Policy Statement

Teachings of Islam

Comment:
Fact Sheet - Salat;

BismillahiRehmaniRaheem;

As-salam-o-alaikum,

Ask yourself a question;

Did you really learn the way you perform your Salat from the Book of Ahadees like, Sahih Bukhari?

Please answer this honestly.

My answer is;

I born in a Muslim Family, the day I started understanding a little bitsy of this world and started observing my surroundings I notice my Grand Mother praying almost all day long (at-least that's what I thought when I did not know about five mandatory 5 prayers). This practice of my elders means to me that soon after my birth I was made aware about the Salat. When I was growing up, sometimes my paternal uncle and sometimes my father started asking me to stand with them when they use to perform their Salats. Gradually they started taking me to Masjid along with, where I learnt almost all the actions necessary to perform to complete my Salat.

My elders, Masajid visits and as I remember one of the Molanas' who use to come to teach me Quran, the mixture of all of these three taught me what to recite while performing these actions in Salat.

This is the way I learnt my salat.

Repeatedly many times; Allah Subhana wa taala in Quran make the act of Salat Fard onto mankind. Performing 5 times Salat on daily basis is one of the main and basic acts of ritual decreed to perform. But how to perform it?
It is true it is not clearly mentioned in Quran. Quran only speaks in this connections that;
Stand,
Ruku,
Sajood,
Show humility,
Patience,
Times of prayers,
Establish prayers with those who establish it (In group),
Ablution before Salat"

All of these above but not exactly how to perform this ritual, which is 'The Most Important' one ritual of our religion. Is that true?

Yes, for this very purpose or few other things like this, Allah tells us in Quran to follow the Messenger (Apbuh).

Now the question is that from where those people of my family who taught me how exactly I can establish Salat, learnt this act themselves?

Did they learn it from Sahih Bukhari or they also learnt it exactly as I learnt it?

If we go back to the chain where the ancestors kept adopting their way of performing our Salat, we will find nothing but the same way as I learnt it.

Here are some more questions to be answered;

Is method of saying salah (prayers) and number of raka'hs for each salah mentioned in Imam Malik's Maw'tah which is considered to be the first book of Hadith?

When was the method and number of raka'h for salah first written down in any book? Was it Bukhari, Muslim or any other book?

I am just wondering what is the basis of claim of people who derive salah from hadith books and not from the established sunnah of prophet (apbuh), which most of the times cannot be derived from any Hadeeth book.

Answer:
As far as I found in Malik, Bukhari and Muslim, these are the points I can make:
1. Number of Rakats of the obligatory daily prayers are not mentioned in a categorical way in any of these books, although it is possible to understand the number of rakats of some of the daily prayers from some of the ahadith but no complete details.
2. Specifically in Muwatta of Malik few things on prayer are much briefer than the other two books but still not to the dot.
3. Only the number of rakats of non-obligatory prayers or special prayers (like prayer of Kosoof and Khossof - eclipse) are categorically mentioned.
4. The method of reading prayers are not given in a clear cut way in any of these three books. Often the reports are suggesting different details.

I do not know any one who has come to understand how to pray merely by reading a book of Hadith.

Many will say that they have learnt this from ahadith books but when you delve into it you will see that in fact they have learnt the basics from their school or their father, etc. and then later they have looked into ahadith to learn the details (that are not really part of Sunnah).

Incidentally, the fact that almost all people learn their prayers from their previous generation (and not books of Hadith) is one of the strongest evidences to support my view that Hadeeth Books are not the source of Sunnah.

You follow quran, and this is the best way to follow Sunnah.


Now let us see how this act of Salat spread all over the world; Does it spread it by people reading it in Sahih Bukhari or It spread it because Allah ask us in Quran to establish it and establish it as the way Rasool Allah (Apbuh) Established it in first at the Place of Ibraheem?

1. Salat was first decreed to establish to Prophet Ibrahim (Apbuh).

2. Salat was first established at Muqam-e-Ibrahim, Bakaa/Mecca the first house of worship on Planet Earth.

3. Salats' orders were kept reveled to every Prophet from Prophet Ibrahim to Prophet Mohammad (Apbut).

4. Every Prophet of Allah established Salat.

5. Salat was abandoned by every Umma of all of those prophets came before Rasool Allah (Apbuh).

6. Salat was re-established by Prophet Mohammad (Apbuh) in the year 610 or 611 CE.

7. Salat was re-established by Prophet Mohammad (Apbuh) at the same place where it was established first by Prophet Ibrahim (Apbuh) and discontinued by the later generations.

8. Salat was re-establsihed in Yathrab (Now Medina) when Prophet Mohammad (Apbuh) and his companions migrated to this city located 110 miles inland of the Red Sea in the year 622 CE.

9. Salat was performed approximately 8 years in Masjid-e-Nabwi, Yathrab by Prophet Mohammad (Apbuh) himself, in front of all the Muslims of HIS time.

10.Salat was fully in forced in Yathrab before the time of Conquest of Mecca (630 CE) and since then Alhamulilah Salat is established there without any break, to date, and exactly as it was re-established by Prophet Mohammad (Apbuh), then.

11.After conquest of Mecca (630 CE)Salat was again re-established in Mecca by Prophet Mohammad (Apbuh) and his companions.

12.Salat in full swing remain intact in Mecca and Medina since it was re-established by Prophet Mohammad (Apbuh) without break and without change in it.

13.Sorry; Masjid-al-haram was flooded in early 1940's therefore a short break of Salat took place, approximately couple of days.

14.Sorry again: Masjid-al-Haram was taken over by rebellions in early 1980's, it was blocked for visitors approximately for a week. But since those rebellions were Muslims, therefore we can't really say that Salat was not performed within that particular period of time.

15.Salat was re-established by Prophet's companion in Byzantine and Persia by the year 632 CE.

16.By the year 637 CE Muslims were able to re-established Salat in Palestine.

17.By the year 638 CE Muslims were able to re-established Salat in parts of Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.

18.And by the year 641 CE Salat was re-establsihed all over Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.

19.In the year 641 CE Salat was also re-established in Eypt.

20.By the year 654 Salat was re-established in a vast part of North Africa.

21.By the year 669 Salat was re-established as far as Morocco furthest end of North Africa.

22.In the year 710 CE Salat was already re-established in Spain by the conquest of Gibraltar.

23.By the year 711 CE Salat was all over the lands ruled by Romans previously.

24.By the year 711 CE Salat was re-established in Sind and Afghanistan.


And the miracle is that all this has happened way before Mr. Bukhari opened his eyes in this world. Mr. Bukhari was born in the year 810 CE, by then Salat was spread in vast area of Allah's lands without Sahih Bukhari.

Now the question is if we can't learn how to perform Salat without Sahih Bukhari, How did our ancestors managed to achieve the goals to spread and re-established Salat to almost quarter of the world, without Sahih Bukhari?

As of today are we better then the position we acquired by the year 711 CE, with all of these Imamic teachings we enjoy today?

Or we were better then?

If you accept we were better then, than then there was no Bukhari.

If we are better now; than those companions were wrong who established Salat without reading Sahih Bukhari?

There is no doubt that Allah in Quran speaks to mankind to follow His Messenger;

His Messenger (Apbuh) established the rules of the rituals of Allah's religion at Majsid al Haram.

Quran clearly ask us to go visit Kaaba once in your life time, do you ever think why it is important for us to perform Haj or Ummra?

The one reason out of many that when people from our community, town, village, city goes to Masjid Al Haram they should correct their ways of Salat, perform them as it is established in Masjid al Haram, come back to their hometown and correct others if possible, and if they don't listen next year another group visit Masjid Al Haram come back and witness what is true and tell the correct ways to the people who have not gotten the opportunity to visit Kaaba.

If you don't believe me, than read this;

1- The Fiqh did not get the detailed method from hadith as hadith literature is inconsistent about salat method and does not give the full details.

2- The Muslims were already praying before salat method got documented in Fiqh, and we all know that they could not have got their method from hadith. That only means that they were following the method used by their parents and their parents from their parents, until the method got documented in Fiqh from the Place of Ibraheem. So now we can say that after that people followed the methods devised by different Imams in Fiqh.

3- People still followed the method generation through generation, teacher to student, but not from hadith or Fiqh before fiqh was documented. Why is it so hard to admit a simple truth?

4- Finally the conclusion remains the same, that as far as one very important SUNNAH that is "Salat" method is concerned, hadith literature is unsatisfactory to say the least and fails to guide us to perfectly establish Salat exactly as established by our beloved Prophet Mohammad (Apbuh)..

So, if you are honest, then you will agree that your argument that "hadith is the source of sunnah" does not carry much weight.

Is it no secret that Quran did not give us a detailed method of salat, and neither was it consistently preserved in hadith? It only proves one thing that the spirit of Salat is more important than its detailed method.

It is not at all left to the discretion of the Imams to devise the detailed method of salat. Salat can only be followed as it is established at Muqam-e-Ibraheem.

Each of the Imams brought their own way of Salat slightly differ to each other, when in fact they had no right to do that and they did it according to their interpretation of those ahadith which each of them considered authentic. We all know that none of them had the Divine license to do that, but we still follow their methods.

So:
By the same token the head representatives of different sects should be able to get together and find one united method of salat for the entire Ummah. If the Imams of olden times can do it, so can the later ulema. Allah never gave finality to the Imams, and if they fail to unite Umma these Immas will be held responsible to misguide Muslim Umma.

So, basically there is no reason that the Muslim Ummah cannot at least unite in case of a united method of salat, provided that reason prevails in the light of revelation.

These thoughts were posted with the best of intentions as always. I hope no one is offended. And it should be noted that my entire argument is based on brother Hitman's views.

"""Complete Salat protocols are described in detail in the books of Ahadith."""

This is an unsubstantiated claim.

The Salaat is completely described ONLY in small booklets that one finds in bookstores. These pamphlets are usually written or copied by a scholar of some note from other pamphlets. No one ever goes into the huge pile of Hadith Books (Sihah Sitta) to find out if the pamphlet method has EVER been described therein. People just assume that the description must be there.
Please go over the Sihah Sitta yourself and let us know if complete NAMAZ Salat is described in some Hadith. One would imagine that with an issue as important as it is, salat would have been documented properly with instructions, clear and unambiguous, in ahadith for the believers. But that is not the case. There is not a single Hadith in the whole repertoire of Ahadith that may describe how to pray the Salat.

Have you ever heard a New Convert saying that he or she has learnt the method of Salat from the Books of Ahadeeth?

I am sure here on this Islam.com there are few reverts, at this time. In this particular argument it is their moral responsibility to come forward and tell the rest of us that from where they have learnt their Salat?

Try it yourself or ask a new convert who does not know anything about performing the ritual salat to find the method from the books of hadith. You can have entire Sihah Sitta (or Shia Hadith) and you will find that no matter how big a genius you are-you simply cannot extract anything concrete in the way of how to perform the Salat. After reading thousands of pages in these huge volumes, finally you will come back to the same conclusion that you learned your salat;
"Either from your parents or from Masjid, like we all did but have no courage to except it".

Now the onus is on those who have been badgering us with the question;

"where did you find the prayer method if not from hadith" to describe the method of salat in every bit of detail, including each and every step, each and every Raka'a and timing from hadith. Don't just post the ahadith, but also write what that hadith shows;

Now the fact is;

008.034
"But what plea have they that Allah should not punish them, when they keep out (men) from the sacred Mosque - and they are not its guardians? No men can be its guardians except the righteous; but most of them do not understand."

Those days, those Kaffir who were powerful enough to hold the Muslims at distant from Kaaba they did it with their power, so Allah (swt) reveled this above message as in it, it says;

***"But what plea have they that Allah should not punish them, when they keep out (men) from the sacred Mosque - and they are not its guardians?***

Islamically speaking Kuffaar were never its guardian's even when they were in control of Kaaba and its vicinity.

*** No men can be its guardians except the righteous; but most of them do not understand.***

Most of us don't know and some of us don't want to know that the guardians of Kaaba are the people who are the righteous ones.

The debate that who is the Guradian of Kaaba took a wrong turn few months back on this site, so I stopped my arguments.

Exactly as Allah Subahana wa Taala has promised us that HE Himself will safeguard his Holy Book till the day of Judgement, He also had written in Quran that "NO MEN CAN BE ITS GUARDIANS EXCEPT THE RIGHTEOUS".

If this is a promise of Allah, so why resist?
Did Allah failed to keep His promise?
So, why keep denying the facts?

Moreover, Allah says in Quran that he is every where, Allah is every where, in all directions, whether you pray facing towards East or West, Allah is everywhere, but if Allah has specifically directed us to pray facing towards Masjid Al-Haram, it is not because we prostrate that small cubical building, because we must follow the rituals established by those righteous people who are the guardian of Masjid Al-Haram by the will of Allah and Allah alone. And because of that place has been declared a place of extreme importance, and as Allah declared it a place of PEACE.

If any one of us deny following rituals of Islam as directed in Quran and example has been set and practiced at Masjid Al-Haram, Allah has warned them at the beginning of verse 34 in following words;

"But what plea have they that Allah should not punish them, when they keep out (men) from the sacred Mosque - and they are not its guardians?"

Finally Allah says in the same verse that
***but most of them do not understand.***

And then again Allah warns us in another verses, as follows;

2:125;
"Remember We made the House a place of assembly for men and a place of safety; and take ye the station of Abraham as a place of prayer; and We covenanted with Abraham and Isma'il, that they should sanctify My House for those who compass it round, or use it as a retreat, or bow, or prostrate themselves (therein in prayer). "


003/096 & 097;;
"The first House (of worship) appointed for men was that at Bakka: Full of blessing and of guidance for all kinds of beings:"

"In it are Signs Manifest; (for example), the Station of Abraham; whoever enters it attains security; Pilgrimage thereto is a duty men owe to Allah,- those who can afford the journey; but if any deny faith, Allah stands not in need of any of His creatures."

First, Allah says about Kaaba that it is full of blessing and **GUIDANCE FOR ALL KINDS**, that is guidance for mankind and jinkind.
And then, Allah says Khana-e-Kaaba is a ***SIGN OF MANIFEST***

1) No men can be its guardians except the righteous (v.8/34).
2) But most of them do not understand. (v8/34).
3) And take ye the station of Abraham as a place of prayer (2/125).
4) Full of blessing and of guidance (3/96).
5) "In it are Signs Manifest;(3/97).

Now, brothers and sisters, If our Masjid Al-Haram has so many positive things in it, and Quran clearly direct us to follow the guidance what you get from Masjid Al-haram, (beside Quran itself for the performance of Salats) than why should I leave Quran and the rituals in practice at Masjid Al Haram and follow Sahih Bukhari?

Can any one out there clarify it for me, please!

Please read Quran and try submit to Allah alone.........
Instead of following other books and submitting to Imams

Any Objection???


May Allah Subhana wa taala help us understand Quran and guide us to the right path, path of those on whom Allah has bestowed his favors;
Ameen,
Alhamdulil'lahi Rabil Alameen,
Ameen.

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