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SALAT PRE-REQUISITES

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Before observing the Salat, believers are to adhere to a number of pre-requisites.  These are Intention, Devotion, Ablution, and Direction.

First Pre-Requisite : INTENTION

This first pre-requisite is the conscious intention to establish contact with God Almighty. This intention cannot be present if one is under intoxication:

"O you who believe, do not observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) while intoxicated, till you ( so that you ) know what you are saying." 4:43

Salat is not accepted from anyone who is intoxicated from the effect of alcohol or drugs. As a matter of fact, intoxicants present the only case in the Quran where the human being is deprived from the blessing of Salat.  This is not because taking intoxicants is the greatest sin, but rather because a person who is intoxicated would simply not know what he/she are saying.  

If one is unaware of what they are saying, the first pre-requisite for prayer would thus be absent; that being the intention to commemorate and worship God. In other words, it is not the sin in itself that robs the man from the blessing of Salat, but it is the effect of the sin on the mind that is the cause of the prohibition.

In effect, there is no sin (excluding idol worship) in itself that warrants the prohibition of Salat. For that matter it is more accurate to say that intoxicants do not prohibit Salat, but rather deprive a believer from the benefit of Salat.

The Quran asserts the fact that no believer is ever deprived of the gift of Salat, provided that he/she are in their full senses, even after committing the most gruesome of sins. Sins and good deeds are independent of each other, each will be recorded and judged equitably. No sin will erase a good deed:

"Whoever does an atom weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom weight of evil will see it."99:7-8

However, and because God is the Most Merciful, He has decreed that for the believers, their good deeds will wipe out their sins :

"..............the righteous works wipe out the evil works."  11:114

And as if that was not enough to demonstrate God's boundless mercy He has also decreed that for those who believe and lead a righteous life, He will even transform their sins into credits:

"........God transforms their sins into credit, God is Forgiver, Most Merciful."  25:70

For all that it becomes apparent why we should increase our good deeds, specially and immediately after committing a sin.

The confirmation that alcohol in itself does not prohibit Salat but it is the effect of alcohol that is the cause, is found in the following words:

"O you who believe, do not observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) while intoxicated, till you know what you are saying."  4:43

In other words, if one drinks alcohol and gets drunk one is forbidden from observing the Salat, but when the effect of alcohol wears out and one is conscious once again one can observe the Salat, even though the alcohol still runs in the blood, and will continue to be in the blood for a number of days.

Second Pre-Requisite : ABLUTION

"O you who believe, when you observe the Salat (Contact Prayers) you shall wash your faces, wash your arms to the elbows, wipe your heads and wash your feet to the ankles." 5:6

This is the ablution that is decreed in the Quran. This consist of four simple steps:

1- Wash the face 2- Wash the arms to the elbows 3- Wipe the head 4- Wash the feet to the ankles.

In spite of this very clear command in the Quran, the majority of Muslims today perform their ablution in a different way. The ablution they perform is taken from the 'Sunna', they believe that it was the way the prophet did his ablution. To the four steps prescribed in the Quran they add washing the hands to the wrists, the mouth, the nose, the ears, the neck.

They argue that since 'cleanliness is part of a good belief' (as a famous 'hadith' says), then the cleaner one is before the Salat the better. These additional measures that are not found in the Quranic ablution raise the following questions:

1- Is it conceivable that the prophet whom we are told in the Quran was a 'fine example' for the believers, and who was blessed with receiving the Quran, has in fact left the Quranic ablution and followed a different one?

2- Is the ablution prescribed by God inadequate? Has the prophet in fact devised a better and cleaner method of ablution?

3- All this ultimately leads to the crucial question; is the purpose and aim of ablution cleanliness after all?

The reply to all these three questions is the negative. For more details about the purpose of ablution, please check the following article:

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The Purpose of Wudu (Ablution)

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Third Pre-Requisite : DEVOTION

"Say, "My Salat (Contact Prayers), my worship practices, my life and my death, are all devoted absolutely to God alone, the Lord of the universe.  He has no partner. This is what I am commanded to believe, and I am the first to submit." 6:162-163

"I am God; there is no other god beside Me. you shall worship Me alone, and observe the Salat (Contact Prayers) to remember ME."  20:14

In accordance to the above Quranic commands, believers must devote and dedicate ALL their Salat (as well as all other rituals) to the name of God ALONE.  The commemoration of any names other than God in the Salat is an act of idol worship.

Those who dedicate all their religion to God alone are given the title of 'Ebad Allah Al-Mukhlaseen' which translates to God's pure servants.  The word Mukhalseen comes from the Arabic word 'Khales' which means pure.  The phrase 'Al-Deen Al-Khales' as in 39:3 means the Pure Religion, and it describes the religion that is devoted absolutely to God alone.

"We sent down to you this scripture, truthfully; you shall worship God, devoting your religion to Him alone.  Absolutely, the 'Deen Al-Khales' (pure religion) shall be devoted to God alone." 39:2-3

One other sign of devotion to God is the expression of reverence to God during the Salat:

"Successful indeed are the believers; who are reverent during their Salat (Contact Prayers)."

23:2

Fourth Pre-Requisite : DIRECTION (QIBLAH)

One of the Quranic conditions set for Salat is that all believers must face the Sacred Masjid (the Ka'ba) while praying:

"Wherever you go, you shall turn your face (during Salat) towards the Sacred Masjid; wherever you might be, you shall turn your faces (during Salat) towards it."  2:150

The Quran speaks of a change in the Qiblah with the revelation of the Quran.  For more info about this change and also a Quranic insight into the history of the Qiblah, please check the following page:

THE QIBLAH : OLD & NEW

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