📘 A Contemplative Prayer A contemplative prayer in the beginning, is an action of negation. The negation in a contemplative prayer is thinking of nothing other than God. This means that in the beginning we should try to not think of anything besides God, so that we can gradually think about God. How can we only think about God? The way is to put aside thoughts of other than God. Someone may say, “Sir, I have many problems. My thoughts about my problems in life bother me. What can I do?” The answer is, “Pray on time, and forget your problems during prayer! Tell yourself, ‘It’s impolite to think about my problems before God.’ Deal with your problems like shoes! Leave them by the door and don’t bring them in.” From the Book, “How to Pray a Good Prayer” by Ali Reza Panahian #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

📘 Should God have Greatness in one’s eyes first, or should others besides God become small for him? #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

📘 Should God have Greatness in one’s eyes first, or should others besides God become small for him? After polite prayer has crushed your arrogance in front of God, God’s Greatness and Grandeur enters into your heart and the beautiful shadow of divine Greatness dominates your heart. When God’s Greatness has entered, internal purity, love for God, and knowledge about God will come too. Everything in this world will change for a person. If you see that you have thousands of curtains in front of your eyes but with praying all the curtains are abolished, don’t be surprised. If a person gains insight, this world will not have curtains for him anymore. These things are not surprising. Do you think God should have Greatness in one’s eyes first, or others besides God should become small for him? It is true that these two are like the two sides of a scale. If one goes up, the other one will come down. But, which one should happen first? Should this world be small in a person’s eyes first? I mean should someone tell you, “May I be sacrificed for you, don’t be jealous! Don’t get upset! Don’t regret! We live in this world for a short period. I swear to God that sinning is not enjoyable. Don’t think that others are in a better situation than you.” Should we be told these things for this world to become small in our eyes and for us not to be ruined by loving this word? Or, should God become Great in one’s heart first? We can find the answer to this question in the eloquent words of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (as), when he described pious people, “God becomes Great for them and others besides Him become small in their eyes.” This means that first God becomes Great for them, then this world and others than God become small in their eyes. Therefore, the first step is that you should try to internalize God’s Greatness for yourself. But how? By praying politely. From the Book, “How to Pray a Good Prayer” by Ali Reza Panahian #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

📚 The book "How to Pray a Good Prayer" is now available in English in Iran too. Those interested may order it from: bayancenter.ir Of course this book is still available for those outside Iran from Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/panahian #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

📘How can I progress in spiritual wayfaring? #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

📘How can I progress in spiritual wayfaring? A person may ask, “How can I progress in spiritual wayfaring and become a good person?” Good people say, “Pray on time. Prayer will correct you.” They will ask, “How can prayer correct me?” The answer is, “Whenever they say the Call to Prayer, stop doing whatever you were doing and go pray. Because the time for prayer for each person is in a special situation or condition that God has designed for him before the Call to Prayer. When a person is in that situation, God calls the angels and tells them, ‘Say the Call to Prayer. If this servant of Mine gets up to go pray now, he will become a good person.’” It is enough if you just leave what you are doing at the time of the Call to Prayer and get up for prayer. This will cause your vices to go away one by one. Don’t say that the Call to Prayer is for everyone. Each person should think that the Call to Prayer is being said for him. The Call to Prayer is a private message, and it has a special meaning for each individual person. Don’t say that God has invited everyone at one time. No, God is inviting each individual person separately. From the Book, “How to Pray a Good Prayer” by Ali Reza Panahian #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

The program "Passionate Pages" on Ahlulbayt TV has completed 7 sessions on the book "How to Pray a Good Prayer." All these sessions are available in the Playlist "How to Pray a Good Prayer" in our YouTube channel. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRj4nPedID792d7BtpUcuFytyjrRragcX #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

📘 Whom should my daughter marry? A person asked Imam Hasan Mujtaba (as), “Which man should I give my daughter to in marriage?” He answered, “A person who is pious.” The man asked, “What else?” The Imam (as) replied, “That’s it. He should be pious.” The man asked again, “Is being pious enough?” The Imam (as) replied, “Yes, because your daughter is either good or bad. If she is bad, it is a pious man who will tolerate her. Others will not tolerate her. Why should they tolerate her?! And, if one’s daughter is a good person, it is a pious man who will thank her and know her value.” (Makarim al-Akhlaq, p. 204) Other men will become rude, not realize her value, and bother her. It is a pious believer who will control his will, because God has already disciplined his will enough. From the Book, “How to Pray a Good Prayer” by Ali Reza Panahian #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

📘Train children to be independent. I was with some people from the Department of Education. They asked me how they could give religious training to children. I told them, “Please, before you give them any religious training, see how you can teach them to be ‘independent.’ They should be such that they won’t be frightened as soon as someone ridicules them when they leave school. And they shouldn’t start going after debauchery because of the smiles of a few friends. They should say, ‘It’s not right for a person to try to be like everyone else.’ Teach your students to be independent. If they are independent, God will enter their hearts very easily.” From the Book, “How to Pray a Good Prayer” by Ali Reza Panahian #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

📘 Put time for worshiping God. #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

📘Put time for worshiping God. When you tell some people, “Let’s go to the gathering for reading the ‘Kumayl Supplication,’” they reply, “I don’t have time for the Kumayl Supplication right now. I’m busy.” He is telling the truth. He is really busy. But, why is he busy? Why doesn’t he have time? Because, when God dislikes a servant, He does something so that person won’t come toward Him. Even if he/she comes to God with a request, God answers his/her request quickly so that He won’t need to hear his/her voice again. The Holy Prophet of God (s) said, “The Almighty God has said, ‘I swear to My Dignity, Glory, Greatness and Grandeur that I refrain from giving something to My friend in this world, which will cause him to neglect remembering Me. Because, I want him to call Me so that I can hear his voice. I grant the wish of the unbeliever, because I dislike him. I don’t want him to call Me, and I don’t want to hear his voice.’” (Al-Tamhis, p. 33) What has happened that you don’t have time for God? Who has made you so busy that you don’t have time? God makes some people so busy that they don’t have time to talk to Him. Imam Ṣadiq (as) said, “It has been written in the Torah, ‘O son of Adam! Spend time for worshiping Me so that I may make your heart needless (of others) and not leave you with your request. It is for Me to close the door on your needs for you and fill your heart with My fear. If you don’t commit yourself to worshiping Me, I will fill your heart with the world’s entanglements. Then, I won’t close the door on your needs and I will leave you with your request.’” (Usul al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 83) On the other hand, there are some people whom God loves to hear their voice so much when they call Him that He awakens them when they are sleeping. From the Book, “How to Pray a Good Prayer” by Ali Reza Panahian #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

📘 Whoever controls himself more, will enjoy more. #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

📘Whoever controls himself more, will enjoy more. First off, prayer means a servant being polite in front of God. It doesn’t mean falling in love with God. Then, when you have been polite for a while, love will come about too. At first, prayer is supposed to disgruntle a person. That is why when you are busy doing something, they suddenly recite the Call to Prayer. You say, “I’m not in the mood now.” The reply is that, “Actually, prayer has been designed in a way to disgruntle you. In order for you to become polite, you should disgruntle yourself some. The basic idea is that prayer should disgruntle you, so surrender yourself!” Do you know what is the end of people who aren’t polite and do whatever they want? They get to a point where they don’t enjoy anything. A person who does whatever he wants, says whatever he wants, is impolite, curses, makes fun of others, shouts, etc. will gradually get to a point where he doesn’t enjoy anything in life, even if he says thousands of bad words and makes fun of thousands of people. Whoever isn’t polite, will reach to a state where his soul has become shattered. He won’t be able to enjoy from thousands of sins, drinking alcohol and howling anymore. The Commander of the Faithful, Alī (as), said, “I looked for a happy life, but I didn’t find it except in abandoning carnal desires. Therefore, abandon your carnal desires so that you may have a good and happy life.” [Jami` al-Akhbar, p. 124] This means that you should oppose your saying, “This is what I feel like doing,” so that you can enjoy your life and your enjoyment won’t be ruined. Whoever controls himself more, will enjoy more. From the Book, “How to Pray a Good Prayer” by Ali Reza Panahian This book is available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle edition. #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

📘 Should children be polite or comfortable in front of their father? #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

📘Should children be polite or comfortable in front of their father? In fact, children should be both polite and comfortable in front of their father. It is a combination of these two. Sometimes a child should be polite in front of his or her father, very strictly polite! And, sometimes a child should be comfortable with his or her father. Pay attention to this interesting combination in Imam Sajjād’s (as) words. Imam Sajjād (as) said, “O God, in front of my parents make me like a servant in front of a strict ruler. Meanwhile, make me kind to them like a mother who is kind to her baby.” Think about how a servant behaves in front of a strict ruler and how he obeys him fearfully. The Imam (as) asks to be made humble like this in front of his parents so that he will obey them fearfully. With this beautiful phrase from Imam Sajjād (as) everything has become clear. If you obey your father fearfully very much, he will say, “I love you my dear. Don’t be so strict with yourself. Be comfortable my dear!” But, if you become too intimate with your father and get out of balance in being kind to your father, naturally he will feel humiliated and say, “But I’m your father, not your son!” Therefore, the combination of these two is beautiful and not one of them by itself. You should learn to work with these combinations and bring these opposites together. For example, you should learn to smile when you are sad. Being able to combine these opposites makes a person grow. It is in the same way with regards to our behavior toward the Almighty God too. Do we have to be polite in front of God, or should we behave in any way that we want? Sometimes we can be comfortable, not think about special rituals, and say whatever we want. But sometimes we should be polite. And that is a very strict and precise politeness. The combination of these two is very beautiful. So, one should sometimes behave very politely when talking to Him. And the peak of our politeness in front of God is when we are praying. On the other hand, sometimes you can comfortably say whatever you want to God. 🔻From the Book, “How to Pray a Good Prayer” by Ali Reza Panahian 👉🏼 This book is available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle edition. #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

🌱 How can I live a happy life? 📘 Our Book Corner #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

🌱Is prayer really that important? 📘 Our Book Corner #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

🌱Who can be my mentor for the rest of my life? 📘 Our Book Corner #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

🌱 Does prayer even have an impact in my life? 📘 Our Book Corner #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

🌱What type of prayer gets me good results? 📘 Our Book Corner #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

😢 Is it bad that I’m not crying in my prayer? 📘 Our Book Corner #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

⚠️I’m struggling to fall in love with God. Is this an issue? 📘 Our Book Corner 🔴 youtu.be/ycKijaVY6gc #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

🌱 Why isn’t prayer easy?! 📘 Our Book Corner 🔴 youtu.be/eqZOo7zGZ0U #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

🌱 Why is prayer so intense?! 📘 Our Book Corner 🔴 youtu.be/-ZRSIcTg9xA #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

🌱When can I ask from Allah? 📘 Our Book Corner 🔻End of the first series. 👉🏼Watch for the upcoming series in "Our Book Corner." 🔴 youtu.be/sr30ofNApG0 #HowToPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN

🌱How can I improve my prayer? 💭 A Review on the book "How to Pray a Good Prayer" by Ali Reza Panahian 📘 Why the book had such a huge impact on a reader. 🔴 youtu.be/FzCELuOwj_w #HowtoPrayAGoodPrayer @PanahianEN