Prayer and spiritual recourse

One of the factors of resistance and stability of captives during captivity.

قُلْ مَا یَعْبَأُ بِكُمْ رَبِّی لَوْلَا دُعَاؤُكُمْ...

Say: If it is not for your supplication, my Lord will not pay any attention to you. (Furqan/77)

Introduction

During captivity, prisoners were subjected to the most severe physical and mental tortures. As a result of these tortures and punishments, they would suffer from diseases, infections, and disability, and their friends would be martyred. In general, the Iraqis prevented them from performing their religious services, supplication, and rituals. At the highest level of need and necessity, their only hope and weapon against the enemy was praying and having recourse to the Ahl al-Bayt (members of the sacred family; peace be upon them). The LC Sarfaraz Abdullahi says:

The only weapon we had that effectively protected us in all situations was praying, and we resorted to praying and prayers and got so heavily immersed in our faith, that nothing seemed to sway us.

Undoubtedly, besides the people's efforts and sacrifice of warriors and resistance, captivity and struggle in very difficult and arduous conditions , and the fact that our country right after a big revolution had been abruptly attacked by enemies, there were other factors which led to the triumph of our Islamic forces based on the endurance and patience of our captives, most importantly prayers and resort to our saints and prophets, which should be thought of as a miracle of contemporary history.

The philosophy of answering the prayers of captives

وَمَن یَتَّقِ اللَّـهَ یَجْعَل لَّهُ مَخْرَجًا.

And whoever fears God, [God] will make a way out for him. (divorce/2)

...وَمَن یَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّـهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُ...

God will suffice for those who put their trust in Him... (Divorce/3)

At the frontlines, warriors communed with God by night especially on the point of a critical military operation, beseeching Him to bestow the honor of martyrdom upon them, and these supplications helped them to resist the enemy and defend their homeland in face of the harsh conditions of captivity.

Types of prayer in captivity

Prayers can be divided into two categories, individual and collective. Individual emergency prayer is divided into two categories: individual for individual and individual for group. Collective emergency prayer is also divided into two categories: group for individual and group for group. Individual prayers included: prayer prior to evening and night praying: Monajat-e-Khamse-e-Ashr, 40 day prayer Hadith-e-Kasa; after morning praying , Taghibat, Ziyarat-e-Ashura, Ziyarat Amin-o-llah, between two prayings: Salavat-e-Shabaniye;after the collective praying: Unity prayer, and prayers of Rajab and Shaban months, collective prayers including Tavassol prayer, Komeyl prayer, Ashura Ziyarat, Nodbe, Ashura night prayer, Monajat-e-Yavaran-e-Aba Abdollah-el-Hossein, joint Taghibat between the daily prayings, Joshan-e-Kabir prayer and the Dawn prayer. During the captivity of Iranian prisoners in Iraqi camps, there were many cases of prayer being answered, some of which have been extracted from the diaries of the LCs and related as follows:

The answered emergency prayer of one individual for another

Haj Mehdi Khosravi:

I had severe kidney pain and needed a kidney transplant, but they could not do it. So I resorted to Hazrat Fatima (Peace Be Upon Her Soul/PBUHS) and was healed

Hamidreza Ghoruyan:

As a result of the sudden invasion of the Iraqis, my bag, which contained my newspaper,and messages from Imam Khomeini (RA) and documents against the Baathist regime, were discovered, and the day of my trial and execution coincided with the birthday of Imam Reza (PBUHS). I resorted to Imam Reza (PBUHS)and he saved me.

The answered emergency prayer of one group for an individual On Sunday, March 18th, 1986, Qadratullah Nazem while playing a football match as a part of a tournament between the teams of different sanatoriums, fell down with such a momentum that his head hit the ground and he went into convulsions. Seeing him like that anybody would say he was spending the last moments of his life. He was taken first to the camp infirmary and then to the hospital with concussion. His friends prayed all night. After ten days Qadratullah as right as the rain entered the camp and struck more than 750 captives with awe and amazement. Nazem describes what happened to him in that situation as follows:

A corner of the hospital was on fire .The speaker of the hospital warned that if the fire were not extinguished right away, the entire hospital and patients would fall prey to it. Anybody venturing to put the fire out, would be hugely rewarded. A woman with a black chador approached me with dignity and calmness and addressed me thus: Ghodrat my lad ! You can put out this fire. Try your best. I am your mother. Go and put out the fire.’ I ran to the fire and put it out one way or another. The black-clad lady turned to me and said with a smile:’ You are free, this is your reward!’ And was lost to the sight.in a trice"

Yahya Asadzadeh:

One night, I asked the wounded brothers to pray for the healing of my eyes. In the end, with their pure hearts, they prayed until morning and my eyes were healed

Problems the captives faced when they tried to hold prayer and spiritual resort ceremonies

Prayer books were not available and requests for prayer books were not accepted. Notebooks were made from cigarette wrapping paper, cigarette packets, bags, and cement wrapping paper, and the prayers that the prisoners had memorized were written on them, and finally a selection of Komeil prayer, Tavassol prayer, and Ziyarat Ashura was prepared, and each sanatorium had a copy of it.

The Iraqis took all the books of prayer and the Qur'an with them, and did not return the Mafatih and Nahjolbalaghe, under the pretext that the prisoners prayed at night and the sound would reach everywhere. The captives had detached pages from those books and then little by little had bound them together, so that finally they were in possession of the above-mentioned books. Collective praying, political speeches, political discussions, theatrical performances, singing, , mourning, martial arts, and ordering others to do the due or conventional thing as well as prohibiting them from doing the unorthodox or improper thing(= Amr-e-be-Maruf & Nahy-e-az-Monkar) all boded ill for the Iraqis and were bound to make them jumpy.

It was forbidden to say prayers in the camps, but the situation was controlled with the help of two sanatorium guards and triangular mirrors. As soon as the sentry announced that it was cloudy or at the crack of dawn, the captives who were saying prayers, would stop and take a normal posture and once it was ascertained the Iraqi sentry had passed, they would carry on with their prayers.

The rituals and praying ceremonies of Iranian captives and how Iraqis feared them

The Iraqis usually strictly prevented rituals that would strengthen the morale of the captives. The captives convened with God with great interest and away from all worldly affairs and did not pay attention to the warnings of the Iraqi guards. Even the Iraqis had noticed the importance of praying and its constructive effects on the captives, and it had become clear to them that these prayers and spiritual resort helped the captives keep their chins up and fortify their solidarity.

At noon, no sound could be heard in the entire Mosul 2 camp (sanatorium number 13) as everyone was busy convening with God, and that they did with the enemy soldiers standing by. Although the Iraqis had banned collective praying, this form of praying which was done simultaneously had the same effect as collective praying. The Iraqis had forbidden the presence of more than ten people in the sanatorium, and this issue was to our advantage at least about noon, to attract the enemy's attention by means of this type of praying and supplication, and to respond duly to their propaganda . After each praying while the captives were applying their worry-beads enumerating the virtues of Hazrat Zahra, the Iraqi soldiers looked at them awe-struck and sometimes asked about what the captives said in their prayers or why they moved their worry-beads in that manner between their fingers, or when they noticed how the captives prolonged their praying, they exclaimed: ”What long prayings you have to do several times a day!”

The results of praying and spiritual resort

1. Reviving the spirit of hope Totally disappointed, the supplicant connects himself with the power of The Infinite, , and the light of hope shines in his heart. At the nadir of despair, every day the hope for freedom and release from the shackles and life of hardship and torture to death diminished. The only factor that could help the prisoners in those difficult and perilous conditions was strengthening their spirit and faith. In order to be safe from the all-round cultural attack of the enemy, which was carried out through the press, radio and television, the prisoners strengthened their spirit by praying and reciting verses of the Qur'an,and parts of Nahj al-Balagha and Mafatih, and by saying Prayers of supplication on Tuesday nights and Komeil prayer on Friday nights, Ashura Ziyarat and Nodbeh prayer on Fridays would polish their hearts and they would take refuge in prayers and the Quran when they were overwhelmed with grief.

2.Calling for purity, goodness and piety

During the captivity, prayers and religious services on the whole got the captives to include purity, good work and avoidance of sins atop their daily agenda.

3. The important factor of education

The more important the subject of prayer is for a person and the greater the hope and need for an answer, the greater the effort to provide the mentioned conditions and the more noticeable the deep effect of prayer on the moral education of people will be; For this reason, during captivity, prayer had a positive effect on others.

4. Strengthening the sense of altruism

Prayers strengthens the sense of altruism and empathy for the sufferings and problems of others. For this reason, we should first pray for others and then for ourselves. During the captivity, vivid examples of this empathy for others and self-sacrifice were seen.

5. Grappling with inner anxieties

Praying and convening with God and trusting Him as the Almighty Creator of the universe imparts a sense of assurance to man and this results in the beautiful peace and tranquility of mind. Conducting religious services and saying prayers soothed the souls of the captives and drove their despair and grief away.. In the rooms where there were more prayers and religious ceremonies, there was more spiritual and mental health.

The effect of the religious services and supplications of captives on the morale of Iraqi soldiers

The humility of the captives while they were praying and their agonizing need of compassion rent the hearts of every spectator and listener and made a deep impression. The authorities in charge of prisoners' affairs did not bring religious people into the camp, and whenever they found out that a soldier or a ranking servant had been influenced by Iranian prisoners, they took him out of the camp or directly to the front line. Usually, the people in the camp were Baathists and the families of those killed or disabled in war, so that they hated the Iranians, and they refused to bring reasonable and truthful soldiers and officers into the camp. Iraqi guards and soldiers were afraid to conduct religious services and , the commander and the person in charge of political justification did not like religious people either. One day I asked an Iraqi soldier ‘How come you don't pray? He said: Praying in the barracks can endanger my position. But when I go on leave, I perform two months of prayer at home. One of these supplicants related: One day I was praying in the middle of the garden, and Haj Agha Seyyed Ali Akbar Abu Toraby Fard was also shedding tears. Suddenly, an Iraqi soldier named Saleh came over us. Seyed raised his head. And when he saw Sayyid's tearful eyes, he said in Arabic: "You have had a good meeting." Seyyed looked at him and said, "Sit with us and let`s cry together." The soldier said nothing and left. Although Saleh was a secretive soldier and was always looking for an opportunity as to ingratiate himself with his Iraqi superiors, to all appearances, Seyyed`s special state of mind had had a profound impact on him

See also

• Prayer
• Fasting and how to fast

To read more

Keep it up, Ali. Payam Azadegan Cultural Institute.

Khoshzad, Akbar (1391). joyful captivity Tehran: Al Ahmad.

Rasouli, Bahman (1389). From dream to reality. Tehran: Fakhr al-Islam.

Neiri, Hossein (2006).The little big man Tehran: Surah Mehr. Zahra Yazdinejad