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A Miraculous Detail of the Salaat in the Qur’an

So, where did we get the details of how to perform our daily Salaah? Yes, we got them from the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, as the Muslims so rightly point out. But does the buck stop there or does it go any further – to the Qur’an, for example, and to Almighty Allah himself?

Well, hear Allah himself answer some of our questions in this regard in the Qur’an. Here is one miraculous detail of the Salaat right from the pages of the Qur’an:

Question:

Should we stand or sit or lie down when we “pray“? When we do our Salaah that is?

Answer from the Qur’an:

(a)  Idhaa qumtum ilas-salaah – when you stand up for Salaah.

(b)  Qoomoo lillahi qaaniteen – stand up for Allah with single-minded humility.

A Personal Scale of Salaah for Every Muslim Man and Woman

Of course, the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, thereafter, created a most magnificent scale of Slaaah, which he personalized for each individual in his Ummat – each follower of Islam – man as well as woman.

And here is how that highly personalized scale of “prayers” works:

(a)  ”Pray” – the compulsory “prayers” that is – in groups. But pray by yourself when you are alone.

(b)  ”Pray” standing up if you can. But if you were unable to stand up, then pray sitting down.

(c)   And should you find yourself unable to even sit and pray, then lie down and pray.

Can you think of a more compassionate, accommodating and broad-based model for the rather complex routine of your personal Salaat or prayers? Can you think of anything more responsive to varying human needs and situations across time and across the globe?

But when it comes down to actual practice, who makes this decision: whether to stand, sit or lie down when doing one’s Salaat? Islam says it is every individual – man or woman – that makes this decision for himself or herself.

What a miracle! And what an empowerment of individuals – of both genders – with regard to something so critical to their own personal salvation! Designed not in the early or late 20^th Century, but 1400 years ago, in the 7^th Century.

And did anyone notice how deep the roots of democracy and individual choice and decision-making run in Islam?

Another Miraculous Detail of the Salaat in the Qur’an

Question:

Which direction should we face when doing Salaah?

Answer from the Qur’an:

(c)  Fawalli wajhaka shatral masjidil haraam – turn your face in the direction of the sanctuary of Allah’s mosque. This address is directly to the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam.

(d)  Fawalloo wujoohakum shatrah – all of you turn your faces in the direction of the sanctuary of Allah’s mosque. The address here is equally directly to the Muslims – you, me and everyone else everywhere for all time to come.

Allah talking to you directly in the Qur’an even as he talks to his Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, directly in the Qur’an? How much more powerful and personal can it possibly get?

Some More Miraculous Details of the Salaat in the Qur’an

Question:

What about Rukoo’ – the act of bending your body 90° degrees at the waist, while firmly grasping your kneecaps with your palms and outstretched fingers, with your back and elbows perfectly straight? All this, of course, while we are in the process of performing our daily Salaah – what we so blithely refer to as prayers.

Does the Rukoo’ have a basis in the Qur’an? Not necessarily in all its technical details outlined above, but at least in principle?

And what about Sajdah – the act of what people generally call prostrating, but which in Islam requires touching the ground with your forehead, nose, knees and open palms and fingers, but not your elbows or forearms, all at the same time?

Does Sajdah or Sujood – another name for it – have a basis in the Qur’an, if not in all its details, at least in principle? Well, let us let the Qur’an talk to the believers in another example of its miraculous direct-address format.

Answer from the Qur’an:

Yaa-ayyuhalladheena aamanur-ka’oo wasjudoo!

Paraphrase: Believers, perform rukoo’ and perform sajdah!

It Is God, Not Muslims, Who Produced This System

How much clearer, and how much more miraculous, does it get?

It is not Muslims who produced or made up this system of Islam. For, they could not, even if they tried. No one can. Instead, it is God Almighty and God Almighty’s messenger, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, who perfected this system of Islam. For, only they could.

And they did not produce this amazing system of Islamic “prayers” just for “Muslims” – those who may have been born in Muslim homes. But they produced it for all of humanity that may turn to God and to Islam. For, God is everyone’s God and the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, is God’s mercy to all the worlds.

Don’t Know What to Say

Folks, frankly I don’t know what to say. If all this does not strike you as miraculous, then there is nothing that I can do about it. For my part, I am speechless with awe and wonder.

And this is the same wonder, raised to the power of I don’t know what, that I used to feel when I stared for hours at any of the other wonders of the world. For example:

• The cascading waters of the Niagara Falls at the border between the United States and Canada.

• The solid white marble of the Taj Mahal at Agra shrouded in a blue-white sheet of liquid moon.

• Humming birds in America and the Caribbean flitting in and out of the open mouths of colorful flowers.

• Humayun’s tomb at Delhi at dusk when there was only the Asoka hotel anywhere close to it.

• The endless deserts and sand dunes with their razor-sharp edges in Arabia.

• The Twin Towers at New York before some monsters so cruelly brought them down.

• The Empire State building in the same city that simply goes by the name of The City and that neither sleeps nor tires nor sits down to rest or take a siesta.

• The Pyramids under Egypt’s blazing sun and rocky landscape.

• The river Nile in all her ancient glory as she winds her way through Egypt.

• A calm blue Pacific routinely lapping the Hawaiian islands or an angry, stormy green Atlantic trying to tear down the shores in America and the Caribbean.

• Formation after formation of pelicans dive-bombing with pinpoint accuracy in the emerald-blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea at shoals of fish below, which only their eyes could see or only their radars could detect.

• Or just a single leaf in a tree; a blade of grass in a lush lawn in some part of the world; a solitary flower in a wilderness; a drop of water in a glass; a mere grain of sand on a beach; and a strand of hair on the head of any human child.

What Else To Say But Subhanallah?

These things, and a million other things like them, fill my heart with wonder, awe and amazement, every time I behold them. Perhaps not unlike the poet Wordsworth, whose heart danced every time he saw the daffodils sway in the breeze.

It is that same feeling, compounded a billion-fold, that I get when I gaze at the wonders of the Qur’an – at all those miracles that lie scattered all through the pages and passages of Allah’s book.

The things I have listed above, and a million more things like them, never ceased to amaze me all through my life. I was awe struck at how absolutely tantalizing they were then and continue to be now – so incredibly amazing, you can only call them “miracles,” wrought some of them directly by the divine finger and others more indirectly through the intermediacy of mortal human hands. And now it is that same sense of wonderment and awe that floods over me when I observe these other miracles in the Qur’an.

I used to say Subhanallah then. I say Subhanallah now. What else can I say? And, frankly, what else can anyone say?

But Before I Go

But before I take leave of this glorious subject, let me give you one or two or three more examples of the miracles of the Qur’an, specifically as they relate to your daily Salaat.

1. Question:

What should we say when we are in Rukoo’?

Answer from the Qur’an:

How about Fasabbih bismi rabbikal ‘azeem? Please check to find your own translation. I don’t know how to translate Sabbih.

2. Question:

What should we say when we are doing Sajdah or Sujood?

Answer from the Qur’an:

How about Sabbihisma rabbikal a’alaa? Please check to find your own translation for this one too, because I still don’t know how to translate Sabbih.

3. Question:

What else can we say during different stages and activities of the Salaah? For example, when we formally enter the Salaah? Or when we begin to move into Rukoo’? Or when we get in and out of Sajdah?

In other words, where does our Takbeer – Allahu Akbar! – that is such an important punctuation mark all through our Salaah and which is such an important utterance throughout Muslim life, come from?

Answers from the Qur’an:

How about Wa Rabbaka fa-kabbir? Standard translation: “And thy Lord do thou magnify!” But does this translation in any way exclude, or does it actually indicate and suggest, “Say Allahu Akbar“?

And Wa-kabbirhu takbeeraa! Standard translation: ” … yea, magnify Him for His greatness and glory.” Again, does this translation exclude, or does it actually indicate and suggest, “Say Allahu Akbar“?

While We Are at It

But while we are at it, why not take in some more examples of the amazing ongoing and ever-living miracle of the deep, firm and unshakable rootedness of the Salaah in the Qur’an? So here are some more instances:

1. Question:

Every Muslim knows – or should know – and every non-Muslim who wants to talk about Islam and Muslims in an informed, responsible, courteous, polite, civilized and non-hostile manner should know, that the most important part of the Salaat is the reading of the Qur’an.

And of that, the most important is the recitation of Surah Fatihah: in every Rak’ah – one complete unit of Salaat. So much so that no Surah Al-Fatihah, no Salaah!

So, where does Al-Fatihah come from?

Answer from the Qur’an:

Why, it comes directly from the pages of the Qur’an. It is a Surah, chapter, of the Qur’an. The first one in fact, and it is the first thing anyone who opens the Qur’an at the beginning will run into.

2. Question:

What about the readings after Surah Fatihah? Where do they come from?

Answer from the Qur’an:

They also come from the Qur’an – just like Surah Fatihah. Every single word and syllable of them. Directly out of the pages of the Qur’an.

3. Question:

Why do we read A’oozu billahi minash shaitaanir rajeem before we start reading the Qur’an in the Salaah?

Answer from the Qur’an:

Because Allah in the Qur’an told us to do so: Fa idhaa qara’tal Qur’ana fasta’iz billahi minash shaitanir rajeem (16:98). Paraphrase: Whenever you read the Qur’an, ask Allah to protect you from the accursed Satan.

4.  Question:

But we also read Bismillahir Rahmaanir Raheem. Where do we get that from?

Answer from the Qur’an:

Once again, the answer is: “Directly from the pages of the Qur’an, where else? It is part of the 30^th Aayah of Surah An-Namal, Surah 27 that is.”

And of course, like everything else, we also get it from the daily practice of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam. Because, everything the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, taught, he also practiced.

History has no parallel to this miraculous feat, which is a full and most amazing miracle all by itself: the fact that the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, also practiced everything he preached.

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