ADDENDUM TO SALAT ARTICLES:

ADDENDUM TO SALAT ARTICLES:

Let’s discuss the difference between Salat and Salwaat:

2:157 - أُولَـئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ وَأُولَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُهْتَدُونَ

Those, upon them are blessing [salwaat] from their Rabb [consciousness] and a mercy, and those are the guided.

صَلَوَاتٌ - nominative feminine indefinite noun - root word صلو 

2:238 - حَافِظُواْ عَلَى الصَّلَوَاتِ والصَّلاَةِ الْوُسْطَى وَقُومُواْ لِلّهِ قَانِتِينَ

Preserve /guard on the blessings [salwaat] and the process of the connection [salat] is the balance, and install / establish for Him in silent devotion.

الصَّلَوَاتِ - genitive feminine plural noun - صَلَوَاتِ - genitive feminine plural noun [9:99] - root word صلو -

الصَّلاَةِ - genitive feminine noun - root word - وصل -

9:103 - خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِم بِهَا وَصَلِّ عَلَيْهِمْ إِنَّ صَلاَتَكَ سَكَنٌ لَّهُمْ وَاللّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ

Hold from their truthful inclination, to purify them mentally and cause them to grow continuously with it, and bless [صَلِّ] upon them, indeed your connection [صَلاَتَكَ] are tranquility for them, and the system of consciousness [Allah] is hearing / listening, knowledgeable.

صَلِّ  - second person masculine singular (form II) imperative verb - root word صلو -
صَلاَتَكَ - second person masculine singular possessive pronoun - root word - وصل -

Guidance is the blessings from our consciousness [Rabb] and we are instructed to preserve these blessings of the connection at all cost and time, even if you are walking, riding, sitting or travelling. Remembrance [zikr] of Allah is part of the process of connection [salat].

But when we strictly follow our traditional scholars and academicians we simply copy their understanding without using our divine ability to think. The religious scholars have their limitations, they cannot think beyond their religious syllabus or curriculum.

2:170 - وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ اتَّبِعُوا مَا أَنزَلَ اللّهُ قَالُواْ بَلْ نَتَّبِعُ مَا أَلْفَيْنَا عَلَيْهِ آبَاءَنَا أَوَلَوْ كَانَ آبَاؤُهُمْ لاَ يَعْقِلُونَ شَيْئاً وَلاَ يَهْتَدُونَ

When it is said to them: "Follow what Allah hath revealed:" They say: "Nay! We shall follow the ways of our fathers [spiritual teachers, scholars, grammarians, schools and institutions."] What! Even though their fathers were void of wisdom and guidance?

Such people are like cattle they possess herd mentality – 2:171

As-Salat [الصَّلاَةِ] and As-Salwaat [الصَّلَوَاتِ] are two different words having two different root words, although their pronunciation is somewhat similar but their connotations are totally different.

Salwaat is the plural of salu [صلو] and it is not a plural salat as we are made to believe by the majority – The meaning of As-Salwaat is blessings and the meaning of As-Salat is the process of connection.

The plural of salat is ṣalāti [صَلَاتِ] - The meaning of ṣalāti is links, connections. Salwaat is not a plural of salat. Salwaat is all together different word with totally a different connotation and has no connection with the word Salat. If salwaat is the plural of Salat then it must be written صَلَوَاتِهِمْ as mentioned in 23:9 instead of  صَلَاتِهِمْ occurred in 6:92, 17:110, 23:2

But our scholars’ and academicians blindly rely upon the ready made information from the books written by our "eminent  predecessors" rather than decisions made on knowledge or common sense. They interchange its meanings according to their predecessors’ beliefs and understanding. The context, colloquial use and the essence of the message are totally ignored.

The enemies of Islam has very smartly changed the pattern of this important word by inserting the fabricated meaning in the lexicons to familiarize its meaning in the line of Traditional Arab Religion but they could not change its derivatives present in colloquial usage. Lets scrutinize in the light of the Arabic language.

و-ص-ل  is the root word of  Salat -  الصَّلاَةِ – Let’s study the root word Waw Saad Laam (وصل) and its derivatives to know the essence of Salah -                                                   

و ص ل - Waw-Saad-Lam -  وصل = attained, reached, connected, joined, he made close ties of relation, bond of love, held close, to continue, communion, communicated, صلة – establish contact, connection or relation, يصل – is to join, connect, unite, combine, link, receive – صلة الرحم – making close relationship – connective preposition is called حرف الصلة –‎ ittiṣālāt-  اتصالات‎- literally means "communications" – to get in touch with telephone [modern Arabic] - These words are all derivatives of وصل 

The use of derivations of the root of صلاۃ [Salah] has not changed its primary meaning even in modern Arabic. At present in normal routine also the derivatives of صلاۃ / وصل is used in different field, for example connecting a microphone is صِل الميكروفون – connecting an adapter [automotive] is صل المهايئ – to connect a call is توصيل مكالمة [telephone] – connect USB cable is صل كابل [computer] - sprinkler used in agriculture is صُلْ هوائي – movement joint is فا صل حركة - and finally even today for prayers in general the word is صلّ used.

Furthermore when I first heard the word ittiṣālāt-  اتصالات‎-  in Dubai some 25 years back I was wondering then that this word has something to do with contact prayers [namaz] or may be the telephone line or transportation is coming from some big mosque. But later after probing I found that this is the name of a very big telecommunication [الاتصالات ] [Etisalat] company. Again one commonly used the word is مواصلات [mawasalat], this word is used for transportation. These words have nothing to do with any ritual contact prayer [namaz]. In Arabic parlance اتصالية [ittisalat] and مواصلات [mawsalat] are derivatives of words صلاۃ وصل / صلة /

Note the root word of  الصَّلَوَاتِ [salwaat] is صلو [salu] -

The basic meaning of صلو [salu] is - I struck, or beat. صلوت الظهر means to beat the back – Beat / struck is called صلا – all the meanings in the lexicons suggest that the word صلا means back portion and it cannot be inferred as prayers. This is clearly the work of enemies of the book Qur'an to totally change paradigm of the one of the most important pillar of Islam.

For the sake of information I am mentioning the liturgical usage of word salu and its derivatives are الصَّـلَاةَ - صَلَوَاتٌ - يُصَلِّي - يُصَلُّواْ - the meanings are are – he prayed, supplicated, petitioned, divinely appointed prayer, eulogy, benediction, commendation, blessing, but remember الصَّـلَاةَ is not the derivative of صلو [salu] and it does not mean prayers at all. The fundamental meaning of salu is back-patting of an animal or man, this is the sign of encouragement, blessing, admiration, respect and praise.

One of the concocted or misunderstood meaning صلى a derivative of صلو is said to be the horse that followed the next after the foremost in the race or a goal – صلا is middle back of the human being or horse. Projected portion of the central back of the animal between the buttocks from where the tail of an animal comes out, the rump. The said example of one horse following the other horse is meant for displaying the exact portion of the horse's back while competing in the race but unfortunately some eminent translators have taken the meaning of salu as to follow closely.

The more commonly used meanings by the translators or exegete for SALAT are:

Divinely appointed prayers, supplication, contact prayers, blessing, commitment, follow closely and establishment of Kingdom of God on Earth [nizam e rabubiat]. While deducing the meanings no regard is given to context, lexicon or colloquial use of the language.

Any deviation from the commonly held or established beliefs or in the absence of reference from so called authorities is not at all easy for anyone to explain their point of view. The most common form of confirmation demanded by almost all academicians or common man is “show us where it is written” that salat and sila are derivatives of wasal.

Unfortunately references from the lexicons or exegesis, lexicographers and web sites are treated as bench mark of authority & authenticity by the so called academicians and students alike. No space or respect is given to independent research, deliberation, colloquial usage, common sense or even the context of the book Qur’an. Subsequently the understanding of Islam and the book Qur’an are dictated by the same prejudiced authorities who are not independent thinkers but bookish henchmen of the rule books written by their hallowed predecessors. These pseudo scholars are the main hindrance in understanding the book Qur’an independently.

I am not against the use of lexicons or exegesis or any other literature or tools as long as it helps in finding the truth and give sense to the context. But we all should be aware that all the lexicons or exegesis are customized to legitimized Hadith literature rather than the semantics of the book Quran. No doubt classical lexicons do possess some traces of truth in it but for that we should have an open mind and scanning eyes to pick up the right meaning from so many vocabularies. If we only depend on academics and fail to apply reason while translating the noble book Quran then we would be doing great injustice to the message of the book Qur’an.