AQIMOO-ASSALAAT
Aqimooasalaat — أَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ — is a very important terminology of the book Quran and according to majority it’s firmly established meaning is ritual prayers believed by the very vast majority as backbone of Islam, the philosophy of peaceful mindset. We will see what Salaat has to do with peaceful mind and why it is important part of Islam or Peaceful mind..
Some recent school of thoughts understands أَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ (aqimoo-assalaat) akin to establishing a political system. They comprehend the book Quran as Charter of Human Rights and Hajj as World Assembly Center for the purpose of debate. They think good governance can bring peace to individuals mind but that is flawed thinking. Peace of mind is so special that it cannot be bought if you have all the luxuries of life.
The idea of establishing a just and fair socio-economical system stemmed from having our roots in corrupt countries that seems to be falling towards anarchy. So naturally the need of the hour for any reasonable individuals is to come up with this concept of just and fair governance that is highly appreciative and appealing to the poor and elites of third world countries. Bitter fact is that poor won’t be the part of building socio-economics of the country. But that’s not the purpose of Quranic salaat
There is nothing wrong in dreaming of establishing good governance but it is incorrect to look for the solution in the book Quran. It is wrong to change the theme of this transcendental book only because we are suffering and are under continuous pressure of injustice done by our native governments.
Lack of inner peace is the cause to look for peace outside of us. South Korea and Lithuania are top in Human development index (HDI) than Caribbean, Middle East and some Asian some countries still their suicide rate is higher than them. Conversely some countries with the lowest suicide rates have strong social support systems like family bond, cultural factor that discourages suicide. In spite of having low HDI these countries have very low suicide rate. Suicide is the cause of depression and lack of inner peace. Good governance cannot buy or guarantee us peaceful life. Let me remind you I am not against good governance but that is not the topic of the book Quran.
The Quran is the book that teaches us to believe in ourselves because healing mechanism is inside us if we learn how to manage our psyche oul, spirit, inner self, innermost self, emotions, inner ego, true being, essential nature, life force, vital force, inner persona, identity, individuality, subconscious, mind and intellect are part of psyche (Nafs). S (Nafs). The message of the book Quran addresses these issues therefore I called the Quran book of human psychology.
I have been saying since very long. All the nabiyeen and rusul are applications in the context of the book Quran that are lying dormant within us, we need to activate them so that we gradually achieve their characteristics and act accordingly to the situation. The entire struggle and conciliation is within. The characters of the book Quran are not part of dead History but living part of our own growth, evolution or character building.
We would never understand the book Quran if we link its message to History, Geography or Personalities. Can we achieve peace if we follow History, Geography or Personalities? Peace is in the mind of individuals. The only thing which makes you unhappy is your own thoughts. The book Quran if properly understood can change your thoughts for happiness and peace.
The message of the book Quran is for our own correction and guidance. That’s why the main teacher of the inherent Quran is Rehman. The actual Quran and its teachers are not physical because the entire message is Metaphysics (bilgayab). Those who believe in Metaphysics will understand it’s theophanic message in a better way.
Dogmatically manipulating the meanings of an old Arabic text of the book Quran to suit the preconceived theme of establishing just and fair society is injustice to the book Quran and it’s author. I very humbly assert that there is no connection between the message of the book Quran and political or social science. Quran is the book of mental peace and it must be inferred in that context only.
Now coming back to the phrase أَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ (aqimusalaat). I learnt at a very early stage that the basic Classical Arabic is based on root words and we must try to grasp the essence of the actual meaning from the family of words derived from that root word.
The derived meaning from the root word of salat (الصَّلَاةَ)are sila (صلة) as in صلة الرحم — literally ties of womb, silati is links — الصلات السببية is causal links — اتصل is to connect — mawsalat is means of transportation, communication is mawsalat (مواصلات), etisalat — telecommunications (اتصالات), tawsil is delivery (توصيل), wasal is connect, link, reach (وصل) etc. These words are still used in the colloquial Arabic even today and the root letter of these words are not صلو — but you will find these derivatives under the root وصل -
Is it not injustice with the book Quran to ignore these derivatives of Salat and opt for root letters ص ل و or ص ل ى
Aqimusalaat أَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ in the context of the book Quran is mainly about establishing relationship, connection, establishing link with our own inherent script (al-kitab) after discovering and recognizing it. When we form a connection or relationship with our own embedded script (al-kitab) then we are being guided according to our own unique script; this connection brings peace to our mind and psyche. The peace comes through following our inner script, diverting ourselves from our inner script brings irritation and dissatisfaction. The guidance is the provision (rizq) which we need to implement at all cost. The guidance is freely available but when we implement it we need to pay the price for it, that is to discharge our obligation (deen) towards the environment.
The word in يُنْفِقُونَ 2:3 is form iv imperfect verb which signifies to continuously pay the price by compensation, indemnity, recompense, reimbursement, remunerate, repay, what we have consumed in our life; this is the essence of the word يُنْفِقُونَ — this word is generally translated as they spend. The essence of this يُنْفِقُونَ word is to pay the price. Without paying the price we cannot follow Al-Kitab. The price you pay can be in the form of your precious time, energy, health, money, social boycott, ridicule, isolation, luxury, losses etc. The word يُنْفِقُونَ in the context does not mean to spend money on charity, building religious places, relatives, Hajj or Umrah etc. These things cannot bring peace.
The book Quran says it is wrong to write your own script when it is already naturally embedded in you and you recognize it like you recognize your own nature — 2:79, 2:146, 6:20
The purpose of salaat is reconciliation / amendment (عَمِلَ صَالِحًا) — strong emotion like hate, anger, cravings, lust breaks our connection with our own script or hidden garden of enlightenment (jannah) — 19:59–60
[Quran 29:45] Follow what is inspired [wahi] to you from the script [Al-Kitab], and established/install [aqeem] the process of connection / relationship [salat] . The process of connection / relationship [salaat with your own script] prevents over indulgence [Al-fahsha] and over smartness [Al-munkar]. And the remembrance [zikr] of Allah is greater. And Allah knows what you fabricate.
Changing or hiding the original theme of the book Quran to find answers for socio-economical problems in our lives is really deplorable. The truth is nobody looks in the book Quran for civics matter, infact there are countries without the book Quran doing better in peaceful index.
Propagating the entire world to follow this ancient language Arabic book in matter of good governance is impossible and ridiculous. Why would European, Scandinavian countries or Chinese, Russians, French or any other group would study this 114 chapter Classical Arabic language book on good governance and take lessons from it. Some of these countries already have working good governance.
The Quranic salaat is not about bringing people together to establish a collective system based on justice and fair distribution of resources. The Quranic salaat is bringing together all your inherent senses, information, emotions under the leadership of your own intellect and that intellect is your mohammad in the Quranic context.
This book Quran is not for the masses but only for those individuals who are interested to dig its actual message otherwise there are lot of better books, more tangible than this book on the presumed subjects. I am studying this only because I was brought up by this book though traditionally but I am attached to this book like billion of other Muslims and now I am in love with this book very much. The book Quran is the victim of misinterpretation and I want to make an attempt to clear that misconception of this wonderful book through my humble efforts. I don’t know whether I would be able to complete this hurricane task.
Written by Ahle Aqal
I am committed to clear the tarnished image of Islam brought by the wrong understanding and wrong doings by its followers in the name of the book Quran.
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