Can we be misguided and how?
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peace everyone
i still feel the same way that servant does about salat. I used to do it the sunni way, and sometimes it did bring me great peace.
The reason for that, and i'm pretty sure i know it, was that i believed i had done something good. I had devoted my time and energy to God. That's why i felt good. I knew that if i performed the ritual, God would solve my problems and set everything straight.
And the reason that only happened somtimes is because other times i only did it because i had to. The intent wasn't there. I wasn't doing it to be close to God, i was just doing it because i had to.
So that feeling of peace wasn't because of that ritual, but because of me knowing that i had been close to God and God is there to help me no matter what.
so in the end, i dont think salat has to be somthing physical (like bowing down and reciting arabic words), it could just be like taking some time away from our everyday lives to admire the natural beauty of this world.
Or something like that. Anything that would bring us closer to God.But doing these things probably won't have the effect that ritual salat has because we don't have that strong belief in them that we had on the ritual.
the 'fact' that ritual salat brings 'peace' is ingrained in our minds, and it'll be hard to get rid of it.