So where's your salat headed?[ 10 vote(s) ]
1.	I believe / am currently swinging towards 'Salat' being non-physically directed	6 / 60%
2.	I believe / am currently swinging towards 'Salat' being physically directed	4 / 40%

Peace.

If any brothers or sisters have visited www.free-minds.org, they will know that I (registered there also as "Natu") am strictly against the need for any physical direction for "Salat" which I have demonstrated (in perhaps a slightly immature way, apologies sent out in advance for any offence caused), in the thread [http://www.free-minds.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3222]. Personally, I began with 5 physically directed “salat" daily, then 3, and now 2 non-physically directed.

It is probably accepted by many on this forum that 5 daily salat come from hadith based teachings, and many would say that there are in fact 3 daily salat prescribed by God in the reading. Personally, after having been through both of these stages, I came to realise that there are in fact only two times prescribed in the reading, which were proven beyond any doubt in the thread at [http://www.free-minds.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1171]. I would therefore make a humble request to all brothers and sisters to read that thread (Its only one page long, it shouldn’t take that long to read, trust me) and then to air any opposing views there, if they remain even after reading the thread.

What I wish to discuss in this thread however is whether a physical direction is necessary (Commonly observed directions being the Arabia and Jerusalem). From my experience of discussions involving this topic, it has been found that whatever the wording of the Quran, the issue boils down to the whether performing ‘salat’ in the direction of a physical object amounts to idolatry or not. Personally, having seen that the word ‘kaba’ appears only twice in the whole of the Quran is enough of a sign to make us think against the flow – but then again, this isn’t enough. After reading Aidid Safar’s work (Please visit www.aididsafar.com) and taking criticisms into account, I have come to the conclusion that, whatever ‘salat’ involves, it is extremely risky doing it towards the ‘kaba’ of Arabia. I have found that due to words with multiple meanings, it is almost always possible to justify both physically directed and non-physically directed salat using the Quran, so I am taking what I consider to be the ‘best meaning’ and rejecting a physically directed method of salat. If we look at verses from the reading we could go on and on, and the chances are that we’ll all slack off towards the end and this thread will sink without reaching a conclusion. So I think it would be best to have some kind of philosophical debate as to whether it would be just in the eyes of God if we perform ‘salat’ in the direction of the kaba, in order to reach a unified conclusion. As a group of believer blessed with the knowledge of monotheism, let none of us call anyone an idolator, and let none of us give disrespect to holders of opposing views, we must help each other out.

I’ll begin by stating my justification. Please feel free to quote the following:

“Physically directed salat is wrong because it involves the association of the God with a physical object, much the way Hindus do. If you ask a Hindu, they will never say that they worship the idols, they will only say that they are praying in that direction to reach God, but God has exposed this in the reading by talking of those who use such objects to reach God, and God states the fact that there will be those on the day of order who will say that they never set idols up as partners, when in fact they did, but the devil made them think they were guided.”

Natu wrote on Mon, 09 May 2005 06:35

...O...K...

Now Now Natu, don't be despondent! You have tried your best. If you want my vote then I go for non-physical salat
I hope that cheeeers you up bit.

Regards,

[Updated on: Mon, 09 May 2005 08:08]

[Updated on: Fri, 13 May 2005 02:14]

[Updated on: Sun, 15 May 2005 02:50]