Questions on Salat
Q: “I don’t have time to pray five times per day, what can I do instead?” “Can I pray once, summing up all the prayers of the day?” “Why should we pray five times a day?” “And why should it be in Arabic, can we pray in our own language?”
A: The practice in the Religion is for fortifying the soul, mind and the body. As for the hereafter, it is exactly like savings in the bank. Savings to afford buying our return ticket back to the Light/our Lord, savings to save us from the agony and hardship of wondering in the dark after death, savings of the Spirit within us, to find the Way out of the darkness of the Earth into the Light of high above (17:48).
17:48 “See what similes they strike for you, thus they have gone astray, then they cannot afford a way.”
In this life, it is practice for the immunity system. It strengthens the communication system of brain cells over all other cells. One of the most important practices in the Religion of All’h “the God Creator” is Salat, commonly known as prayer, and contrary to the understanding of the majority of Muslims, Salat is not a prayer, but Connection. The word used for this special practice in the Qur’an, “Salat,” means “Connecting.” The object is to connect oneself to the Wire (established by the angels), five times a day, for the circuitry of the Light (33:43).
33:43 “He it is who Connects on to you and His angels, to Bring you out from the depth of “Darkness” into the Light, He Is so Merciful toward the believers.”
A practice, to favor and promote the human nature of Man, by purification, and by charging the Light/Spirit into him, to provide the Energy necessary for lighting the Way to his Lord, the Source of Light/Energy, as well as for the hereafter. (Refer to Salat.) Moreover, the Light we receive during the performance of Connecting, purifies the sins/pollution off our mind and body, in everyday life (35:18).
35:18 “… In fact you cannot but admonish such as reverence their Lord privately and establish the Salat, and whoever purifies, only purifies his own self, and the destination is to All’h.”
Nevertheless, Connecting is only one of the Commandments of the Lord for purifying. The practice of purifying oneself will not be complete without Zakat (every month), the month of Fasting (every year), and if having the possibility, the pilgrimage of Hadj (once a lifetime). Moreover, the words of purity (recited during the Connecting, as well as the prayers of the Qur’an) ascend to our Lord, and the good deed of righteousness exalts them, (35:10).
35:10 “If anyone seeks for glory and power, glory and power totally belong to All’h. To Him mount up the pure words, and the righteous deed exalts it. Those that lay plots of evil, there is terrible calamity for them. And the plotting of such will be nullified.”
Although the practice of Connection does not seem particularly difficult (once you know the words by heart), yet only the true faithful, the completely convinced and humble ones can be steadfast/regular in such performance (2:45).
2:45 “And seek help through the steadfastness (fasting) and Salat, and it is hard indeed, except for the reverent.”
To become completely convinced about something, one has to understand and know every angle of it. For this matter, please refer to Section Salat. But here is a brief answer to the questions above. The reason for Connecting five times a day. Due to the significance of its name, Connecting is a two-sided performance, the people’s side and the Lord’s Side.
The people’s side concerns the whole population of the world (birds, trees, Sun etc.) (24:41) that need the Light for living, and mankind, for his soul. Therefore, we must Connect to the Lord, all the creatures together, and at the same time. Our Conductor for the time to connect is, of course, the Sun. And as the Sun has five different positions in 24 hours (Sun rise, Sun set, noon, after noon and night) consequently we must connect 5 times a day.
Every time, for each Connecting, there are special missionaries (angels) from the Lord, conductors of two, three and four wings (according to the number of sections of Salat), Sent down to establish the Connection, and collect (35:1). So the conductors of two wings collect the two-section morning Salat only, and the four-section of mid-day Connection is collected by the four wings conductors, same for the four- section of afternoon and night Salat, and the three-winged conductors collecting only the three-section sunset Connection.
35:1 “The Praising is for All’h, Shaper of the heavens and the Earth, Placed angels’ missionaries, conducting wings of two and three and four. He Adds to Creation as He Wills, in fact All’h Has Power over all things.”
Each Connection has a specified time and specified collectors coming down to collect it. Therefore, we cannot either change the time of the Connections, nor summing them up or do one that we have missed at the time of another.
As to the words for Connecting, they are coded words (e.g., for opening any door, we need some sort of key) and the Praise we recite in Salat is the surah called The Opener/The Key Code.
This key is composed not only of the right words of gratitude for the Creator, the Lord of universal people, but the words are specifically coded to open the gates of the Lord’s Light, Blessing.
The seven verses in this surah, symbolic of seven keys, and each verse, the key code for opening the gate of each of the seven heavens, shielding us from the Light of our Lord. Reciting any other human words, no matter how good they be, cannot be the key.
As each Salat has a specific time, it must be performed on time (4:103). If we happen to be out of home at the time, it can be performed anywhere, in any place and position (driving, walking), doing the rokoo (bowing) and sajdeh (prostration) mentally, instead of physically.
4:103 “When Salat passes on you, then celebrate All’h’s praises standing, sitting or lying on your side, then when you have no problem/worry, stand up the Salat. In fact, the Salat is enjoined on believers, on time.”
In fact, each Connecting, does not take more than 2-3 minutes. What is 10-15 minutes out of our 24-hour daily time. Time cannot and should not be an excuse for not Connecting. Nevertheless, let us not forget that if Free choice has been Given to humankind, it is precisely for such cases. We are the ones to decide whether we want to invest in this world only or for the hereafter as well.
For those who sincerely believe in the life of the hereafter, there is no doubt. They guard strictly their connections, and other Religious practices (23:2-4-9).
23:2 “Those (believers) concerning their Salat being humble;”
23:4 “Those concerning the Zakat (charity), being active;”
23:9 “Those toward their Salat being assiduous;”
They are those who truly succeed in both lives.