only to be guided on the right path. The actual prayer is contained in the words ihdi-naṣ-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm, i.e., guide us on the right path, or, as shown with reference to the meaning of hidāyah, lead on to the goal by keeping us on the right path. Prayer is thus only the means of leading a man onwards and discovering the path by walking whereon he may attain the goal. It is a search for means to attain to a goal and a yearning to walk on a certain path. In face of this clear teaching, it is a mistake to suppose that prayer for any object negatives the adoption of human means to gain it. Elsewhere the acceptance of prayer is spoken of as rewarding a man for the hard work he has done: “So their Lord accepted their prayer, (saying), I will not suffer the work of any worker among you to be lost, whether male or female, the one of you being from the other” (3:195).
The rule has been laid down in the Holy Qur’ān in several places that no end can be gained without making a hard struggle for it: “We have certainly created man to face difficulties” (90:4); “And that man can have nothing but what he strives for; and that his striving will soon be seen. Then he will be rewarded for it with the fullest reward” (53:39-41); “Say: O my people! work in your place. Surely I am a worker” (39:39). The question may however be asked, what is the need for prayer if man must work for an end and avail himself of the means to gain it? Here, again, is a misconception as to the capabilities of man. It often happens that, notwithstanding the hardest struggle, a man is unable to gain an end, and finds himself quite helpless. In such a case prayer is a help, a source of strength, to the worker. He does not lose heart nor does he despair, because he believes that, though the means at his disposal have failed, though all around there are difficulties and darkness, though his own strength is failing, yet there is a Higher Power with Whom nothing is impossible, Who can still bring a ray of light to dispel the darkness and Who remains a perpetual source of strength for him in his helplessness, and that by praying to Him he can still achieve what seems otherwise quite unattainable. That is the function of prayer, and it is thus one of the means to gain an end when all other means have failed, and a source of strength to man at all times, but especially in moments of utter weakness and despair.