Friday sermon: Be reverent in prayer

Humility in prayer is a sign of faith leading to pardon and forgiveness, imams will tell Muslim worshippers during Friday's sermon.

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Worshippers will be reminded tomorrow of the importance of reverence in prayer.

In the Friday sermon, Muslims will be told of the need to be humble and focus the body and mind when standing in front of Allah in prayer.

"The highest form of peace and quietude is during prayer and is deemed a reason for success," imams will say.

Humility in prayer "is a sign of faith leading to pardon and forgiveness".

"The Prophet said, 'When the time for a prescribed prayer comes, any Muslim who performs ablution well and offers his prayer with humility and bowing, it will be an expiation for his past sins, so long as he has not committed a major sin; and this applies to for all times'," they will say.

Humility spreads out from the heart, and reaches out to all other body parts, "guiding them to comply with Allah's commandments and admonitions".

Body movements need to also be controlled. During prayer, a worshipper should not turn his head.

"Worshippers [need to be] aware that he is in front of Allah and should not turn his face whether to the right or to the left," the sermon says.

Worshippers also need to stay focused: "Losing concentration shall open the door for thinking about matters of life."

Finally, worshippers will be told to submit their soul to Allah. This way both the body and soul unite and submit to Allah in utmost humility, hence the "purpose of salat [daily prayers] is achieved".

And thus, worshippers will stay clear of sources of evil or misdeeds, helping the community to emerge secure and tranquil, reaching "the ultimate goal of prayer".

After the sermon, imams will tell those in the mosque to be cautious when withdrawing money from an ATM machine, keeping all money out of sight.

As part of an Abu Dhabi Police awareness campaign, they will advise the elderly and women not to carry large sums of money or walk around with it alone.