The purpose of the salat
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Salam to all.
I believe Eemaan to be belief in all that Allah swt has perscribed for us to do, such as, praying,fasting,charity, reading the Quran, doing good deeds. That is why Eemaan can be high or low because sometimes we do not feel like doing some or all of these actions. So I suppose Eemaan for me are the required actions you do in order to submit your will to Allah swt and therefore ultimately serve and please him, while gaining his pleasure reap the reward, yes?Respectfully
Simone sun
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Peace Wakas
peace,
Quote from 1CELOSTNOWFOUND on Yesterday at 040054 PM
I have found the following to be what relates directly to the purpose of the salat in the Quran
? taking people from darkness into light (3343)
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What I mean by this is that the verse in question puts forward that
"He is the one who causes the salat upon you and His malaikah to bring you from the the darkness to the light and He is to the mu'minoon raheema."
To me this verse points out that one of the purposes of the salat is to bring us from the darkness to the light.
Imraan
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Peace All
When we look at the quranic context of 245, we must read verses 40-46 at the very least. Once we do, we find the following
This passage in addressed to Bani Israel in which they are told to remember the favour of God and fulfill or be faithful to the covenant, believe in the Quran confirming what is with them, not to hide the signs, nor trade them for a small gain, nor mix truth with falsehood, nor knowingly conceal the truth (40-42). They are told to establish the salat, bring the zakkat, incline with those who incline(43). The question is asked as to enjoining other people to good while forgetting themselves and appealing to the use of reason (44). Help should be sought in /with the sabr and the salat, which is difficult except for the humble, who are certain of the meeting with their Rabb (45-46).
It seems reasonable to me that the assistance that is to be sought here is with regard to ensuring that God's messages are not sold for a small price, keeping to the truth of the message, hence not mixing truth with falsehood while knowing what the truth is. More specifically, we might regard the assistance being sought in order to prevent enjoining others to good while reading/following the book, yet neglecting enjoining it on our own selves as this is contrary to reason.
The reason that sabr is part of this process could be that sometimes people preach the truth, but find it difficult to act in accordance with it due to any number of reasons that could range from circumstances they find themselves in to just being hypocritical. Steadfastness is therefore advised through thick and thin.
The salat is required because in these instances people are required to "turn towards" / "remain attached to" the revelation even when negative influences of the self try to dictate otherwise. As pride is usually the main driving force in disobeying God (see the verses about Adam and iblees), humility would be a natural requirement for not having difficulty in submitting to this process.
What are your thoughts?
Imraan
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Peace Badr
Thanks for your input.
Generally with these things God has put laws into place that govern them. For example, the cure for a sickness is not some miraculous thing that happens, but rather it happens if the antidote is administered. Therefore are we not seeking a way to become aware of the cure rather than asking God to miraculously cure it?
By submitting you will to Allah, you become aware that the cure is from God not the antidote, you can administer the antidote and die anyway. So both must be performed ; the antidote administration and the supplication to God.
Agreed. This is done through studying the Quran so that we can understand that which makes us better muslims and we can gain the knowledge of what the siratul mustaqeem is and what it is that we must DO to move toward it.
No because the most knowledgeable person can go astray, so again only god can strenghten your faith.
This is one of the other purposes of the salat, which I will bring up later in this discussion.
"And keep up prayer in the two parts of the day and in the first hours of the night; surely good deeds take away evil deeds this is a reminder to the mindful." (11114)
"ask the forgiveness of Allah; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful." (2199)
I'm not sure if you are equating hamd with thanks or not. Please clarify.
I prefer service rather than worship. Worship is a concept quite foreign to the Quran from my studies. God does not want us to worship Him."O My servants who believe! surely My earth is vast, therefore Me alone should you worship".
Even if you want understand the word ?abada as serving (like a slave who is ?bd) you have no choice but to consider ?abed as worshipper.
= a reminder to the worshippers.
He advises us to serve Him by serving humanity and indeed all living things. This concept of 'ibadah" as service drives us to action rather than passive intellectualism and blaming God for everything rather than taking responsibility ourselves.
It is all about action, do you know the word "?amal" ?
"And whoever does good deeds whether male or female and he (or she) is a believer-- these shall enter the garden, and they shall not be dealt with a jot unjustly."(4124)
"And all have degrees according to what they do; and your Lord is not heedless of what they do." (6132)
"And (as to) those who reject Our communications and the meeting of the hereafter, their deeds are null. Shall they be rewarded except for what they have done? "
"surely Allah sees what they do"
"We will most certainly give to those who are patient their reward for the best of what they did. "
"Rightly directing, that he might give warning of severe punishment from Him and give good news to the believers who do good that they shall have a goodly reward, "
"So. he who has done an atom's weight of good shall see it"
Also the muslim is supposed to act "And from among you there should be a party who invite to good and enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong, and these it is that shall be successful." Not by passive intellectualism but rather by concrete actions.
What do you understand imaan to be?
the belief in the uniqueness of God and submitting its will to His.
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Peace Badr,
Thanks for clarifying your view.
Imraan
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Peace Wakas
peace Imraan,
I was highlighting the word in 3343 is not the noun salat, it is the verb 2nd form. That's all.
Ok. Thanks. I guess I pasted those points from my general, early notes in the research where I wasn't paying much attention to the details.
Imraan
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Peace all
When we look at the Quranic context of 9103, we need to read verses 73-110.
The comparison between the believers and the hypocrites that started in verse 43 continues with special reference to their respective willingness or unwillingness to go out in the cause of God (v.73-102). Never cause salat for / on the hypocrites who die (v.84). The types of Arabs are contrasted; those take what they spend as a fine and wait for evil to turn on the believers (v.9 and those who consider what they spend and the salat of the messenger as bringing them closer to God (v.99). Those who mixed good with evil and acknowledged their fault should have their sadaqat accepted by the messenger and he should cause their salat because his salat will bring them peace (v.103). The masjid built on ?dirar?, ?kufr? and disuniting the believers should not be upheld by the believers (v.107-110).
We should never cause the salat for the hypocrites who die. The Arabs that are on the right track see what they spend and the salat of the messenger as bringing them closer to God. Those who want to make amends for mixing good with evil should offer sadaqat that should be accepted by the messenger and he should cause their salat because his salat will bring them peace.
We see that the purpose of salat mentioned here (bringing about of peace and tranquility for others) is preceded by mention of mixing good with evil. This seems to be a common thread with the passage 240-46 where mixing truth with falsehood is mentioned prior to seeking help through salat being mentioned as a purpose of salat.
What are your thoughts?
Imraan
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Peace all
The third purpose that I listed as a purpose of the salat is restraining from shameful and evil deeds (2945). We should look at this in its Quranic context by studying 245-51 at the very least.
2945-51(45)
Recite what has been revealed of the book and uphold the salat. The salat keeps away from indecency / shameful deeds and evil / injustice. The remembrance of God is the greatest (v.45). Advice on arguing with the people of the Book and confirmation of the revelation to the messenger (v.46-50). The revelation is a mercy and a reminder for the believers (v.51).The meaning of the root ?nun-kaf-ra? carries a meaning of changing or altering something to an unknown state so as not to be known. Hence it is associated with the practice of deceit. It also carries a meaning of becoming ignorant or unacquainted with something. Hence denying or disacknowledging something due to not being acquainted with it as a result of it being changed into an unknown state. This is interesting because we know that the purpose of salat is also removing uncleanness, bringing about purification (3333), taking people from darkness into light (3343) and the remembrance of God (2014, 8715). This could point to salat being a vehicle for ensuring that the purity of the message is preserved through the productive use of the Quran, which would remind us of what our responsibilities are vis-?-vis all aspects of life according to the Quran.
We are also told that the salat will keep us away from "al-fahshaa". The root "fa-ha-sha" seems to mean being excessive, transgressing limits in a public manner. I would really appreciate some input on how you guys understand this word.
I see the passage 245-51 as meaning that we utilise the Quran through the salat to keep us away from following any adulterated perversions of the revelation as it is a remembrance of God.
Your thoughts?
Imraan
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Peace all,
On the fourth point regarding the purpose of the salat, taking people from darkness into light (3343), we must look at 3341-44.
The believers should remember God with much remembrance and glorify Him in the mornings and evenings. He causes salat on the believers to bring them out of the darkness into light. Their greeting at the time they meet Him will be ?salaam?.
While the reference here may not be to the noun "salat", but rather to the verb, it nevertheless has bearing on the purpose of the action. Here we find that God causes salat on the believers in order to bring them from the "dhulumaati" to the "nur". It is interesting to note that the "dhaw-lam-miim" root has a connotation of "putting something in the wrong place" and also "utilising something before it reaches a state of maturity", whereas "nun-waw-ra" has a connotation of "illuminated, made apparent (which could mean that something is in its proper place)" as well as "blossomed, matured".
What are your thoughts on how this relates to the effect of God's causing salat on the believers?
Another interesting point is the use of the word "tahiyyatuhum" in verse 44. Commonly translated as greeting, but coming from the root "ha-ya-ya", is there not more depth to the meaning than a mere greeting the way we understand it today. It would seem to me that it must have a connotation related to causing or preserving life. When we view it from this point, we see a consequence of being a believer and God causing salat on someone being a preservation of life. Reference the occurrences in 486, 1010, 1423, 2461, 2575.
Can this be related to 2154, where we are told not to think of those slain in God's way as dead? What are your thoughts?
Imraan
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Peace
The remembrance of God is understood as one of the main reasons for salat. We find it mentioned in the following verses (2014, 8715)
2012-16(14)
Moses is informed that he has been chosen to listen to the revelation (v.13). He is instructed to serve God and uphold the salat for God?s remembrance (v.14). Don?t let those who follow their low desires turn you away from the revelation (v.16)871-19(15)
Just as God has measured all processes in nature, He makes the messenger recite so that he won?t forget, except what He wills and He makes the way smooth (v.1-. So remind as the reminding benefits those who fear, but those who avoid it will suffer the consequence (v.9-13). He is successful who purifies himself, remembers his rabb and causes the salat (v.14-15). The same message is in previous revelations (v.16-19).Remembrance of God is a clear purpose of salat. It is interesting that in 2012-16, serving God and upholding the salat for His remembrance is opposite following low desires and turning people away from the revelation. It is therefore reasonable to see salat as a process of turning towards the revelation when used in context of the revelation.
In 871-19 we see that the process of teaching the Quran is as natural as any other process in nature. The lessons of the quran should therefore always be retained so that those who wish to benefit from them can do so. Success comes from purification and the remembrance of God by causing the salat.
To understand remembrance as a purpose of salat, we must look at the recital of the Quran closely. The root "qaf-raa-alif" certainly does indicate recital. It stems from a meaning of bringing or drawing things together part by part, perhaps in a similar way to the foetus developing in the womb. The meaning also suggests containment. This containment could also relate to it being in preparation for these parts that are brought together coming forth as a productive new entity. I am still looking into this as I think it will have a bearing on the overall purpose of salat. In the context of chapter 87, though, it could mean that remembrance is the result of drawing together constituent elements in order to produce a productive whole.
Please let me know your thoughts on this as it is something I have only just started looking into recently.
Imraan
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Peace,
The purpose of salat as bringing others closer to God occurs in a passage that starts at 973 and continues on to verse 110.
973-110(103)
The comparison between the believers and the hypocrites continues with special reference to their respective willingness or unwillingness to go out in the cause of God (v.73-102). Never cause salat to the hypocrites (v.84). The types of Arabs are contrasted; those that take what they spend as a fine and wait for evil to turn on the believers (v.9 and those who consider what they spend and the salat of the messenger as bringing them closer to God (v.99). Those who mixed good with evil and acknowledged their fault should have their sadaqat accepted by the messenger and he should cause their salat because his salat will bring them peace (v.103). The masjid built on ?dirar?, ?kufr? and disuniting the believers should not be upheld by the believers (v.107-110).We see here that the salat is specific to the messenger. What does this mean? We could view it as being particular to Muhammad, though I think this unlikely considering the universal message of the Quran. It certainly referred to him at the time, but I think that it makes more sense to view it as the salat of any messenger at any time. How does this salat bring others closer to God?
We notice that further on the salat of the messenger brings peace to others. How does the salat of the messenger bring peace to others? This was discussed under the second purpose of salat. Below are some additional thoughts on the purpose of salat under discussion as well as those relating to bringing peace and tranquillity to others.
Do the answers to the two questions above lie in salat taking place between people or should we be looking at how salat for remembrance of God or any other purpose bring about closeness to God or peace for others.
Unity in truth is also an important component of the context of this passage.
Whatever the conclusions drawn, the fact is that the salat of the messenger must be capable of bringing OTHERS closer to God.
These are some of my thoughts on a purpose of salat being brining of others closer to God.
What are your thoughts?
Imraan
