Hi all, I'm pretty new to Islam, but since I've decided to dedicate my life to Allah I've been very happy. I've been trying to figure out my stance on things especially salat. I've been reading articles for it and against on this and many other sites. My personal opinion is that salat has nothing to do with the formalized, ritual prayer that many people perform. Coming from a Catholic background I know that just because one does the actions and says the words of a formal prayer doesn't make it any more potent than a heartfelt call to Allah. I've not read all of the Qur'an but out of all the verses I've seen that have to do with salat don't mention anything about what the actual formula for prayer is which, for me would be the strongest case for it. Can anyone show me evidence otherwise? I'd really appreciate it as it would help me to finally put my mind to rest.