What is the meaning of Prayer (Salat)?

Answer:Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

I pray that you are in the best of health and faith, insha’Allah.

Introduction

The word ‘Salat’ carries closely related but different meanings, and therefore doesn’t
have a single clean English equivalent. Although usually accurately rendered as
‘prayer,’ it can sometimes refer to something else, largely determined by context and
the actor.

Generally speaking, prayer (salat) from Allah to His servants carries meanings of
sending blessings to them, mercy, forgiveness, praise and veneration. For example,
“those are the ones upon whom are blessings (salawat) from their Lord, and mercy”
(2:157).
From angels, it tends to mean seeking forgiveness for people (33:57). From people, it
usually refers to supplication and worship.

The meaning of Prayer (Salat) in the Arabic language

Prayer (Salat) originally carries the meaning of either:

a. Supplication (du’a); when the Qur’an commands ‘and pray for them; your prayer is a
source of peace for them’ (9:103), it means to supplicate for them. In a narration
recorded by Muslim, the Prophet (peace be upon him) is reported as saying, “when one
of you is invited to participate in a meal, he should accept; if he is fasting, he should
supplicate for them (falyusalli).”

b.Veneration, or mercy and blessing; the narration “O Allah, bless and have mercy on
(salli ‘ala) the family of Abu Awfa” is a prayer for Allah to have mercy on andbless that
family; the verse “Allah and the angels pray for [yusalluna] the Prophet” (33:57) carries
the meaning of praise and veneration (see below).

The meaning of Salat as Prayer

The generally recognized act of worship that contains bowing and prostrating is called
‘salat’ because major parts of it contain acts of supplicating, the original meaning of the
word. The vast majority of Qur’anic usage of ‘salat’ is of this kind. It is also argued that
salat derives from veneration (the second possibility listed above); prayer is thus called
because it contains the veneration of God.

The meaning of Salat as Blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon
him)

In the tashahhud (the sitting portion during prayer), “al-salawatu lillahi” (prayers belong
to Allah) means that all of the supplications meant to venerate God are only for Him,
none else being deserving of it.
Going on to say “Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhammad” is a request to Allah to venerate him
in this world by having him mentioned in a praiseworthy manner, spreading his
message, and rendering his law lasting. It is also a prayer to allow him to intercede on
behalf of his community in the afterlife, and to have his reward multiplied.
Ibn al-Athir says that it could also be that when Allah commanded that salat should be
sent to the Prophet (peace be upon him), we recognized our inability to do so in a
manner commensurate to his worth, and thus asked Allah himself to fulfil that function
on our behalf.

The meaning of Salawat as Places of Worship (Synagogues)

The general rule of Qur’anic usage of ‘salat’ is that it refers to worship or mercy. The
verse wa salawatun wa masajid (22:40) is an exception to this. The salawat here refers
to Jewish places of worship, not the act itself. Some hold that this is because the word
itself means a place of worship; others hold that there is a deliberate ellipsis in the
verse, and it means places of prayer, not prayer itself.

Sources: al-Misbah al-Munir; Mu’jam Maqayis al-Lugha; Mufradat Alfadh al-Qur’an;

‘Umdat al-Huffadh; al-Nihaya fi Gharib al-Hadith; al-Kulliyat

Shuaib Ally

Checked & Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Importance of Salah (Prayer) According to the Holy Quran

Salah is the major form of worship that a Muslim offers five times a day regularly. It is an obligation
upon a Muslim and a Muslim is to offer no excuse when it comes to offering Salah. The offering of
Salah in addition to representing the submission of Muslims to their Lord also has other benefits as
well which are highly cherished by every Muslim.

The establishment of Salah is one of the major topics upon which Quran has emphasized more than
anything else. In Quran Allah Almighty has stressed upon Muslims to learn to offer Salah regularly and
with mentions of offering Salah Allah has also mentioned its benefits with it as well. The lines below
give the major benefits of Salah that elaborate the importance of Salah.

Invoking Allah:
Although there is no constraint upon a Muslim on how to invoke Allah Almighty, however, prayer is the
preferred means of doing so as when a person worships Allah he or she develops a connection with
Allah and any invocation within that or after that connection is bound to be accepted by Allah more
compared to invocation done in any other circumstance. In Quran, Allah Almighty says:

“O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient.”
(2:153)

Therefore, a Muslim must use prayers as a means of invocation and ask Allah Almighty for help and
assistance in any difficulty or worry.

Leading To Taqwa:
Piety or righteousness is the prime objective which a Muslim has to achieve in this life. All the
instructions, constraints, freedom, rights and education provided by Islam are with the objective that a
Muslim becomes pious and moves on the righteous path. In this regard, prayer has a great role to play
as it promotes Taqwa or piety in the follower. In Quran, Allah Almighty says:

“This is the Book in which there is no doubt, a guidance for those who have Taqwa:
who believe in the unseen, and who establish Salah, and spend out of what we have
provided for them.” (2:2-3)
Therefore, in addition to giving charity and believing in the unseen, a Muslim must also establish Salah
in order to move towards Taqwa.

Reward In The Afterworld:

Every deed, whether good or bad that a Muslim undertakes in this life, he or she will have to be
answerable for it in the afterlife. Although all the deeds get rewarded in the afterlife, however, the
actual reward of Salah will truly be realized in the afterlife when Allah Almighty will shower special
blessings on that person. In Quran, Allah says:
 “Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds and establish prayer and give zakah will have
their reward with their Lord, and there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve.” (2:277)

Therefore, prayer is not something that ends in this world, rather the real reward of it will come to
surface in the afterlife.

Staying Connected With Allah:

Muslims who realize that Allah Almighty is their Lord and the Giver of everything, they try to develop
a relation with Him and wish to stay connected with Him as much as possible so that their relation
grows strong. Salah can effectively help in achieving so, as Allah says in Quran:

And when you have completed the prayer, remember Allah standing, sitting, or [lying] on your sides.
But when you become secure, re-establish [regular] prayer. Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon
the believers a decree of specified times. (4:103)

Therefore, performing prayers is a means of developing a connection with Allah Almighty and when a
Muslim does so five times a day, then the consequent relationship is to naturally grow strong.

Protection From Satan:

Satan is an open enemy of believers and all what he tries is to make people go stray from the path of
righteousness and go down in the path of oblivion and darkness. Satan tries to tempt a person in all
the possible ways and when a person once listens to him, he gradually lures him or her down further
into the pit of darkness. Therefore, seeking protection from Satan is also imperative for a Muslim. In
Quran Allah Almighty says:

Satan only wants to cause between you animosity and hatred through intoxicants and gambling and
to avert you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. So will you not desist? (5:91)

Therefore, not offering prayer is actually falling into the prey of Satan, whereas those who try to offer
and establish prayer are actually resisting his temptation and when these temptations are resisted for
long the result is one not falling prey to Satan ever again on any forefront.

Prevention From Lewdness:

In life, a Muslim gets exposed to all sorts of environments and people, all of which have a direct impact
on the personality of the person. There is no denying the fact that the current plight of the people of
the world is miserable where they are more prone towards ills and lewdness compared to goodness,
thus if a Muslim starts being like other people, he or she goes down the road of darkness. Thus, in
order to prevent one’s self from all the lewdness that is common in the world of today, a Muslim must
find refuge in Salah as it will help in combating lewdness, as Allah says in Quran:

Recite, [O Muhammad], what has been revealed to you of the Book and establish prayer. Indeed,
prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of Allah is greater. And Allah
knows that which you do. (29:45)
Therefore, a Muslim must consider Salah as an effective weapon when it comes to fighting lewdness
and evils of all sorts.

Conclusion:
In a nutshell, those who learn and read Quran on regular basis are familiar with the importance of
Salah and how strongly has Allah Almighty emphasized on it and explained its importance to the
people in Quran. A Muslim must realize that above anything, Salah is an obligation and every Muslim
has to fulfill his or her obligation.