Bowing Between obedience & Submission, Slavery & Glory (Islam & Christianity)

Praying and even rituals have existed in many religions long time. In Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, etc... And all of them consider bowing while praying is accepted or recommended or a part of their ritual. But doing the same action doesn’t mean at all that we have the same meaning behind it; maybe I care about my body shape for my health and another care for his body shape to show off and grape attention. The same with bowing in prayer.

As a Christian who specializes in Islamic religion, I can compare Islam & Christianity as a symbol for the same action (Bowing) with different intentions and meaning behind:

In Christianity:

Bowing is a way to glorify the Lord and respect Him. To praise and announce that He is the one to whom I sacrifice my life to Him. And we bow only before the Lord and no one else, as Jesus answered the devil in Mathew 4:9-10 "I will give it all to you," he said, "if you will kneel down and worship me. Get out of here, Satan," Jesus told him. "For the Scriptures say, 'You must worship the LORD your God and serve only him.'". We bow because we are God’s Children; John 1:12 “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” We bow because He loved us and we loved Him back, and with His love we are all saved in Jesus. For us, this is the Truth that sets us free, and that’s why we are free to bow or to stand or to kneel, we are free to be led in the lord, we do what we feel inside us that it is glorifying the Lord, this is the target.

 

In Islam:

Bowing in Islam is an order by God, in Surah An-Najm 53:62 “So bow yourselves before God, and serve Him!” it is a very strict order, to the extent that in this Surah when you reach this verse you should bow down immediately {They call bowing here: Prostration for Recitation}and it is repeated in the Quran several times. So, the main reason behind bowing however in Prayer or while passing by such order while reading the Quran, is obedience, even if you don’t want to bow or you don’t feel it like bowing yourself. Specifically, in Prayer, because prayer is a part of the ritual and according to the Islamic Law (Fiqh) if you don’t bow down as a part of your prayer in the way that is written in the Sunna of Mohammed (Mohammed Hadith and orders) your prayer is not counted and you should repeat it because you are God’s slave and you must obey your master, even if you are sick; and if you sickness will prevent your body from bowing down, so you should bow down with your head, or your eyes if you cannot with your head, to be cringed psychologically and physically. So, we can say as all the Muslim scholars said about bowing, that the main meaning behind bowing is humiliating and cringing yourself before the Lord because He is transcendent and you are nothing before his power. Even while standing you cannot raise your sight up to heaven because it is prohibited and considered impoliteness with God; It came in the Hadith of Mohammed narrated by al-Bukhari (750) from Anas ibn Maalik, who said: The Prophet said: “What is the matter with people who lift their gaze to heaven whilst praying?” And he spoke sternly concerning that until he said: “They should stop that, or else their eyesight will be snatched away”. Also, you are not free to bow the way you want or when you want, it has a specific time (Thanks bowing is an exception) but in prayer or while reading the Quran, it is specified and you should only apply, also in the way, there are a lot of Hadith that show specifically how you should bow down, like: “Ibn 'Abbas reported from the messenger Mohammed: “I was commanded to prostrate myself on seven bones and not to fold back clothing or hair”. Now we can understand as well why they do it in discipline at the same time in the group prayer (like Buddhism) because they are following a law and a rule as Slaves for God who is the Master with Fear and humiliation as it is narrated about Mohammed in El Tabary when He said:
“There is no posture preferred to be seen by God for his slave like bowing down and dusting his face in the dirt (on the ground)” The slave can ask his Master so He gives him as It was narrated Mohamed said: “No one prostrates to Allah but Allah will record one Hasanah (good reward) for him and will erase thereby one bad deed and raise him in status one degree. So, prostrate a great deal.”

 

At Last, we can say that: In Islam; you bow to be accepted as God’s slave and servant, and In Christianity; you bow because you are happy that you are already accepted as God’s child.

1 Bowing 2 Meanings & It is all about Meanings