Salat
Question:-
What is the nature of the Muslim Salat or prayers?
Answer:-
There is a difference between what it was originally design as and what various Muslims practice. There is also a difference between Dhikr (Remembering Allah) which is a Meditation, Salat and Dua (Prayer) which is usually supplication for worldly benefits that may be material or social for oneself and others, whereas Salat is meant to contact Allah and facilitate awareness and Surrender (Islam). In so far as it is supplication it refers to spiritual development. But there is also a difference between personal supplication, formal congregational prayer that has a social function and worship in general, which refers to adoration, self-subordination and service to God. The Islamic Salat has all these aspects and is part of Surrender to Allah.
There is an inner and outer aspect to it as well as a social one, and these three aspects reinforce each other. Even when a person does it by himself rather than in a congregation there is still some unison in that it is done at certain times and in certain ways and all pointing towards the same direction, towards the Kaaba, which is symbolically the house of Allah in the world and human societies and the Spirit within his own heart, his body being the house.
Salat combines the physical, the mental and the physical to create inner integration or Unity. The physical is expressed as a ritual, changing postures that also have symbolic significance. As action, feeling and thought within human beings interact, the physical posture changes are accompanied by associated feelings and thoughts. This happens subconsciously, but Salat also requires that it be done deliberately consciously.
The wording refer to the thoughts. But they also express feelings, desires for spiritual excellence, a longing which reinforce motives.
But apart from the outer forms of the prayer and inner mental state, Salat also requires that the awareness of the presence of Allah should be cultivated. This is most important. A person must think, feel and be in the presence of Allah or move towards Him.
The purpose, the Primary Goal of Salat is the Spiritual transformation of the person, to surrender to Allah and contact the Spirit within, and to reinforce all the other aspects of the Islamic way of life which are also designed to reinforce each other, including Salat and the Primary Goal.
Human beings consist of several interacting levels – conscious, sub-conscious, unconscious, organic, cellular, molecular, atomic, sub-atomic, and spiritual - and they are also in interaction with the rest of the environment at several interacting levels - physically, socially, psychologically, chemically, biologically (through various bacteria and viruses, pollen etc), electronically, electromagnetically, gravitationally and Spiritually . All these need to be taken into consideration. An action has effects on the environment as well as on himself. Every thought, feeling and action modifies a person by making similar actions, feelings and thoughts easier, opposite ones more difficult, creating habits and also connecting to other actions, feelings and thoughts forming patterns and providing a foundation for further building. A person so modified acts and reacts differently to the things in his environment. Therefore, he interprets the environment differently, changes the environment, and migrates to different environments. As his actions change, the environment reacts differently. These reactions, as well as his own changed attitude and interpretation of the environment and his own inner efforts causes changes in him. And so on. The things that happen to a person are not independent of what a person is and does and the nature of the physical, social or psychological environment is not independent of the nature of the people in it. As each generation is formed by the cultural influences modified by the previous generation, then the succeeding generations are not independent of the previous ones. If we see a person as being a point in a spacio-temporal network of forces, then the whole is modified slightly by that point which is itself modified by the whole.
There are, in general three main methods of spiritual development which correspond to the three faculties of the mind, namely thought, feeling (including emotion, motives) and action. These are usually separate ways that can be called the Way of Meditation, the Way of Devotion and the Way of Action. Meditation corresponds to thought, prayer to feeling, and striving to action. Salat is a combination of these and is unique to Islam.
As already stated, Salat is itself part of a much wider field, namely Worship which requires, as the name Islam implies, Surrender to Allah, the Creator and Maintainer of the Universe, the One on whom all things depend. All things are to be done in the service of and on behalf of Allah. This is also formally included in the 5 Pillars and the Duties. It is associated with Charity, Abstinence, Morality, Striving (Jihad), Endurance and Knowledge.
It is evident that it is effective only when it is done correctly and that the greater the intensity and concentration and the greater the number of times it is done the more effective. However, there is a limit to this depending on the states and abilities of the person and his other duties to himself (physical and mental), other people and the environment. It is not permitted to neglect these other duties.
Apart from this, the nature of Salat also depends on the degree of knowledge and understanding. Therefore, the pursuit of knowledge is also regarded highly. Knowledge in Islam does not mean mere information or thought, but also understanding and application - it is awareness, consciousness of truth, and therefore, ultimately of Allah. See Hadith for this. Here are some:-
"The worst evil consists in learned men who are evil, and the best good consists of learned men who are good."
"Knowledge in the heart is the beneficial type; and knowledge on the tongue is Allah's allegation against human beings."
"Knowledge from which no benefit is derived is like a treasure from which nothing is expended in Allah's path."
"The superiority of the learned man who observes the prescribed prayers, then sits and teaches men what is good over the devout man who fasts by day and prays during the night is like my superiority over the most contemptible among you."
"The superiority of the learned man over the devout man is like that of the moon on the night when it is full over the rest of the stars. The learned are the heirs of the prophet who leave neither dinar nor dirham, leaving only knowledge, and he who accepts it accepts an abundant portion."
"If anyone acquires knowledge of things by which Allah's pleasure is sought, but acquires it only to get some worldly advantage, he will not experience the odour of paradise."
"The search for knowledge is an obligation laid on every Muslim, but he who commits it to those who are unworthy of it, is like one who puts necklaces of jewels, pearls and gold on swine."
"He who goes out in search of Knowledge is in Allah's path till he returns."
"If anyone seeks knowledge, it will be an atonement for past sins."
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