Salat is none other than Incense Burning

[vivek]

What is Salat?

A specified worship was ordained by God to be performed by all humans daily. It involves a few rituals taught by God. This worship was instituted by God at the time of creation itself and was made an eternal obligation on the whole humankind. No human is exempted from this eternal duty. One has to do this duty until one?s death.

God gave this eternal ordinance to all communities of the humankind in the religion he revealed to them by raising prophets from among them. God gave a name to this obligatory specified worship. He called it Salat in Arabic language while revealing the Quran. This worship was named Yajna in Sanskrit and Yasna in Aveztan language when God revealed the Vedas and the Avezta. Likewise, the specified worship was given different names by God in different languages in which he revealed religion to the humankind. The words Salat, Yajna and Yasna refer to one and the same specified worship in Arabic, Sanskrit and Aveztan languages respectively. It can be put like this

SALAT = YAJNA = YASNA

Meaning of the word Salat

The Arabic word Salat has been interpreted in many Quran translations either as Prayer or Worship. It is a wrong and misleading translation. It negates the true meaning of Salat. The Arabic words for Prayer and Worship are Dua and Ibadat respectively. Prayer is an act of supplication and Worship is any act of showing respect to the Divine Being. Both Prayer(Dua) and Salat are acts of worship(Ibadat).

The word Salat is derived from the root word Silat which means connection. Salat has been translated as Contact Prayer in some Quran translations based on an opinion that Salat establishes contact with God. This translation too is incorrect considering the fact that not only Salat but also other acts of worship like prayer(Dua), bowing, prostration, etc establish contact between God and his worshipper.

Since Salat is the Arabic name given by God to the specified worship, it is better not to translate it in other languages and call it only by its name i.e Salat. To shed some light on the meaning of the word Salat, it can be translated as ?Fire Based Worship or Worship Through Fire? on the following grounds

1.The root word Silat is one of the names of Fire(see passage quoted below);
2.Salat involves use of Fire and Burning of Incense.

?Commenting on Salat, Imam Qurtubi, a renowned Qur'anic Exegete said the word Salat derives from the word Silat, one of the names of fire as when it is said, "The wood is burned by fire". ..Page 11, Voices of Islam by Vincent J. Cornell, Omid Safi?.

Salat does not involve Bowing and Prostration

Nowhere in the Quran or other scriptures the acts of bowing and prostration are said to be acts of performing Salat. Quran says only the standing position as the posture while performing Salat(2125,238, 339, 4102,142, 17110, 7320)

The word prostration(Sujud) mentioned in Quran 4102 does not mean physical act of prostration but refers to Salat. The phrase ?after they have completed their prostration? is used to denote completion of their Salat. Salat is metaphorically mentioned as prostration here. Also in verse 2239, Salat is allegorically mentioned as meditation(Zikr).

In verse 2277 and 5362, God instructs us to worship him by bowing and prostration but nowhere in Quran we are instructed to perform Salat by bowing and prostration. It is evident from these verses that bowing and prostration are acts of worship(Ibadat) distinct from the specified worship named Salat.

Moreover, Salat is always an act of worship and should be offered to God alone. But bowing and prostration need not always be acts of worship and can be done merely as a show of respect or obedience to fellow humans as evidenced in the following verses

Genesis 181,2, 191, 2452, 333, 4326,28.
Numbers 144,5, 1620,21,22,45,45
Exodus 187
Daniel 610
II Samuel 96
I Chronicles 2116
II Chronicles 2018, 2928,29,30
Nehemia 85,6
Quran 1958, 3215, 8421

Salat taught to Arabs but discarded by them

Based on Hadiths and Sunnah, Muslims all over the world believe that Salat consists of a few units(Rak?ats) with each unit involving the physical acts of Standing, Bowing and Prostration. But it is in sharp contrast to the Quran which says only the standing position as the posture while performing Salat.

Arabs had not received a revealed religion and hence had no knowledge about Salat, Zakat or any other religious laws and rituals revealed by God until before the revelation of Quran. God says in Quran that he has revealed Quran as fully detailed and nothing has been omitted from it. But the present Quran does not contain verses which give full details of Salat, Zakat, etc. It is a clear proof that a considerable portion of the original Quran text had been lost due to wars and feudal clashes that escalated immediately after the death of Muhammad or removed by scribes who edited and compiled the present Quran. God says in verse 2239 that he taught Salat to Arabs that was unknown to them. But they discarded Salat completely after the period of Muhammad and projected bowing and prostration as Salat.

Salat as taught by God

As detailed in the scriptures, Salat comprises of the following acts

1.Standing before a Fire Altar
2.Reciting verses from a Scripture
3.Burning incense on the Fire Altar(i.e oblation into Sacred Fire)

Below are given verses from Scriptures that confirm the above said method of performing Salat

I.Standing Position

Quran 2125,238, 339, 4102,142, 17110, 7320

II.Reciting Verses from Scripture

Yajur Veda 311
Quran 17110, 7320

III.Burning of Incense

Yajur Veda 117, 31,2, 858
Exodus 301,7,8, 4026,27
Malachi 111
I Kings 32,3, 925
II Chronicles 26, 3212
Revelations 58, 83,4,5
Luke 18-13
Quran 339

The burning of incense by prophet Zacharias who was a priest, on the altar of incense(Fire Altar) is mentioned in Quran as SALAT. This event is narrated both in Luke 18-13 and Quran 338,39 as under

Luke 1 8 ? 13

?And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest?s office before God in the order of his course,

According to the custom of the priest?s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.

And the whole multitude of the people were praying without, at the time of incense.

And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

But the angel said unto him, fear not, Zacharias for thy prayer is herad; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shall call his name John?.

Qur?an 3 38, 39

{38}

Then Zachariah prayed unto his Lord and said My Lord! Bestow upon me of Thy bounty goodly offspring. Lo! Thou art the Hearer of Prayer.

There did Zakariya pray to his Lord; he said My Lord! grant me from Thee good offspring; surely Thou art the Hearer of Prayer.

{39}

And the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary Allah giveth thee glad tidings of (a son whose name is) John, (who cometh) to confirm a word from Allah lordly, chaste, a prophet of the righteous.

Then the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary That Allah gives you the good news of Yahya verifying a Word from Allah, and honorable and chaste and a prophet from among the good ones.

Dua mentioned in verse 338 and Salat mentioned in verse 339 have been translated as prayer which gives an impression that both Dua and Salat are one and the same act of worship but in realty these are two different acts of worship as detailed earlier.

The Sanctuary mentioned in verse 339 where Zacharias stood performing Salat
is none other than the Chamber of the Altar of incense(Fire Altar). He stood before the altar and burned incense on it when the angel(s) appeared to him. This burning of incense by Zacharias is mentioned as SALAT in Quran 339. The place where the angel(s) appeared to Zacharias was the right side of the altar of incense(Luke 111).

Revelations 58 and 83,4 clearly say that burning of incense is the prayers of saints

Verse 58

?When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints?.

Verse 83,4

?Another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; he was given a great quantity of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne.?

?And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.?

As in the case of Quran translation where Salat is translated erroneously as prayer/contact prayer or worship, the burning of incense mentioned in the above quoted verses has been mistranslated as prayers but it refers to Salat(Yajna/Yasna).

God has given us a prophecy in Malachi 111 that incense shall be offered to him in every place on earth from the rising of the Sun unto to the setting of the same. This prophecy informs us that true Salat shall be performed thoughout the world and it will come to pass hereafter.

Malachi 111

?For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts?.

Let us thank God for his guidance and perform Salat as taught by him.

Email [email protected]
Website http//restorereligion.blogspot.com/

[GODsubmitter]

Very interesting

[Man_of_Faith]

Fare thee well brother,

I appreciate your philosophies and there may lie a certain Truth in what you have written and studied. I also abandoned the concept of Salat as a ritual and rather bound it together with the word Zakat into "mindfulness of God and purification" which I think is not accurate translation-wise but pragmatically correct.

You are right that the supplication (dua) is the right form of "prayer" in traditional regard. What I am not certain about is the fire altars and this practice you describe is certainly taken from the Old Testament (Tanakh) and was even criticized by later generations of the people from within the book itself. This religion was spread throughout Persia, including Persepolis (Takht-e Jamshid) and many fire altars still stand testimony there as of today in the mountain ranges. I visited some sites myself and have conducted some research around there.

Despite a slight skepticism I am actually a bit open to your theories as they might negate my research upon the Old and New Testament and Zoroastrianism.

I reckon that in your theory why the Arabs continued with prostration instead of the fire altars is because they were used to worshiping their statues and idols this way in the past and so they continued like this with Allah instead. It developed into prostrating towards the building in Mecca in the end which can be tantamount to idolatry unfortunately if you think, especially when the building is formed like the Saturn's cube. It strengthens my belief that with no Messenger about humans revert to idolatry except a small group of people. Humans have innate idolatrous tendencies in all sorts of forms from the ego to external idols and people have an instinct to bind God's power to items.

Anyway, I like your theory about Salat practice according to the Old Testament, but I am not ready to start worshiping by fire altars without any further study as it might risk just changing from one Pagan ritual to another. However you may be right that there is something special about the fire.

And if we are going to worship with fire then we need to refresh and ascertain that we are doing it right. We need to know why we ought to use fire in our worship of God. You shall not forget that the Zoroastrian and Biblical practices include water too as an element. Water and Fire was used in the practices. You performed ablution before you stood before the altar of fire. I know because I have been in Iran for more than two years and studied Zoroastrianism and been at their temples. These people practice the religion according to the Old Testament and it is a misconception that they worship the actual fire. It is a tool much like the water in an "Islamic" ablution in their worship.

But you ought to know that your theory seems very intriguing and mind-provoking and might be an answer I have been looking for since I started investigating Zoroastrianism, Fars (Pharisees) and the Bible. It is true that we might receive hints from our fellow humans when we are looking and we need to listen. The only thing is that I need more answers before I can run to conclusions, but now I know that the type of worship you describe here was the one practices by Dawood, Solomon and maybe even Jesus, and a remainder may have lasted in the Christian practice of lighting candles in the church, as long as the tales from the Old Testament are authentic and not lies. Of course I have my critical approach when I read it and it would be good if I could receive some backup from Qur'an which is a more reliable source if interpreted right.

God bless you