Arabic in Salat
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Peace be upon you all .....
I am a convert of approximately 7 years although it has been a difficult and slow upward battle for me as a lifelong "freethinker". I came to Islam initially due to the inaccuracies of the Bible and the clear message of the Qu'ran which quickly became much of the same confusion I experienced with Christianity with the introduction of hadith (authentic hadith/weak hadith .... hadith that just did not make sense!!). I was "in and out" of Islam for years! Then I met my husband who was a perfect embodiment of "liberal sunni" Islam. Many things became clear to me and I gained footing on the path of sunni Islam.
The problem I have is this; I pray faithfully as I learned to do in the sunni circle and the problem is that the more I learn the more I am finding road-blocks. This is why I set out to find this group. I am truly a truth seeker and wish to be a true submitter for the sake of Allah alone without giving a thought to being a slave of man. From the beginning I was taught that I must pray in arabic. At first it is an interesting "ritual" that I was learning and that kept me going, then it became more of a "I dont know what I am saying or doing but I HAVE to do it this way so I will" obligatory sequence of acts I performed. Now it has degenerated into an almost ..... resentment ..... why would non-arabic speakers HAVE to pray ONLY in a language they dont understand? When I pray at the masjid sometimes I see others crying during a particular ayat .. I feel nothing. AND YET I AM A DEEPLY SPIRITUAL PERSON. This is because I dont understand anything. To learn arabic at this point of my life to become fluent in it and to discipher colloquial arabic which is even difficult for native arabic speakers is not really reasonable.
The thing is I believe in Islam, I submit to Allah, BUT I find that the Islam I have been practicing instead of bringing me closer to Allah has only made me feel ..... alot of nothing. And I KNOW that the dogma of the hadith and the conservative crusaders of sunni/salafi/hanafi or whatever sect they are supporting is in my heart of hearts totally contradictory to the real Islamic message. The problem is ... where do I belong now? How do I feel spiritual in my pursuit of spirituality?
My husband and I are both students and humanitarian aid workers. He is an infectious disease specialist and is currently away in Asia working on an AIDS crisis. When he returns I want to "open our eyes" so that we can start pursuing a higher level of true spirituality together. I know he is of higher wisdom and thinking. I know his inner truth will respond. The only other thing I worry about is this I did hijab about 1 and 1/2 years ago because I thought according to sunni thinking that it was mandantory and after the birth of our first child that it was "time" for me to go forward with this step. My husband NEVER asked me to do this but I do know that it made him proud. But I have hated it ever since but continue to do it because I think it shows my solidarity with the greater ummah and makes a dawah based upon my actions as a moderate and humanitarian person. HOWEVER ... as a convert it has caused me great distress and as a working woman has caused me great problems and furthermore I have always been very athletic and I find that I can no longer do the things I love with hijab due to its total ridiculousness or extreme heat. This has caused me tremendous depression. Although my husband is my greatest friend .... I fear that if I tell him that I cannot do the traditional hijab it will disappoint him so much. He LOVES to see me in hijab. Can I be true to my own questions and emotions over loving my husband too much??? Please if anyone can help me in this .......
May Allah bless you in seeking truth ...
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Peace be upon you and welcome
I believe the method of salaat is not important at all. The purpose of salaat is much more important. Remember God doesn't need anyone, so anything we're asked to do would be for our own benefit, correct?
Basically do whatever kind of salaat you want that helps you feel closer with God. Meditation is a great example. In a language you'd understand would be helpful.
2945 Recite what is inspired to you of the Scripture, and hold the Connection (salaat), for the Connection (salaat) prohibits evil and vice; but certainly the remembrance of God is the greatest. God knows everything you do
Remembrance of God invokes our Good side and protects us from evil. That is the most important objective.
Take everybody's opinions as 'grains of salt' and find out what makes you whole.
Good luck.
peace
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Peace and welcome Melanie!
As already said, salat can be conducted in your native tongue, any language it be. Reciting in a language that one cannot understand should not be done. That is why God says "do not be intoxicated during salat, so you know what you are saying."
I hope to see more of your posts!
Peace
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don't I feel like a moron brickwall
hey- one can still keep the conversation going. )
as for salat- i make time to pray five times a day, and tend to mix arabic and english in salat, as well as personal adorations or du'as in english. i do think that it pleases God when our prayers mean more to us. then there is connection between us and Allah, instead of a wall.
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Surely, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth understands all languages and beyond.
If we want to get nearer to Him, it's logical to stop putting barriers in between.
We want to thank, praise, glorify Him, ask Him for help - express it to Him.
May God Guide.
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As Salaamu Alaykum..
When a person prays, they should pray in the langauge they understand. That fosters a connection between one's self and the Creator of the Boundless Universes. When one however performs Salaat, they need to be a bit more cautious. The suwrahs revealed in Al Quraan were revealed in Arabic. Whereas we may attempt to translate the "meaning" of the chapters into english, it is at best an approximation. We should be diligent in maintaing the portions of Salaat that require chanting from Al Quraan in its language of revelation. Of course one may read the words in english as they recite, or say it in english afterwards.
Some Muslims have been brainwashed into believing Arabic is al lisaanatul Firdaus, or the langauge of the highest heavens. It is not. With the coming of the prophet/Apostle Abraham (2078 bce-1903 bce) and his two children (Ishmael/Isaac) was the formation of both syriac (Ishmael/ which gave birth to arabic) and aramic (Isaac/which gave birth to hebrew) from Abraham's mother tongue which was Akkadian as a citizen of Ur of the Chaldees. Arbaic while being a beautiful langauge, is nothing more than a descendant of Akkadian.
Wishing peace to all,
Latif -
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Salat is not recital of the ayats in arabic/english/french
But it is Rehearsal of the ayats in real life.Before you rehearse, meditate upon the essence of the ayats
And Allah reveals its nature and turns your heart to the righteousnessFollow Allah. so follow your conscience and satisfy It/Him
Practising this in all your affairs; all through your life is SalatHere is the ayat
"Follow what has been revealed to you from your God and do not follow imams/mullahs/ulema besides Him, how little do you mind."