No Room for Doubt:

By; Abdullah Aymaz

Page number: 74

Originally published: 2011

"Existence is a blessing in its purest form" (pg. 11)

No Room for Doubt by Abdullah Aymaz is a book that aims to answer questions regarding Islam. The questions are on a range of different topics, from the mysteries of the Qur’an and the Divine Wisdom, to the reasons behind our existence. The answers are mostly brief and concise. However, some readers may not find these explanations adequate for such extensive topics.

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One of the topics that intrigued my attention in the book was in regards to prayer in Islam. In the book, the author emphasized that a believer’s worship in Islam is not limited to the literal act of prayer, whether in the form of Salah or Dua, but there are multiple ways that one can pray to Allah.

The author mentioned three main categories of prayer: prayer through ability and capability, prayer through the needs of natural disposition, and prayer through language.

The first type of prayer is related to causes. We know that there is a chain of circumstances that leads to results, and both the cause and effect are under God's power. For example, the causes of a growing plant; water, heat, light, and earth, are making their prayers for the plant to grow by God’s will. Each of these different elements performs its prayer surrounding the seed for it to grow. Although they don’t request for the growth of the plant through the literal act of prayer, with a recitation or certain movements, they still ask for their need to be granted in their own ways.

Another example can be a human’s attempt to gain financial security. To achieve such status, one has to go to school, apply for a job, and learn how to manage his/ her finances. All of these acts are counted as prayer by action or cause. If the believer has a goal that does not go against the Shariah, then all the effort that he puts into it will be counted as an act of prayer.

The second type of prayer is through the needs of natural disposition; meaning in nature and within ourselves, God grants us different wishes that are perfectly fit for our indispensable needs. In the human body, certain chemical reactions happen every day that we do not constantly have to manage. Many astonishing occurrences happen all through our body, from the way our skeleton and muscles work to our blood sugar and the way the neurons work in our brains. These qualities were granted to us by God because of our need for them. Our desperate state for them gets taken as a prayer from God, and he bestows us with the necessary factors for our survival.

The third type of prayer is through the direct act of expression. This type of prayer is the verbalizing of your request for your need or desire. Whether you are pleading for salvation due to your sins, submitting yourself to His protection, or asking for a helping hand in a struggle you are facing, prayer through our intelligence and language is an endless source of support and condolence for a believer.

Personal rating of the book: 6/10