Questions from David gould about Sunnah,Salaf and Salat?

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Permalink Reply by Ali Afifi on March 24, 2009 at 8:19pm

Salat means prayers and the prayers in Islam are not only words said by mouth but also specific movements formed of (standing, kneeling, and prostration). Daily prayers are offered five times a day as a duty towards Allah and are a direct link between the worshiper and God. The Muslims do not pray to Muhammad (peach be upon him) but pray to the God.

Muslims pray toward the Kabah in Makkah. Muslims do not believe that the black cubical is their god or they think their god is in there but Kabah is the first holy place in the earth chosen by the God where rebuilt by Abraham and his son Ismael (peace be upon them) and we consider it the center of the earth where all Muslims pray toward it and according to the times of our prayers, u can expect that the prayer is present all the 24 hours in all the earth because of the variation of times between the cities. If u make circles around the Kabah to include the whole earth, u will find that a group is present in every circle every minute during the whole 24 hours. While the first circle pray Fajr (The Dawn prayer), the last circle pray the Isha (The evening prayer) and so on. So the prayers do not cease to the God along the 24 hours of the day in all the earth.

There is no hierarchical authority in Islam, and no priests, so the prayers are led by any learned person who knows the Qur'an, chosen by the congregation. These five prayers contain verses from the Qur'an, and are said in Arabic, the language of the Revelation, but personal supplication can be offered in one's own language. They strengthen and enliven the belief in Allah and inspire man to a higher morality. They purify the heart and prevent temptation towards wrong-doings and evil things. They are: - Fajr (The Dawn prayer) - Duhr (The noon prayer) - Asr (The afternoon prayer) - Maghrib (The sunset prayer) - Isha (The evening prayer).and thus determine the rhythm of the entire day. Although it is preferable to worship together in a mosque, a Muslim may pray almost anywhere, such as in fields, offices, factories and universities. Visitors to the Muslim world are struck by the centrality of prayers in daily life.

This is a description of the prayers for who want to know what we are saying in the pray:
Muslims replied "first of all the approach to prayer is in cleanliness-both physical and spiritual. Allah, The Creator of man is the only one who has the right to say how we should come before Him in prayer. He tells us in the Holy Quran the exact way we are to approach Him (chapter 5 verse 6). We are to wash our hands, face, forearms, wipe over our heads and wash our feet. By doing so, the minor sins we committed from those parts of our body are washed away. We, then, assume a standing position while facing Makkah (the focal point of our prayer), and raise our hands saying, "God is the Greatest". After that, we say the first Surah (chapter) of the Holy Quran: "Praise be to God, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the world, The Most Merciful, The Most Compassionate, Master of the Day of Judgment. It is Thee we worship and Thy aid we seek. Show us the straight way. The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray. (Surah 1 Ayahs 1-7) Then again we raise our hands to our shoulders and say "God is the Greatest" This is followed by bowing and placing the hands on the knees while saying "Praise be to our Glorious Lord" three times or more. When rising to a standing position, we say: "Allah hears who praises Him. Our Lord, for you is all praise." Again the words, "God is the Greatest". Now the worshipper will prostrate before Allah on the ground while saying, "Glory to the Lord, the Great" three times or more. After that, he reclines to a sitting position on his feet while asking Allah to forgive him his sins and assumes again the prostrating position while repeating again "Glory to the Lord, the Great" three times or more. The words of the prayer and the execution are by direction of Allah as shown to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) by Angel Gabriel (peace be upon him). This is the way the Angels in heaven pray before the throne of God. Imagine! The Muslims are the only people in the world who pray like the Angels in heaven pray! Along with this, when one stops to think, the Muslims are instructed to pray at stated times which corresponds with the position of the sun. This means that with the rotation of the earth only the Muslims are in continuous prayer before the ONE AND ONLY MOST HIGH GOD-ALLAH 24 HOURS A DAY!

Permalink Reply by Ali Afifi on March 24, 2009 at 9:15pm

The word Salaf means the pious predecessors and the companions of the prophet Mohamed (pbuh). So, this one who follow the same instructions of the Salaf (the sunnah of the prophet) called Salafi and then comes the word Salafiyyah that means the way and manner of the Salaf.

The Sunnah of the prophet means all the correct sayings and actions of the prophet Mohamed (pbuh). which are collected in Hadiths i.e. the sayings of the prophet Mohamed which describe many actions for the Muslims that are not present in Quran. Like how to pray, how to marry, how to deal with your wife and children and all the aspects of life.

They describe themselves as the following descriptions:

They are those who proceed upon the way of the Companions and those who followed them in righteousness, in clinging to the Book and the Sunnah, biting onto that with their molar teeth, and letting them (i.e., the Qur'aan and the Sunnah) take precedence over any statement or code and conduct - whether in belief, or acts of worship such as dealings and transactions, mannerisms, politics or social life.

They are those who are firm in regards to the fundamentals of the religion and its subsections, upon that which Allaah sent down and revealed upon his servant and Messenger Muhammad (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam). They are those establishing the call to that with all effort, sincerity and firm will. They are those carrying the knowledge of the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam), expelling from it the distortions of those who have exaggerated (in its regard) and the undue claims of the people of falsehood and the interpretations of the ignorant ones.

They are those who are observant and lie in wait for every group that has deviated from the way of Islaam, like the Jahmees and the Mu'tazilees and the Khawaarij and the Rawaafidh and the Murji'ah and the Qadriyyah and all of those who have deviated from the way of Allaah and have followed their desires in every time and place - they not affected by the reproach of the blamers, in the cause of Allaah (Most of these sects remembered disappeared)

They are the group that the Messenger of Allaah has praised and commended in his saying, "There will not cease to be a group from my Ummah manifest and upon the truth not being harmed by those who forsake them neither by those who oppose them until the hour is established." [1]

They are the Saved Sect firm upon that which the Messenger and his Companions were upon, those who have been distinguished and defined by the Messenger of Allaah when he mentioned that this Ummah shall divide into seventy three sects all going to the Hell-fire except one and it was said, "Who are they, O Messenger of Allaah?" He said, "They are those who are upon that which I and my Comapnions are upon."

My opinion
They are very safe group because they apply the true Islam and understand well the Islam but I consider that all the Muslims who follow the prophet Mohamed under other names are also Salafyon (the plural of Salafi) even if they do not have beard or do not wear the same dress.

This is a good site for teaching Hadith and Quran
http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/

Permalink Reply by David Gould on March 30, 2009 at 5:47pm

Ali
Thank you for these very good and full answers.
They are as usual extremely useful in explaining things to me. I particularly like the Hadith website as it lets me explore the Hadith slowly passage by passage. Sometimes I wonder if one lifetime is enough to know everything that I want to find out...but then I remember that one life is all that I have down here and that perhaps in the here-after knowledge will be more or less redundant...as we will have Him who built the Heavens to converse with.
Many thanks again for your unstinting patience with my questions and your wonderful grasp of knowledge.

Permalink Reply by Ali Afifi on March 30, 2009 at 8:35pm

Welcome David,
Please if u found any difficulties in understanding some meanings, please contact me, may I can help u.