5 Prayers From Quran (in fever /against)
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Peace maxq, all,
Thank you brother maxq for the kind words.
Actually, in my opinion, Salah has nothing to do with ritual worship or even contact...
5016 Now indeed, it is We Who have created man and We know the whispering that goes on within his mind (all the intricacies of his thought process), for, We are nearer to him than his Vena cava.
If He knows what we think and feel, explain why would He ask for us to physically bow and prostrate?
Maybe the ritual (and I hesitate to call it Salah) can be used as a tool to satisfy our human-limited idea of God, but certainly not if we are to follow the Quran. Quran urges us to be people of action. Each of our actions should demonstrate service to God, which in itself is "Ibaadah"... Please explain how would a ritual prayer be of any practical benefit to humanity in the long run? What kind of God demands ritual worship? Does He need reassurance by us that He is God? He would already know how we feel about Him by probing our hearts and minds...
Very well said brother maxq and I agree with the underlying wisdom in your post above. Having said that, I wanted to express my own thoughts on this topic which are in no way final and are open to refinement/improvement.
Allah does not need our service, submission, obedience etc.; they are for our own benefit.
Allah does not need our salat WHETHER PHYSICAL OR MENTAL; it is for our own benefit.
Allah does not need our ruku or sujood, WHETHER PHYSICAL OR MENTAL, to know how we think or feel; they are for our own benefit.
Salat does have mental AND physical components as is clear from al-qur'aan.
Ruku (humility) and sujood (obedience) do have mental AND physical components as is clear from al-qur'aan. The usage of the word "kharra/fall down" before ruku and sujood in some places in al-qur'aan e.g. 17107, 17109, 3824 is clear evidence that at least SOMETIMES the ruku and sujood CAN BE physical in addition to mental, especially in 17107 where the believers are asked to fall down on their CHINS in prostration "yakhirroona lil-athqani sujjadan". Furthermore the physical ruku has to be kneeling as per al-qur'aan as one cannot fall down bowing, and the physical sujood is on the chins according to al-qur'aan. Of course the ruku and sujood always have the mental component. Thus in my understanding,
RUKU and SUJOOD = ALWAYS MENTAL according to qur'aanic context
RUKU and/or SUJOOD = SOMETIMES PHYSICAL in addition to mental, depending on context.
As I see it, the physical component is not because Allah needs to be worshipped or for Him to know how we think or feel, BUT FOR OUR OWN BENEFIT. The physical component REINFORCES the mental component for ourselves; it reinforces and aids in the programming of our nafs/soul and solidifying our mental/neuronal pathways of humility and obedience so that we are able to walk the straight path and do good deeds in a better/best manner (it improves our CONDITIONED POSITIVE RESPONSES).
An analogy is when someone is learning how to play chess. One can go over all the moves and resultant board positions mentally only. On the other hand, one can move the actual pieces physically as well as go over the moves mentally, which will enable one to learn more efficiently, especially when one is not an advanced chess player yet. Now some grandmasters can play the whole game mentally only but to reach that grandmaster position they had to play those moves physically also on a chessboard at the initial stages !
This is just an expression of my present understanding and thoughts on this complicated subject and I am not trying to engage in a debate on this topic. The reader is advised to do his own research on this topic from al-qur'aan and verify it for oneself as per 1736.
Peace
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salaam,
this is from a non-RK translation that people may find less 'distorted' or, to be objective, closer to the original arabic. this translation is done by Dr. AR Fazely, who knew RK, saw some shortcomings, and wanted to more closely follow the arabic in his translation. i use the same verses as the original poster, because they are the salat-addressing verses ).
- dawn prayer
20130 Therefore, be patient in the face of their utterances, and glorify and praise your Lord, before sunrise and before sunset and also glorify during the night and during the day that He may be pleased.
- noon/middle prayer
2238 Remember the contact prayers, as well as the middle prayer and rise up for God humbly.
- afternoon (declining sun) prayer
1778 Observe the contact prayer when the sun starts its decline from the highest point in the sky towards the darkness of the night, and read the Quran at dawn, indeed the reading of the Quran at dawn is witnessed.
- sunset prayer
20130 again, and 5039 Therefore, be patient with their utterances and glorify and praise your Lord before sunrise and before sunset (this is the other "end" of daylight, along with dawn)
- night prayer
3018 And to Him belongs praise in the skies and the land and in the dark of the night and in the middle of the daylight.
wakas, you may like this translation of 1778 better than RK's. i am still learning arabic but i think it may be more accurate.
being people whose hearts are wide open to submission, we can volunteer to do more than the required number of prayers, no? even 5 prayers takes only about 10 minutes of reverence. the angels and the whole universe glorify and praise God constantly. this is truth. isn't that what we are here for?
also, God does not spell everything out in the Quran. yes, the necessary details and everything we need are included. but does He tell the women the exact number of inches below the knee to wear their skirt? no. it's because He tells us He endowed us with common sense; we should use that too, God willing.
peace,
farah -
Salaam Farah, all,
First of all welcome to the forum welcome
i use the same verses as the original poster, because they are the salat-addressing verses
No, not all of them are salat addressing verses.
When al-qur'aan mentions salaat to be upheld the phrase "AQIMI AL-SALAT" is used, not glorify (sabih) or praise (hamd) or remember (uzkur), or call (udu'u) or any other imperative. Of course "salaat" is for Allah's remembrance and praise but is not the only way of remembering and praising Allah and is also more than just praise and glorification of Allah. We can remember and praise Allah many times a day but lets try to find out how many times a day we are advised to uphold "salaat". When Allah tells us about the timings and names of "salaat", He clearly uses the word "salaat" in the verse, and not "praise" or "remembrance".
Thus we cannot use 20130 or 3018 to determine timing of salat.
2963 and 3125 are clear proof that praise of Allah can be done outside salat
2963 And if you ask them "Who sends down water from the sky, thus reviving the land after its death?" They will Say "God," Say "Praise be to God." But most of them do not understand.
3125 And if you ask them "Who created the heavens and the Earth?" They will Say "God." Say "Praise be to God." Yet, most of them do not know.Here the Prophet is praising Allah while in a conversation with the rejecters and not during salat.
3533 They will enter the gardens of Eden, where they will be adorned with bracelets of gold and pearls, and their garments in it will be of silk.
3534 And they will Say "Praise be to God who took away our sorrow. Our Lord is Forgiving, Appreciative."3973 And those who reverenced their Lord will be driven to Paradise in groups. When they reach it, and its gates are opened, its guards will say to them "Peace be upon you. You have done well, so enter to abide herein."
3974 And they said "Praise be to God who has fulfilled His promise to us, and He made us inherit the Earth, enjoying Paradise as we please. What a beautiful recompense for the workers!"Here the residents of Paradise are praising Allah after entering it, obviously not while upholding salat.
425 The heavens would nearly shatter from above them, and the Angels praise the glory of their Lord, and they ask forgiveness for those on Earth. Surely, God is the Forgiver, the Merciful.
To my knowledge, nowhere in al-qur'aan are angels mentioned as upholding salat but they praise Allah, thus praising Allah can be done outside salat.
5248 You shall be patient for the judgement of your Lord, for you are in Our sights; and glorify the praise of your Lord when you rise.
This is another proof that praise is not necessarily same as salat. We are being asked to praise Allah when we rise. Now one can rise before dawn or immediately after sunrise; does that mean that there is a required salat before dawn or immediately after sunrise ? One can however praise Allah at anytime even when one is not upholding salat.
- dawn prayer
It is not dawn prayer but dawn salat. For prayer Allah uses the word "du'a", so dawn prayer would be "du'a al-fajr" and not "salat al-fajr". The dawn salat is mentioned as "salat al-fajr" in al-qur'aan.
- noon/middle prayer
2238 Remember the contact prayers, as well as the middle prayer and rise up for God humbly.
"salat al-wusta" in the context of 2238 cannot mean "the middle prayer" but can only mean "the best/balanced/moderate salat". I will re-quote from my post above
"In my understanding there is no such thing as the "middle" prayer in al-qur'aan. That is the wrong translation of "salat al-wusta" which means "best/balanced/moderate salat" in the context of 2238 and al-qur'aan as a whole. According to 2238 Allah wants us to uphold all our salaats in the best/balanced/moderate manner.
Firstly, which salat would be the "middle" salat ? If there are 3 salats x, y and z then depending on which one is the first or initial salat would determine the middle salat. For example if x is the first or initial salat then y would be the middle salat, but if y is the first salat then z would be the middle one, and if z is the first salat then x would be the middle one.
Allah never leaves something vague as al-qur'aan is clear and detailed. I challenge anyone to give qur'aanic evidence as to which salat is CLEARLY the first salat and which salat is CLEARLY the "middle" salat according to al-qur'aan. If the middle salat is so important as to be mentioned separately in 2238 then Allah should have clearly told us which salat He is talking about as the middle salat and not leave it unclear and up to guess work.
Secondly, in 2238 when it says protect the salats in the beginning of the verse, that logically includes ALL salats and then it is redundant to say AND the middle salat, if the middle salat is a separate salat, because the word salats in the beginning of the verse automatically includes the middle salat as well IF THERE IS INDEED A MIDDLE SALAT. That logically proves that by "salat al-wusta" Allah does not mean a separate middle salat but is giving a descriptive property of how ALL our salats should be, i.e. the best/balanced/moderate salat, meaning that all our salats should be upheld in the best/balanced/moderate manner.
Thirdly, if one studies the usage of all the words derived from the root WST in al-qur'aan one finds that the meaning "middle" does not fit in any of those usages but the meaning best/balanced/moderate fits in those occurrences. Thus in 2238 "wusta" cannot mean middle because of the logical contradiction presented in the second paragraph above, and can only mean "best/balanced/moderate" as per context of that verse and the usage of similar words throughout al-qur'aan.
Please also refer to following links for explanation of what "salat al-wusta" means in context of 2238
http//www.free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=6028.msg92976#msg92976
http//www.free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=1171.0 (this link has a comprehensive forum discussion/debate on salat al-wusta)
http//www.free-minds.org/contact.htm"
- afternoon (declining sun) prayer
1778 Observe the contact prayer when the sun starts its decline from the highest point in the sky towards the darkness of the night, and read the Quran at dawn, indeed the reading of the Quran at dawn is witnessed.
"Dulook" means "declination" or "rubbing"; it does not mean "when the sun starts its decline from the highest point in sky". Declination could be at any time during the sun's movement from the highest point; so which exact time of declination is Allah referring to ?
In my understanding it is the time when the sun is both "declining" and "rubbing at the horizon" at the time of sunset which fulfils BOTH meanings of "dulook". Thus "li dulook al-shams" in 1778 can only mean "from the rubbing of the sun at the horizon and declination at the time of its setting".
Thus the time for salat according to 1778 would be from the declination and rubbing of the sun at the horizon to the darkness of the night, which would be dusk.
- sunset prayer
20130 again, and 5039 Therefore, be patient with their utterances and glorify and praise your Lord before sunrise and before sunset (this is the other "end" of daylight, along with dawn)
I hope you don't mind but this is a bit funny. Do you mean to say that the "sunset salaat" is BEFORE SUNSET ? ;D
being people whose hearts are wide open to submission, we can volunteer to do more than the required number of prayers, no? even 5 prayers takes only about 10 minutes of reverence. the angels and the whole universe glorify and praise God constantly. this is truth. isn't that what we are here for?
We are trying to find the required number of SALAAT not required number of PRAYERS (DU'A). I still agree with you that one can perform voluntary salaat as many times as one wants. That is not, however, what we are trying to find out. We are trying to find out how many times muslims/mumins are REQUIRED or OBLIGATED to perform/uphold salaat according to al-qur'aan.
Thus for example according to 7626
7626 And from the night you shall prostrate to Him and praise Him throughout.
This verse is asking us to praise Allah THROUGHOUT the night; DOES THAT MEAN WE SHOULD NOT SLEEP AT ALL DURING THE NIGHT ?
Tanveer
