How Do Muslims worship?

[Dave]

Hello Everyone!

Yes I was just thinking about worship services and I was wondering how Muslims worship Allah.

Christianity has different denominations and the style of worship can differ accordingly. As some Christians worship quietly with the singing of hymns, others are not afraid to make some noise with electric guitars, drums ect...

While the quiet worshipers can be quite timid where they might consider the raising of hands or clapping to be disrespectful, the "Spirit Filled" Christians, which would be the type of Christian I would be considered as, are free to worship with dancing, shouting out something like "Praise the Lord!" if you want, waving flags, ect...! It is mostly the kids that like to wave the flags, and maybe they will join hands and ring around the rosie, you know, kid things while they worsip. We have allot of freedom to express ourselves during worship; well to a certain degree.

Yeah how do you Muslims worship Allah at services. Do you sing songs or do chants. Do you guys make some noise. I guess you guys don't dance eh? Is your services similiar to sikhs where the wearing of shoes or sandels are not permited. Would your worship service be considered a fun type of an event, or is it more of a serious, sacred type of a mood!

Oh yes, what day of the week do you guys meet for sevices?

Yes I'm just curious is all.

Well have a great Wednesday everyone!

Peace!

Davy Jones

[aladdin]

Shalom, Peace, Salaam,

In Islam prayer consist of four acts:

1. Worshiping God.
2. Glorifying God
3. Praising God.
4. Asking God.

Worshiping God:

Imagine each and every Muslim worship the same way. Whether male, female, young and old they all worship the same way. The Muslims worship five times a day for a total of 17 riykaths.

Sunrise: 2 riykaths.
Noon: 4 riykaths.
Afternoon: 4 riykaths.
Sunset: 3 riykaths.
Dinner: 4 riykaths.

Each riykaths consist of the first chapter of the Holy Koran. The first chapter has 7 verses and is either called the "Opening Chapter" or the "Thanks Chapter". It is as follows:

THE OPENING OR THANKS SURA
Chapter 1, Verses 7

(I begin) with the name of God, the unconditional Mercy, the eternal Mercy (1), praise and thanks to God, the Lord and Sustainer of all worlds (2), the unconditional Mercy, the eternal Mercy (3); Owner of the day of the religion. (4)

You we worship; You we depend on for help! (5)

Guide us to the straight path (6), the path of those who earned your reward, not of those who earned your wrath, nor those who strayed. (7)

Amen, meaning I believe!

The Holy Koran refers to the first chapter as the:

And, We have bestowed upon you the seven oft-repeated (verses) and the Grand Koran (87) chapter 15.

Note: That the Holy Koran starts with God being the unconditional Mercy and eternal Mercy.

The above is usually followed by one more chapter from the Holy Koran.

My favorite is the last chapter of the Holy Koran and it is:

THE HUMANS
Chapter 114, Verses 6

(I begin) with the name of God, the unconditional Mercy, the eternal Mercy!

Say, “I seek refuge with the Cherisher of humans (1), the King of humans (2), the god of humans (3); -

From the mischief of the whisperer (of evil), who withdraws (after his whisper) (4), - (The same) who whispers into the hearts of humans (5), among the jinns and among the inns (humans)." (6)

In Islam the enemy and/or adversary of humans is evil, the meaning of satan in Semitic is evil and/or adversary and satan is a noun, not an proper noun.

God does not have any enemy and in Islam there is no “God of Good” and “God of Evil”, just “One God Only". In the third verse, the word, “ilah” is used, which is a noun meaning, “god, judge or one who is high up”.

Note: It is the satan (evil) in all of us, and the only power the evil has is the power of “whisper” or “suggestion”. One should not under estimate this power as this was demonstrated during the second world war by the Nazi’s propaganda war machine.

Or some people prefer the following chapter:

THE DAYBREAK OR DAWN
Chapter 113, Verses 5

(I begin) with the name of God, the unconditional Mercy, the eternal Mercy!

Say, “I seek refuge with the Lord of the dawn (1). From the mischief of created things (2); from the mischief of darkness as it overspreads (3); from the mischief of those who practice secret arts (conniving) (4); and from the mischief of the envious one as he practices envy.” (5)

Note: As soon as some humans get up in the mornings, the first thing they do is start planning evil, conniving evil, planting evil…….

Here is one more chapter from the Koran which is widely used, I beleive you would like it too:

THE SINCERITY
Chapter 112, Verses 4

(I begin) with the name of God, the unconditional Mercy, the eternal Mercy!

Say, He is God, the One and Only (1); God, the Eternal, the Absolute (2); He begetteth not, nor is He begotten (3); and there is none like unto Him.” (4)

Note: The Muslims five times, daily worshiping is based on the first and the second commandments of the Holy Bible. Also, the Jewish two times, daily pledge of allegiance called the, “shema” is also based on these two commandments too.

Basically, it is the Jewish pledge of allegiance, a testimony to His Oneness.

You can do some Google on the Jewish prayer called, "shema".

Wa’ Salaam

Mohamed

[Dave]

Thanks Aladdin, that was a very thourough answer and I appreciate it.

I have another question. I was watching the news and they were interviewing some young fellow who apparently had memorized the complete Koran. He said something like, because he memorized the Koran, he was able to take or allow 7 or some number of people, to enter and live in heaven. The impression I had was because of his memorizing the Koran, he was able to pick 7, or whatever number it was, people who would not be considered worthy of heaven, but able to live there because of his memorizing. Have you ever heard of anything like this Aladdin?

Dave

[Ron]

Hello Dave,

Muslims pray in pretty much the same way the Biblical prophets did. Different words but there were prostrations and bowing much in the same way.

There is no basis for the second question you pose. Memorizing the Qur'an gives you as much power as handling venomous snakes. Of course, there's a difference in that the one who has God's words pulsating in his heart and radiating in his mind is a person who has himself close to God. What do you think of holding poisonous snakes?

Regards

[aladdin]

Salaam Dave,

Beautiful question. Have to go now but I promise that I will come back to you soon.

And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

-King James Version - Lev 19:18 Deut 6:5, 10:12 Mark 12:30 Matt 22:37 Luke 10:27.

The chance to say the Shema Ya' Israel twice a day, once in the morning prayers and once in the evening prayers, is a way for us to engrain this belief upon us, to keep this idea, so to speak, on our fingertips. Having this belief readily at hand helps a person fulfill another verse from the Shema: “And you shall LOVE the Lord your G-d, with all YOUR HEART, with all YOUR SOUL, and with all your resources”.

Yet there are humans who take (for worship) others besides God, as equal (with God): They love them as they should love God. But those of faith are overflowing in their love for God. If only the tyrants could see, behold, they would see the penalty: that to God belongs all power, and God will strongly enforce the penalty (165) Chapter 2.

- The Holy Koran.

Wa' Salaam

Mohamed

[Ratatosk]

Salam,

I was wondering how Muslims worship Allah.

Good question. Perhaps [not really good, that link] will answer some of your questions.

Regards,

[Sameer Abdul Hadi]

Salaam,

Did'nt think you would actually care Dave. Glad they answered.

Aladin--

Amen, meaning I believe!

Ameen is translated by many scholars as simply saying"Answer our prayer(dua)"

Surah Al-Fatiha is also a Dua so it would not make much sense to say I Believe.

Wasalaam

[Ratatosk]

Salam,

Perhaps [not really good, that link] will answer some of your questions.

Dave, disregard my previous post (the one quoted above). As Ron nicely pointed out, there were a few lackadaisical omissions and some bad explanations in the previous link I posted.

Ron has also dug up a page with an animated explanation -- with sound and all -- of the entire salat. Try here. I wonder where he finds all this stuff..

Regards,

[Dave]

There is no basis for the second question you pose. Memorizing the Qur'an gives you as much power as handling venomous snakes. Of course, there's a difference in that the one who has God's words pulsating in his heart and radiating in his mind is a person who has himself close to God. What do you think of holding poisonous snakes?

Hey Ron.

I'm a little bit confused with your post.

Why did you make the comparison between memorizing the Koran with the handling of venomous snakes?

I also do not understand the point you are trying to make when you asked me what I think of holding poisonous snakes?
I must have missed something.

There is a small group of people who call themselves Christians that actually handle snakes during their worship service. There is a scripture in the Bible that says that a Christian who has a lot of faith would not be effected if they were bitten by a venomous snake. These people take this verse so literally that they bring snakes to Church. They hold the snakes and pass them around. The people in this strange religion are known as the "Snake Handlers." Surprisingly I have only heard of one death in the Snake Handling Church.

To answer your question Ron, I think it would be crazy to handle a poisonous snake.

Dave

[Dave]

Thanks for that link dude!

That was a very thorough answer to my question.

What happens if for some reason beyond your control, you miss a prayer time.

Do you have to make up for it the next day?

[Dave]

There is something I saw on the news which has to do with Muslim prayers that I would like to ask you guys about.

Behind the Jamkaran mosque in Iran is the well that, according to many Shiite Muslims, the Mahdi will one day emerge out of. The Mahdi I understand is to be a descendent of Mohammed that is supposed to appear sometime during the last days. Now there is a number of Muslim people who believe that the Mahdi is presently at the bottom of the well so they write down their prayers on pieces of paper and drop them down the well.

Now what my question is, is why are they sending their prayers to where they believe the Mahdi is? Muslims do not pray to anyone else but Allah, right? Why are they sending their prayers to the Mahdi?

[vinod]

have another question. I was watching the news and they were interviewing some young fellow who apparently had memorized the complete Koran. He said something like, because he memorized the Koran, he was able to take or allow 7 or some number of people, to enter and live in heaven. The impression I had was because of his memorizing the Koran, he was able to pick 7, or whatever number it was, people who would not be considered worthy of heaven, but able to live there because of his memorizing. Have you ever heard of anything like this Aladdin?

There is a hadith which says such a thing. This hadith falls in a class of ahadith that are known to describe the rewards/virtues of performing certain ritual deeds of islam. Among these ahadith, one deed or the other is stated as the best deed or the most favoured by God or the most rewarded by God.Some may extoll jihad while others extoll prayer or reading/memorizing the Quran. These ahadith are true but should not be understood to be unconditional and unqualified. In the same class of ahadith are some that talk about the punishments in hell for various deeds almost as if grading them in a depravation order. Again, these shouldn't be taken as unconditional and unqualified. These ahadith are to be seen within the wider message of islam about the Day of Judgment. The objective of all these ahadith is to affect the emotions of a believer and motivate him in building an emotional connection with God. These are not to be taken on face value, as is often taken to be so by muslims. While God will indeed honour SOME huffaz (term used to describe those who memorize the Quran) with the prerogative to take 7 other people with them, not every huffaz will be given that. Each case will be dealt with in such a way that justice and mercy are not compromised.

hope that explains it.

Regards

[Ron]

Dave,

Why did you make the comparison between memorizing the Koran with the handling of venomous snakes?

The comparison wasn't between memorization and snake handling. I was pointing out certain beliefs that were not founded upon scripture. In other words they're not part of the religious body.

I also do not understand the point you are trying to make when you asked me what I think of holding poisonous snakes?

It occurred to me to ask when you brought up your question.

Surprisingly I have only heard of one death in the Snake Handling Church.

Do most people who get bitten by snakes die?

To answer your question Ron, I think it would be crazy to handle a poisonous snake.

Thanks for the reply.

Unfortunately, much like the snake handlers of your religion, whom you probably consider "crazy," we have some Muslims that do not understand the beauty of expressions and take some things literally. As my dear brother Vinod explained, taking something at face value could lead to great misunderstanding. See the comparison?

Regards

[Dave]

Hey Aladdin!

Where have you been. You said that you would reply to this post:

Thanks Aladdin, that was a very thorough answer and I appreciate it.

I have another question. I was watching the news and they were interviewing some young fellow who apparently had memorized the complete Koran. He said something like, because he memorized the Koran, he was able to take or allow 7 or some number of people, to enter and live in heaven. The impression I had was because of his memorizing the Koran, he was able to pick 7, or whatever number it was, people who would not be considered worthy of heaven, but able to live there because of his memorizing. Have you ever heard of anything like this Aladdin?

Dave

Salaam Dave,

Beautiful question. Have to go now but I promise that I will come back to you soon.

I have been waiting, mind you I am very patient. I hope that I didn't offend you somewhere and you are refusing to commune with me!

No, even as I wrote that I knew it wasn't true, you have tough skin.

I hope your health is well dude!

Davy Jones

[vinod]

Dave, pls see my post # 12 in this thread for a response to your observation of the boy who memorized the Quran.