The workshop, which was conducted via social media due to the pandemic, took place in two sessions. The first session of the workshop was held at 5 p.m. and the second at 9 p.m.
The sessions were broadcast live on Rehber TV and the YouTube channel of the Quranic Generation platform.
The first session of the program, moderated by Mehmet Emin Sütçü, began with the opening and greeting speech of Mullah Beşir Şimşek, the head of of the Quranic Generation Platform.
After Şimşek’s speech, the writer Abdullah Yıldız also gave a short greeting speech.
After the opening and greeting speeches, the workshop continued with the recitation of the Qur'an by Hafiz Bedirhan Akgul, which was followed by a slide presentation about the importance and beauty of prayer.
The first session of the workshop, which was broadcast live on the YouTube channels of the guide TV and the Koran generation platform, was attended by
Prof. Dr. Faruk Beşer, the founder of the Futuvvet Foundation Emir Edip Eş and writer Özkan Yaman took part in the first session of the workshop.
The second session, moderated by Salih Güzel, began with the opening and greeting speech of the writer Mehmed Göktaş at 9 p.m.
Vice President of Religious Affairs Dr. Burhan işleyen, writer Ahmet Bulut and writer Aydın Dağlı took part in the second session.
At the end of the program, which took place over social media in two sessions, Mehmet Diri read the final declaration of the workshop.
The full text of the final declaration of the workshop is as follows:
The Final Declaration of the Prayer (Salah) Workshop -2020
This is the final declaration of the “Life Is Beautiful with Prayer” workshop, which was organized on social media this year due to the coronavirus epidemic.
This declaration was organized in two sessions and signed with the endorsement of all participants in the workshop. On this occasion it has been made available to Islamic World as well as all humanity.
1. Prayer (Salah) makes a man feel that he is a servant of Allah and that he is in the presence of Allah and under His watch at every moment. This gives a consciousness and a spiritual force to ward off all kinds of evil. Standing before Allah five times a day by obeying a commandment from Him is a means of establishing a perfect order and thus sustaining an organized life in both individual and social terms.
2.Prayer with the congregation strengthens the spirit of cohabitation and solidarity. Standing side by side in the same position, regardless of someone’s identity and position, and bowing and prostrating in the presence of the Supreme Creator with the same sense of humility, is the practice of the fact that superiority is only in piety. And this great feeling is the cure for the disease of arrogance.
3. “They said: ‘O Shu'ayb, does your prayer command you that we should leave what our fathers worship or not do with our wealth what we please? (Surah Hud, 87)
The most important difference that separates a believer from an unbeliever is prayer. The fact that a society which was invited to abandon prevalent and heretical beliefs sees the act of prayer as the reason of this invitation, proves that prayer is an act of Tawhid (the oneness of Allah).
Prayer should be at the center of an inviter's life. The inviter should be remembered with his prayer first when his name is mentioned. So that when he invites people to good, he should become part of the invitation, even so that it can be understood that this invitation is a requirement and a consequence of his prayers.
4. “And enjoin prayer upon your family (and people) and be steadfast therein. We ask you not for provision; We provide for you, and the (best) outcome is for (those of) righteousness.” (Surah Taha, 132)
It is our greatest duty as parents to raise our children as the inheritors of our prayer rug.
To perform the prayer and to instruct and teach our family the prayer, to obey the command of Allah by performing the prayer together with the adhan (the Islamic call to prayer) gives individuals the consciousness of obedience. Therefore, it strengthens the foundation of the family by developing a sense of obedience to the parents, which is one of the factors that sustains the family.
If the people become good, the family becomes good; if the family becomes good, the society becomes good; if the society becomes good, the state becomes good. The way to attain this goodness is by reading and understanding the book which has been revealed to us, and by performing the prayer properly.
However, the prayer, which protects people from indecency, today serves as a solid shield for the elimination of all the obscenities intended to destroy the family and for the protection of the family.
5. “Certainly will the believers have succeeded: They who are during their prayer humbly submissive.” (Surah Al Mü’minun, 1-2)
“Allah does not accept the prayer until the person's heart is ready to pray with his body.” (Hadith)
The Prayer is a means of salvation. The prayer that will be a means of salvation is the prayer that is performed in khushu' (awe). The believer, who performs his prayer in awe, understands his incapacity in the face of eternal glory. This Believer will have the comfort and peace of finding answers to all his needs in the presence of “es-Samed”, who everything is in need of Him and He is not in need of anything.
6. The Prayer is an activity that consists of only some movements. The prayer (Salah) is the greatest prayer, the greatest sign of servitude, the sum of all the prayers and the mosque is a luminous index. The traditionalization of the Prayer, its abstraction from meaning and its reduction into shape, damages the place of prayer in the hearts.
The traditionalization of prayer, isolating it from its meaning, and reducing it to a formal action, hurts the place of prayer in the hearts. It should be fought with determination and sincerity against subversive acts that aim for this goal, with multiple efforts and firm steps to be taken across the Islamic World.
7. At the center of the life of the messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) was the prayer and the Masjid in the center of his city. His daily schedule was accordance with the prayer times. We must bring this example to the present day for the beautiful life we miss. We should plan our neighborhood and city plans according to this Nawabi method (the method of Prophet Muhammed).
8. For a human being who is an intelligent being, to nurture his soul is essential. There is no other strong method to nurturing the soul that can educate a person as much as taking a break from everything and turning to Allah at a time when sometimes in the deepest part of his sleep, sometimes at a time when his worldly affairs are most intense, and continuing this without getting tired five times a day.
9. Allah has explained the purpose of the creation of human being in the Holy Qur’an by saying: “And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” (Surah Az-Zariyat 56)
The most important of these servitude and worship is the prayer, which has been made obligatory upon Muslims during Mi'raj (the Ascension of the Prophet Muhammad into heaven) and the Prophet described it as “the light of my eye”. He who values his prayer has valued his religion.
Our goal is to take this command of our Lord to the center of our lives: “Say, ‘Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds.’” (Surah Enam, 162)
Our aim is to fulfill the following commandments of our Lord: “And who is better in speech than one who invites to Allah and does righteousness and says, ‘Indeed, I am of the Muslims.’ (Surah Fussilat, 33)
Our prayer is the prayer (dua) that our Lord taught us from the mouth of Abraham: “My Lord! make me keep up prayer and from my offspring (too), O our Lord, and accept my prayer.” (Surah Ibrahim, 40)
10. On this occasion, due to the importance of the prayer (salah) that regulates the life of the world and the hereafter, we want to draw the attention of all believers once again to the inseparability of Life - Prayer with the motto “Life Is Beautiful with Prayer”, and in summary, we say, “Life Is Beautiful with Prayer and Life is Life with Prayer.”
30 AUGUST 2020
QURANIC GENERATION PLATFORM
“THE LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL WITH PRAYER” WORKSHOP
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (ILKHA)
For the Arabic version of the Declaration please click here
For the Persian version of the Declaration please click here
For the Turkish version of the Declaration please click here
For the Kurdish version of the Declaration please click here
For the Zazaki version of the Declaration please click here
For the Sorani version of the Declaration please click here