Voices of Islam (7 page)

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Christianity, will view Muhammad as one of their prophets. And yet, inherent in the Muslim declaration of faith is the very seed of the universalism that makes Islam unique. Muhammad is presented to Muslims as the final prophet in a long tradition of divine revelation that includes—but is not limited to—the messages given to former prophets of the Abrahamic tradition. According to the teachings of Islam, God has proclaimed the same basic truth to all peoples of faith: ‘‘I am your Lord: worship me and I will offer you mercy, salvation and paradise.’’ The Qur’an clearly points out that this is the same universal message that was sent through the Hebrew and New Testament prophets as well.

Say, We believe in God and that which was revealed unto us,

That which was revealed unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob And the tribes, that which Moses and Jesus received,

And that which other Prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them

And unto Him we have surrendered.

(Qur’an 2:136)

This verse reminds Muslims that when they proclaim the Shahada, they also attest to their acceptance not only of the prophecy of Muhammad but also of the long line of prophets that preceded the advent of Islam, as a new faith that sprung up in seventh-century Arabia.

THE SECOND PILLAR OF ISLAM: PRAYER (
SALAT
)

Those believe in our signs, who—when they are recited to them— Fall down in adoration, and celebrate the praises of their Lord, Nor are they ever puffed up with pride.

Their limbs forsake their beds of sleep

While they call upon their Lord in fear and hope:

And they spend (in charity) out of the sustenance that We have bestowed upon them.

(Qur’an 32:15–16)

It is prayer that continuously marks the passing of time for Muslims. Every day opens with prayer, is punctuated throughout by prayer, and ends in prayer. In countries that are predominantly Muslim, it does not take long for a non-Muslim visitor to perceive how the rhythm of daily life is marked by the
Adhan,
the call to prayer. The word for prayer in Arabic is
Salat
and is formed by the three-letter root S-L-A. Another meaning that comes from this root is ‘‘blessing.’’

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Voices of Tradition

There is no other aspect of Islamic practice that has been broadcast across the world more often than prayer. This is probably due to the beauty and grandeur that one perceives when witnessing massive numbers of people moving in graceful unison to the melodious sound of Qur’anic recitation. Other scenes, equally touching, depict the opposite: when a person quietly offers herself up to her Creator in solitary prayer, it makes it seem as though all of existence at that moment—at least in that person’s heart—is contained in her prayer rug.

While the first Pillar of Islam, the Shahada or Proclamation of Faith, can be performed publicly with a minimum of two witnesses, prayer extends a Muslim’s religious practice into the community. It is considered best to pray in congregation whenever possible, and according to some schools of Islamic law, it is incumbent upon males to pray together on Fridays. Women are permitted to pray in the mosque too, but they also reserve the right to pray at home if they prefer to do so.

The formal prayers of Islam are basically the same around the world. This means that a Muslim can join in prayer from Demak in Indonesia to Detroit in the United States and move right into the flow of the Salat without missing a beat. Before the prayer begins, Muslims must make sure that they, and the place where they pray, are ritually pure. Things that make a person or a place impure are any human or animal excretion, such as blood or urine. Menstru- ating women do not pray, and according to some schools of Islamic law, peo- ple with seeping or bleeding sores cannot perform the ritual prayers because those who are bleeding are considered impure, regardless of gender. People who are too sick to participate in the physical movements of the formal prayers are required to pray while sitting or even lying down if they are able to do so. However, one must be clear of mind while praying, so a person using strong medication that affects one’s mental capacities can be excused from prayer.

Before the prayer Muslims perform
wudu’,
an ablution that consists of cleaning the hands, mouth, nose, arms, face, head, ears, and feet. To an outsider, this act of ritual cleaning may seem like nothing more than an empty physical activity, but to the Muslim there is a spiritual significance to this prac- tice as well. Often, prayers are silently recited while seeking a state of purity, and certain inner refl are expected to accompany the act of making ablutions. For example, I am expected to consider my speech while washing my mouth, being mindful of whether I have used the faculty of speech to do good or evil since the last prayer. The same is done with the rest of their body; did my feet take me to places that are acceptable, places where God’s work is done? Did my hands participate in actions that harm or help the rest of God’s creation? In this way, the physical purity of my bodily members becomes a reflection of the inner, spiritual purity toward which I must strive at all times.

After cleaning themselves, Muslims line up shoulder to shoulder following the instructions of a hadith in which the Prophet Muhammad stated that when Muslims allow gaps between themselves in lines of prayer, the one

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who slips between the lines is Satan. The Muslim prayer is made up of cycles of repeated movements called
raka‘at.
Each
rak’a
or cycle consists of stand- ing straight, bending at the waist with hands on the knees, standing straight again, lowering oneself into prostration, rising to a kneeling position, and then prostrating a second time. Some scholars believe that the positions of the human body while performing the Muslim prayer take on the shapes of the Arabic letters that spell the word ‘‘Allah.’’

Every Muslim must pray five times a day: (1) in the morning just before dawn, (2) when the sun is at the midpoint in the sky, (3) in the afternoon when the sun is halfway between the midpoint and sunset, (4) just after sun- set, and (5) in the evening at least an hour and a half after sunset. The number of
raka‘at
for each of the five daily prayers has been set at two in the morning prayer, four in the midday prayer, four in the afternoon prayer, three in the sunset prayer, and four in the evening prayer. This means that a Muslim has her face to the ground a minimum of 17 times a day, bringing to mind God’s injunction to submit to Him in a spirit of humility and gratitude. Prayers are often performed in a mosque—
masjid
in Arabic—a term that means ‘‘place of prostration.’’ It is this position of total prostration—with feet, knees, hands, and face on the ground—that is described by most Muslims as their favorite part of the ritual prayer, affirming the notion that their lowest, most humble physical position leads them to their highest spiritual point.

The verbal portion of the prayers, whether done out loud or in silence, shares elements that are the same across different sects and schools. Each
rak’a
begins with the recitation of
Surat al-Fatiha,
‘‘The Opening,’’ which is the seven-line opening chapter of the Qur’an. This is followed by recitation of other Qur’anic verses. Some segments of the prayers are done out loud, and some are done in silence. People often follow the group prayer with a silent prayer of supplication called
du‘a.

That fact that males and females are separated during the prayer sometimes draws criticism from outsiders who have failed to consider the extremely physical nature of Muslim prayer. During the prayer, our bodies rub against the people standing next to us. When in prostration, we are often in a position that may be considered immodest. Islam is a religion that recognizes human nature and deals with it in a direct manner. For this reason, the distractions that might arise by mixing genders in such close proximity that they are touching each other’s bodies during prayer is avoided by separating males and females.

It is interesting to note how
harim,
the word for the women’s section of a mosque or a home, has taken on a connotation in the West that is the opposite of the original meaning of the word. When non-Muslims hear the word ‘‘harem,’’ they often conjure up Hollywood images of scantily clad women waiting to fulfill the desires of a powerful male, usually in some remote desert oasis. However, the true meaning of
harim
is ‘‘holy place,’’ ‘‘sanctuary,’’ or ‘‘asylum.’’ Related forms of this word mean ‘‘to make sacred,’’ ‘‘prohibited,’’

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Voices of Tradition

‘‘forbidden,’’ or ‘‘holy.’’ In other words, the women’s section of a mosque or a home is considered so sacred that it is forbidden territory. To whom is it forbidden? In the home, the
harim
is forbidden to outsiders. In the mosque, the
harim
is forbidden to men. Non-Muslims usually fail to see that Muslim women often enjoy their private, sacred space. Many women do not want to lose the sense of sanctuary that offers such privacy. Some Muslim women are currently trying to integrate genders within the mosque, particularly in the United States. But interestingly, objections to this movement are often just as loud from their female co-religionists as it is from the males.

When the prayer is over, Muslims extend greetings to the right and left (or according to some schools of law, just to the right if no one is to the left). This extends greetings of peace to their coworshippers. But it is also done in recognition of the Qur’anic verse (Qur’an 50:17) that tells Muslims to behold the two Guardian Angels that accompany them at all times. The angel to the right notes one’s good deeds, and the angel to the left notes one’s bad deeds. By extending greetings to each of these unseen angels, Muslims are reminded to consider the sanctity of their thoughts, speech, and actions throughout their daily activities. In this way, prayer is the ultimate reminder of the interweaving of the divine and angelic worlds with earthly existence.

The Qur’an does not describe how to practice the fi daily prayers. Islamic tradition states that it was the Angel Gabriel who taught the Prophet Muhammad how to do the prayers so that he could pass that knowledge on to his followers. Another popular tradition that is often depicted in Persian miniature paintings describes the event in Muhammad’s life called the Ascension (
Mi’raj
). It was this sacred journey to heaven that led to the number of daily prayers being set at five.

One evening the Angel Gabriel awakened the Prophet Muhammad and mounted him on a winged creature similar to a horse named Buraq (from the Arabic word for ‘‘lightning’’). Within a short time Buraq whisked the prophet from Arabia to Solomon’s temple at Jerusalem, which the Qur’an refers to as ‘‘The Farthest Mosque’’ (
al-Masjid al-Aqsa
) to indicate its distance from Mecca. The prophet ascended through the seven heavens to the very Throne of God. As he passed through the various stages of heaven, he encountered other prophets such as Jesus, Adam, and Abraham. At the final moment before meeting God, the Angel Gabriel told Muhammad that he would have to continue alone because the power and majesty of God’s light would burn Gabriel’s wings. Muhammad went on alone and received instructions from God for his
Umma,
the Muslim Community.

Muhammad began his return to the earthly realm, but on the way, he encountered Moses who asked what acts of worship were required of Muhammad’s followers. Muhammad replied that his people were to pray to God 50 times a day. Moses insisted that human beings would never follow through on such a difficult requirement and told Muhammad to go back and ask for the load to be lightened. He returned to God and the number

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of prayers was reduced to 40. According to the Prophet’s story, ‘‘I went back, and when God had reduced the prayers by ten, I returned to Moses. Moses said the same as before, so I went back, and when God reduced the prayers by ten more, I returned to Moses.’’
2
After multiple entreaties to God, Muhammad was finally too embarrassed to return again, and thus the fi number of prayers was set at fi For the most pious Muslims, these five prayers are seen as a minimum. Muslims often follow the required prayers with extra
raka‘at,
as the Prophet Muhammad and his companions did.

There are numerous Qur’anic verses that refer to God’s command that believers remember Him through prayer, but perhaps the best known are the following:

Establish regular prayers at the sun’s decline Till the darkness of the night,

And the Morning Prayer and recitation; for the prayer and recitation in the morning

Carry their testimony.

And pray in the small hours of the morning.

It would be an additional prayer (or spiritual profit) for thee; Soon will thy Lord raise thee to a Station of Praise and Glory!

(Qur’an 17:78–79)

The Morning Prayer is singled out as special because of the belief in Islam that early morning is a particularly spiritual time, when dawn has arrived and the soul of the believer is awakening from the evening’s rest. The above Qur’anic comment about the extra prayers in ‘‘the small hours of the morning’’ is assumed to be a reference to prayers that the Prophet Muhammad performed after midnight and into the morning hours.

God makes it clear in the Qur’an that humans are not the only aspect of His creation that glorify Him through prayer. The Qur’an also states that all beings praise their Creator simply by doing what comes naturally to them:

Do you not see that it is God whose praises all beings In the heavens and on earth celebrate,

And the birds (of the air) with wings outspread? Each one knows its own mode of prayer and praise And God knows well all that they do.

(Qur’an 24:41)

If one refl upon all of the prayers taking place—with millions of Muslims praying at least five times a day—it soon becomes clear that there