Common problems associated with the "salat" issue
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peace all,
Since I have been a member for a while, I have seen "salat" discussed many many times. From my experience of seeing this, here are some observations
Since this is an open public forum, many new members join on a regular basis. When this happens, "salat" is often brought up again and discussed. This is perfectly normal.
However, there is one significant point that must be kept in mind. The issue of "salat" has been discussed on this forum in significant detail, with almost all angles being covered and discussed thoroughly. It is strongly recommended that members use the search function or browse and read the topics posted under the "salat" category.The best thing anyone can do is actually read what The Quran says about the subject. These days, it is now possible to conduct high quality study on pretty much any topic in The Quran, if you use the tools available www.studyquran.org
For all occurrences of "sujud", "salat" etc, see www.studyquran.co.uk/PRLonline.htmThe Quran contains tons of information on "salat". I once made a fairly comprehensive list here
http//www.mypercept.co.uk/articles/quran_on_salat.htm
I could add more to it now, but still, it's fairly useful.And last but no means least, try not to bring preconceptions on what you think "salat" is before you even begin studying as this will definitely cloud your judgement. Read, reflect, let The Quran tell you what it is, not you tell it.
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Peace I also think that one of the issues is that as people move on with their understanding of Islam that their ideas change and this also breeds discussion.
My thinking has gone salat = ritual 'prayer' (when I was Sunni) --> not sure --> communion with God done through Quran study at timed intervals (dawn, sunset, night) (perhaps over 7 years) .
I also think that some pay too much attention to the articles on the site without finding things out for themselves.
Roshan
NB, one of the first things I realized upon accepting the Quran was that the Sunni method of salat had no Quranic basis. I still held onto it though as I was in denial about how different Islam is to the sectarian sects.
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Salaam Wakas
I have looked at many of the occurrences of Salat, Ruku and Sujud, and I still can not understand how Salat isn't a ritual prayer. In the Quran it says maintain the Salat at certain points in the day which makes it out to be a ritual of sorts and the fact that the Quran mentions Ruku and Sujud cements in my mind that Salat is a ritual prayer.
"Remember We made the House a place of assembly for men and a place of safety; and take ye the station of Abraham as a place of prayer; and We covenanted with Abraham and Isma'il, that they should sanctify My House for those who compass it round, or use it as a retreat, or bow, or prostrate themselves (therein in prayer)."
If Salat is a ritual prayer, my question is how does one perform it? The Quran tells us to bow, prostrate and read from the Quran, but what if I just bow once, prostrate one and say Bismillah; would that be sufficient?
Muhammed is shown in Sahiih hadiths as praying in a certain way that doesn't contradict the Quran and he ordered his followers to pray the same. He was a prophet of God so surely he isn't to be ignored as the Quran says "obey the Messenger".
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peace Roshan,
I agree with you that quite often, it is oneself that needs to change before the truth can be determined. When we are not "for" or "against" something, the truth becomes a lot clearer.
When I first thoroughly studied "salat" from AQ I was confident it would mean "prayer" but perhaps a different form. The more I studied it, the weaker this view became until it finally had to be rejected as it didn't stand up to the evidence. This change took me about 3 years to fully realise.peace bubbles,
I have looked at many of the occurrences of Salat, Ruku and Sujud, and I still can not understand how Salat isn't a ritual prayer.
A simple task have you looked at the classical Arabic meanings of "salat" and considered them in place of "prayer" to see how it looks? Similarly with "ruku" & "sujud".
2125 does not indicate one answer over another. What I mean by this is you could slot in many classical Arabic meanings into that verse and it still fits. Better evidence is where you get an occurrence where only a few possibilities can fit and it excludes some. There are many occurrences like this for "salat", "sujud" etc.
If Salat is a ritual prayer, my question is how does one perform it? The Quran tells us to bow, prostrate and read from the Quran, but what if I just bow once, prostrate one and say Bismillah; would that be sufficient?
There are some articles online discussing extraction of a "prayer" method from AQ. That doesn't mean I agree with them, I'm just saying there is some.
Muhammed is shown in Sahiih hadiths as praying in a certain way that doesn't contradict the Quran and he ordered his followers to pray the same. He was a prophet of God so surely he isn't to be ignored as the Quran says "obey the Messenger".
This has been discussed in perhaps hundreds of pages in this forum. To me, the necessity of traditional ahadith argument has been thoroughly refuted.
In case you are unaware of my view on slw, you can read it here
http//www.mypercept.co.uk/articles/slw.htm -
peace bubbles,
A simple task have you looked at the classical Arabic meanings of "salat" and considered them in place of "prayer" to see how it looks? Similarly with "ruku" & "sujud".
2125 does not indicate one answer over another. What I mean by this is you could slot in many classical Arabic meanings into that verse and it still fits. Better evidence is where you get an occurrence where only a few possibilities can fit and it excludes some. There are many occurrences like this for "salat", "sujud" etc.
There are some articles online discussing extraction of a "prayer" method from AQ. That doesn't mean I agree with them, I'm just saying there is some.
This has been discussed in perhaps hundreds of pages in this forum. To me, the necessity of traditional ahadith argument has been thoroughly refuted.
In case you are unaware of my view on slw, you can read it here
http//www.mypercept.co.uk/articles/slw.htmThe translations given in your article are for the root of Salat and not Salat itself. Salat means and has always meant prayer since the Quran was revealed. The Quran was revealed in a language that the Arabs could understand and they understood Salat to mean prayer, therefore that is the correct meaning.
I would like to know why you trust a dictionary? Where did the meanings of the root of Salat come from and how do you know that the sources used to get the meanings weren't fabricated?
For an Arabic-English dictionary have a look at this http//tabs-online.com/TABS/Lane/
The person that made this dictionary is the same one that you used to get the meanings of the root of Salat and if you have a look at this dictionary, E.W. Lane makes it very clear that Salat means prayer. -
The translations given in your article are for the root of Salat and not Salat itself.
I have no idea what you are referring to. I can only assume you do understand what was referenced. If you do not understand what was referenced it will be difficult to make a judgement, let alone conduct quality study. I suggest you re-review your understanding of what a root is and what derivatives of a root are, then re-review the occurrences. If you want the specific references for "salat" and neglect the rest of the root derivatives, they are clearly given in the article, which I will quote below
salat (ة n. f. sing. - 23, 243, 245, 283, 2110, 2153, 2177, 2238, 2277, 443, 477, 4101, 4102, 4103, 4103, 4103, 4142, 4162, 56, 512, 555, 558, 591, 5106, 672, 692, 6162, 7170, 83, 835, 95, 911, 918, 954, 971, 9103, 1087, 1187, 11114, 1322, 1431, 1437, 1440, 1778, 17110, 1931, 1955, 1959, 2014, 20132, 2173, 2235, 2241, 2278, 232, 2437, 2441, 2456, 2458, 2458, 273, 2945, 2945, 3031, 314, 3117, 3333, 3518, 3529, 4238, 5813, 629, 6210, 7023, 7034, 7320, 985, 1075
The Quran was revealed in a language that the Arabs could understand and they understood Salat to mean prayer, therefore that is the correct meaning.
Unevidenced opinion.
I would like to know why you trust a dictionary?
I dont. I urge everyone to look at all possible meanings, including "prayer". I run these meanings through the best filter The Quran. This is why I referenced every occurrence of the slw root and word "salat" for the reader.
Where did the meanings of the root of Salat come from and how do you know that the sources used to get the meanings weren't fabricated?
Apparently from pre-Islamic poetry and early Classical Arabic writings. They may well have been fabricated, hence running the meanings through the best filter The Quran. This is why I referenced every occurrence of the slw root and word "salat" for the reader.
It is ironic you imply dictionaries cant be trusted or they may have been fabricated because I dont see how you can support your earlier comment (The Quran was revealed in a language that the Arabs could understand and they understood Salat to mean prayer, therefore that is the correct meaning.)without referring to such sources.
Lane gives a possible meaning of "prayer". I would even say he seems to weight it in favour of "prayer" but it is irrelevant what any dictionary says. As I said, run it through the best filter The Quran. The dictionaries are primarily used to get the options, not the answer.
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Lane gives a possible meaning of "prayer". I would even say he seems to weight it in favour of "prayer" but it is irrelevant what any dictionary says. As I said, run it through the best filter The Quran. The dictionaries are primarily used to get the options, not the answer.
Peace
I agree very much with the last two sentences. The problem with salat is that the root meaning has been concealed and changed to 'ritual prayer' by the sectarians. They then ask you to show them how one can 'do' 'salat' from the Quran when they really mean show me where in the Quran it tells you how to do 'salat' as evidenced from the hadith/parents/religious books. And they know it cannot be proved. They are close to the truth, but have the argument inside out.
Roshan
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I have no idea what you are referring to. I can only assume you do understand what was referenced. If you do not understand what was referenced it will be difficult to make a judgement, let alone conduct quality study. I suggest you re-review your understanding of what a root is and what derivatives of a root are, then re-review the occurrences. If you want the specific references for "salat" and neglect the rest of the root derivatives, they are clearly given in the article, which I will quote below
In your article you gave the definition of slw from Lane's dictionary instead of Salat and then used the various meanings of slw given to decide which fits the Quran best. Slw and Salat are two different words and should be treated as such.
I've had a look at many of the occurrences of Salat in the Quran and "prayer" fits perfectly from my perspective.
Unevidenced opinion.
Various Classical Arabic literature use the word Salat to mean prayer. Do you have evidence to the contrary?
I dont. I urge everyone to look at all possible meaning, including "prayer". I run these meanings through the best filter The Quran. This is why I referenced every occurrence of the slw root and word "salat" for the reader.
Why should I run every possible meaning for Salat in the Quran? Doesn't God know Arabic? If Salat doesn't mean prayer in the Quran, then maybe bab doesn't mean door, or maybe Jahanem doesn't mean hell? How can you trust Scholars of Arabic that suggest that and then ignore those same scholars when they say Salat means prayer?
Apparently from pre-Islamic poetry and early Classical Arabic writings. They may well have been fabricated, hence running the meanings through the best filter The Quran.
I don't disagree with the meanings of slw proposed by Lane, but he makes it pretty clear that Salat means prayer in his dictionary so I don't disagree with him on that either.
This is why I referenced every occurrence of the slw root and word "salat" for the reader.
Perhaps slw isn't the root of Salat, maybe the sources that suggest this are also fabricated? I think you should stop dwelling on slw since we can't be sure .
It is ironic you imply dictionaries cant be trusted or they may have been fabricated because I dont see how you can support your earlier comment (The Quran was revealed in a language that the Arabs could understand and they understood Salat to mean prayer, therefore that is the correct meaning.)without referring to such sources.
I don't have any major distrust for Lane's dictionary. What I found strange was that you used his dictionary for the possible meanings of slw, but at the same time you agree with Lane's understanding of the word Salat.
Lane gives a possible meaning of "prayer". I would even say he seems to weight it in favour of "prayer" but it is irrelevant what any dictionary says. As I said, run it through the best filter The Quran. The dictionaries are primarily used to get the options, not the answer.
I have ran the "options" through the Quran, but the only option that Lane seems to give in his dictionary is prayer, so I guess thats the correct meaning ;D.
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slw is an abbreviated way of writing saad-lam-waw (which is the root of "salat"
Various Classical Arabic literature use the word Salat to mean prayer. Do you have evidence to the contrary?
Not once did I say "prayer" was not a possibility. You would have a point if "prayer" was the only usage.
How can you trust Scholars of Arabic that suggest that and then ignore those same scholars when they say Salat means prayer?
Scholars more important than what Quran says? No thanks.
but at the same time you agree with Lane's understanding of the word Salat.
Agree? No. Accept it as a possible option, yes.
I have ran the "options" through the Quran, but the only option that Lane seems to give in his dictionary is prayer, so I guess thats the correct meaning
Thanks for demonstrating your logic and strength of argument.
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slw is an abbreviated way of writing saad-lam-waw (which is the root of "salat"
I'm aware of that brickwall
Not once did I say "prayer" was not a possibility. You would have a point if "prayer" was the only usage.
What are the other possibilities? Your article suggests that Salat is to read and study the Quran. Have I understood that correctly?
Scholars more important than what Quran says? No thanks.
If it wasn't for Scholars of Classical Arabic (Lane for example), you wouldn't be able to understand a single word of the Quran.
Thanks for demonstrating your logic and strength of argument.
Shukran katheer
Maybe you should re-read my post.
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Peace
I agree very much with the last two sentences. The problem with salat is that the root meaning has been concealed and changed to 'ritual prayer' by the sectarians. They then ask you to show them how one can 'do' 'salat' from the Quran when they really mean show me where in the Quran it tells you how to do 'salat' as evidenced from the hadith/parents/religious books. And they know it cannot be proved. They are close to the truth, but have the argument inside out.
Roshan
How has the "root meaning" of Salat been concealed? What is the correct "root meaning" and what is your evidence for this?
You said earlier that Salat was "communion with God done through Quran study". If that is what Salat is then why didn't God just simply say "study the Quran", instead of saying "uphold the Salat"? It just doesn't seem logical for an All Knowing God to use words like "salat" in the Quran at all if the Arabs are going to misunderstand and think Salat is prayer. The Quran was meant to have been revealed in a language that the Arabs could understand. Since the Arabs supposedly didn't understand the meaning of Salat then it would be a failure on God's part.
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If it wasn't for Scholars of Classical Arabic (Lane for example), you wouldn't be able to understand a single word of the Quran.
If you mean no words of Arabic were recorded and people ceased to speak it, then yes you are right.
What are the other possibilities?
In my article I list the possibilities from CA dictionaries.
Your article suggests that Salat is to read and study the Quran. Have I understood that correctly?
uphold the bond. what is the mumineen's bond? Did you read the article on who are the mumineen?
If that is what Salat is then why didn't God just simply say "study the Quran", instead of saying "uphold the Salat"?
You mean like in 1778? Or is asking us to do the reading at dawn as the only "other" daily task asked of us at the exact same time as "salat" just a big coincidence?
It just doesn't seem logical for an All Knowing God to use words like "salat" in the Quran at all if the Arabs are going to misunderstand and think Salat is prayer
Like... it doesn't seem logical for an All Knowing God to be unable to make Jesus' message clearer so people wouldn't take him as the literal son of God?
I am confident "salat" was understood perfectly at the time and AQ shows this. Not to mention it still contains many elements of the traditional "salat".The Quran was meant to have been revealed in a language that the Arabs could understand. Since the Arabs supposedly didn't understand the meaning of Salat then it would be a failure on God's part.
Like God failed to make Jesus' message clear so people didn't later take him to be the literal son of God?
If you wish to continue this discussion, let's get back to FACTS
out of 99 occurrences of slw, how many clearly show it means "prayer"?
If you have some sort of adverse reaction to slw, feel free to tell us how many "salat" occurrences cleary show it means "prayer"?
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If you mean no words of Arabic were recorded and people ceased to speak it, then yes you are right. )
Perhaps the Arabic spoken 1400 years ago is completely different to the Arabic spoken now. Just like the word Salat miraculously changed meaning as soon as the Quran was revealed, maybe the rest of the words also changed meaning.
In my article I list the possibilities from CA dictionaries.
Why are you bringing dictionaries that have been made by Scholars into this? Those same scholars say that Salat means prayer. If they're wrong about that then they're probably wrong about the root of Salat (slw)
uphold the bond. what is the mumineen's bond? Did you read the article on who are the mumineen?
Could you explain that a little further? From what I've always understood Mumin is someone with faith and firm belief in God.
You mean like in 1778? Or is asking us to do the reading at dawn as the only "other" daily task asked of us at the exact same time as "salat" just a big coincidence?
Verse 1778 suggests that the Quran should be read at dawn, which I don't disagree with. "Keep up prayer from the declining of the sun till the darkness of the night and the morning recitation; surely the morning recitation is witnessed." If Salat and recitation of the Quran are one and the same then God doesn't need to repeat himself like that.
Like... it doesn't seem logical for an All Knowing God to be unable to make Jesus' message clearer so people wouldn't take him as the literal son of God?
I am confident "salat" was understood perfectly at the time and AQ shows this. Not to mention it still contains many elements of the traditional "salat".
Like God failed to make Jesus' message clear so people didn't later take him to be the literal son of God?So the correct Salat is similar to the traditional one, how so? I thought you understood Salat to mean studying or reflecting upon the Quran so what elements does it share with the traditional Salat, which is a ritual prayer?
Many of the Christians I know don't take Jesus to be the "literal" son of God. God isn't physical. They believe Jesus is God incarnate.
If you wish to continue this discussion, let's get back to FACTS
out of 99 occurrences of slw, how many clearly show it means "prayer"?
If you have some sort of adverse reaction to slw, feel free to tell us how many "salat" occurrences cleary show it means "prayer"?
Many of the Salat occurrences clearly imply the meaning prayer.
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Could you explain that a little further? From what I've always understood Mumin is someone with faith and firm belief in God.
In my article I link specifically to articles discussing this. Did you read the articles or not?
If Salat and recitation of the Quran are one and the same then God doesn't need to repeat himself like that.
What exactly was repeated? And your implication is faulty are you implying there is no repetition in The Quran?
So the correct Salat is similar to the traditional one, how so?
Are you implying you have no idea of any similarities? timings, quran recitation, individual or group, sermons/khutba, ablution etc.
Many of the Salat occurrences clearly imply the meaning prayer.
You talk much but evidence little. Please bring your strongest few verses for all to see.
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Wakas vs Bubbles
Turning out to be a good debate.......hopefully we can learn something from this and good points are being made by both sides but I tend to lean towards salat not being a ritual prayer as traditionalists understand it to be from my readings of Al-Quran!!!
PEACE
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Salaam Wakas
Here are some of the verses that reasure me that Salat is a Prayer.
"Remember We made the House a place of assembly for men and a place of safety; and take ye the station of Abraham as a place of prayer; and We covenanted with Abraham and Isma'il, that they should sanctify My House for those who compass it round, or use it as a retreat, or bow, or prostrate themselves (therein in prayer).""And when thou (O Muhammad) art among them and arrangest (their) worship for them, let only a party of them stand with thee (to worship) and let them take their arms. Then when they have performed their prostrations let them fall to the rear and let another party come that hath not worshipped and let them worship with thee, and let them take their precaution and their arms."
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Salaam Wakas
Here are some of the verses that reasure me that Salat is a Prayer.
"Remember We made the House a place of assembly for men and a place of safety; and take ye the station of Abraham as a place of prayer; and We covenanted with Abraham and Isma'il, that they should sanctify My House for those who compass it round, or use it as a retreat, or bow, or prostrate themselves (therein in prayer).""And when thou (O Muhammad) art among them and arrangest (their) worship for them, let only a party of them stand with thee (to worship) and let them take their arms. Then when they have performed their prostrations let them fall to the rear and let another party come that hath not worshipped and let them worship with thee, and let them take their precaution and their arms."
Here are the same verses and they reasure me that Salat is not prayer
Shabbir Ahmed 2125
Remember, We appointed the House a means to achieve unity among all mankind, and thus, a source of peace and security. So, attain the stature of Abraham recalling his firm stand for closely following the Divine Commands. We did take a Covenant from Abraham and Ishmael, ?Keep My House clean of all falsehood for those who rally around it and those who strive hard for the noble objective and those who submit in humility to the Divine Commands.?Shabbir Ahmed 4102
When you (O Messenger) are with them leading the forces, let some of them stand with you and use their arms. Then, after they have done their duty, let them fall to the rear and let another party come and carry out the commands. Let them take precautions and their arms. The disbelievers want you to neglect your arms and other belongings so that they may attack you once and for all. There is no harm for you to strategically lay aside your arms if rain impedes you or if you are exhausted. But take all possible precaution. God has prepared for those who oppose the truth, a humiliating chastisement.As we can see in the verses of the Quran i have shown you above, the words bow, prostration or worship does not exist in them. The reason the words bow, prostate and worship contains in the verses you have showed in your post, is because you are using an old translation. Many old translations are influenced by christian teachings, and they don't translate the Quran using its original language the (Quraish dialect). The usage of Quraish dialect to translate the Quran have been backed up by History, and by Quranic verses (1997, 445
So, have you considered to use a more new translation instead of Pikthal's 70 year old translation? As the nature change, animal kingdom and Humans change, the interpretation and translations of Quran must also change. If the old interpretations and translations are not replaced by new ones, we will get stagnant in the belief systems of old the past. The only thing that shall not change is the "Quran in its the original form, the arabic verses". But all interpretations and translations should change regularly as we get a new understanding, until judgement day.
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Salaam Bubbles,
The verses containing the English translations of "bow" (raki) and "prostrate" (sujud) are commonly cited, but going by AQ the word "sujud" does not mean "prostrate" (e.g. 124, 4154, 25. Similarly, according to AQ there is no clear occurrence of "raki" meaning "bow". The only possibility would be 3824 but in this occurrence it is used along with "kharra" which means fall down which seems redundant to add this, and according to you, these is no need for such repetition )
Please review all the occurrences for "sujud" and "raki" for yourself
http//www.studyquran.co.uk/PRLonline.htm4102 was discussed by me here, for further info
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=10279.0 -
Here are the same verses and they reasure me that Salat is not prayer
Shabbir Ahmed 2125
Remember, We appointed the House a means to achieve unity among all mankind, and thus, a source of peace and security. So, attain the stature of Abraham recalling his firm stand for closely following the Divine Commands. We did take a Covenant from Abraham and Ishmael, ?Keep My House clean of all falsehood for those who rally around it and those who strive hard for the noble objective and those who submit in humility to the Divine Commands.?Shabbir Ahmed 4102
When you (O Messenger) are with them leading the forces, let some of them stand with you and use their arms. Then, after they have done their duty, let them fall to the rear and let another party come and carry out the commands. Let them take precautions and their arms. The disbelievers want you to neglect your arms and other belongings so that they may attack you once and for all. There is no harm for you to strategically lay aside your arms if rain impedes you or if you are exhausted. But take all possible precaution. God has prepared for those who oppose the truth, a humiliating chastisement.I've had a glimpse at many of Shabbir's translations and he just comes off as rather deluded. His translations are so off the wall and reduce the Arabic language to incomprehensible babble. I take some of the non-Muslim translators more seriously than him to be honest.
As we can see in the verses of the Quran i have shown you above, the words bow, prostration or worship does not exist in them. The reason the words bow, prostate and worship contains in the verses you have showed in your post, is because you are using an old translation. Many old translations are influenced by christian teachings, and they don't translate the Quran using its original language the (Quraish dialect). The usage of Quraish dialect to translate the Quran have been backed up by History, and by Quranic verses (1997, 445
What is this history of which you speak? How do you know what the Quraish dialect was like? As far as I'm aware those "old" translations were done from the Arabic of Muhammed's people at his time. The Quraish people believed that sujud meant prostration, hence that is the correct meaning of the word.
This is verse 1997, "So We have only made it easy in your tongue that you may give good news thereby to those who guard (against evil) and warn thereby a vehemently contentious people."
If it was easy and in the language of the Quraish then they should have had no trouble understanding that sujud wasn't protration and that it was something different, alas they didn't understand the 'true' meaning therefore the Quran wasn't easy to understand, which would be a failure on God's part and the Arabs are not to blame.So, have you considered to use a more new translation instead of Pikthal's 70 year old translation? As the nature change, animal kingdom and Humans change, the interpretation and translations of Quran must also change. If the old interpretations and translations are not replaced by new ones, we will get stagnant in the belief systems of old the past. The only thing that shall not change is the "Quran in its the original form, the arabic verses". But all interpretations and translations should change regularly as we get a new understanding, until judgement day.
Maybe the Arabic word "wa" needs to be reinterpreted, maybe the word "al" needs to be reinterpreted also. Maybe thats not their real meaning. For all we know those damned Christians have corrupted the whole of the Arabic language.
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Salaam Bubbles,
The verses containing the English translations of "bow" (raki) and "prostrate" (sujud) are commonly cited, but going by AQ the word "sujud" does not mean "prostrate" (e.g. 124, 4154, 25. Similarly, according to AQ there is no clear occurrence of "raki" meaning "bow". The only possibility would be 3824 but in this occurrence it is used along with "kharra" which means fall down which seems redundant to add this, and according to you, these is no need for such repetition
Verse 124 is allegorical and emphasizes the obedience that everything in the universe has for Allah. This doesn't change the fact that sujud means prostration and that this was how the Quraish understood the word.
I don't have a problem with repetition in the Quran. I just don't think its appropriate (or even grammatically correct???) to say " " if Quran recitation and salat are one and the same. To say "recite the Quran and recite the Quran" is quite peculiar.
I've read verse 38;24 and the fact that Dawood bowed to Allah to ask for forgiveness shows its something that I should probably do as well.
Please review all the occurrences for "sujud" and "raki" for yourself
http//www.studyquran.co.uk/PRLonline.htm4102 was discussed by me here, for further info
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=10279.0I'm going to be blunt in saying that it doesn't matter how the Quran uses a word. What matters is the meaning that the people it was revealed to give its words. If the Quran gives different meanings to the Arabic words of the Quraish then the problem isn't the Quraish, its the Quran.
Having said that, I believe that sujud means prostration in the Quran and I believe it fits perfectly fine. This is how the early Arabs understood it. I don't care much for some of the conspiracy theories that would need to be proposed to claim otherwise.
