4:101 Shorten from what duration?

[seekingtruth1111]

Peace


4:101 And if you go forth in the land, then there is no harm that you shorten from the communion, if you fear that the disbelievers will try you. The disbelievers are to you a clear enemy.


In the above verse it is permitted to shorten salat during war/inseruced situations . Is there anywhere the full length/duration of salat mentioned ?

Traditionally people shorten prayer by praying less units/rakah . Is anywhere in the Quran unit of prayer mentioned ? If yes what would be duration of each unit?

Peace

Abdullah

[Pazuzu]

May I propose a different understanding of this term?

"Taqsirou" / "touqassirou" could very well mean: to be armed (with weapons) and on alert, while doing something.

SO if they are in fear of danger, or passing through enemy territory, they are to conduct the salat while being armed.  And if the nabi is with them, they would then split into two groups: one group does the salat, and the other stands guard.

Please read it now and see if the meaning makes sense with the context.

Now compare it with the following:

{God has affirmed, that the vision of His messenger will come true: "You will enter the Masjidu'l Haram, God willing, secure, with your helmets removed, and having arms at the ready." Thus, He knew what you did not know, and He has appointed before this a conquest near at hand}...[48:27]

There is no "hair cutting" involved with hajj, any way you look at it.  And this is someone else's two cents, by the way. We need to sift through all the old lexicons of Arabic and confirm if such a meaning for the root "qaf-sad-ra" exists.

Regards.

[Wakas]

peace,

In the above verse it is permitted to shorten salat during war/inseruced situations . Is there anywhere the full length/duration of salat mentioned ?
Traditionally people shorten prayer by praying less units/rakah . Is anywhere in the Quran unit of prayer mentioned ? If yes what would be duration of each unit?

You may find this analysis of 4:102 useful.

[Wakas]

peace,

Now compare it with the following:

{God has affirmed, that the vision of His messenger will come true: "You will enter the Masjidu'l Haram, God willing, secure, with your helmets removed, and having arms at the ready." Thus, He knew what you did not know, and He has appointed before this a conquest near at hand}...[48:27]

According to the Arabic 48:27 says "...muhalliqeena ruoosakum wa muqassireena la takhafoona..." implying a contrast between "la takhafoona" (not fearing) and what came before i.e. "muhalliqeena ruoosakum wa muqassireena". Being secure with helmets removed seems to conflict with having arms at the ready and not fearing.

In fact, one could argue that this rendition is contradictory, because in 4:101 it clearly says "if you fear....." do XYZ in what follows, and in 48:27 it is about "not fearing". In other words:

if you fear ---> arms at the ready
not fearing ----> arms at the ready

In any case, the following is my research, which I consider much more accurate:

From:
http://mypercept.co.uk/articles/meaning-masjid-al-haram-Quran.html

48:27 Certainly, God has confirmed His messenger's vision*** with truth/reality, surely you (plural) will enter al masjid al haram, if God wills, securing/trusting, unburdening/relieving your chiefs/representatives****, and restraining/relinquishing not fearing. So, He knew what you did not know, and He made besides that a victory near/close.
48:28 He is the One who sent His messenger with the guidance and the system/obligation of truth, so that it would expose all other systems. And God is sufficient as a witness.

*** Arabic: 'al ruya' (dream/vision), see analysis of 17:1-7 and 17:60
**** see discussion of 2:196 above. Many translators interpolate "hair" and imply the "wa/and" which follows means "or" to make their rendition fit better.