When this happens, he will begin to act with the divine qualities within his essence. Then, when he ‘fasts’ while he shows patience towards hunger and thirst at the physical level, he will begin to manifest the quality of “samadiyyah” and reach certainty at the level of experience.
So let us continue on the topic of salat …
“The point at which the servant is the closest to Allah is prostration”
Some perform salat while others experience it.
These are two different things.
There also some who are in a constant state of salat!
The people of externality(duality) comprising the masses, who cannot delve into the depths of this practice, ‘perform’ their salat.
The purpose of performing salat is to recite certain prayers while making certain movements, and allowing the energy that is produced from these prayers to upload to the spirit via the person’s brain…
The outcome of this practice should be to strengthen the spirits positive energy in order to be stronger in the afterlife.
The Quran most definitely says salat should be practiced “five times a day” and the Rasul of Allah (Saw) practiced salat five times a day until the last day of his life.
The verse says:
Maintain salat (prayer; turning to Allah) with care, (in particular) the middle salat (asr prayer – the constant experience of this in one’s consciousness)[1]
The attempt to reduce salat to less than five times a day, or to refuse that it should be practiced five times a day is nothing other than foolishness.
This being said, it should not be impossible to make up for a salat that couldn’t be fulfilled at the right time either!
Muslims are advised to perform salat in the following order:
- 1. Morning before sunrise: 2 rakahs
- 2. Just after midday: 4 rakahs,
- 3. Late afternoon: 4 rakahs,
- 4. At Sunset: 3 rakahs,
- 5. Evening: 4 rahaks
These are the fardh (compulsory) prayers.
But like all other forms of worship salat is also of two types:
- Compulsory salat
- Voluntary salat
“Voluntary” salat can be divided into further categories.
One may perform these before or after the compulsory ones as much as they like, but these are not compulsory.
The only similarity between the salat performed in the mosques today and those in the days of the Rasul of Allah (saw) is that the compulsory ones are done with an imam!
If someone spares a few minutes to pray 4 rakahs of mid-day salat behind an imam during the day, he would have fulfilled the compulsory salat!
The fact that the voluntary prayers have become almost compulsory and the tasbihs and supplications are done with the guidance of the muazzin like some sort of a ritual is a custom that was invented later!
The tarawih prayer performed during Ramadan in the days of the Rasul of Allah (saw) consisted only of 8 rakahs.
Especially the “mawlid” invention that people actually pay to organize is a total nonsense: they have nothing to do with true worship.
There is no such thing as ‘mawlid’ in Islam.
Mawlid was a poem that was written to honor and praise the Rasul (saw) hundreds of years after he passed on. Reciting a poem as though it’s a form of worship is obviously unacceptable.
The Rasul of Allah (saw) can only be duly praised by Allah which is already done in the Quran:
And We have revealed you only as grace to the worlds (people)![2]
This is a clear indication of His Glory!
The attempt to praise this supreme being with our limited understanding will only restrict his glory!
Besides, the Rasul of Allah (saw) does not ask us to praise him, he asks us to understand his teachings and share it with others. He does not ask us to use his name to make a living either!
No practice that involves monetary benefits have a legit place in the religion of Islam!
You can’t pay anyone to recite the Quran or compensate for the unfulfilled salat and fasting of the deceased with money.
This will only aid in self-gratification and perhaps be some form of support with the living expenses of some people.
NOTHING THAT IS DONE WITH MONEY AND NOTHING THAT WON’T BE DONE IF THERE WAS NO MONEY HAS A PLACE IN ISLAM.
By the way, let there be no misunderstanding, I’m not against the voluntary salats that are done before or after the compulsory ones.
Everyone is free to do perform voluntary prayers as much as they like, and they most definitely will receive the benefits of it. I only want to stress the incorrectness of the voluntary prayers being turned into mandatory rituals in the mosques today!
The sunnah prayers are voluntary prayers, presenting this as obligatory is not correct.
It goes against the words of the Rasul of Allah (saw), “MAKE EASE, NOT HARDSHIP; SPREAD GLAD TIDINGS, NOT HATRED” …
One who cannot spare a few minutes to pray a few rakahs of salat does can’t really have an excuse.
But to turn this into a forty-minute ritual in the 21st century and enforce it as an obligation is too much for an everyday man to accept and comply with.
This is nothing other than creating hardship and driving people away from the religion of Islam!