My Way Of Salat Lets Share It

Sebs

Peace be upon you,

(6722) Is one who walks while slumped over on his face(AAala wajhihi) better guided, or one who walks straight on the right path? D

Thanks man!!

Peace

Sebs

muslim1118

peace to all,

010.087
YUSUFALI We inspired Moses and his brother with this Message "Provide dwellings for your people in Egypt, make your houses into places of QIBLA, and establish prayer in it and give glad tidings to those who believe!"

So Keep your hearts clean and pure from the inducements of shaitaan and make your hearts The Masjids wherein only Allah's Names are recited and rehearsed constantly - thus Making Your Hearts The Masjidul Haram.

gives us something to think about; thanks drfazl

muslim1118

peace to all,

forgot why i was reading this thread, lol; my method of salat is as follows.........i wash according to 56, then i either stand or kneel while reciting al-fatiha then i just talk to Allah, saying thanks to Him for His blessings or asking His Blessings, protection, guidance then i just speak to Him about whatever is on my mind/heart

muslim1118

peace to all,

forgot why i was reading this thread, lol; my method of salat is as follows.........i wash according to 56, then i either stand or kneel while reciting al-fatiha then i just talk to Allah, saying thanks to Him for His blessings or asking His Blessings, protection, guidance then i just speak to Him about whatever is on my mind/heart.

currently i try to do this at sunrise and sunset

naxus

peace 2 u bro muslim1118
4 sharing u,r way of salat n wellcome to the form peace

darcus

Peace be upon you all

Naxus, thank you for asking this. I think it would be ideal if we had more responses to see how differently solat can be made a part of our lives.

Personally, I feel 'right' when I have washed and then contemplated on a subject and then 'found' the answer imprinted in my imagination if you will, which is then supported (or not) by reading and studying the Quran.

I do not do this as often as I should, because the feeling of satisfaction, inner peace and freedom of thought is amazing. I suppose the negative part of me sometimes does get the better of me.

drfazl - if you have the time, I would like to know how you personally conduct your solat.

idolfree - i agree with your method. I would add that there is no limitation to when solat can be conducted and I believe that there are a multitude of ways in which it can be carried out, e.g. walking through a park on a beautiful summer's day appreciating natural beauty, seeing a squirrel, a bird or a fish in the pond. This observation of the creation and reflecting of our place in it can have quite profound results.

Anyhow, I'm blabbering as usual.

tata
d

Someone

Peace upon you,

This is my understanding on this issue of "salat", and I stand corrected.

In this world, we have two types of relation

1- A vertical relation with our creator. (spiritual or abstract)

2- Horizontal relations with the creation, and with other people. (physical)

We are commanded to make these relations as straight as possible, thus ultimately, we can stay on the straight path as long as we are mindful about our relations.

The god has instructed us on the limits he had made forbidden, so as we can straighten our relations, in order to escape the fire.

Also, science or the knowledge about the creation is always improving, getting straighter with each discovery or new understanding.

"Interacting physicaly with someone" is a "salat" or a relation, thus the need of a minimum cleansing before meeting.

"Thinking or making links/relations with concepts" is also a form of "salat", and we should straighten our ideas/thoughts to be at peace within.

This process of "straightening" the relations (iqamat as-salat) would ultimately converge to the ultimate relation to our creator.

As for when to do this straightening, it's to be done as long as one is alive, all the day long and parts of the night.

As for how, it should be done without crookedness, straight to the point.

As for "salat al-fajr" and "salat al-isha", these are merely pointing to the times of the relation between night and day.

Peace

beatnik

I think my post is going to resemble Someone's post, although I think mine will be more of a ramble so please forgive me.

I've been thinking alot about salat these days, here are my thoughts so far.

The thing that has been on my mind recently is the word 'establish'. I see this word alot. 'Establish salat'. It sounds weird, when you see sunnis for example, praying the way they do, to associate the word 'establish' with their method. It doesnt strike me right. And of course I dont believe people are meant to pray/worship in a specific direction (wherever you're facing, if you're very far from Mecca, you'll be facing outer space anyway!), I dont think only one spot on the planet is 'holy', if anything is holy then its the whole planet itself.

But back to salat. I've read the possible meanings of this word in various places, (also thanks to Wakas I think, who allowed us to download his uncomplete root list). I also gained another potential understanding of the word from Aidid Safar's article about the 'Arab Conspiracy'. His analysis made alot of sense, and I am aware his article is perceived to be flawed by some people, his understanding of the word however, still holds some merit, as 'commitments' can be derived from the word salat (or solaa, whatever it technically is).

So, so far its clear my way of thinking about salat is different from the traditional viewpoint, praying, in my opinion, is dua, which can be done anywhere at anytime, inside yourself, when you're sincere. I believe praying is best while reading the Quran, when you wake up, and when you go to bed. I pray for the safety and wellbeing of my family, my loved ones, and all believing muslims. I pray for our sins to be forgiven and for us to be guided onto the straight path.

Here is what I think of salat at this point in my life I'm not sure if this is correct (you can correct me if I'm wrong) but I'm under the impression that whenever the word salat is mentioned in the Quran, the word zakat is most of the time (90%) following right behind it. Always after salat, zakat is mentioned. Zakat means to purify, not some annual tax as tradition would have it. It can be perceived as giving to charity, as it is a form of purifying yourself, humbling and being on a straight path. So if zakat always comes after salat, does this mean zakat is a direct consequence of salat? Are they both tied, when you do one, you're doing the other?

The essence of salat is contact, link, commitments, to follow closely. Think how each of those possible definitions we apply to our lives from the day we're born. We're all in contact, we're all linked, we have commitments and we must follow God's guidance closely. Aidid's understanding of salat appeals to me greatly, because it provides a dualistic aspect between action and meditation. Salat is action, dua is prayer/meditation. If salat is the way you act in your life, basically being a muslim, living righteously, then zakat becomes the natural side effect of it, you are purifying yourself through your interactions with people, animals and the land.

I hear 'establish salat' alot. This word makes me think of 'establishment', which can be a place that serves customers. We serve God. The word salat appears many times in the Quran, but is never clearly explained. This may be because it is not some complicated ritual, but merely a part of our way of life. It is basically all of the rules of the Quran summed into one word, just like the word 'muslim' contains many meanings, so does salat. It is merely living on the straight path. From sunup to sundown, and through parts of the night if we happen to be awake and not sleeping.

Here are dictionary.com's definitions of 'establish'

To set up; found.
To bring about; generate establish goodwill in the neighborhood.
To place or settle in a secure position or condition; install They established me in my own business.
To make firm or secure.
To cause to be recognized and accepted a discovery that established his reputation.
To introduce and put (a law, for example) into force.
To prove the validity or truth of The defense attorneys established the innocence of the accused.
To make a state institution of (a church).

So thats my opinion currently...

unknownuser

Peace be upon you all,

I will write more in detail, actually, I am suppossed to be completeing my article.

Anyway, I just wanted to draw attention to what Beatnik pointed out. Salaat is many times followed by zakaat. It is normally stated "Maintain salaat and BRING FORTH zakaat"

Salaat is what allows us to BRING FORTH purification.

We also see that salaat is related to "Turning towards the God".

How does one turn towards the God? The God is not a physical object is He? SO what do we turn to? We turn to the QIBLA that the God instructed us to. The QIBLA is the "restricted masjid".

WHat is the restriced masjid? It is the "place of hearing and obeying the restrictions" which the rejectors are prevented from entering, so it is therefore a mental place, a level to be attained.

So salaat is the PROCESS where we turn towards the place of hearing and obeying the God's restrictions, and when we are done, we keep the REMEMBERANCE of that with us throughout the day so we can avoid bad deeds.

Regarding timing, there is a verse about private times which show us that there ARE indeed times for this. The God has informed us that the heavenly bodies are used for TIMING. In another article I wrote in the salaat section called "The Human and the process of rememberance", I showed how the brain has different receptive states. The daytime is when the WILL is more focused , the nightime is when the subconcious is more focused, but the merging times are when it is BEST to meditate(medi=middle). Salaat is the balance(wusta).

I agree with what Someone stated, we can meditate on the God at anytime, but there are times that are BEST based on the energies of the universe of which we are part of.

Olusanya

As'Salaam Alaikum,

Without going into too much detail, I agree with Idolfree that the "between" times are best for establishing salat . I do not have a set method, instead I respond spontaneously to the energies around me. Sometimes it is easier for me to establish the link simply by meditating on the Qur'an, sometimes I use the mind/body union that comes through what some may call "ritual" salat. I will also pay close attention to the awareness of the point between my breath when I am reciting ayats, because this point "between" is also important.
As it has been pointed out... we must "establish" salat, this is different for different people. Some may be able to establish salat simply by reading, some may need to align their physical and mental being, some may achieve this just by slowing their breath down along with their mental activities. I do not think there are hard and fast rules, I think each individual should find what works best for them and then be consistent with it as much as it is possible.
Dawn and Dusk, mindfulness of breath, and reciting the Qur'an work best for me, and sometimes when I feel it is necessary I throw in some moving meditation.

Ma'Salaam,
Olu'sanya