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Background
Background
Salah is, along with Hajj, Sawm, Shahadah, and Zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam. Salah are the prayers performed by Muslims.
Wherever they are in the world, Muslims stop what they are doing and turn to face the Qibla (the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca) and pray. Usually, they begin standing, and then kneel or sit on the ground, reciting prescribed prayers and phrases from the Quran as they bow and prostrate themselves in between.
For most Muslims, there are five daily prayers: Fajr (observed at dawn), Zuhr (observed at noon), Asr (observed late in the afternoon), Maghrib (observed after sunset), and Isha (observed at dusk).
The importance of prayer
The importance of prayer
According to the Quran, there are many reasons why prayer is important. One reason is that it should help people become better:
Recite what has been revealed to you of the Book and establish prayer. Indeed, ˹genuine˺ prayer should deter ˹one˺ from indecency and wickedness. The remembrance of Allah is ˹an˺ even greater ˹deterrent˺. And Allah ˹fully˺ knows what you ˹all˺ do.
—29:45A second reason given is that it helps us find certainty and comfort:
So glorify the praises of your Lord and be one of those who ˹always˺ pray,
and worship your Lord until the inevitable comes your way.
—15:98-99How to pray
How to pray
Salah is composed of prescribed repetitive cycles of bows and prostrations, called rakat (singular rak'ah). The number of rak'ahs, also known as units of prayer, varies from prayer to prayer. Ritual washing, called wudu, must be carried out before performing the prayers.
Although it doesn’t specify exactly how to pray in the Quran, it does mention bowing and prostrating.
And ˹remember˺ when We assigned to Abraham the site of the House, ˹saying,˺ “Do not associate anything with Me ˹in worship˺ and purify My House for those who circle ˹the Ka’bah˺, stand ˹in prayer˺, and bow and prostrate themselves.
—22:26Isra' and Mi'raj - the night journey
Isra' and Mi'raj - the night journey
Glory be to the One Who took His servant ˹Muḥammad˺ by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque whose surroundings We have blessed, so that We may show him some of Our signs. Indeed, He alone is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing.
—17:1As with many Religions, Islam has produced an enormous number of cultural stories and traditions. Many Islamic traditions come from sayings which are attributed to Muhammad (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ). These are called the Hadiths.
One of these stories concerns the number of times that Muslims should pray a day. It is a specifically Islamic idea however to pray five times a day. This story is normally referred to as Isra’ (meaning night journey) and Mi’raj (which literally means ladder).
The tradition associated with Salah is that Muhammad (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) was taken by Gabriel to the temple mount in Jerusalem (although it’s not explicitly named) on the back of a winged horse called Buraq. There he was greeted by a number of prophets including Abraham, Jesus and Moses. A ladder was then brought and Gabriel and Muhammad (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) began to ascend through seven heavens towards God’s throne. At each stage he saw one of the great prophets. At the first stage he met Adam, the first man. At the second stage he met Jesus and John the Baptist. At the third stage he saw Joseph. At the fourth stage he met Enoch. At the fifth Aaron and at the sixth stage he met Moses. At the seventh stage Muhammad (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) met Abraham. When Muhammad (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) finally reached God’s throne, God ordered him to tell the Muslims to make Salat fifty times a day. MuhammadPBUH began to descend the ladder but Moses told him to go back up to God and get the number reduced. Eventually God reduced the number to five and despite Moses’ attempts to persuade MuhammadPBUH to get the number reduced further, Muhammad (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) accepted God’s decision.
Discussion Two competing ideas about religious ritual
Discussion Two competing ideas about religious ritual
In a book called The Golden Bough, James Frazer (1854 - 1941) argued that humankind progresses through different stages. Firstly, humans believe in magic, then they believe in religion and finally they develop scientific understanding. He saw the idea of religious rituals and sacrifices as primitive theories about how they might control the future - ‘If I do this, then this will happen’. I.e. he thought that religious people believed that, by carrying out the rituals, they would get some kind of payoff, as if they could bargain with the gods.
Against these ideas, Ludwig Wittgensetin wrote some remarks published as Remarks on Frazer’s Golden Bough. In them, he wrote:
Frazer is much more savage than most of his 'savages' [since] his explanations of [their] observances are much cruder than the sense of the observances themselves.
—Ludwig Wittgenstein, Remarks on Frazer’s Golden BoughWittgensteinians tend to argue that Religious rituals are not theoretical. Instead, the rituals help us to express some of our most profound experiences. When we learn religious and psychological concepts, we learn new forms of behaviour. We learn to replace our screams and cries with words and practises.
For example, if you were alone on a desert island, you still might shout out in distress, ‘why has this happened to me?!’ even though no one will hear you. The words make no sense insofar as no one is listening to you, but that’s not the point of them. You don’t say them because you expect someone to answer.
These rituals describe and define experiences, they don’t try to explain them.
Tasks
Tasks
Briefly describe how Muslims usually pray - how many times etc.
Explain the purpose of prayer according to the Quran
Outline the story of the Night Journey.
Who do you agree with more - Frazer or Wittgenstein. Explain your answer.
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