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Salah in Qur'an

Union

Well-Known Member
Dear brother,

Please inform us how can you decide on the number of 'Rak'a' عدد الركعات of the ritual prayer from the Quran alone?

With Respect.

Actually I didn't finish the whole article . There are few more threads to be posted , then you can get the total picture of Salah from the Qur'an . Your question would be answered in right place and right time , inshALLAH .

I really sorry not to post them all together . I am extremely time constrained now a days ..:eek:
 

Union

Well-Known Member
The Purpose of Salah

[006:162] Say, `My Salat and my sacrifice and my life and my death are all for ALLAH, the Lord of the worlds;

[20:14]"I am God, there is no god except Me, so serve Me and hold the Salat for My remembrance."

[29:45]Recite what is inspired to you of the Book and hold the Salat, for the Salat prohibits evil and vice; but certainly the remembrance of God is the greatest. God knows everything you do.”

The above verses confirm the fact that Salah is only for GOD , the Almighty , and the only purpose of Salah is to commemorate HIM . This in turns nullify the validity of reciting Attahiaytu , Darud etc. in commemoration of Prophet Muhammad and his family , Prophet Abraham and his family etc and the salutation to the angels and people sited at right and left.
 

Union

Well-Known Member
Names and Timings of Salah

Now we will, InshALLAH, discuss the important form of Salah , i.e., the ritual Prayer , which should be performed in fixed time of a day . God , the Almighty instructs :

[004:103] When ye pass (Congregational) prayers, celebrate God's praises, standing, sitting down, or lying down on your sides; but when ye are free from danger, set up Regular Prayers: For such prayers are enjoined on believers at stated times.

The Arabic word ‘Kitaba’ used in 4:103 means decreed and also can mean book and ‘Maqwootan’ is meaning timed . Hence according to verse 4:103 , the Salat can be defined as ‘timed book’ . Why we give a stress on this type of unusual translation of the word , ‘Kitaban Maqwootan’ because there is a very strong relation of reciting Qur’an in Salah in the specific time mentioned in Qur’an . This will be vivid inshALLAH , in right place we are going to discuss about it .

01.Names and numbers of Salah :

It is really an instrument of test to search whether the Salah names mentioned are align with the its timing in Qur’an . If somehow , Qur’an would mention X number(s) of names of Salah and Y different time(s) of Salah , it would indeed be an incoherence . Let us see.

[024:058] O you who believe! let those whom your right hands possess and those of you who have not attained to puberty ask permission of you three times; before the morning prayer (Salatul Fajr), and when you put off your clothes at midday in summer, and after the prayer of the nightfall(Salatul Isha); these are three times of privacy for you; neither is it a sin for you nor for them besides these, some of you must go round about (waiting) upon others; thus does Allah make clear to you the communications, and Allah is Knowing, Wise.

[002:238] Carefully observe the appointed prayers, and the middle prayer(Salatul Wusta), and be assiduous therein, with devotion towards God.

In the whole Qur’an , only the above mentioned verses mentioned 03 different names of Salah :

01- Fajr Salah (Dawn Orayer)
02- Isha Salah (Evening/night prayer)
03-Wusta Salah (Middle Prayer)

The first two is related with the daily time of the day while the third one is related to the position , it could be with respect to time and/or with respect to the positions of other Salah .

02.Timing of Salah :


Fajr and Isha are the self-contained explanatory terms which people had been using for thousands years in their practical life from the very primitive age. Even a small boy can tell which one is dawn and which one is evening time by looking at the natural phenomenon of the sky. Even after that ALLAH (swt) , clarified what is the range of these two Salawat .

[011:114] Establish worship at the two ends of the day and in some watches of the night. Lo! good deeds annul ill-deeds. This is reminder for the mindful.

[017:078] Establish worship at the going down of the sun until the dark of night, and (the recital of) the Qur'an at dawn. Lo! (the recital of) the Qur'an at dawn is ever witnessed.

[002:187] It is made lawful for you to go in unto your wives on the night of the fast. They are raiment for you and ye are raiment for them. Allah is Aware that ye were deceiving yourselves in this respect and He hath turned in mercy toward you and relieved you. So hold intercourse with them and seek that which Allah hath ordained for you, and eat and drink until the white thread becometh distinct to you from the black thread of the dawn. Then strictly observe the fast till nightfall and touch them not, but be at your devotions in the mosques. These are the limits imposed by Allah, so approach them not. Thus Allah expoundeth His revelation to mankind that they may ward off (evil).

Verse 11:114 is talking about two timings of salah which are located at the edges of the day , meaning at Dawn and at Dusk . To add further clarification of the length of this period ALLAH (swt) used ‘Zulfa Min Allail’ , meaning ‘ from the closest parts of the night’ . This becomes more clear when taking verse 2:187 for defining Fajr and verse 17:78 for defining Isha . According to 2:187 Fajr starts from the closest part of the night when the white thread is appearing in sky . And as per 17:78 , Isha starts from the rubbing of the sun , i.e., the sunset to closest part of the night when it is completely dark .

Now let us see the timing of Middle (Wusta) Salah . As we have already known that Wusta is not the name of any part of the day , hence ALLAH (swt) must have used this term to define its position and in turns to guide us where this Salah should be suited to . As we have seen that in Qur’an , there mentioned two Salah in terms of time of a day , hence this Wusta Salah must be sited in between them . Now the question is which part of the day? There is no doubt that it is situated between Dawn and Dusk , but to get the range of time , Almighty ALLAH , has guided us with the following noble verses :

[062:009] O true believers, when ye are called to prayer on the day of the assembly, hasten to the commemoration of God, and leave merchandizing. This will be better for you, is ye knew it.

[062:010] And when prayer is ended, then disperse yourselves through the land as ye list, and seek gain of the liberality of God: And remember God frequently, that ye may prosper.

According to the above mentioned verses, there is a Salah in a time of a day when the businesses start with full swing and also there will be enough time after the completion of Salah to disperse for more business . Therefore this time needs to be in somewhere in noon where the business is in peak speed and halfway far to be dark to make enough business again . Also , as per the verse , this special Salah should be in the Day of Jummah (assembly) only , when Muslim will gather in flock . It could be anytime of the week though Muslim now choose to bound it to Friday . Anyway , this is also fine as Almighty ALLAH didn’t restrict it in any specific day .

Hence in conclusion, the names and timing of Salawat are :

01- Fajr Salah : At the beginning of the day – from the first appearance of white thread till the last appearances of black thread in the sky .
02- Isha Salah : At the end of the day – from sunset to the dark of night .
03- Wusta Salah : At the middle of the day , during noon time and at the day of assembly only .
 
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Union

Well-Known Member
Prerequisite of Salah

01.Conscious mind and clean body :

[004:043] O you who believe! do not go near prayer when you are Intoxicated until you know (well) what you say, nor when you are under an obligation to perform a bath -- unless (you are) traveling on the road -- until you have washed yourselves; and if you are sick, or on a journey, or one of you come from the privy or you have touched the women, and you cannot find water, betake yourselves to pure earth, then wipe your faces and your hands; surely Allah is Pardoning, Forgiving.According to the above noble verse one should not even be close to perform Salah while having hazy mind caused by intoxication unless one knows what s/he is reciting in the Salah .

In the next instruction Salah with impure body also prohibited unless somebody does a washing properly except the travelers, the ill person and in a situation when one can find the water for washing the impure . In that case one may can be temporarily pure by wiping faces and hands with clean earth .

02. Ablution :

[005:006] O you who believe! when you rise up to prayer, wash your faces and your hands as far as the elbows, and wipe your heads and your feet to the ankles; and if you are under an obligation to perform a total ablution, then wash (yourselves) and if you are sick or on a journey, or one of you come from the privy, or you have touched the women, and you cannot find water, betake yourselves to pure earth and wipe your faces and your hands therewith, Allah does not desire to put on you any difficulty, but He wishes to purify you and that He may complete His favor on you, so that you may be grateful.Before standing for Salah one should do ablution as follows :

-Washing face
-Washing hands up to the elbows
-Wipe head
-Wipe feet up to ankles .

This is quite natural that when a person will wake up from bed to perform Fajr Salah , s/he should do a ablution as above . Likely, after finishing the work of the day one should undertake the ablution to perform Isha Salah . And obviously as Wusta Salah is just at the middle of the work , one should wash away his dust and greases before set for Salah .

 

Union

Well-Known Member
Salah and reading/learning Qur’an

According to the Qur’an the Salah is all about the reading /reciting/learning/researching GOD’s (swt) revelation. This is emphasized as the main component of Salah throughout the Qur’an. We have ample verses from the Qur’an from different angles to support this fact. InshALLAH the following discussion will be appearing to readers logical, rational and consistent .
Let us start with following noble verse :

[029:045] Recite that which has been revealed to you of the Book and keep up prayer; surely prayer keeps (one) away from indecency and evil, and certainly the remembrance of Allah is the greatest, and Allah knows what you do.

Salah can only keep one person away from vice and evil , if s/he can learn what the listing of forbidden tasks in Qur’an and how to defend oneself from these . That is the reason the verse started with the instruction of reciting Qur’an and then persist the Salah .

In the below verse one is instructed not to approach to Salah intoxicated / with befogged mind :

[004:043] O you who believe! do not go near prayer when you are Intoxicated until you know (well) what you say, nor when you are under an obligation to perform a bath -- unless (you are) travelling on the road -- until you have washed yourselves; and if you are sick, or on a journey, or one of you come from the privy or you have touched the women, and you cannot find water, betake yourselves to pure earth, then wipe your faces and your hands; surely Allah is Pardoning, Forgiving.

The reason is given in the verse that being intoxicated one would not know what he would be saying. A drunken person can do mistakes in any action involved in the Salah but why Almighty ALLAH is only concern about his words in Salah ? Doesn’t this suggest that Salah is all about reciting the Qur’an (ref.29:45) and ALLAH (swt) doesn’t want the musalli to distort HIS revelation becauseof befogged mind?

Now, we got another verse which involves Salah with recitation/reading/saying:

[017:110] Say: Call upon Allah or call upon, the Beneficent God; whichever you call upon, He has the best names; and do not utter your prayer with a very raised voice nor be silent with regard to it, and seek a way between these.

[017:111] And say: (All) praise is due to Allah, Who has not taken a son and Who has not a partner in the kingdom, and Who has not a helper to save Him from disgrace; and proclaim His greatness magnifying (Him).

The verse instructs us not to raise our voice in Salah loudly nor keep it silent rather suggested us to use a middle course. The verse gave us a hints of reciting the verse of Qur’an (17.111) and/or call ALLAH (swt) in HIS beautiful names in Salah . This verse also suggests that Salah is all about recitation , with of course a middle tone .

Let us look at the following verse:

[019:058] These are they on whom Allah bestowed favors, from among the prophets of the seed of Adam, and of those whom We carried with Nuh, and of the seed of Ibrahim and Israel, and of those whom We guided and chose; when the communications of the Beneficent God were recited to them, they fell down making obeisance and weeping.

[019:059] But there came after them an evil generation, who neglected/distorted prayers and followed and sensual desires, so they win meet perdition,

Verse 19.58 is in praise of some of ALLAH’s (swt) prophets and one of their quality is given that they fell prostate as a symbol of acknowledgment when HIS revelations were recited in front them . The immediate next verse 19.59, conjuncts with ‘Fa’ (then/But) , as to predict the continuation of the subject of verse 58 , rolling over to verse 59 , says that the latter generation had distorted the Salah and followed their own desires as they liked . That means the latter generation didn’t pay heed to the revelation of GOD, the Almighty, and instead of following the commands of GOD as revealed , they followed their own desires . This simply implies that learning/acknowledging GOD’s , The Almighty, revelation is Salah .

In verse 24.58, we have seen that there is a Salah in dawn (Fajr), and then we find the following verse which is instructing to recite Qur’an at Fajr :

[017:078] Keep up prayer from the declining of the sun till the darkness of the night and the Qur’an at dawn, as it is witnessed.

Hence , Salat Al Fajr = Recitation of Qur’an in Fajr.

The following verse is suggesting a strong link between preaching the community with revelation of GOD, the Almighty , which in turns is resulted to be persisting the Salah :

[006:091] And they do not assign to Allah the attributes due to Him when they say: Allah has not revealed anything to a mortal. Say: Who revealed the Book which Musa brought, a light and a guidance to men, which you make into scattered writings which you show while you conceal much? And you were taught what you did not know, (neither) you nor your fathers. Say: Allah then leave them sporting in their vain discourses.

[006:092] And this is a Book We have revealed, blessed, verifying that which is before it, and that you may warn the metropolis and those around her; and those who believe in the hereafter believe in it, and they attend to their prayers constantly.

The following verse is really very remarkable in this regard:

[008:035] And their prayer before the House is nothing but whistling and clapping ; taste then the chastisement, for you disbelieved.

The above verse has depicted the distorted Salah of the disbelievers. Interestingly whistling and clapping are just noises and can disturb if somebody is saying something meaningful in Salah . Therefore it gives a clue that the real Salah is wholly an acoustic presentation and they wanted to distort it by whistling and clapping.

Now we will see ample verses where recitation of Qur’an and performing Salah are linked closely:

[007:170] And (as for) those who hold fast by the Book and keep up prayer, surely We do not waste the reward of the right doers.

[035:029] Surely they who recite the Book of Allah and keep up prayer and spend out of what We have given them secretly and openly, hope for a gain which will not perish.

[073:020] Surely your Lord knows that you pass in prayer nearly two-thirds of the night, and (sometimes) half of it, and (sometimes) a third of it, and (also) a party of those with you; and Allah measures the night and the day. He knows that you are not able to do it, so He has turned to you (mercifully), therefore read what is easy of the Quran. He knows that there must be among you sick, and others who travel in the land seeking of the bounty of Allah, and others who fight in Allah's way, therefore read as much of it as is easy (to you), and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and offer to Allah a goodly gift, and whatever of good you send on beforehand for yourselves, you will find it with Allah; that is best and greatest in reward; and ask forgiveness of Allah; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

The discussion above supports strongly the fact that Salah is all about the learning connection of Qur’an . This is made compulsory at the timings mentioned in previous post. Hence we have to learn/teach Qur’an at least twice daily (in Fajr and Isha Salah) and in the day , when we have assembly . That is the reason it is quite reasonable to translate ‘Kitaban Maqwootan’ in verse 4.103 as the ‘Timed Book’ :

[4.103] ..Salat upon the believers is ‘Timed Book’.
 

Union

Well-Known Member
[FONT=&quot]Salah and Sujood (prostration)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]There is deep relation between Salah and Sujood in Qur’an . The root of sujood is Siin-Jiim-Dal means lowly, humble, submissive, worship, adore, prostrate, make obeisance, lower/bend oneself down towards the ground, lower the head, to salute/honour/magnify, to pay respect, to stand up, to look contentedly and tranquilly etc. In qur’an this word occurs to depict both physical and mental submission. But the metal sujood is obviously the greatest purpose and mandatory part of Sujood as without this when physical sujood is done , it is useless and vague .

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Whatsoever, though this word used in Qur’an in a quite large amounts and with extensive subtexts, we will try to concise our discussion by relating sujood to Salah only .

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]The following verse confirms that sujood is the ending part of the Salah :[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][004:102] When thou (O Apostle) art with them, and standest to lead them in prayer, Let one party of them stand up (in prayer) with thee, Taking their arms with them: When they finish their prostrations, let them Take their position in the rear. And let the other party come up which hath not yet prayed - and let them pray with thee, Taking all precaution, and bearing arms: the Unbelievers wish, if ye were negligent of your arms and your baggage, to assault you in a single rush. But there is no blame on you if ye put away your arms because of the inconvenience of rain or because ye are ill; but take (every) precaution for yourselves. For the Unbelievers God hath prepared a humiliating punishment.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]After establishing the relation of Sujood with Salah , our quest to find the nature of this Sujood . As we already told that the main objective of sujood is mental submission , hence in Salah we have to surrender our hearts to GOD with proper submission and that is main sujood in Salah . The following verses confirm that sujood can be used in a figurative way and in expressing mental sujood :

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot][022:018] Do you not observe that everyone (and everything) in the heavens and on the earth falls prostrate before Allah: the sun and the moon, the stars and the mountains, the trees and the beasts, and a lot of people, too! Punishment has become warranted for many others (who do not prostrate). There is no honor for the one whom Allah humiliates. Undoubtedly, Allah does what He wills!

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot][016:049] And to Allah prostate all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, of the live moving creatures and the angels, and they are not proud (i.e. they worship their Lord (Allah) with humility).

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot][012:004] Behold! Joseph said to his father: "O my father! I did see eleven stars and the sun and the moon: I saw them prostrate themselves to me!"

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Sun , moon , planets , trees etc. can’t do physical prostration , hence sujood is used in the above verses in a figurative way to express their obedience and sublime surrender to the will of Almighty GOD . [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Now , let us discuss about physical Salah .We find the following verses which are used to express physical/bodily sujood:

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot][017:106] And (it is) a Qur'an that We have divided, that thou mayst recite it unto mankind at intervals, and We have revealed it by (successive) revelation.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][017:107] Say: "Whether ye believe in it or not, it is true that those who were given knowledge beforehand, when it is recited to them, fall down on their faces in humble prostration, [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][017:108] "And they say: 'Glory to our Lord! Truly has the promise of our Lord been fulfilled!'"[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][017:109] They fall down on their faces in tears, and it increases their (earnest) humility.

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]This is really interesting to see that the above set of verses related Sujood and recitation of the Qur’an and then Almighty GOD is joining these verses with Salah :

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot][017:110] Say: "Call upon God, or call upon Rahman: by whatever name ye call upon Him, (it is well): for to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. Neit her speak thy Prayer aloud, nor speak it in a low tone, but seek a middle course between."

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot][017:111] Say: "Praise be to God, who begets no son, and has no partner in (His) dominion: Nor (needs) He any to protect Him from humiliation: yea, magnify Him for His greatness and glory!"

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]There is another observation to be made here . With due respect to all knowledgeable translators of the Qur’an , those who translated Athqani (اذقان) as face , did a mistake , as the right word for face is Wujuhu (وجوه) . This can doubly confirmed from the verse 36.8 , where all the translators translated Athqani rightly to the chin . Whatsoever, if we follow the traditional posture of sujood , it is impossible to prostate on chin . Probably, after realizing this fact , the translators choose to translate Athqani to face , just to adjust the way we do prostration in Salah . But ALLAH (swt) knows the best and the HIS word-selection in Qur’an is deliberate. One can fall prostate on chin only by shaking the head downward touching the chin , which is the expression of affirmation on something . In this case when the Qur’an is recited, the submitters expressed their submissions/obedience on what ALLAH (swt) instructed. They also cry in emotion of submission which increase their humility (Khusu), as per 17.109 . In fact we find in another verse where ALLAH (swt) instructing us to maintain Khusu in Salah :

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot] [023:001] Successful indeed are the believers
[023:002] Who are humble in their prayers,

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]In a nutshell, as referred from verse 106 to 111 of chapter 17, we can be assured that in Salah the sujood is falling of head upon the chin to express confirmation and affirmation of the verses of the Qur’an humbly.

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]There is also another verse which describes the physical sujood , and was in praise of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad because of their sujood .

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot][48:29] Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are hard against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves. Thou (O Muhammad) seest them bowing and falling prostrate (in worship), seeking bounty from Allah and (His) acceptance. The mark of them is on their foreheads from the traces of prostration. Such is their likeness in the Torah and their likeness in the Gospel like as sown corn that sendeth forth its shoot and strengtheneth it and riseth firm upon its stalk, delighting the sowers that He may enrage the disbelievers with (the sight of) them. Allah hath promised, unto such of them as believe and do good works, forgiveness and immense reward. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]According to the above verse, there would be a mark in their faces because of the prostrations. During the prostration , the forehead , which is the part of the face , rubs/strikes the ground hardly , hence those people who prostrates for a long time /regularly, would obviously having a mark on the forehead . Having understood that there is also an interesting thing to note in this verse. The term ‘Rukuan Sujjadan’ , meaning bowing-prostrating was used in the verse without separating them by ‘wa’ (and) . This predicts the sujood as the continuation of ruku , which is quite natural because a man can never go to prostration without going to ruku .

In conclusion then , we can summarize the following points :

01- Sujood is a part and parcel component of Salah .
02- It is the ending mark of Salah .
03- Mental Sujood is mandatory in Salah as without it no physical sujood is perfect .
04- Physical sujood is mandatory in Salah and it can be performed in two ways :
a) Falling upon Chin . (while reciting Qur'an)
b) Falling upon forehead through rukoo (while intending for ending Salah) .



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