Salaat - Communion with Allah, Community with the Believers

The second pillar of the Religion of Islam is Salaat.  From the root S-L-L, it means absolute peace with Allah and His Ummah, the Community of Believers.  Islam is a peace process.  Islam comes from the root S-L-M, which means to cease hostilities, to a declare a cease-fire with Allah and His Ummah.  After we surrender to Allah SWT in Islam, we then begin to observe the terms of our cease-fire.  These are the pillars or Usool al-Islam.  Most count five pillars; the Shahada, Salaat, Zakaat, Sawm, and Hajj.  But we can also include Jihad fi Sabillillah, Amr bi al-Ma'roof wa Nahi anni al-Munkar (Enjoining the Good and Forbidding Evil), and Wala' wa Bara' (Loving Support and Protection for the Believers, and Dissolution of Bonds and Separation from those who will not believe). 

We have mentioned before that Jihad means "to strive, to exert effort."  It does not mean holy war.  War, harb, is never holy - killing can only be for what Allah SWT has permitted of it, in terms of defending the Deen of Islam and for crimes where death is the punishment prescribed by Allah Himself.  It should also be noted that Wala' wa Bara' does not mean "love and hate."  Hate is a state in which the heart is turned away from Allah SWT and is from Shaytan, who was the first to hate.  Wala' means "protection, support, to take another under one's wing,"  while Bara' means to dissolve bonds, remain aloof from or separate from something." While there is at least one school of thought (Madhab) that supports a more extreme and hate-centered view of these pillars, there is little support from the Qur'an and Sunnah for these views.  Instead, this school relies on Ahad or Single-Narrator Hadith, or Athar (Accounts) of the Sahabi (Companions) and Tabi'in (Followers), and then often taken out of context or edited to support their views. Rather than deriving the Deen from the Qur'an and Sunnah, they derive their views from their own whims and fancies, and then cut and paste the Qur'an and Sunnah to fit.  Allah SWT has warned us of this.

Al-Baqara 2:85 Do you then believe in a part of the Book and disbelieve in the other? What then is the reward of such among you as do this but disgrace in the life of this world, and on the day of Resurrection they shall be sent back to the most grievous chastisement. And Allah is not heedless of what you do. 

Al-Imran 3: 78  There is among them a section who distort the book with their tongues: (As they read) you would think it is a part of the book, but it is no part of the book; and they say, "That is from Allah," but it is not from Allah: It is they who tell a lie against Allah, and (well) they know it!  

May Allah SWT guides us all to His Haq.

My purpose here, however, is not to discuss Usool al-Fiqh, as much as comment on the Salaat and its times.  There are five prayers:  Subh, Dhur, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha, but these prayers occur within three distinct prayer periods; Subh, Al-Wast, and Al-Layl. 

There are several ayaat describing the prayer times.

Hud  11:114 Establish worship at the two ends of the day and in some watches of the night. Lo! good deeds annul ill-deeds. This is reminder for the mindful. 

Al-Baqara 2:238 Guard strictly Your (habit of) prayers, Especially the Middle Prayer; And stand before God In a devout (frame of mind). 

An-Nur 24:58 O ye who believe! Let your slaves, and those of you who have not come to puberty, ask leave of you at three times (before they come into your presence): Before the prayer of dawn, and when ye lay aside your raiment for the heat of noon, and after the prayer of night. Three times of privacy for you. It is no sin for them or for you at other times, when some of you go round attendant upon others (if they come into your presence without leave). Thus Allah maketh clear the revelations for you. Allah is Knower, Wise. 


These ayat support three periods of prayer; Fajr with one prayer, the Subh, contained therein; the Wast or Middle period, with Dhur and Asr contained therein; and Al-Layl with Maghrib and Isha contained therein.  These correspond to the pattern of the ruksa allowed when shortening and combining prayers while traveling.  It has also been reported that the Prophet combined in this manner without a reason, such as inclement weather, while resident in Madina. 

Therefore, the Shia practice of always combining Dhur and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha is acceptable or mubah, but it is better to pray each prayer separate.  We know from hadith that the Prophet was ordered to pray five prayers while on the Isra and Mi'raj; and we know from hadith that Jabreel (AS) instructed him the beginning and ending times for each.  This is true, but we should also be aware that a prayer can be prayed anytime in its time period.  So, Dhur can be prayed anytime during the Al-Wast time period.  However, when considering the hadith regarding Jibreel, if you find that you are praying Dhur at the end of its distinct time, then you must combine it with the next al-Wast prayer - Asr.  And if you miss the Al-Wast time period entirely, then you have really missed the prayer and even though you must make it up BEFORE praying Maghrib and Isha, you have sinned and should make tauba.  The same applies to Maghrib and Isha in the al-Layl time period. 

It should be noted Fajr only has one prayer, As-Subh.  This prayer must also be prayed in its time, and not after shuruq or sun rise.  To do so is to miss this prayer entirely.  After shuruq is the time for Duha, a superrogatory or nawfl prayer.  So if you are lazy and think that the hadith about the pen being lifted from the sleeper 'til he awakens will save you, think again.  Although this is true, one has to wonder when one never had the intention to wake on time.  Our deeds are judged by our intentions, as the narration in al-Bukhaari reminds us.

I remind myself that our prayer, our salaat is designed to bring us in communion with Allah and with each other.  We should seek it out and crave it as much as we crave things of this world.  We should love it, if we love Allah, and we should love it in Jama', if we love one another.