Monday, February 10, 2014

Salat as a part of Muslim/Arabic Religious Culture


Metin ERDOGAN – Cultural Entry 1
Salat as a part of Muslim/Arabic Religious Culture
            It reminds about God throughout the day At fixed times, no matter how busy you are, you have to take out just a few minutes and you’re remembering, OK, why am I here? Each worshipper thinks that while I was doing whatever I was doing, was I doing it in a manner pleasing to God?
the second most important of Islam’s five pillars, after professing that there is no god worthy of worship but God and that the Prophet Mohammed is God’s messenger is considered to be Praying five times a day. Each prayer includes a series of movements, supplications, and recitations from the Quran, Islam’s holy book, in its original Arabic. Muslims/Arabs consider prayer to be a spiritual and physical act, with various standing, bending, and prostrating postures symbolizing devotion to God. When you’re at your lowest point, your head is on the ground, you’re saying Oh, praise to my God, the most high. salat symbolizes what Islam considers the purpose of creation: to worship God.
The first prayer, called “Fajr” is performed before sunrise; the second prayer, “Thuhr” comes just after noon; the third prayer, “Asr,” arrives during mid-afternoon; the fourth prayer, “Maghrib,” is just after sunset; and the last prayer, “Isha,” is performed at night. These prayers are considered an obligation for every Muslim/Arab by the time he or she reaches puberty.
Preparation
Every muslim performs a ritual ablution, called “wudu before each prayer. The process involves washing the hands, face, arms and feet. Wudu symbolizes a state of physical and spiritual purity required to stand before God. There’s a saying (in Islam) that our external form impacts our internal state, just as internal state has an impact on external form. (Muslims/Arabs) all pray in the same uniform way, wherever they are, whether they’re in India or Indonesia or Saudi Arabia or America or Japan, They all pray in the same manner, facing the same direction. As a muslim I think it’s just where you put your priorities, If you put (prayer) at a high level, then it’s not hard. In the morning getting up from our sleep, so beginning that day by praying to Lord and creator,” And then at noon… just as we take our lunch break to replenish our physical body, we take time to reaffirm our commitment to our creator and thereby replenish our spirit. At night, before we turn in and go to sleep to regroup, we don’t know if we’re going to see the new day, Once again, taking time to acknowledge the creator and the rights he has over mankind.”
Salat helps keep people accountable for their daily actions and lets them have a personal relationship with God.
 
http://www.namazzamani.net/turkce/ic_namaz.htm


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