Allah - God of muslims?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Adiva
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 35
  • Views Views 6K
K.Venugopal said:
Would worship (salat) be considered worship if I do it differently, say, by facing the sun instead of Mecca?
Click to expand...

No, no, no and NO!

Sorry for all the 'no's but I wanted to make that totally clear. Prayer can only be done in the way Allah taught us to pray.

For example, we were commanded to pray towards makkah. We can't change that and pray to anything else. However we do have some flexibility in how we are allowed to pray, for example we can make the prayer last 5 minutes or half an hour. We also have flexibility in which chapters of the Quran we can read during the prayer.

General you can make anything worship if you are doing for the sake of Allah. For example, a mother raising her children to the best of her ability because commanded her to do that. If she does it with the intention of pleasing God then that is like an act of worship.

So worship in Islam is not exclusively restricted to prayer.

What would not be allowed would be making something up. For example, a person says in order to worship God they are going to run a lap around the oval as a form of prayer (silly example I know but I can't think of anything else). Also, doing something forbidden as a an act of worship isn't allowed either.

Hope that helps.
 
Last edited:
K.Venugopal said:
Would worship (salat) be considered worship if I do it differently, say, by facing the sun instead of Mecca?
Click to expand...


For any act of worship to be accepted by Allah, it first has to be accompanied with faith in Him, and His Messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him).

After this, we need to make a clear understanding of the types of worship;

1) The first type is ritualistic, and any deed you do [i.e. salat - prayer, hajj - the pilgrimage to Makkah, zakat - the 2.5% charity of your whole wealth, fasting etc] has to be performed according to how Allah's Messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught us.

2) The second type is non ritualistic, and it includes anything good you do to benefit mankind, for the sake of pleasing Allah. Such as feeding ones wife, family etc. for this you are rewarded too.

​
For the 1st type, you can't make up your own rules (everything is haraam in these acts of worship unless proven with evidence from Allah's Messengers example) - you follow the Messenger of Allah as much as you can.

For the 2nd type, everything is permitted (of doing good) unless proven to be haraam [forbidden]. This permissible deed will then be a source of reward for you.




Since salat (1 of the 5 daily prayers) is in the first category, you cannot make up your own rituals for it. You have to follow Allah's Messenger for it to be accepted, and accompany this act with belief that He really is Allah's Messenger (that's why you would obey him.)
 
Last edited:
There are some similarities of it in the Bible of the previous Messengers of Allah; :)


King James Bible
O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. [Psalms 95:6]


Genesis 17: 1-3

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty [a] ; walk before me and be blameless. 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers."

3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations...



Joshua 5:14

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
He said, "No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, "What has my lord to say to his servant?"


Numbers 20:6

6Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and(A) fell on their faces.(B) And the glory of the LORD appeared to them,



Matthew 26:39

39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed...


..prostrate yourselves before Allah and serve Him. [Quran 53:62]




Even the concept of washing before prayer [wudhu in arabic];


Exodus 40:30-1
He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing,

 31with which Moses and(A) Aaron and his sons(B) washed their hands and their feet.


O ye who believe! when ye prepare for prayer, wash your faces, and your hands (and arms) to the elbows; Rub your heads (with water); and (wash) your feet to the ankles. If ye are in a state of ceremonial impurity, bathe your whole body. But if ye are ill, or on a journey, or one of you cometh from offices of nature, or ye have been in contact with women, and ye find no water, then take for yourselves clean sand or earth, and rub therewith your faces and hands, Allah doth not wish to place you in a difficulty, but to make you clean, and to complete his favour to you, that ye may be grateful. [Quran 5:6]


​


There's even verses on hijab (covering for women i.e. Quran 24:31, 33:33 etc) in the following verses/chapters from the bible:

1 Corinthians 11: 5, Genesis 24:65, Ruth 3:15, Isaiah 3:23, Matthew 5:27-8.




But obviously the earlier verses may be more relevant. :) We believe that the Bible has got some truth to it because some of it was from former Messengers of God, but alot was distorted since the followers got influenced by the polytheistic faiths i.e. the concept of God incarnating in the creation is a pagan idea which the christians accepted, but this contradicted the concept of the 1 Perfect and flawless God. Allah sent His final Messenger with the final Message which would be protected and conveyed for all of mankind, to take them out of the darkness into the light.


O people! indeed there has come to you the truth from your Lord, therefore whoever goes aright, he goes aright only for the good of his own soul, and whoever goes astray, he goes astray only to the detriment of it, and I am not a custodian over you. [Quran 10:108]




​
 
Last edited:
- Qatada - said:
There are some similarities of it in the Bible of the previous Messengers of Allah; :)


King James Bible
O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. [Psalms 95:6]


Genesis 17: 1-3

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty [a] ; walk before me and be blameless. 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers."

3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations...



Joshua 5:14

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
He said, "No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, "What has my lord to say to his servant?"


Numbers 20:6

6Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and(A) fell on their faces.(B) And the glory of the LORD appeared to them,



Matthew 26:39

39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed...


..prostrate yourselves before Allah and serve Him. [Quran 53:62]




Even the concept of washing before prayer [wudhu in arabic];


Exodus 40:30-1
He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing,

 31with which Moses and(A) Aaron and his sons(B) washed their hands and their feet.


O ye who believe! when ye prepare for prayer, wash your faces, and your hands (and arms) to the elbows; Rub your heads (with water); and (wash) your feet to the ankles. If ye are in a state of ceremonial impurity, bathe your whole body. But if ye are ill, or on a journey, or one of you cometh from offices of nature, or ye have been in contact with women, and ye find no water, then take for yourselves clean sand or earth, and rub therewith your faces and hands, Allah doth not wish to place you in a difficulty, but to make you clean, and to complete his favour to you, that ye may be grateful. [Quran 5:6]


​


There's even verses on hijab (covering for women i.e. Quran 24:31, 33:33 etc) in the following verses/chapters from the bible:

1 Corinthians 11: 5, Genesis 24:65, Ruth 3:15, Isaiah 3:23, Matthew 5:27-8.




But obviously the earlier verses may be more relevant. :) We believe that the Bible has got some truth to it because some of it was from former Messengers of God, but alot was distorted since the followers got influenced by the polytheistic faiths i.e. the concept of God incarnating in the creation is a pagan idea which the christians accepted, but this contradicted the concept of the 1 Perfect and flawless God. Allah sent His final Messenger with the final Message which would be protected and conveyed for all of mankind, to take them out of the darkness into the light.


O people! indeed there has come to you the truth from your Lord, therefore whoever goes aright, he goes aright only for the good of his own soul, and whoever goes astray, he goes astray only to the detriment of it, and I am not a custodian over you. [Quran 10:108]




​
Click to expand...

I don't know whether your post is in reply to my post:

Was the Salat that is done today in existence before the advent of Mohammad?

Finding similarities is not a conclusion that Salat after Mohammad was the same as Salat before Mohammad. Moreover, similarities can be found between Salat and Hindu forms of worship.
 
syilla said:
:salamext:

it is not just the non muslims...

muslims also have to be very careful... i have heard alot saying that ... that is the god (when see a figure or person) of 'this and that religion'.

we muslims should not be saying that...there is only one god that is Allah.

wassallam
Click to expand...

I think you are refering to Malaysians right...

yeah...it's usual to hear Muslims calling idols or pics of other religious group figures as Tuhan Hindu (Hindu God), Tuhan Cina (Chinese God), Tuhan Kristian (Christian God), Tuhan depa (Their God)...

another thing that I'm curious is that... what is the ruling for Muslims using the word dewa (god), dewi (goddess), dewata (gods)...

I think there are lots of Malay songs that contain the word "dewi"...
 
north_malaysian said:
I
another thing that I'm curious is that... what is the ruling for Muslims using the word dewa (god), dewi (goddess), dewata (gods)...

I think there are lots of Malay songs that contain the word "dewi"...
Click to expand...

whoaa...never think about that...

you're right...we should always becareful

i don't know about the rulings... but it is really an eye opener...

anyway...most of the songs itself are not islamic.

Remember the song... "menunggu mu di pintu syurga"
Waiting you at heaven's door...

so very optimistic lol
 
Last edited:
:salamext:


bro north malaysian, its not good to call Allah by names which He has not called Himself with. So stick to Allah, and the names which He has mentioned in the Qur'an.

If i say 'God' - that isn't Allah's name, sometimes we might only say that in discussions to make other people understand that it really is the same One Allah, the Lord of the Worlds that we're talking about.



K.Venugopal, there are alot of similarities in our prayers to other nations who were before us. This is because we believe that Allah sent His previous Messengers' with acts of prayers too, which may have been similar or even slightly different. But in most cases they involved prostration [sajdah] etc.

However, if your question is whether this salat was performed by the arabs at the time of Prophet Muhammad, then no it wasn't. Allah informs us;


And what (excuse) have they that Allah should not chastise them while they hinder (men) from the Sacred Mosque and they are not (fit to be) guardians of it; its guardians are only those who guard (against evil), but most of them do not know.

And their worship at the (holy) House is naught but whistling and hand-clapping. Therefore (it is said unto them): Taste of the doom because ye disbelieve.

[Qur'an 8:34-5]​



Peace.
 
syilla said:
whoaa...never think about that...

you're right...we should always becareful

i don't know about the rulings... but it is really an eye opener...

anyway...most of the songs itself are not islamic.

Remember the song... "menunggu mu di pintu syurga"
Waiting you at heaven's door...

so very optimistic lol
Click to expand...

maybe we should further discuss this in BM thread...
 
K.Venugopal said:
Incidentally, is it true that Malay language contains a large percentage of Sanskrit?
Click to expand...

1/3 Sanskrit
1/3 Arabic
1/3 English, Portuguese, Tamil, Hindi, Persian, Hokkien, and tens of languages.....

originally, only 3 words are actually Malay (out of tens of thousands words)... ie. padi (paddy), ubi (plants like cassava, yam etc) and babi (pig)
 
Last edited:
K.Venugopal said:
I do not know how it is in Arabic, but in all English translations of the Quran "He" is used to denote Allah.
Click to expand...

I would like to know more about this as well. Sorry if there was a topic on this.. I'm not very good with the search feature
 
I don't know how to edit but I wanted to add that I use He as well and I really don't know as to the reason why
 

Similar Threads

Back
Top