"Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer, and stand before God with obedience" (Q2:238).
And then, we return again to the verses of divorce and widowhood, and we're left amazed as to how the Qur'an went so jarringly off-topic - how the Qur'an interrupted itself so abruptly. It's as though the Book was trying to make a point about the primacy of prayer over all matters.
The Salah, prayer five times a day, has always been a pillar of the Muslim existence, and yet so often we let it pass by us and slip from our fingers while we are unaware. The Salah: it becomes reduced to a mindless construction of oft-repeated statements and rote movements - to the point that we may wonder what just happened between our raising our hands to say Allahu akbar and our final salams. So I wanted to share some random thoughts about the prayer that I've found have benefited me.
Fatihah
No prayer is complete without the recitation of the Qur'an's first chapter, entitled Fatihah, the "Opening." And despite beginning the Qur'an, Fatihah stands apart from it, as though unlike any other part of the Book. The rest of the Qur'an has a specific voice, where God is speaker referring to himself in either the first or third person. The believers' words are still relayed to us, but their statements are often first introduced by quotatives like qalu or commands like qul - "they said" or "say" respectively.
Fatihah, however, was revealed entirely in the voice of the believer, a simply cry to the Lord of the Universe. Here, the reciter begins in God's Name, acknowledging His compassion and universal benevolence. Then she praises God until beseeching the Lord uninhibited, saying Iyyaka na'budu wa iyyaka nasta'in. Ihdinas-siratal-mustaqim.
"Guide us, all of us, upon the straightened path."
So when we compete the recitation of the Seven Verses of Fatihah and continue with some other portion of the Qur'an, we experience that tremendous shifting of voice. While reciting Fatihah, we are speaking, calling out to God; while reciting another portion of the Qur'an, it is God who is the Speaker - speaking back to us and answering our prayer for guidance.
Sami'al-lahu liman hamidah
For the most part, changes in position during the prayer, such as to go into prostration or rise up from sitting, are signified by saying Allahu akbar, "God is greater." The statement is a simple reminder as the worshiper enters each new state, that one's concentration belongs to God alone and no other lesser entity - that God is greater than all that may divert us.
But in rising from bowing, the statement is different: Sami'al-lahu liman hamidah. I've always seen this statement translated "God hears those who praise Him," so when we subsequently respond Rabbana wa lakal-hamd, "And to You, our Lord, is all praise," it has always seemed to me to be an attempt to praise God in order to be heard by Him.
But it struck me that we're technically not saying "God hears those who praise Him." The verbs used in the statement are all in the perfect tense, so a better translation may be "God has heard the one who has praised Him." Here, the praising and God's hearing have already occurred, even before we say Rabbana wa lakal-hamd, which left me wondering which "praising" the statement was actually referring to.
Maybe the statement is actually referencing our recital of Fatihah before going down into bowing, our saying Al-hamdu lillahi rabbil-'alamin. That understanding infused for me new meaning in what we say upon rising from bowing. It is as though we are being informed that God has heard our recitation of Fatihah and the Qur'an, God has heard our calls for guidance towards His path. And to be informed of that should be a matter of great happiness and thankfulness. As we stand up from bowing, knowing that God has heard our calls, how can we not feel a sense of gratitude driving us to praise God all the more?
Rabbana wa lakal-hamd
Sami'al-lahu liman hamidah
For the most part, changes in position during the prayer, such as to go into prostration or rise up from sitting, are signified by saying Allahu akbar, "God is greater." The statement is a simple reminder as the worshiper enters each new state, that one's concentration belongs to God alone and no other lesser entity - that God is greater than all that may divert us.
But in rising from bowing, the statement is different: Sami'al-lahu liman hamidah. I've always seen this statement translated "God hears those who praise Him," so when we subsequently respond Rabbana wa lakal-hamd, "And to You, our Lord, is all praise," it has always seemed to me to be an attempt to praise God in order to be heard by Him.
But it struck me that we're technically not saying "God hears those who praise Him." The verbs used in the statement are all in the perfect tense, so a better translation may be "God has heard the one who has praised Him." Here, the praising and God's hearing have already occurred, even before we say Rabbana wa lakal-hamd, which left me wondering which "praising" the statement was actually referring to.
Maybe the statement is actually referencing our recital of Fatihah before going down into bowing, our saying Al-hamdu lillahi rabbil-'alamin. That understanding infused for me new meaning in what we say upon rising from bowing. It is as though we are being informed that God has heard our recitation of Fatihah and the Qur'an, God has heard our calls for guidance towards His path. And to be informed of that should be a matter of great happiness and thankfulness. As we stand up from bowing, knowing that God has heard our calls, how can we not feel a sense of gratitude driving us to praise God all the more?
Rabbana wa lakal-hamd
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