This is a small write up about Salat:
Ibn ‘Ata
http://www.untiredwithloving.org/ibn_ataa_salat.html
Q: Why is our Salat not acceptable and not up to par?
A: Lack of knowledge:
http://www.untiredwithloving.org/defects_of_nafs.html#44
We are absent minded or bored during the Salat because we are ignorant Muslim worshipers! We Muslims need to learn and we Muslims need to acquire knowledge from deep within (Irfan).
As the Prophet peace be upon him said that there is no Salat without Fatiha, therefore putting 2 and 2 together we can safely infer that if we do not have the knowledge of Fatiha we could and would not perform Salat properly:
Ansari Tafsir of Fatiha
http://www.untiredwithloving.org/ansaari_tafsir_1.html
Father of Rumi a.k.a Baha Walad Tafsir of Fatiha:
http://www.untiredwithloving.org/fatiha_baha_walad.html
Rumi’s Tafsir of Fatiha (collection of poems and sayings):
http://www.untiredwithloving.org/rumi_tafsir_fatiha.html
Qurtubi, Razi, Tabari, Tabatabai, Al-Alusi, Baqli Tafsirs of Al-Hamd-u
http://www.untiredwithloving.org/qurtubi_1_1.html
Dara
Thank you Sayyadi Dara, and may Allah increase your Irfan.
Please forgive me for being a little naive and yet persistent.
I have two points of concern. (1) I wonder if Quran or Hadith explicitly divide Salat into Canonical/Obligatory Salat and some other Salat like the Salat of the Heart. As I understand at the present time, there is no such classification in general, though for and individual, personally, there can be many types of Salat. (2) I wonder if the very concept of canonical/obligatory Salat is valid. In this regard, I looked and only found one situation where a part of an Ayah (4:102) says: Indeed Salat is prescribed for the Momins at regular times. The otherwise silence of Quran on this prescribed nature of Salat is of concern.
My personal understanding at this time is that the concept of canonical/prescribed Salat is not valid. Salat is optional and should be performed as a privilege rather than an obligation. There is no punishment for not praying Salat, but there is enormous potential blessings if and when it is voluntarily performed with ADAAB and with explicit testing to see if it results in blessing or in farther distances from Allah.
This is my genuine concern, it is not a discussion point that I seek to defend or a position that I wish to hold.
May Allah help everyone with their concerns.
Salaam Whisper
No apologies, I give a brief answer and then I need to muse your words.
Dhikr is both Salat as canonical prayer and as something private deep within the heart. So the word you need to generalize the Salat is Dhikr.
Recall that Dhikr is not chant, Dhikr is accessing and un-earthing a spiritual memory, of course of our Divine Beloved.
My suggestion then is to use the word Dhikr for your non-canonical concepts in prayers, and Salat for the canonical ritualistic prayers.
It is a good choice, though not perfect and not universally fitting the concept of Salat ,but should allow us to form and discuss new thoughts
Dara
yes Sayyadi Dara, I am in resonance with the Zikr as generalization of Salat — A condition in which the heart seeks to be somewhere in the company of the ArRahman. It is not out of obligation nor out of fear of damnation, but out of a realization and feeling that there is nowhere else to go. And that does not eliminate the choices to go somewhere else, but a realization that every instance of going somewhere else is there converging to being with ArRahman; and there is infinitely more choices, as many as the heart can accept and rejoice in.
Dear Whisper and Hmissoumi
Thank you for most profound observations. I am filled with gratitude.
If I did not learn something new, then my Salat is only Islamic Yoga.
Dara
Salaams to All
Prayer … Is a moment – established or not by law – which one willingly enters seeking a different relationship with one self and hoping to approximate the feelings of proximity one knows possible, asking for help and assistance one knows available, and adopting the right attitude one knows necessary to one’s approach, seeking expansion to the point of eventually becoming totally absorbed in that which is sought.
According to Ibn Arabi – whom I assume did travel the Path and reached this Place and Beyond – the one praying knows he/she is in “true prayer” when it becomes clear to him/her that the voice reciting his/her prayer IS God’s Voice and that the ear hearing that prayer IS God’s Ear … May we all have a taste of that: Stepping into a Most Sacred space and entering the Most Holy place, Addressing, Listening to, and Receiving from this Most Loving Presence … In humility.
Prayer in congregation, behind a leader, may develop a sense of being and belonging to a greater body … e.g. Ibrahim … Who was … a Nation unto himself ?