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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Why do Muslims pray a certain way. |
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| Khariya |
| 05/29/04 at 16:23:05 |
| [slm] Yesterday my friend asked me an interesting question about salah. She wanted to know why Muslims pray in a "set" way, why don't they just prostrate and say whatever they want in prayer. I attempted to answer the question with my limited knowlege but I don't think she was impressed. I remember seeing a really good explanation on the net before, but I can't find it. Does anyone have any good explanations? |
| 05/29/04 at 16:24:54 |
| Khariya |
| Re: Why do Muslims pray a certain way. |
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| Emerald |
| 05/29/04 at 19:25:11 |
| Interesting question. I think my response would be that to start with it starts with Surat al Fatiha because it means "opening". It's the opening in the Quran, and like that it's the opening of salat. What way to start a conversation with Allah (swt) than to make a duaa such as surat al Fatiha. Plus to saying it alone makes salat complete. About all the other ways we make salat...I think the hikmah behind it is to basically unify Muslims. I always thought it was just amazing whenever I saw people praying together in Hajj. It's just so in sync. Whoever sees it sees that there's strength in that unity. It's a lesson on how important we must agree in everything in order to achieve oneness throughout the world. |
| Re: Why do Muslims pray a certain way. |
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| Khariya |
| 05/29/04 at 22:18:16 |
| [slm] yeah subhanallah thats true the prayer is very much about unity, yesterday I was at Jumuah and the Imam (we have different Imams each week) said "straighten your ranks! straighten your ranks!" I thought that sounded so beautiful, because usually the Imam just says straighten the rows. I looked up and it really looked like we were an army, mashallah it was so wonderful. |
| Re: Why do Muslims pray a certain way. |
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| timbuktu |
| 05/30/04 at 01:49:56 |
| [slm] i wanted someone more knowledgeable than me to answer this, but since much has not been forthcoming, i will summarize what I think I know, and hope others will either correct me, or provide details with references. First of all the prophet [saw] himself prayed like this and told us to pray like him. The prophet [saw] told us to do many things, and the reasons for that were most of the time not given, but the Sahaba (ra) followed his instructions. Sometimes they asked for a reason, and it was clarified for them. e.g. the prophet cleaned his teeth with miswak, (and the miswak was from a tree called peeloo in Ursdu and Punjabi), and told us to clean our te. The West has known about the benefits of cleaning the teeth only in the last century, & the benefits of cleaning with peelu miswak are only becoming clearer now. second saying salah in this manner has many benefits. One of these is that all the joints in our body make a movement in the way we are told to say our prayers. It is a sort of execise as well. I have read about other benefits are outlined somewhere. A net search may bring it up. wa assalam |
| Re: Why do Muslims pray a certain way. |
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| se7en |
| 05/30/04 at 16:49:17 |
| as salaamu alaykum, you may want to point out that when it comes to the spiritual realm, and the method and means of worship, we are really limited in our understanding.. our only access to information about God and our relationship with Him is through revelation. It is out of His mercy that, instead of leaving us to speculate and devise means of worship, which may or may not be acceptable, He prescribed a very specific way for us to do so; with the promise that if we worship in this way with a sincere and focused heart, the prayer would be accepted. also, you can point out that duaa is another 'type' of prayer, in which there is more flexibility with expression, said in any language, at any time. wasalaamu alaykum :) |
| 05/30/04 at 16:52:16 |
| se7en |
| Re: Why do Muslims pray a certain way. |
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| Khariya |
| 05/30/04 at 22:34:06 |
| [slm] Mashallah I totally forgot about the physical benefits of salat I was limiting myself to the spritual level. {It is out of His mercy that, instead of leaving us to speculate and devise means of worship, which may or may not be acceptable, He prescribed a very specific way for us to do so; with the promise that if we worship in this way with a sincere and focused heart, the prayer would be accepted. } That's true, if one were to devise their own prayer it would be impossible for you to keep your mind only on praising God and without thinking about yourself, thats why Allah in his mercy gave us a second part of the prayer the dua which allows us to focus on our wishes. It's logical too, first you praise God, then you ask for whatever you want. :) |
| 05/30/04 at 22:35:26 |
| Khariya |
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