SIMPLE SALAT

Remembrance of ALLAH and constancy in prayer...- Koran 24:37

It is reported - but Allah knows best - that the Prophet Muhammad - may peace be upon him - taught that Allah Almighty said, "I have a covenant with My servant that if he offers his prayers at their stipulated times, I shall not chastise him but shall place him in Paradise without any reckoning."

Prayer is the very essence of Islam. Muslims are called to a prayerful life. At the heart of Islam are the daily formal prayers, the ritual recitation of the Holy Koran, the Divine Word. These are compulsory for all believers, yet in the modern world they are the first things to be lost among secularized Muslims. As the Muslim world moves into modernity Muslims will still cling to the fast of Ramadan and the pilgrimage but the number of people attending the daily prayers dwindles. People complain they are too busy and that the prayers are incompatible with modern lifestyles. But there is no avoiding the fact that without the prayer Muslim life is an empty sham. The Prophet - peace be upon him - said: "The divide between a believer and disbelief is the abandonment of prayers" and "The covenant that differentiates between believers and non-believers is prayer. Whoever leaves prayer has disbelieved."

Allah desires for you ease; He desires not hardship for you; - Koran 2:187

It is reported - and Allah knows best - that the Holy Prophet - peace be upon him - said: "Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be as near to perfection as you can and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded for it."

 

One of the great problems that prevents modern Muslims from making the journey back to prayer is that the legalists have made the worship of God into something enormously complicated. Each of the classical schools of Law has developed volumes of detailed instructions for the practise of the liturgical prayers, the salat. These instructions are so complex and defined that there is virtually no Muslim on earth who ever makes salat without a supposed "error". Muslims are subject to constant anxiety as to whether or not they have performed the salat correctly. This is especially so for converts and new Muslims.

But these detailed instructions are extraneous to the intention and purpose of the salat which is, as always, the remembrance of Allah. The salat prayer, like the perpetual prayer, is simple, and its essence is remembrance, the recollection of God. The liturgical prayers enable us to return to the remembrance of God at various junctures throughout the day. The five prayer times require that we pull ourselves away from the business of the world and refocus upon the praise and worship of Allah Almighty.

The beautiful simplicity of salat is explained in the following hadith:

It is reported - and Allah knows best - that the Prophet Muhammad - may peace be upon him - said, "When you stand for the prayer, make the takbir and then recite what you can from the Koran. Then bow until you attain calmness and then come up again until you are standing straight. Then prostrate until you attain calmness in your sitting, and prostate until you attain calmness in your prostration. Do that during all of your prayer."

These are all the instructions you need in order to perform salat correctly and according to the sunnah of the Holy Prophet - peace be upon him. This hadith explains the whole framework of the liturgical prayer in its essential features. It is not necessary to learn long and complex dua in Arabic in order to make sunnah prayer. Here are the Prophet's clear instructions in point form:

1. When you stand for the prayer, make the takbir and then recite what you can from the Koran.

2. Then bow until you attain calmness.

3. And then come up again until you are standing straight.

4. Then prostrate until you attain calmness in your sitting.

5. And prostate until you attain calmness in your prostration.

The "attaining of calmness" referred to in this hadith means returning to the Abode of Peace within your heart, the Everlasting Refuge. That is the essential thing in salat. The jurists may debate whether you say this or that dua before this or that point in the prayer, and volumes may be written on how you are to hold your hands or point your toes, but prayer is in essence a movement of the heart. Without that it is an empty ritual. The content of the prayer is remembrance of Allah. The indispensible ingredient is a heart that is open to Allah.

Above all, go slowly. Don't rush your prayers. Remain in each position for a while. Linger in prayer and reach out for Allah. Make the first raka (cycle) the longest. The second raka is slightly shorter. The third is shorter again. And the fourth is shortest. Establish inner equilibrium in the first raka. After that, the pace of the prayer slowly speeds up.

It is reported - but Allah knows best - that the Prophet Muhammad - may peace be upon him - said, "Allah has no regard for a prayer in which the heart does not follow the body."

It is reported - but Allah knows best - that the Prophet Muhammad - may peace be upon him - said, "No part of the liturgical prayer is yours except that part which you perform with an attentive heart."

 

The Number of Rakas (Cycles)

It is not the number of rakas (cycles) of prayer that matters. There is no virtue in making lots of rakas if they are all superficial. It is far better to only perform the compulsory rakas and put your heart and soul into them.

The daily prayer regime is as follows:

DUSK = 3 cycles

NIGHT = 4 cycles

DAWN = 2 cycles

NOON = 4 cycles

AFTERNOON = 4 cycles

 

Prayer Times

The Dusk Prayer is mentioned in Koran 11:114. After sunset during twilight.

The Night Prayer is mentioned in 11:114 and 24:58. After twilight in the dark of night.

The Dawn Prayer is mentioned in Koran 24:58. Before sunrise.

The Noon Prayer is mentioned in Koran 17:78. After the sun has reached zenith.

The Afternoon Prayer is mentioned in 2:238. Between noon and sunset.

There is no need to follow a prayer timetable slavishly. Any intelligent person knows when noon is and when twilight ends and night falls. Most prayer-time calculators are inaccurate anyway - they are abstract calculations made as if the planet was a perfectly round sphere. They take no account of local variations such as altitude. Use your eyes instead of a prayer timetable. There is no spiritual virtue in sitting around watching a digital clock ticking on to 12:27. That degree of precision is phoney. If it's noon, and the sun is high in the sky, ignore the clock and make the noon prayer.

It is always best to perform the prayers within the appointed parts of the day, but if this is not possible, then perform them when you can. Making the prayers late is better than not making them at all. It is permissible to combine the dusk and night prayers into one session, and the noon and afternoon prayers into one session.

It is reported - but Allah knows best - that the Prophet Muhammad - may peace be upon him - said, "When any one of you omits the prayer due to sleep or he forgets it, he should observe it when he remembers it, for Allah said, "Observe the prayer for remembrance of Me."

Do not worry about the detailed instructions of the jurists. Their pedantry creates aversion to religion. Follow the simple instructions of the noble Prophet - peace be upon him. Open your heart to Allah and dedicate your salat to the remembrance of Him.

A return to a simple heart-centred form of the salat and a turning away from the interminable multiplication of juristic, externalist detail is one of the most important reforms needed in contemporary Islam. It is important if the vast number of Muslims who have lapsed from prayer are to return to a prayerful life.

In an obvious sense the perpetual prayer - dhikr - is superior to the salat prayer. The perpetual prayer is a prayer for every moment. The salat prayer is only for five times a day. But this does not mean that the salat prayer can be ignored. The salat prayer is a support structure that assists the perpetual prayer by bringing us back to God and remembrance of Him at various times during each day. The salat prayer is the external structure, the daily framework, for a life devoted to recollection.

It is reported - but Allah knows best - that the Prophet Muhammad - may peace be upon him - said, "The prayer of a person is in reality a light in his heart, so whoever desires can illuminate his heart by means of prayer."

 

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Unto Him is the real prayer! - Koran 13:14