Taking Salaat as commitment/link and 4:101-102
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Peace all.
As many of us have and probably currently are, I'm trying to research the salat issue. What makes most sense to me is to take it to mean commitment/link/bond in the sense that we uphold the commitments of the system day and night through various avenues (as laid out in the Qur'an) so that we may purify ourselves and grow (zakat). It is not taken to mean "prayer" as in the traditional sense, which is what "dua" is supposed to denote. This is what makes most sense to me at the moment.
I still have some questions, however. I want to make sure my interpretation is in line with the Qur'an. With that said, I want to ask those of you who think salat merely means commitment/link/bond to give a consistent interpretation of 4101-102. I'm anxious to see what you all think
4101-102 Wa-itha darabtum fee al-ardi falaysa AAalaykum junahun an taqsuroo mina alssalati in khiftum an yaftinakumu allatheena kafaroo inna alkafireena kanoo lakum AAaduwwan mubeenan Wa-itha kunta feehim faaqamta lahumu alssalata faltaqum ta-ifatun minhum maAAaka walya/khuthoo aslihatahum fa-itha sajadoo falyakoonoo min wara-ikum walta/ti ta-ifatun okhra lam yusalloo falyusalloo maAAaka walya/khuthoo hithrahum waaslihatahum wadda allatheena kafaroo law taghfuloona AAan aslihatikum waamtiAAatikum fayameeloona AAalaykum maylatan wahidatan wala junaha AAalaykum in kana bikum athan min matarin aw kuntum marda an tadaAAoo aslihatakum wakhuthoo hithrakum inna Allaha aAAadda lilkafireena AAathaban muheenan
4101-102 And when you journey in the earth, there is no blame on you if you shorten the prayer, if you fear that those who disbelieve will cause you distress, surely the unbelievers are your open enemy. And when you are among them and keep up the prayer for them, let a party of them stand up with you, and let them take their arms; then when they have prostrated themselves let them go to your rear, and let another party who have not prayed come forward and pray with you, and let them take their precautions and their arms; (for) those who disbelieve desire that you may be careless of your arms and your luggage, so that they may then turn upon you with a sudden united attack, and there is no blame on you, if you are annoyed with rain or if you are sick, that you lay down your arms, and take your precautions; surely Allah has prepared a disgraceful chastisement for the unbelievers.
It does seem like these verses are in line with "prayer."
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peace
what is ablution for then?
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Peace ik
That is perhaps another question of mine, for another thread. Stay tuned.
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Peace all,
7531 For he did not believe nor support (salla).
7532 But he denied and turned away (tawalla).From 7531-32, the basic meaning of "salla" is to "go/turn towards" as it is contrasted/compared to "went/turned away". Please see the following link for details about the understanding of "salat"
http//mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/think-786/slw.htm
The word used for "prayer" in al-qur'aan is "dua".
In my understanding, "salat" is a "learning connection/link" formed between two parties, the one teaching and the one learning. For example a teacher can form a learning connection/link with the student, so a teacher can "salloo" a student, or a student can form a learning connection/link with the teacher, so a student can "salloo" a teacher.
When we are asked to "aqeemu al-salat" for Allah, we are being asked to establish a learning connection/link with Allah by oration/recitation of Allah's revelations and remembering Him. In 4101-102 this meaning of "learning connection" fits perfectly. NOWHERE is "salat" = prayer.
The meaning of "salat" = "commitment" is weak at best and is refuted by 4101-102 and the verses mentioning timings of "salat" and using moderate tone in "salat".
In my understanding the "ablution" before "salat" is to remind ourselves of our origins from water and earthly elements (in case of tayammam) by bringing ourselves in close contact with them.
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Salaams all,
So how do make a connection or something.
thanks.
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Peace simple,
Maybe you did not read my post completely ?
When we are asked to "aqeemu al-salat" for Allah, we are being asked to establish a learning connection/link with Allah by oration/recitation of Allah's revelations and remembering Him.
To add to that, the oration/recitation of Allah's revelations and His remembrance is at specific times, in a moderate tone, followed by humble obedience of Allah (physical and mental).
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peace CD,
Please see
http//www.free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=3896.0###########
peace Simple,
So how do make a connection or something.
Good question. Forget the apparent religious context of this question. Base your answer on your own life-experience. How does one make a connection to anything? Ponder on this for a while and then just apply your answer to God, see what you come up with.
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Salaamun alaikum,
Caveman, in my experience, it's always a good thing to go back to the start of the passage itself. In this case, 4/94 begins with 'o ye who believe' and prepares a mindset for the reader to carry forward into the passage. To me, this passage is about expeditionary strategies of those who believe. 4/101-102 therefore is coloured thus and says to me that God wants us to shorten our salaat and take our precautions while we're establishing it.
The idea that 'as-salaat' is something constant doesn't fit Quranic context. There's a phrase 'fa idha qadhaitum as-salaat' / when you have decided/executed/fulfilled as-salaat in that passage itself.
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Peace be upon you,
The idea that 'as-salaat' is something constant doesn't fit Quranic context.
I agree. There is also the verse regarding private time which gives us the phrases "before dawn salaat and after dusk salaat".
This issue of salat=committment does not work and it may be that some are just exhausted of thr research, but we must continue. Salaat deals with memory and change, so we have to look at psychology to find out what is responsible for memory.
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Peace all. I think that salat can be done at any time...There could have been specific times for salat when the quran was revealed,which were appropriate for the people of the time....I think salat is the link to reality/god/truth,and can be accomplished by meditation,pondering,studying,reading etc...Whichever is best for the time/circumstance/situation,and the individual concerned...the goal of salat is to come to 'zakat',or purifucation,which is an abscence of illusionary thinking/harmful behaviour.(29;45.) The salat should also lead to moral/humanistic behaviour.( see surah 107.)
Peace all. ps;one should examine the contents and context of relevant verses,and see whether those verses are referring to a 'specific' time/context related incident(ie not applicable today,or only applicable symbolically.) or refer to universal 'timeless' rules/morality. -
peace enquirer,
About time i disagree.
Salaat is the process of emptying the HEART from SELF and pouring GOD's image in that empty-ness.
It needs peace and its proper time. One can pray all the times and be in an upload or state of rememberance while the car is running, but for salaat the car needs to get parked first!peace
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peace
I believe salaat is meditation. Which i think is the best explanation because that also explains the ablution (kind of) and specific times. And even fasting if what i've heard about Buddhist monks fasting to help their meditation is true.
But i guess it is just about connecting to god and whatever helps one do that can be considered salaat.
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Salaams Br,
why can't it be so simple as the ayah says
listen to all views, then follow the best. These are the ones guided by God.
Listen to whose views?isn't it views of other believers?Isn't salat just for guidance
?Recite what is inspired to thou of the Scripture, and uphold the Salat; for the Salat prohibits evil and vice, and the remembrance of God is the greatest. God knows everything you do.? (The Message 2945)
?They said ?O Shu?ayb, is it your advice/argument/mission/petition/debate that we leave what our fathers served, or that we do not do with our money as we please? You are the compassionate, the sane!?? (The Message 1187)
But the only way to recieve guidance is like 3918 said
..........who listen to all views, then follow the best. These are the ones guided by God; these are the intelligent ones.
Just look at the most successful companies/countries to see their approach do they carry out some sort of mental connections with their gods or do they simple listen to different points of views and choose the best as that is the guidance from the All-Mighty , as said in 3918.
To me salaat is just opinions/advice/views/missions/petitions of individuals or a group
Which can be passed on in a group form or individually-as 3918.God Bless.
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Hi,
The question of ?salat? is an important one as it is a central part in islam.
From what I can see so far, the various findings have narrowed the explanation of this down to something that has to do with ?learning?, ?connection?, ?concentration? and ?commitment?.
Could we understand it as something like ?concentrate (commit) and open your mind to learn/understand islam (or the system of God)??
Regds
Ali Omar
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Peace all
alpha
the car needs to get parked first!i have exactly the same understanding, this is why i adopted the two (and not three) salat understanding. i only really profit from my "salat sessions" (reciting and reading quran, talking to god, unfortunately i don't yet know how to meditate) when i get the right circonstances. Actually mostly fajr (with kids still asleep), maghreb being more difficult as there's too much motion around me
But these are specific times. Salat, in another form where the 'obligation' sens its better, has to be upheld all the time to the best of our ability.
elke
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Peace,
Elke, if you want i can send you pdf books about meditation.....
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Peace all. I think the answers to; 'what is salat'?,are well explained in this current thread...I think its a general or 'umbrella' term,which can be practiced in many different,individual ways(reading,meditating,praying,studying etc).....I think its very important that the salat actually leads to postive behaviour changes,and is not pursued as just an end in itself,or ritualised.
Parveez,tolu-e-islam,dr shabbir,aideed safar,and many posters on free-minds have also shed a lot of light on this topic...Note most 'religions' have a common theme of 'meditation/praying....Even 'secular' systems advocate meditation in the form of 'thinking',studying scientifically,reasoning,or rationalisation..
.Linguistically,salat being a 'link'/connection/reaching out to reality/truth/god seems to fit...All humans (and all creatures?) do salat...,but the benficial salat is that which leads to constant rational moral behaviour.('tazkiya' or purification,...see surah 107 for non-beneficial salat..)
Peace all. -
EnquirerLinguistically,salat being a 'link'/connection/reaching out to reality/truth/god seems to fit...All humans (and all creatures?) do salat...,but the benficial salat is that which leads to constant rational moral behaviour.('tazkiya' or purification,...see surah 107 for non-beneficial salat..)
Would you mind explaining how you formulated 'salat' to mean a 'link out to reality/truth/god' ? What im after is the mechanics of how you acquired that meaning.
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Peace mquran. Salat being 'link'/connection/reaching/follow closely, is contrasted with 'tawalla'(or turning away.) in the quran...'Link'/connection etc... generally also fits in the different contexts,and with some dictionary definitions of the word salat...
Reality/truth/god is my understanding of the word 'allah'...Allah=reality....I will try to discuss and clarify this idea in a seperate thread,or in the thread containing my glossary,when i have time...
Peace all.
