The claim that "salat" is not a physical ritual
Email with questions:
Some online sites claim that the word “salat” as used in the Quran does not mean the physical ritual which Muslims all over the world observe, but it simply means commitment to God. Others claim that Salat is our day-to-day commitments! Could you please let us have your understanding of this important issue and also include the Quranic reference which can guide us to the truth of this matter. We are quite confused by the arguments these sites provide, thank you for all the good work.
Some online sites claim that the word “salat” as used in the Quran does not mean the physical ritual which Muslims all over the world observe, but it simply means commitment to God. Others claim that Salat is our day-to-day commitments! Could you please let us have your understanding of this important issue and also include the Quranic reference which can guide us to the truth of this matter. We are quite confused by the arguments these sites provide, thank you for all the good work.
Reply:
Salaam, I will go straight to the point: whoever makes any of these claims are only showing their ignorance with the Quran!
Ever since the internet has been available to anyone anywhere in the world, there has been a surge of new self appointed interpreters who are playing havoc with religion and are inventing many new absurd claims. Perhaps they are ego seekers seeking recognition and one way to get it is by being different!
Needless to say, we have heard these claims before where they claim that salat is not a physical ritual but that it simply means to uphold commitment to God or even commitment to our daily activities. Others interpreted salat to mean the state of submission to God.
Those who advocate such claims may sound convincing to innocent readers who may not be familiar with the Quran, but it can easily be shown that all such claims denote a person's poor understanding of the Quran!
Let us read the following Quranic verse, it will give us proof that salat is a physical ritual and not just a commitment (to God).
“And if you are among them and you lead the SALAT for them, led a group of them stand with you and let them have their weapons with them, then when they have prostrated let them stand guard behind you and let another group who have not done the SALAT yet observe the SALAT also while being on guard and armed with their weapons. The disbelievers would dearly like you to be heedless of your weapons and goods, in order for them to take you in a single assault.” 4:102
The above Quranic words confirm the following:
1- The word salat in 4:102 cannot simply mean a commitment since the words in this verse speak of the prophet (or leader) leading the salat. How can the prophet, or anyone leading the Salat be leading a commitment to God? Commitment to God is a personal attribute inside the believer and is not something that can be led in a congregation.
2- The command in 4:102 is for various groups of believers to stand with their arms while observing the salat. Do we need to be armed to be committed to God? Obviously not, but because the believers are observing a physical ritual which makes them vulnerable to attack from the enemy they would indeed need to hold their arms with them.
3- The words in 4:102 also say that while each group is observing the salat with the prophet (or leader of the salat) that another group should stand guard. So if we substitute the word salat here with commitment to God, or submission to God, then not only would the believers need to hold their arms while being committed to God, but they would also need another group to guard them while they are committed to God!
4- But that is not all, the words “when they have prostrated let them stand guard behind you and let another group who have not done their salat yet, observe the salat with you” would raise further questions. If we use the interpretation of salat to mean commitment to God, this would mean that the second group who have not yet observed their salat, or in other words, who have not committed to God’s orders yet, come to the prophet who will lead them to committing to God’s orders! Yet another proof to confirm that this absurd interpretation of the word salat is in total violation of every word in 4:102.
5- If we assume that observing the salat means to commit to God’s orders, or be in submission to God, then it follows that whoever has not observed the salat yet is not in submission to God yet! We read in 4:102 about a group who have not observed their salat yet, this would mean that they are not in submission to God yet. So what are they doing with the prophet, and how can they be guarding the believers.
6- Does the act of being committed to God need to be done in groups? Or does it need a leader? Obviously not, this again confirms that the salat is a physical ritual which can be observed in congregation and under a leader who leads the salat.
7- The verse continues to say that the disbelievers would dearly love to ambush the believers when they are not standing armed during their salat. Once again this would make absolutely no sense whatsoever to say that disbelievers would love to ambush the believers while they are committed to God’s orders !!!!
The above Quranic words make it very clear that the salat is a very specific physical ritual and not merely a state of commitment to God’s orders. And because it is a physical ritual which involves bending and prostrating, it makes the believers vulnerable to attack from the enemy at times of war, thus they need to hold on to their weapons and also need a second group to guard them while they are praying.
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Further evidence is found in the following Quranic verses:
1- The Quran authorises three salat and they are given three specific names, they are Salat Al-Fajr (Dawn prayer), Salat Al-Wusta (Middle prayer) and Salat Al-Isha (Night prayer). If salat meant submission or commitment to God, why would we have three different names for commitment to God? And why would the names of these salat be related to different times of the day?
2- “Salat is decreed for the believers at specific times” 4:103
Besides the fact that salat is given three different names in the Quran, we also read in 4:103 that God decreed the salat for the believers for specific times of the day.
Now to claim that salat means to be committed to God or be in a state of submission to God, then once again this would mean that God allows us to be in submission to Him only at specific times of the day! Surely commitment to God is a concept that is independent of the times of the day!
The specific times for the three salat are given in (17:78 and 11:114). Once again if salat means submission to God then we are allowed to submit to God three times a day and only during the specified times for each salat!
3- “When you travel in the land, you commit no error by shortening your salat if you fear that the disbelievers may attack you. Surely, the disbelievers are your ardent enemies.” 4:101
Once again if we assume that the salat means commitment or submission to God, then this would mean that at times of fear from the enemy we should shorten our submission to God! Does this make any sense?
4- The words in 5:6 speak about washing the face and arms and wiping the head and feet before observing the salat. Once again to interpret salat to mean submission to God would mean that we cannot submit to God unless we wash first? It would also mean that if we wish to be in continuous submission to God that we should wash non stop all day long? On the other hand, because salat is a physical ritual which is observed to glorify God then it makes sense to observe a form of physical purification before addressing our Maker.
5- “When the call for salat is made on the day of Jummah (Friday) you shall hasten to the commemoration of God” 62:9
Here we read about a call made for salat on Friday, the following questions arise:
- Does commitment and submission to God need a “call” or announcement?
- Is there a special call for submission on a Friday?
The believers are to hasten to commemorate God when they hear the call, but the fact that they are believers would indicate that they are already submitters to God, so why would they need another call? Do they need to submit again, and specially on Friday?
6- ”You shall not utter your Salat too loudly, nor secretly; but use a moderate tone.” 17:110
Once again if salat means submission to God then the question of using a loud voice or whispering would not be relevant. However the words advising the use of a moderate voice indicates that God is speaking about a ritual that is spoken and this confirms once again that the salat is a physical ritual.
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To conclude, all the above evidence confirms without any doubt that the salat is a physical ritual with specific physical acts and not a mere state of submission or commitment to God.