C:/ITOOLS/WMS/CUP-NEW/11207534/WORKINGFOLDER/MCPH/9781107133006C08.3D 136 [136–154] 18.8.2017 2:41PM chapter 8 The Power of the Spoken Word Prayer, Invocation, and Supplication in Islam Mukhtar H. Ali Do you not see how God sets forth a parable likening an excellent word to an excellent tree, its roots firm and its branches in the sky? (Qurʾān 14:24) 1 ˙ lifetime, adding to the wonder of the Qurʾān’s origin and inimitability. Should the claim to prophethood be accompanied by a miracle, then the Qurʾān would be the linguistic miracle of Muhammad. Precipitated by the The immeasurable expressive power of the Qurʾānaffords it the highest place in the religion and culture of Islam. Its words form the core of all theological, moral, legal, liturgical, and spiritual practices, as Muslims hold the Qurʾān to be the very word of God, revealed to Muhammad, the last of the Abrahamic prophets. The Qurʾān appeared at a time ˙ when the Arabic language was blossoming in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. It was regarded by the Arabs as the best example of the Arabic language, and for the believers, the perfect fusion of transcendent meaning conveyed in pristine form. Though the Arabs reveled in poetry and rhetoric, Muhammad was never known to have composed poetry during his effulgence of divine revelation, language, ˙ and its mastery became the mainstay of all other branches of learning, particularly philology, lexico- graphy, and grammar. Islam is essentially defined by the Qurʾān, but the words of the prophets and saints, recorded as narrations (hadith), prayers, and supplications have also shaped its message. While some of these prayers inform their followers of the philosophical and ethical underpinnings of the spiritual life, they also focus on a personal relationship with God and how to foster it through open, heartfelt communication. Prayer in Islam not only consists of the five canonical prayers but, as its lexical meaning suggests, includes supplication, 1 Translations of Qurʾān are by the author. 136