A response to one of our readers about extra Salat.
Salamun Alaykum K.P
You wrote:
<<It appears to me that you do not approve
of the additional prayers that the Traditionalist Muslims do. Yet in the
Quran, God enjoins the believers to remember Him much. We also read that
Salat is referred to as "thikr" which is remembrance or commemoration of
God, 62:9. >>
I think the following verse will clear this issue for you.
[4:103] Once you
complete your Contact Prayer (Salat), you shall remember GOD while
standing, sitting, or lying down.* Once the war is over, you shall
observe the Contact Prayers (Salat); the Contact Prayers (Salat) are
decreed for the believers at specific times.
In this verse we see that God commands us to remember (Dikr) God always
after
completing our Contact Prayers. Thus, God makes a clear distinction between
Salat and other forms of commemoration of God. Also at the end of this verse
we read that the Contact Prayers are decreed for the believers at specific
times (kitaban Mawkota) .
The word for Salat is a very specific word that is only used in regard
to the five Contact Prayers. Although Salat also is a specific form of
commemoration of God, it is not the only form. With the revelation of
the mathematical code of the Quran, the number of daily Contact Prayers
(Salat) has been confirmed to be 5. See our file at
http://www.submission.org/salat-where.html
[2:200]
Once you complete your rites, you shall continue to commemorate God as you
commemorate your parents,
or even better.....
The word for commemorate is Dikr here as well. This (again) shows that Dikr
cannot be Salat, since the word used for "commemorate" is the same word for
both God and the parents. Furthermore, it is again talking about after we
finish the religious rites as in 4:103.
You wrote:
<<Also, in 48:29 we read that the companions
of the prophet their marks are on their faces as a result of prostrating.
This implies much prayers to be performed, only because prostrating is done
during prayers. I know that we prostrate at some passages in the Quran where
prostrating is mentioned; in my view this is not
enough.>>
The idea that we have to prostrate when certain passages in the Quran are
mentioned is an innovation, and does not belong in our religion. Prostration
is a motion that we go through in our Salat, or at other times when we want
to express our reverence for Almighty God. This is for example what the magicians
did when they witnessed Moses miracle.
[20:70] The magicians fell prostrate, saying, "We
believe in the Lord of Aaron and Moses."
Thus, they were overwhelmed with reverence and recognition of God’s
power, and felt that the natural way for them to express this emotion and
submission was to fall to the ground and prostrate.
Apart from our frequent prostrations during Salat, other times for prostration
are not set. Instead it is something that is left entirely up to each and
every one of us.
The word prostrate is a word that doesn’t always have the meaning of
the physical position we know from Salat. This word is also used to symbolize
submission and obedience to God. We learn this from the following verses.
[55:6] The stars and the trees
prostrate.
[13:15] To GOD prostrates everyone in the heavens
and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and so do their shadows in the mornings
and the evenings.*
[16:49] To GOD prostrates everything in the heavens
and everything on earth - every creature - and so do the angels; without
the least arrogance.*
[22:18] Do you not realize that to GOD prostrates
everyone in the heavens and the earth, and the sun, and the moon, and the
stars, and the mountains, and the trees, and the animals, and many people?
Many others among the people are committed to doom. Whomever GOD shames,
none will honor him. Everything is in accordance with GOD's will.
In the following verse we read about the angels prostrating before Adam.
Again, this doesn’t mean that they fell down to their chins in prostration.
It means that they served Adam as commanded by God.
[17:61] When we said to the angels, "Fall prostrate
before Adam," they fell prostrate, except Satan. He said, "Shall I prostrate
to one You created from mud?"
In the following verse we read about people prostrating upon hearing God’s
revelations.
[32:15] The only people who truly believe in our
revelations are those who fall prostrate upon hearing them. They glorify
and praise their Lord, without any arrogance.
This doesn’t mean that as soon as people hear the Quran recited to them,
they fall to the ground in prostration (Sujud). Imagine a Quranic study if
this was true! Everybody would be in constant Sujud. No, what it really means
is that when the believers hear God’s revelations recited to them, they
submit to them, and obey God’s commandments.
About the marks on the foreheads mentioned in 48:29. This verse is very
misunderstood throughout the Muslim world. It is being interpreted as if
these marks are visible marks on the flesh. As a consequence of this many
people prostrate on stones, and rub their foreheads against the ground trying
to develop this “mark” of approval and sign of piety.
The word ‘mark’ also means, sign, characteristic, expression. This
is why we see in the same word in several other verses in the Quran, used
to explain, not the physical features of someone, but rather their characteristic
or radiance.
In 47:30 for example, we read about being able to recognize people just by
looking at them, or ‘by their marks.’ This doesn’t mean that
there are specific physical features allowing the recognition of these people.
No, it means that the emission or radiance from these people are such, that
it can be recognized.
It is exactly the same way with the ‘mark’ mentioned in 48:29.
It is simply the radiance, and characteristics of these people that can be
recognized.
Also in 2:273 God says that the righteous can be recognized by certain signs
(same word as in 48:29), and then He gives an example of this sign–
They do not beg from the people persistently. Thus it is not a physical mark,
but rather a characteristic.
We sincerely hope that this has been helpful to you, and are looking forward
to hearing from you again.
Peace
info@submission.org
