Salat prayer is the prime source to nourish our souls, and right recitation in the prayer is a challenge for the believers to establish it in a right way as designed by God, when it has been corrupted with the distorted and extra recitation in different positions down the generation, but God has given us a scripture explained with knowledge of guidance and mercy to recover the right recitation from the distortion so that we can establish it as designed to be responded by Him to have credit for it.
- Even a set of detailed instructions how to establish the salat prayer is not in the Quran, but the level of details that God has given in it about salat is enough for the true believers to continue the salat prayer in a perfect way being it an existing practice as well as to recover it if anything is lost or it is corrupted with anything down the generations, while God has ordered the believers to follow what has been revealed to them and not to follow any allies other Him:
[7:3] You shall follow what has been revealed to you from your Lord, and you do not follow any allies other than Him. Little is what you reflect.
[7:52] And certainly, we had brought to them of a scripture we explained it with knowledge of a guidance and a mercy for a people to believe.
[75:16] Do not move your (Muhammad) tongue with it (Quran) that you hasten with it.
[75:17] Indeed, upon us is its collection and its recitation.
[75:18). So when we have recited it, then you (Muhammad) shall follow its recitation.
[75:19] Then indeed, upon us is its explanation.
- God has made clear the purpose of the salat prayer for the believers to remember Him making it the greatest, and has given words for them in a scripture He has sent down to remember Him:
[6:162] Say (Muhammad), “My salat prayer, and my sacrifice, and my life and my death, are dedicated to God, Lord of the worlds.
[20:14] “Indeed Me, I am God; there is no other god except I. So, you (Moses) shall worship Me, and shall establish the salat prayer for My remembrance.
[29:45] You (Muhammad) shall recite what has been revealed to you of the scripture, and shall establish the salat prayer. Indeed, the salat prayer forbids from the immorality and the evil, while surely, remembering God is the greatest, and God knows what you (all) do.
[21:10] Certainly, we have sent down to you (all) a scripture, in it is your remembrance. Do you not then understand?
- There should be the right recitation in the salat prayer to remember God to please Him to be responded by Him, while He has given us Surah 1: Al-Fatehah as specific words as was given to Adam and his wife for their redemption, and He has confirmed that there is conformity in His system:
[7:23] They (both) said, “Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive for us and have mercy on us, surely, we will be with the losers.”
[2:37] Then, Adam received words from his Lord, so He redeemed him. He is the Redeemer, the Merciful.
[48:23] God’s system which has certainly passed before, and you will not find any change for God’s system.
Distortion in the recitation of salat prayer
God has designed the salat for us to remember Him, and has given us all aspects of it except a set of detailed instructions how to establish the salat prayer that many of us expect in the Quran being an existing practice but there is appropriate detail in it to understand the distortions to get rid of them as made to the recitation of the salat prayer down the generations. There is lot of distortion in the recitation in the salat prayer as of to date according to various sects based on recommendations by the so called scholars and imams, but here are the very common distortions in its recitation or extra recitation as captured below:
- The recitation of opening dua (sana/dua e masura) in-between the takbeer e-tahrimah (initial allahu akbar to commence the salat) and Surah al-Fatehah.
- The recitation of a short Surah or a part of a long Surah upon completing Surah 1 (Al-Fatehah), including in the first 2 Rak’ahs (units) of prayer if it is a 3-unit and 4-unit prayer.
- The recitation of the word, “aaaameen” at the end upon completing Surah 1 (Al-Fatehah).
- The recitation of the phrase, “rabbanaa laka al- hamd” just after returning to standing from bowing before making a move to prostration.
- The recitation of the phrase, “allahumma aghfirlee wa-arhamnee wa-ihdeenee wa-ar-zuqqnee” between two prostrations.
- The recitation of the Tashahhud (also known as at-Tahiyyat) at the sitting position corrupting it with asking peace, mercy and blessing for Muhammad as a prophet, servant and messenger of God.
- The recitation of the Darud at sitting asking blessing for Muhammad and Ibrahim as well as their families.
- The recitation of the Salaam appending mercy of God (as’salaamu `alaykum wa-rahmatullah).
- The recitation of munajat at the end of the salat prayer to seek help from God.
Validation of the distorted or extra recitation
Salat is not just recitation of some words at certain positions, but it is more than that. We are to concentrate on what we are uttering so that it is observed being reverent to God reflecting to our hearts, i.e., our souls. Thus, the recitation must be in a befitting manner so that it helps us develop our souls being responded by God. Here is discussion on each of the above corrupted recitations to understand whether it is a distortion or is a part of recitation in the salat based on explanation from the Quran as well as applying our wisdom given by God:
- The traditional Muslims make it a customary to recite opening dua (sana/dua e masura) even after commencing the salat prayer reciting Takbeer: allahu akbar and also recite munajat after ending it reciting Salaam: as’salaamu `alaykum making it a part of the prayer, while God has made it very clear to commence the salat prayer reciting Takbeer followed by an intention to establish a particular prayer and to end the prayer reciting Salaam. Both opening dua and munajat are introduced based on hadiths and sunnah to distort the salat prayer, while hadiths and sunnah are big lies as God has told us to disregard the hadith collectors and what they have fabricated. In addition, He has let us know that we can implore Him at any time upon completing the salat prayer, but to make it a part of the prayer without any doubt is a distortion:
[6:112] And thus that we have made an enemy for every prophet, the devils from the human and the jinn to inspire one of them to other the fancy word in deception. And if your Lord had willed, they would not have done it. So you shall disregard them and what they fabricate.
[6:113] And that inclines to it hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter, and that they please with it, and that they commit what they are committing.
[31:6] And from the people, whoever purchases the baseless Hadith to mislead from God’s path without knowledge and takes it as mockery; those – for them there is a humiliating punishment.
[45:6] That is of God’s revelations we recite them to you (Muhammad) with the truth. So, in which statement after God and His revelations do they believe?
[4:103] So when you have completed the salat prayer, then you shall remember God being standing, and sitting, and being on your sides. So when you have been secure, then you shall establish the salat prayer (not shortening); indeed, the salat prayer has been a decree on the believers at specified times.
- The recitation of a Surah or a part of a long Surah after completing Surah 1: Al-Fatehah is an extra recitation to distort the prayer as the Surah 1: Al-Fatehah is given for our prayer being specific words as given to Adam and his wife for their forgiveness, while the rest of the Quran is given for our guidance being the initial: Alif Laam Meem is a gateway to access our guidance, while we cannot give guidance to God, and if we recite a surah or a part of surah, it would be that we give Him guidance:
[7:23] They (Adam and his wife) said, “Our Lord, we have wronged our souls, and unless You forgive us and have mercy on us, we will be losers.”
[2:37] Then, Adam had received words from his Lord, so He redeemed him. Indeed, He is the Redeemer, the Merciful.
[2:1] Alif.Laam.Meem.
[2:2] That scripture, there is no doubt in it, is a guidance for the righteous.
- The recitation of the word, “aaaameen” upon completion of the recitation of Al-Fatehah is a distortion of Al-Fatehah, destroying its numeric property such as the cumulative total of its 7 verse numbers (1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 = 28) is equal to its total number of words in the 7verses (4 + 4 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 3 + 8 = 28), while the origin of this word is not confirmed to be Arabic, and the Arabic instance of “Amin” means to entrust, secure etc..
- The recitation of the phrase, rabbanaa laka al- hamdat standing position i.e., upon returning to standing from bowing and before making a move to prostration to praise God is an extra recitation as every position and every move there is a specific recitation, and the recitation specified at the standing position is the recitation of al-Fatehah being allahu akbarto open the prayer. Thus, the recitation of this phrase even breaks the ground rule. In addition, there is no enough time between returning to standing from bowing and before making a move to prostration to recite this phrase to establish Salat being reverent to God, which is already done in the 2nd verse of sura Al-Fatehah.
- The recitation of the Arabic phrase, allahumma aghfir lee wa-arhamnee wa-ihdinee wa-ar-zuqqneebetween two prostrations is an extra recitation as Salat is just to remember God for the nourishment of our souls as well as to ask Him for guiding us to the straight path but not imploring Him for anything like our health, provisions, wellbeing etc.. In addition, there is no enough time between two prostrations to recite this phrase to establish Salat being reverent to God, while the recitation as specified at sitting is tashahhud “ash-hadu an laa-ilaha illaa allah; wahdahu; laa-shareeka lah”. Thus, such recitation also breaks the ground rule.
- 6. God has given us Tashahhud: ash-hadu an laa-ilaha illaa allah; wahdahu; laa-shareeka lah found in the Quran to recite it to dedicate our prayer to Him alone, which is distorted by corrupting it to ask peace, mercy and blessing for Muhammad as a prophet, servant and messenger of God in the prayer, which does not make any sense from our common sense to focus on any person whoever he may be. In addition, the Talbiyah: labbayka, allahumma labbayk; labbayka, laa-shareeka laka labbayk. Innal-hamda wan-ni`mata laka wal-mulk, laa-shareeka lak), which is recited by the pilgrims throughout the Hajj is still a physical evidence for the present generation of believers to understand the distortion of Tashahhud as well.
-
Darud is recited at the sitting position asking God for blessings of Muhammad and Ibrahim including their families. But Salat is not designed by God for imploring Him for the blessings of any prophet and his families except asking Him for the redemption of our own sins and the nourishment of our individual soul even if we pray in a group. In addition, it is the direct violation of the commandment in the Quran “Make no distinction between any of His messengers” as found in 2:136, 2:285, 3:84 & 4:152. Hence, we do not even need to think to understand that Darud is an extra recitation to corrupt the Salat idolizing prophets Muhammad and Ibrahim that nullifies our prayer for idol worshiping (4:48, 4:116):
[3:79] It has not been for a human that God gives him the scripture and the wisdom and the prophethood, then he says to the people, “You shall be worshipers of me other than God, except you shall be Lord’s worshipers with what you have been teaching the scripture and with what you have been studying.”
[3:80] Nor can he order you that you take the angels and the prophets as lords. Can he order you in the disbelief after when you are submitters?
- Salaam is recited to end the prayer wishing the Peace of God upon the believers around us to stay in the straight path what we ask Him in the recitation of verse 6 of surah Al-Fatehah. Hence, appending the extra word, wa-rahmatullah is a distortion of the Salaam: as’salaamu `alaykum.
The salat prayer with right recitation
God has taught us the Quan (55:2) and the intelligence (55:4). If we use what God has taught us, we should not have any difficulty to understand what He has given us to recite in the salat prayer being the greatest for remembering Him to establish the salat prayer dedicating the prayer to Him alone seeking help and guidance from God as well as expecting response of our prayer from Him:
- Start salat with Takbeer “allahu akbar” followed by intention to establish a particular salat prayer.
- Reciting 7 verses of Surah al-Faatihah in the rhythmic manner (1:2-4:5:6-7) at standing position followed by Takbeer:
- Bis’mil- Lahir- Rahmaanir- Raheem.
- Al-Hamdu Lillahi Rabbil- `Aalameen.
- Ar-Rahmaanir- Raheem.
- Maaliki Yawmid- Deen.
- Iyyaka Na’budu wa-Iyyaka Nas’ta-een.
- Ih’dinaas- Siraatal- Mustaqeem;
- Siraat Alladheena An’`amta `Alayhim; Ghyril- Maghdoobi `Alayhim wa-laad-Daalleen.
- Subhaana Rabbiyal- `Azeemat bowing position.
- Sami-`a Allahu Liman Hamidah during returning to standing from bowing.
- Subhaana Rabbiyal- `Alaa at prostration repeated two times from standing and sitting.
- Ash’hadu An laa-Ilaaha Illaa Allah, Wahdahu, laa-Shareeka Lah at sitting position upon completing two units.
- As’salaamu `Alaykum turning the face to the right and to the left to end the prayer at the sitting position.
Moreover, to establish the salat prayer reciting Surah al-Faatihah including 6 other Arabic phrases in different positions as mentioned above can be confirmed from a simple mathematical interpretation with the number of pertinent component, word and letter in the recitation what are repeated in the recitation to establish Salat prayers at 5 times a day eliminating any distortion or extra recitation at any position leaving no room for any confusion to be the appropriate recitation for the true believers all over world, if we add the total # of components, which is 7, the total # of words, which is 50, and the total # of letters, which is 228 in the recitation, the sum is a multiple of 19 => 7 + 50 + 228 = 285 (19x15) being 19 is the common denominator for mathematical coding of the Quran, a reminder delivered by God’s messenger of the covenant being a message for the scientifically and technologically developed community of the world.
Note: Takbeer: Allahu Akbar is recited to commence the prayer as well as to move from one position to another except returning to standing from bowing, while intention is to have in mind of the individual in silent including prayer name and facing towards Ka’ba if not sure she/he is facing towards the Ka’ba, which may be in any language not being part of the recitation. Thus, God has made the salat prayer very easy and simple reciting only 50 words in Arabic in moderate tone (17:110) to make it universal for the Muslims.
Conclusion
God has given us salat in order to establish contact with Him at 5 specific times a day to redeem our sins as well as to grow our souls preventing ourselves from the immorality and the evils deeds, while the Satan has succeeded in distorting the different aspects of salat including the recitation in the salat prayer for millions of Muslims to deprive them from making contact with their Creator not to have any credit for it. It has been confirmed from the level of details as given in the Quran, the final edition of God’s scripture that God has designed the salat prayer with 50 words including 28 words in the Surah al-Fatehah to establish it in a right way to be acceptable to Him. But the salat with the distorted recitation does not reach Him being idol worshiping, even if there is slight change in His given words nullifies the prayers, while they may be pleased being allies of the Satan, a great enemy of human without verifying whether they are establishing it in a right way with right recitation. Thus, when God has ordered us to do anything, He has made a room for us to do it right way recovering from any distortion.
Peaceful Friday, salaam and God bless.
Tafazzal (01/06/2023).