I'm going to court today, so to be "safe, here is an uncomplete/draft of a possible "intro to salat"
SALAT
What is salat?
Salat is from ( Put corpus.QUran)
Salat is not really like praying or invocation. Du'a is the Word for Prayer/Invocation.
The root of Salat is (xx) which means to be in contact with or follow up to.
A close definition to Salat is “Contact prayer”, because we contact our lord when we do it.
Even today, the Arabic verb used for contacting someone (phoning someone) is Yatasil, which has the same root as Salat.
Why the vagueness?
In Some matters (such as salat and homosexuality), God Almighty does not explicitly stipulate a clear commandment, but instead cite examples to us. God Almighty has cited to us from EVERY example that (The Quran is not missing anything, and explains everything). There is no commandment that stipulates that man should not lie down with man in the Quran, just like the Torah stipulates(Leviticus 18:22). Nevertheless, we do have an example of Lot's people, who, because of their doing (homosexuality), were called “transgressors” (also . And so, if anyone today is still committing homosexuality, They would logically also be trangressing as per (7:81)
Similarly, There is no prescribed Step-by-step way of doing the salat in the Quran. nevertheless, we do have example of how people did them.
The Purpose & Benefits of salat:
Why do we do salat for?
The sole purpose of Doing the salat is to remember God Almighty (20:14)
Salat prohibits evil and vice. (29:45)
*remember me that i may remember you xx
*They have forgoten God, and he has forgot them in exchange xx
*Remember God lots, and glorify day and night xx
“Prerequisites” of Salat:
*One Must do a ritual washing, or Ablution (5:6 and 4:43).
(There are more than one form of this ritual washing, depending on the state of the person and if the person has water available) (The forms are, 4-steps (xx), Washing up/bathing (xx), and “dry” ablution (xx)
*One Must face the Sacred Sancuary Mosque a (xx)
*One must not be intoxicated, or heedless of what they are saying (4:43)
Positions of Salat
There is cited about 3 positions which make up Salat:
Standing
ZakarYAH Standing doing his salat (3:39)
Standing of prophet Muhammed (62:11)
Bowing/kneeling
Bow down with those who bow downBelievers do their salat while in a state of obedience (bowing/kneeling* (5:55) (actualy) (2:41)
Prostrating
Muhammed Ending his Salat by Prostrating (4:102)
Moreover, the sole purpose of Doing the salat is to remember God Almighty (20:14), and not the quantity of bowing/kneeling.
Thus, one can conclude that most of the duration of the salat is spent during standing position (as was ZakariYAH), as well as the bowing/kneeling position, and ending with one prostration, as per 4:102.
*For the Bowing/Kneeling position, some translate Rk3 (ركع), as bowing, and some translate it as kneeling.
We can get a glimps of this position as David "fell down" and did his rkoo3" in 38:24, and also, solomon, "fell down", as the animal ate his staff when he was dead 34:14.
***Thus Rk3 (ركع) has to be come about from a position of high potential (e.g standing), into a position of low potential (e.g bowing/kneeling)
How many Rak3as? (Rak3a: a Cycle; consisting of Standing, bowing/kneeling, and prostrating)
*There is no such thing as rak3a cycles in the Quran. As i Mentioned above in Salat positions, the Sole purpose of Salat is to Remember The Lord God Almight
y, and reflecting
*Salat is a Cheorographied speech. This can very well be achieved by a Parrot, or a broken record!
Prerequisites & Manners of Salat: (Quran Alone)
*One prerequisite before doing the Salat is doing a ritual washing or Ablution. (5:6 and 4:43)
*One Must face the Sacred Mosque (2:144)
*One must not be intoxicated, or heedless of what they are saying (4:43)
Manners:
*Our SPeech during Salat must be in a middle tone (17:111)
*We should do our salat in a state of Reverance/Devoutness and in a humble manner (2:238) (23:2),
*We should not do our salat Heedlessly (105:4-5), this verse actually goes woe to those who do their salat, those who are heedless of their salat
The sole purpose of salat is to remember The lord God Almighty as per 20:14, and so if you are heedless and spacing off while doing your salat, then you're not accomplishing the purpose of doing salat.
* We should not do our salat like the cited Hypocrites; they do their Salat Lazily, and only remember God except a little (9:56)
*We should not be doing our salat to show off (10:76)
* We should try to guard and do our salat, as not to miss observing them (70:34)
What to say during salat:
"You shall recite what is revealed to you of the Scripture, and observe the Salat" in 29:45
This can mean that reciting the Quran is done in conjunction with doing salat, you can recite whatever from the Quran, but emphasis should be put on the verses which are directed at God Almighty, because again the purpose of doing salat is to remember The Lord God Almighty… So you have a lot to choose from, you can recite the fat7ah, or the first chapter of the Quran, you can recite verses proclaiming God's praise and glorification, such praise belongs to God who has the kingship of the heavens and the earth…. Most Blessed is God who's in his possession is the Kingship and he is verily omnipotent.
Praise belongs to God who has niether taken a son nor is there any partners with him in kindgship, nor is there any allies to him out of weakness… and magnify him greatly (17:111)
There is also the verse of "He has remembered the Name of his Lord, and thus he did his salat" (87:15
The shows the Criterion for salat is again being a remembrance of God Almighty.
Again I Will cite, the purpose of doing salat, is to remember The Lord God Almighty
Sitiuational salat
)*God allows us to pray while riding or walking IF we're in fear/dangerous situation. ((2:239). )
*We are allowed to shorten our Salat (time spent doing it) if we are seeking bounties on earth or if we fear that people are going to Harm you (xx
*congregation salat, on the day of congregation, we should leave what we're doing and go pray with a group (xx) 68?
*There is really no reason to miss doing your "salat", (can do it virtually anywhere) except if you oversleep .(38:32 )
***We should try to Remember The Lord God Almighty as much as possible, as that is the Sole purpose of doing Salat (Quran 20:14)
shorten salat dursation in time of war (4:101),
missed salat & prescribed times = for clearly specified times of the day (4:103), like solomon = asked for forgiveness
How Many daily salats are there?
Quote
The Quran is not missing anything (6:38). We find that there are only 3 names of Salats in the Quran, (i.e Fajr, Esha, Wusta (24:58 & 2:238)). This means that there has to be only 3 Salats. This is because the Quran states that it is not missing anything (6:38), and so, if there is 3 NAMES of Salats mentioned, then logically, there has to be only 3 Salats.
The Daily Prayers were always done 3 times a day: (Salat = Aramaic 'sloota' (Prayer) and Hebrew Tfillah/Amidah (standing prayer)
Which is basically the 3 daily prayers: evening, morning, and noon (see psalm 55:17, Daniel 6:10)
New Testament's 3 times for prayer 3rth, 6th, and 9th hours,
The Quran's 3 names of Salat (Fajr, Esha, Wusta in 24:58 and 2:238)
Muslim, Book 4, Number 1515:
“Ibn 'Abbas reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) observed the noon and afternoon prayers together, and the sunset and Isha' prayers together without being in a state of fear or in a state of journey.”
Muslim, Book 4, Number 1516:
“Ibn 'Abbas reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) observed the noon and afternoon prayers together in Medina without being in a state of fear or in a state of journey. (Abu Zubair said: I asked Sa'id [one of the narrators] why he did that. He said: I asked Ibn 'Abbas as you have asked me, and he replied that he [the Holy Prophet] wanted that no one among his Ummah should be put to [unnecessary] hardship.)”
Three Salat (Prayers) Authorised in the Quran
http://www.quran-islam.org/main_topics/islam/pillars/number_of_salat_(P1200).htmlSupport for a middle salat (i.e 3rd salat)
http://free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9603015.0As a scriptural background:
Salat is equivilant of the Aramaic 'sloota' (Prayer) and the Hebrew Tfillah Amidah (standing prayer) Which is basically the 3 daily prayers: evening, morning, and noon (see Again Psalm 55:17, Daniel 6:10, and the New Testament's times for prayer 3rth, 6th, and 9th hours, all of which shadow the Quran's 3 names of prayer (Dawn, evening, and middle prayer Quran 24:58 and 2:238)
Some Jews and Samaritans today still pray 3 daily prayers
Watch even the "Jewish salat" on youtube, and you can find the descriptions of the prayer from the Talmud & the laws concerning prayer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aHWASyMjwg*see laws of the Amidah, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, 18:12 at
http://www.yonanewman.org/kizzur/kizzur18.html#12*Also see Abraham's prayer
http://www.torah.org/learning/rambam/tf.html#*it is also noteworthy to mention that the Amidah (standing prayer/Salat) has 19 Blessings to be recited! (can be found at
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/)
Now Now, there are only 3 names of Salats in the Quran, (i.e Fajr, Esha, Wusta). This means that there has to be only 3 Salats. This is because the Quran states that it is not missing anything (6:38), and so, if there is 3 NAMES of Salats mentioned, then logically, there has to be only 3 Salats.
If God states in the Quran to the Children of Israel to "establish the salat", doesn't this mean that they already know what the salat is? again,even today the Children of Israel are supposed to pray 3 prayers a day.
My major point is that IF "al-salat al wusta" Can mean a middle prayer (WST can mean middle), and IF "duluk" cannot be pinpointed to a single definition, and IF the Quran can technically state 3 "salat" by names(Fjr,Esha,Wsta) , and IF the previous 3 scriptures of God (Prophets/Nevim, Pslams, Gospels) state 3 prayers, then there might as well be 3 prayers.
The Manners After you did your Salat
* You should Glorify The Lord God Almighty after you have prostrated
*You should Remember The Lord God Almighty After you've finnished (xx) and glorify him basically day and night (xx)
See Fiasco Area for: How many salats, Friday Salat, Extra Salat?, Wash or wipe your feet,
Should you Do your Salat in congregation or individually
You can do either; both examples are cited to us in the Quran
Example of solitary: ZakariYAH (3:39)
Example of Gregarious: Mohammed Leading Salat for others (4:102)
