Salat  

Salat is a special worship of those who have submitted to God alone. It is unique act of communication between servant and God as opposed to the spontaneous petitioning which is called 'dua'.

God has, in many places in the Quran, commanded us to observe the salat prayers: "Those who strictly adhere to the Book and observe the salat, we never neglect to recompense the righteous." Surah 7:170.

Not only has God instructed us to perform a specific prayer, he has also given us the reasons and purpose of salat and what to say: "You shall recite what is revealed to you of the Book and observe the salat. For salat protects from falling in sin and evil. And the remembrance of God is even greater. God is fully aware of everything you do." Surah 29:45.

Therefore we have to adhere to the Book and observe the salat. It follows that those who do not adhere to the Book and observe the salat will not be recompensed.

According to some scholars like Prof. Fazlur Rahman of University of Chicago, there is no evidence anywhere in the "hadith" which describes the times for prayer, the number of prayers or the rituals of prayer.

Other people however say that salat must be performed five times each day at certain times which are named sub'h, Zoh'r, as'r, maghrib and isha'. However, no specific numbers for salat are mentioned anywhere in the Quran. Instead the Quran points out the periods of time over which salat should be observed.

"..Surely salat is enjoined upon the believers at stated periods" Surah 4:103.

"You shall observe the salat at BOTH ENDS OF THE DAY and during PARTS OF THE NIGHT. The righteous works nullify the evil works. This is a message for those who take heed." Surah 11:l14.

Another verse says: "You shall observe the salat from the SINKING OF THE SUN TILL THE DARKNESS OF THE NIGHT. And read at sunrise ("fajri") surely reading at sunrise ("fajri") is witnessed."-Surah 17:78.

Hence the periods in a day for salat have been stated by God and His Messenger in the Book. This message is reiterated in the verse 4.103 as shown above.

No other periods have been mentioned for salat yet various periods of the day and night are specified. Despite clearly mentioning so many periods of the day, the Quran connects the word salat together with a specific periods of the day only twice as with salat fajri (morning) and salat isha (night). (Sura 24.58).

As salat is a special communication it should be in a language we can understand. In the Quran God tells us that even the birds in the sky observe the salat: "Do you not see that God is glorified by everyone in the heavens and the earth? Even the birds in their flight. Each in his own way practises his salat and glorification. God is fully aware of everything you do." Surah 24:41.

The birds observe their salat in their own speech, as do all the creatures in the animal's world. Similarly the speech of some ants is also recorded in the Quran (Surah 27:18). Again the ants converse in their own way and God Almighty understands all of us no matter which language we speak.

The speeches of others, for example Adam, Iblis, Pharaoh, Abraham and Moses are also recorded in the Quran. These were not Arabs and yet what they said is recorded in Arabic in the Quran.

In the Quran God does not tell us to observe our salat in the Arabic language. In fact teaching of the Quran is exactly the opposite. "O you who believe, do not perform the salat while you are intoxicated, that you may know what you are saying..." Surah 4:43. This verse tells us not to observe salat when intoxicated ("sukara"). Why? Because under such influence no one can understand anything -even if their own mother tongue is Arabic. More importantly they will not know what they are saying in their salat. They must become sober again before resuming salat so that they will understand what they are saying in their salat.

But today millions of non-Arab "Muslims" all over the world perform their prayers in Arabic- not understanding a word of what they are saying. Hence they may recite verses from the Quran blindly without knowing its meaning, sometimes reciting inappropriate verses. For example they may be telling God about leading people astray:

"He said, Lord since you have willed that I go astray I will surely entice them on earth. I will lead them all astray." Surah 15:39. This was Iblis' promise to God - to lead people astray.

Worse still, as in the following example, they could be telling God to worship them! "I am the one God, there is not God except Me. You shall worship Me and observe the salat prayers to commemorate Me." Surah 20:14.

There is mention of "salatil wusta." In Surah 2:238 "You shall observe the salat, especially salatil wusta and steadfastly maintain your obedience to God". In a lexicon or Arabic dictionaries the word "wusta" cannot be associated with any particular period of the day. The word "wusta" and its derivatives appear elsewhere in the Quran where it carries the meaning of moderate or middle.

The people who believe in five prayers a day differ as to what is wusta. Some say it is the as'r prayer. Others say it the zoh'r, fajri etc. The ulema who believe in three prayers a day hold the view that wusta is at the time of maghrib, which is the latter part of the day. Having said this God does not prevent people from praying as may times, as they want in a day and night. God hears and knows everything twenty four hour a day ("samiul aleem").

Apart from mentioning some movements, the Quran does not say anything about set ritualistic motions of salat, traditionalists say that the salat has certain number of rakaats: units of standing, bowing and prostrating actions. For example two rakaats for salat fajr, four rakaats for zoh'r, as'r and isha' and three for maghrib. This is without evidence from the Quran or the "hadith".

To overcome this predicament a hadith, which narrates that, the prophet is quoted: "Pray as how you see me pray." This is obviously an ambiguous statement as he had prayed different ways even according to the most authentic hadith.

The Quran does mention standing for salat (11:1114), bowing (2:43) and prostrating (7.206) without mentioning the units action for each prayer.
God commands the believers to be clean before praying: "O you who believe, when you stand for the salat, you shall wash your faces, your arms to the elbows, wipe your heads, and wash your feet to the ankles..." Surah 5:6.

This is all that is required for an ablution yet these instructions by God have been superseded by other rules making it an extended ritual. It is said that the commandment in Surah 5:6 quoted above is the general guideline only. The new ritual includes actions called the shurut, arqan and manasik of the ablution. Included in this is the washing of the hands up to the wrists first, rinsing the mouth, the nose and ears also. If you do not do this then the salat is believed to be nullified. This, yet again, is without basis.

When praying, we should not associate anything or anyone at all with God. However this is a covenant that is all too frequently broken by many in all their prayers and rituals. Without mentioning the name of the Prophet their prayer and their worship of their god is nullified, so they say. In their "shahadah" and in their call to prayer they believe that they must mention the name of the Prophet beside God.

In Sura Jinn verse 72.18 "The mosques belong to God, do not call upon anything else besides God." Because of this command from God we cannot mention any other name in our prayers. Also in the same verse it says: "...When the servant of God advocated the worship of God alone, they all opposed him." Surah 72:18-19.

When some people are told to call upon God alone they disagree and become angry. Only when other names are mentioned together with God's name in their prayer then they become happy: "When God Alone is mentioned the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter shrink with aversion, but when others a r e mentioned besides Him then they rejoice" Surah 39:45.

God has said many times that he has given all the examples in his detailed book. The things he left out were deliberate and we should not ask about them as they may cause us hardship. (Sura 5.101).

If he wanted to give us specific instruction he could have done so. For example in sura 24.28 he has said that we must ask for permission before entering any home. Other such examples are available in abundant.

God also tells how to say our salat: "Do not be to loud when you say your salat prayers, no too low; but use a moderate tone" 17. 110 and also what we should say, " Praise God; who has never taken a son for Himself, no does He need a partner in his domain, no does He need an ally out of weakness".

Anything we do, and when things are not specified we must consider them in the light of the Quran. "Are you informing God about your religion, when God knows everything in the heavens and the earth? God is fully aware of all things." Surah 49:'16.