In answer to the video "Muhammad and Merkabah Mysticism"
Firstly, the daily Jewish ritual prayers whether in the HB fully endorsed and practiced by Jesus and his followers after him, or in today's practice, face a particular direction and are performed at a particular time. Among the examples are 1kings8,Ps5:8,138:2,55:18,1Chr23:30,Dan6:10,Acts3:1,10:9.
Prayers are the real means by which one is constantly kept on the right path, continuously reminded and spiritually "refuled" throughout the day and night. In a parable, the prophet likened the prayers to a wholesome stream by the person's doorsteps, available for the spiritual cleansing of the one washing and bathing in it daily. It is the "call" of God to the believers, and every obedient worshipper answers it duly 43:38. While a believer can certainly engage in worship such as remembering or glorifying God at any time
3:191"standing, sitting or lying on their sides"some periods of time have special and unique blessings associated with them. Praying cannot be confined to moments of inspiration or desperation - praying only when one is moved by events and "feels like" praying. Anyone who waits for the mood to strike is not a praying person, and probably will not be able to pray authentically even when the mood arrives.
One needs to domesticate the stimulus - to make prayer a natural, comfortable event, a day-to-day happening. Ritual prayer is designed to become second nature, a part of a person, a daily diet. In that way, one comes to be on comfortable speaking terms with God, who, in turn, becomes accessible, almost a conversation partner. There is also a form of religious arrogance in wanting to pray as one feels like it. Taking the example of the change of qibla, the Quran explains that Without God's commission, no place has spiritual excellence or preference in its own essence. The direction in itself is therefore not something to be disputed and argued about. If one wishes to remain in a specific direction as if the place is intrinsically sacred then he may do so. He would have however disobeyed a divine injunction, prioritizing his personal desires and preferences
2:143,148,177"and We did not make that which you would have to be the qiblah but that We might distinguish him who follows the Messenger from him who turns back upon his heels, and this was surely hard except for those whom Allah has guided aright...And every one has a direction to which he should turn, therefore hasten to (do) good works; wherever you are, Allah will bring you all together...It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards the East and the West, but righteousness is this that one should believe in Allah and the last day and the angels and the Book and the prophets, and give away wealth out of love for Him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for (the emancipation of) the captives, and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate; and the performers of their promise when they make a promise, and the patient in distress and affliction and in time of conflicts-- these are they who are true (to themselves) and these are they who guard (against evil)".
This is the general principle behind every ritual, to do as one is told, as evidence of submission to the way of God. That is one of the reasons prayers for instance, are made at specific times, with even intervals where they cannot be offered. Islam is the purest form of servitude to God's will, leaving no place even for religious arrogance
"The Prophet forbade praying after the Fajr prayer till the sun rises and after the 'Asr prayer till the sun sets".
One can of course recite the Quran, reflect on spiritual matters or make dua/supplications in those restricted intervals.
Linguistically, among the few potential roots all related to another in a certain aspect, salaat stems from silah meaning a close connection. In a horse race, when the second horse follows the first one so closely that its head always overlaps the first horse's head, that horse is called the musalli. The word is thus highly appropriate, as it describes the most essential manner by which the believer holds permanent and perpetual contact with the great Origin of Creation, establishing a relationship with Him, expressing and internalizing his humility, obedience, gratefulness, seeking guidance, protection and forgiveness, as well as imitating the way of the righteous among the prophets and their followers.
That is why Ibrahim demanded God to make him and his offspring keep up prayer 14:40, and keep him on the straight path
6:72,92,1:6,4:103"remember Allah standing and sitting and reclining; but when you are secure (from danger) keep up prayer; surely prayer is a timed ordinance for the believers".This immemorial 19:31,55,20:11-6,21:73 (Bible Dan6:10,Ps55:18,Acts3:1,10:9,Matt6) and timed ordinance that the generations subsequent to the prophets neglected 19:59, of turning oneself to the Creator and Sustainer 38:30,44 solemnly applying one's mind, spirit and body to being in the presence of Allah in total and exclusive devotion 6:162-3,73:8 is done with great joy by the obedient and true believer who does not see it as a heavy task 2:45.
As he accomplishes the first introductory step of purifying his physical self through the ablutions, symbolizing his mental preparedness, he performs it in due time as a demonstration of one's dedication 107:4-5, persistent, consistent and watchful in terms of quality (as denoted with "aala") in the way it is performed 70:22-3, maintaining in mind the remembrance of Allah which is the goal of the ritual, not simply the repetition of gestures and words 20:14, mindful of its contents 4:43 since the ritual is for our own benefit as many times stated throughout the Quran, whether alone or in congregation, with dignity (both mental and physical), humbleness and discretion, in fear, hope, and love of God with a quiet and moderate voice for whether it is uttered loudly or kept within our deepest selves nothing is hidden from Him, without any pride and in total humility at the prospect of addressing the Lord of the universe 7:31,55,56,205,206,17:110,20:7,21:90,23:2,36:11,62:9,67:12. All these qualities are adjoined to the act of prayer as a recipe for success in both this life and the next because prayer in itself becomes meaningless if devoid of spiritual depth and humble intent
23:1-2"Successful indeed are the believers, Who are humble in their prayers.."
A hypocritical, shallow outward ceremonial is a detestable thing to God
"We visited Anas ibn Malik after dhuhr and he stood up and prayed asr. When he had finished his prayer, we mentioned doing prayers early in their time, or he mentioned it, and he said that he had heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, the prayer of the hypocrites, the prayer of the hypocrites, the prayer of the hypocrites is that one of them sits until the sun becomes yellow and is between the horns of Shaytan, or on the horn of Shaytan, and then gets up and rattles off four rakas, hardly remembering Allah in them at all".
That is also why some jurists argued that a seemingly valid prayer, whose outward form is correct, can nevertheless be deemed invalid.
The HB equally admonishes against the soulless ceremonial during rituals
Prov28:9"He who turns his ear away from hearing the Law-even his prayer is an abomination".Similarly when Jesus in the NT Matt6 denounces certain prayer rituals, he is pointing to their vanity in contents, when they are false in spirit and directed to false deities then they are vain no matter how many times they are repeated, as in the case of the prayers of the pagans.
On the other hand, even if the contents are true in spirit, but the person reciting them is a hypocrite, doing so just to be seen by men and not acting upon the words he utters, then the prayer becomes meaningless, no matter how many times it is repeated, as was the case of certain Pharisees. Jesus then instructs on the mental manner (in submission to God's will Matt6:10) and contents of a meaningful prayer ritual. He doesnt deny its application with steadfastness and constancy if done with the correct mindframe. If done hypocritically, even that very prayer becomes as meaningless as the prayer of the Pharisees. Neither does Jesus deny the repetition of any other prayer ritual when done with true form, contents and intention as alluded to in Lk18:7. He did so himself when he desperately and repeatedly cried to his Lord Matt26:42-44. Groups of angels are depicted whether in the HB or the Quran, as unceasingly praying in Heaven Isa6:1-3,Rev4:8,Quran37:3,40:7-9,42:5. The HB contains many repetitive passages, as in Ps136, which any believer may recite during prayers.
As to the form of the prayer, it comes in answer to man's natural urge to express his feelings outwardly. When his emotions, in this case spiritual, are released he finds himself fulfilled and satisfied. This action brings balance in man's dual nature, physical and spiritual. Expressing that emotion abstractly, keeping it to one's mind and meditation, is not enough to satisfy the requirements of religious worship. Nothing compares to involving both aspects of one's being during worship, with the senses, a coordinated movement of the body, and position, direction, dress, and recitation of set text, etc.
23:1-2"Successful indeed are the believers, Who are humble in their prayers..."There is a tradition that says when the Prophet was standing to perform the prayers, he would occasionally look up to the heavens, but when this verse was revealed, he began looking downwards from that time onwards and never raised his head while at prayer. The ritual prayers reflect the servant's humility through a combination of words and gestures.
The words Muslims recite in each position are highly meaningful and appropriate, for example in the state of sajda/prostration, the lowest one can put his most honorable body part, we acknowledge that God is the highest, most exalted. In the state of ruku', the weakest position in which the slightest push can throw one out of balance, like the bending of a runner crossing the line at the height of his exhaustion, we recognize God's infinite power (al athim). The alternation in tone of voice suggests God's Exaltedness when the pitch is higher, or His attribute of closeness, closer than the jugular vein 50:16 when the pitch of voice is lower.
The consecutive movements of salaat illustrate a progressive humility and submission to the Creator. According to the wise Ali ibn Abu Talib, the cousin and son in law of Muhammad through marriage with his daughter Fatima, each couple of sajda, starting with the forelock on the ground, then up, back to the ground, then up, then standing symbolize respectively; the soil from which we started, then fully grown, then back to the soil at death, then resurrected, then standing for judgement. Besides being meaningful in and of themselves, the etiquettes of prayer, from the pre-prayer purifying rituals, the prescribed timings, body positions or words of worship, all are meant to instill the manner of having a proper conversation with the supreme Being, just as one would learn the manners to prepare, present oneself and address an eminent worldly personality
"This prayer of ours is not the place for ordinary human speech, rather it is glorification and magnification of Allah, and reciting Qur’an".God is not in need of this worship, we do, so He recommends it for the good it brings and the spiritual growth it causes
25:77,20:132"And enjoin prayer on thy people, and steadily adhere to it. We ask not of thee a sustenance. We provide for thee. And the (good) end is for guarding against evil".Many times when giving sharia directives, the discourse is interrupted with a reminder of the importance of guarding the prayers 2:238-9. In other instances when speaking of the importance of upholding certain moral virtues like the trusts, oaths and promises, the discourse begins and ends with a stress on diligent observance of the prayer 70:23-34. It is as if the prayer is like a boundary wall which encircles and protects everything within it. No other directive in Islam occupies as much significance as the prayer. Like a sentinel it guards both a person’s religious concepts and his deeds. A person who is indifferent to the prayer is as if he is indifferent to religion as a whole.
Beyond the timed obligatory prayers, and for their own good
20:130"that you may be well pleased"the believers are recommended to stand up for prayers in parts of the night, not forcing themselves, not exaggerating so as to compromise their daily obligations and activities, but just as they can bear 73:20, and if they can remain in contemplation until the later part of the night they may do so 17:79,76:25-26. The night certainly is a time most suited for the concentration of mind and for communion with God
73:6"Surely the rising by night is the firmest way to tread and the best corrective of speech. Surely you have in the day time a long occupation" 17:79"And in the night, pray humbly with it (the Quran), an addition for you, maybe your Lord will raise you to a position of great glory".
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