Continued from Part Two...

To read part TWO click realities-of-our-daily-prayers--part-two

 

A serious Hadeeth from Bukhari on Zohr and 'Asr Prayers:

 

 

 

The above exceptional question and its typical answer is repeated by Bukhari in four other Hadeeths.

These repeated narrations do raise three critical questions, besides others that one may think of...

 

1. Why did NOT Prophet (s.a.s) teach his Companions what to recite in their Zuhr and 'Asr prayers?

 

2. Why the Companions did not ask the Prophet what they should recite in their Zuhr and 'Asr prayers?

 

3. Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari died in 260 A.H. Why did he, a resident of Bokhara, was obliged or found it necessary to repeatedly record the above speculative dialogue on the Zuhr and the 'Asr Prayers, more than two centuries after the ADVENT OF ISLAM? Did there exist a serious difference of opinions, during his era? 

 

The above text was added on December 19, 2004.

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A BRIEF, BUT VERY IMPORTANT CONCLUSION... (Added on Dec. 29, 2004)

This three part study on the Establishment of Our Daily Salaats is long and hence this brief recap: 

1. Allah (S.W.T.) reveals: Ah, woe unto worshippers, who are heedless of their prayers. (Verses 107: 4-5). Hence, the proper Establishment of the Prescribed Salaats, is the foundation of Deen.

2.

"Do you not see that it is Allah Whose praises all beings in the heavens and on earth do celebrate, and the birds (of the air) with their wings outspread? Each one knows its own (mode) of Prayer and of Praise. And Allah knows well all that they do."

The above verse 24: 41 clearly indicates to us that our PRAYERS to Allah and our PRAISES of Allah (salatahou wa tasbeehah) are two diverse forms of approaches and recitations, for the believers.

3. As for the Establishing of our PRAYERS, Allah has mentioned only THREE TIMES in the Qur'an.

And establish regular prayers at the two ends of the day and at the approaches of the night:.  verse 11: 114.

4. It is an undisputed fact that the names of only THREE SALAATS are designated in the Qur'an.

5. The Qur'an also Commands us to recite our DAILY SALAATS in the Divinely Prescribed MODE:

Offer your Salah neither in too loud a voice nor in too low a voice, but seek a middle course. Verse 17: 110.

This Command is conveyed to us in a negative format. That tells us: DO NOT DEVIATE FROM IT.

6. It is a fact that Fajr, Maghrib and Isha are the THREE Prayers recited in the Prescribed Mode.

For those who have accepted the Establishment of THREE Prayers, Maghrib is the Middle Prayer.

 

7. It is a fact that Zohr and 'Asr are recited SILENTLY. A mode that is Negative for our Salaats.

'Asr is known as the Middle Prayer for those who have accepted the FIVE DAILY PRAYERS.

 

8. Any one who believes that Allah had Himself Prescribed FIVE DAILY SALAATS to the Prophet, based upon sources other than the Qur'an, aught to recite ALL THE FIVE DAILY SALAATS in the AUDIBLE MODE (a middle course), to substantiate that claim and to uphold that belief of his or her.

 

9. Allah had completed His Favour upon us and perfected Islam as a Religion, the day when the verse 5: 3 was revealed to us through the Prophet. We do not find an Ayat - Verse for the Establishment of Zohr or 'Asr as our Daily Prayer, within His completed favour. Hence, one can claim that the Deen Islam - as Perfected by Allah for us, has only Three Designated Salaats at Three Prescribed Times plus additional Silent Praises and Glorifications of Allah at other times.

 

10. It is UNCONCEIVABLE that if there was a Divine Command from Allah, ordained personally to His Prophet as per the quoted Hadeeth # 345, then that Prophet in turn would teach his followers to recite ONLY THREE SALAATS in the Divinely Prescribed Middle Course, the Mode that is Audible.

Hence, the reality is that the TWO SILENT RECITATIONS are the TWO SILENT PRAISES OF ALLAH.

 

11. As seen in the item # 2, the PRAYERS to Allah and the PRAISES of Allah (salatahou wa tasbeehah) are different. The differences within their Modes of recitations DO substantiate that.

 

12. A Believer cannot give precedence to the Human Compilation over the Sublime Revealed Text. The former has NO protection of its preservation by Allah.  Falsehood cannot approach the later.

Do not mix the Truth with falsehood, or knowingly conceal the Truth. Qur'an 2: 42.

 

13. ONLY TIME, the Believer has the obligation to follow the Prophet is when

the Prophet has personally given his command for a specific Action or Actions.

 

Within the earlier quoted Hadeeth # 345, one finds a RE-NARRATED STORY by Anas  bin Malik and Abu Dhar, but there is NO COMMAND BY THE PROPHET FOR THE OBSERVATION OF THE FIVE SALAATS. The Hadeeth # 761 proves that Zohr and 'Asr were SILENT GLORIFICATIONS AND PRAISES of Allah.

 

14. Allah had Commanded the Prophet to declare:

 

Say: "I but follow what is revealed to me from my Lord." Qur'an 7: 203

And, he had received NO REVELATION for the Establishment of the Zohr and the 'Asr Prayers.

To say otherwise would be to believe that ALLAH'S FINAL SCRIPTURE - the Qur'an, IS INCOMPLETE. 

 

15. To place our faith on a STORY that acknowledges that there was a plea Bargaining between the Prophet and Allah. And, Allah (S.W.T.) repeatedly changed His Command for the number of our Daily Salaats is a Blasphemy.

16. [O MEN! Pay heed to Allah's Message,] for it is He who has endowed you with the [faculties] of hearing, sight and [above all] understanding: [yet] how seldom are you grateful! Qur'an 23:78.

May Allah Forgive me if I have erred and He Knows what is within each one's heart and soul...