Could someone please tell me if it is written down that it is required to pray in Arabic? Someone on another forum is saying that because it is not Sharia that the prayers need to be in Arabic that it is definitely not required.
They too make fools out of their followers. They don't want their followers to bother what is being read to them. They want the followers to be obedient and to be submissive. In this way they make them do anything in the name of religion. A few privilleged classes benefit from the majority in this way. That's why they're also going towards a downfall like Muslims. On the other hand, people form sensible nations want to know the meanings of each word and each command they're asked to follow. Therefore, it's hard to mislead the sensible people because they know what they're following.
Since you started with "they too", I assume you are claiming that muslims are "making fool of themselves" as well. No one is stopping any muslim from understanding what is being said in the prayer. On the contrary it only encourages every muslim to know more about the religion and the words of Allah.
From what I have seen, praying salat in arabic hasnt made anyone influence any other muslim by any means. Prophet(saw) had instructed to pray salat in arabic. Do you mean to say that the prophet(saw) benefits by a muslim saying the salat in arabic or that he(saw) caused the downfall of muslims?
I dont know whom you refer to by "sensible nation". Do you mean to say that muslims (or jews or buddhists) arent sensible enough just because they say their prayers (salat) in a particular language? Again as I said, muslims MUST know the meaning of every word they say in Salat and I am sure all muslims do.
Considering how much text in Bible has changed in course of time and in course of translation from one language to another, I am happy that muslims pray the same way as they did 1000 yrs back.
Could someone please tell me if it is written down that it is required to pray in Arabic? Someone on another forum is saying that because it is not Sharia that the prayers need to be in Arabic that it is definitely not required.
Thanks!
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let me sum up the points :
Muslims pray regarding Quran & Sunnah.
Perform AsSalat (Iqamat-as-Salat) from mid-day till the darkness of the night (i.e. the Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha prayers), and recite the Quran in the early dawn (i.e. the morning prayer).
Verily, the recitation of the Quran in the early dawn is ever witnessed (attended by the angels in charge of mankind of the day and the night).
Al-Isra, Chapter #17, Verse #78
• ...Obey Allah and His Apostle (Muhammad)..." (Sura 3:32).
• "Ye have indeed in the Apostle of Allah (Muhammad) a beautiful pattern of (conduct) for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day." (Sura 33:21).
Surah 73. The Enshrouded One, Bundled Up
1. O thou folded in garments!
2. Stand (to prayer) by night, but not all night,-
3. Half of it,- or a little less,
4. Or a little more; and recite the Qur'an in slow, measured rhythmic tones.
Thy Lord doth know that thou standest forth (to prayer) nigh two-thirds of the night, or half the night, or a third of the night, and so doth a party of those with thee.
But Allah doth appoint night and day in due measure He knoweth that ye are unable to keep count thereof.
So He hath turned to you (in mercy): read ye, therefore, of the Qur'an as much as may be easy for you…..73:20
Therefore be patient with what
They say,
and celebrate ( constantly)
The praises of thy Lord,
Before the rising of the sun.
And before its setting;
Yea, celebrate them
For part of the hours
Of the night,
and at the sides
Of the day: that thou
May be pleased.”
The prayer before sunrise is clearly Fajr;
that before sunset is Asr;
part of the hours of the night would indicate Magrib
( early night, just after sunset );
and Isha , fore going to bed.
There is left Zuhr, which is in the indefinite side of middle of the day.
( 20:130)
( Commentary from Holy Quran, published from KSA )
Prophet (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
Perform your prayer in the same manner as you had seen me doing.
Hadeeth explains the timings of the five daily prayers.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
When you pray Fajr, its time is until the first horn of the sun appears
(i.e., until it begins to appear over the horizon).
When you pray Zuhr, its time is until ‘Asr comes.
When you pray ‘Asr, its time is until the sun becomes yellow.
When you pray Maghrib, its time is until the reddish glow disappears.
When you pray ‘Isha’, its time is until midnight.”
Supposing an Englishman goes to China and knows not a word of its language, and supposing he hears in the street something like "chen chu chih shan", evidently he would not understand what is meant by that;
and if it is the regional translation of the well-known call to prayer, the Allahu Akbar, he would fail to perceive it and would miss the weekly prayer on Friday, or the congregational prayer of the moment.
Similarly a Chinese Muslim, traveling through other countries, would find nothing in common with his co-religionists if these others said their congregational worship in their local tongues.
So a universal religion requires certain basic things to be common to all the faithful.
..Of course, there are provisions for exceptional cases, such as the needs of a new convert: immediately on his embracing Islam, he has to commence to perform the five daily services in which it is necessary to recite by heart the prescribed formulae. Until such time as he learns these formulae by heart, he may use their sense in any other language he can. For this we have the very high precedent of Salman al-Farisi, who sent the translation of al-Fatiha to some Persian converts, with the authorization of the Prophet Muhammad (p)himself and they used it until their tongue got familiarized with the Arabic text.
So, for some hours or some days, the new converts may use validly the translation.”
Why would u not want to make Salaah in Arabic? Thats one of things that distinguishes us from other religions and unites us reciting in one language. Because of it, I used to get curious as to what i was saying. Now I know.
So I dont see why one would say its not necessary?
Allahu Alam.
Last edited by Nσσя'υℓ Jαииαн; 04-08-2007 at 05:06 PM.
Reason: typo
*Without Allah, without Islam, life would be meaningless. If I've ever learned patience, it's because of this. Alhamdulillah...*
Allah is not just the Allah of Arabs. He is everyones Allah. He listens to the sincere prayers and responds to the honest people. So feel free to chat with Him in any language you feel most comfortable in.
The Quran was revealed in Arabic and it has been preserved in Arabic. Had Prophet Muhammad been living in England at the time and had the revelation come down in 1610 instead of 610, then I believe the Quranic language would have been Elizabethan English instead of Quraysh Arabic. Quran 43:1-4 Ha M'im. By the Glorious Book. We have revealed this Qur'an in the Arabic language so that you may understand its meanings. Surely, it is a transcript of the Mother Book in Our keeping, which is sublime and full of wisdom.
Our prayers are not intended as a "chat with Him", but rather as worship. We know that recitation of Al-Fatihah is an essential requirement for prayer to be accepted as worship. We worship Allah as He has instructed us to do so through Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), not according to our own whims and desires. We also know that the translation of any language into another leaves tremendous room for mis-interpretation whereby even the intended meaning may be twisted. New converts to Islam should strive to learn to pray in Arabic, BUT at the same time they have to know the meaning in their own language. Otherwise prayer would be unmeaningful gibberish if one had no understanding of what s/he was reciting in prayer.
format_quote Originally Posted by iqbal_soofi
Don't fall into the trap of thugs who want you to make them your representatives and interpretors while talking to Allah. They make you believe that your prayers will not be responded if you don't put them in between you and Allah. They're the thugs. Be aware of them.
I don't know who you are referring about "thugs", but I am sure you don't mean our respected Arabic brothers who try to guide others to the correct worship of Allah.
As indicated elsewhere salah is distinct from supplications. The best time and place to make personal supplications is during the act of prostration during salah (ritual prayer). Of course, non-Arabic Muslims can supplicate to Allah in their own language and in their own words.
Alhamdulillah the issue's been clarified, if this thread remains open - i feel it will lead to some people saying things which contradict what Allaah and His messenger, peace be upon him have stated.
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