the good deeds going to waste just because they prayers were rejected. Of course, if one's prayers were not good enough to be accepted in the first place, then one has to wonder why one bothered with all the ancillary stuff, knowing the primary importance of prayers in the first place.

Anyway, those are just the opening thoughts. I finally have a copy of the book Adabus Salat by Imam Khomeini. I know the book is available to read online, but for some reason I just can't read books staring a computer screen just like I would be able to for articles and the like. So I ordered it, and it finally arrived today. Considering that I ordered it at the end of January, that would put the service times of the providers to approximately 4 months. So these guys are definitely not amazon - although to be fair, they did make me aware that they were having supplier issues, and so that my order would be delayed. Anyway - I'm not complaining - I have waited ages, but even if i had to wait a few months more, it would not matter. The book is worth it, and then some.

I've read the opening chapters, and decided that from now on, till I am done (and I might NEVER be done), this is the only book that I read. Everything else is going, either back to the bookshelf, or the library. Every other line, it seems, contains some insight, some new way of thinking and approaching your prayers, and my only question is why I haven't read the book before. And with the three holy months fast approaching, there is probably no better time than now to perfect praying.

I'm really excited about this - more than I have been in a long time.