salat = relationship & zakat = purity of heart
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salaam
for many years, i thought the root letters for 'salat' was either from 's-l' or 's-l-w' (perhaps influenced by hana e kasis too) until i took arabic lessons from an ustaz who went to ieas (sorry, can't remember whether it was oxford or cambridge). then i discovered it is 'w-s-l'. applied with the appropriate 'wazan' or 'form' we get 'salat' or pronounced as 'solat'. it is a verbal noun that means 'relationship'.
then comes 'zakah' which originates from 'z-k-y' which means 'to cleanse, to purify, etc.'
in most of the occurances of 'salat' in al-Qur'an, very often it is coupled with 'zakah'. my understanding on 'aqeemu solah wa-atuzzakah' is therefore 'establish relationships with a purity of heart'.
we are commanded to establish relationships without ulterior motives. it is all about establishing relationships 'lillahirabbil alamiin'. we establish relationships with fellow human beings and other creations of The God, for the sake of serving The Lord. when we see another human being, we must remember that we respect and honour him/her as a 'khalifah' of The God.
we must also remember that all there is in the earth and the sky, and in between them, are all for us humans. we must also respect and honour the plants, animals (yes, even the dogs and pigs), the winds, rains, droughts, etc. as creations of The God.
when we treat them all with respect and honour, we will attain peace, not only oneself, but the world too. it has to start somewhere, and it begins with each and everyone of us. especially the industrious believers. insya-Allah.
'salat' with The God is 'bayt' from 'b-y-t'. but i would like to discuss this under a new different topic.
peace!
joe -
Easy joe. Very good post with good practical ideas...
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Peace be with you Joe,
To the best of my knowledge, the root letters of the term salat are Saad-Laam-Wauw. Among the meanings associated with this root are Bond, Connection, Follow Closely, etc.
However, the root letters you give are in a different order (wauw-saad-laam). As a language built upon roots, one of the rules of the Arabic language is that no matter what derivative or form of the verb a word is, the base root letters remain in the same order in all of these occurences.
For example, the root letters Seen-Laam-Meem (S-L-M). From this you get muSLiM, iSLaM and SaLaaM. Notice how the base root letters remain in the same order of appearance in each word.
The root you have provided does have a similar meaning though. It's theme appears to be to join or to arrive at. This is why in the Arabic language, when a flight makes it to the airport from another destination, it is called WuSooL (arrival) from the root letters Wauw-Saad-Laam.
If my understanding on this is incorrect, then I hope that someone here can be courteous enough to point it out to me.
Peace all,
Damon. -
peace!
just to let you know that now we are in the midst of compiling the verses on salat based on our study notes. it seems that the file is too large for this forum page, something like 20 pages. perhaps the moderators of this website can advise us on what we should do about it, even the possibility of publishing the file (pdf format).
thanks
joe -
Peace Damon
Excellent clarification. Thank you
Peace Joe
That translation, even if the root WAS the right one, is really superficial. Even if this hypothesis had any truth to it, it doesn't fit the context of most salat verses. It's a nice thought, but it's so watered-down and not very deep in meaning in the context of actual verses.
Are we commanded to be peaceful to other people, even if we disagree with them? Yes. Are we commanded not to be suspicious of others and think the worst out of them? Yes. Are we commanded not to talk behind other's backs? Yes. These are all tenents already found in the quran. No need to make new ones up...
Peace All