to ammal dan pubin.... apa komen anda mengenai tulisan aidid safar ni??
"These simplified instructions will enable anyone to complete the dance of the Arab prayer ritual. Born to a Muslim family, the author personally performed this ritual countless times throughout his life before he called it a day many years ago. I must remind the reader, it is vital that every utterance in the Arab prayer ritual be in Arabic. The English-speaking Muslims may not even say a simple phrase like, “Praise be to You my Lord” in English.
Here, is a summary of the basic procedure for those who have never performed an Arab prayer ritual:
First, wash out your mouth with water, blow your nose, wash your face, your hands, your forehead, your ears, your neck, and your legs and then speak to God in Arabic and tell Him you are going to ritually pray to Him.
Find a spot and make sure you face the stone idol in Mecca. If you are in Japan the direction is westwards, but if you are in Europe the direction is the eastwards, obviously.
Then, stand properly with the hands folded on your belly. Various sects have their own specific ways of placing the hands, and the tutored eye can tell a lot about your doctrine just by looking at the way you hold this position, though variations abound throughout the mosques of the world.
Then pronounce ‘Allah hu akbar’.1 The word akbar means bigger. So it is: ‘God is bigger’. (Interestingly, the phrase Allah hu akbar is not found anywhere in the Reading). Then recite some Arabic verses (which you may or may not comprehend).
The prayer starts with a recitation of a set of speech formulated2 by the religionists before beginning the compulsory recital of Al Fatiha (the first surah, consisting of seven verses). Typically, this will be followed by a short surah from toward the end of the Reading. Surahs 111, 112, 113 and 114 are particular favourites as they are very short and generally considered the minimum (along with Al Fatiha) that a Muslim should be expected to memorise3. The religionists say they are praying to God. Yet each of these last surahs begins with an instruction to the Prophet: ‘Qul!’ or ‘Say!’ followed by exactly what it was he was required to say. However these verses which begin with a direct instruction are habitually addressed to God in the Arab prayer ritual. For example:
Say!: He is God, the only one. The absolute God. He never begets, nor was He ever begotten. There is none equal to Him. (surah 111)
There are many verses in the Reading that start with an imperative addressing a second person commanding him to recite to a third person or persons. That is the nature of the Revelation. However, the religionists teach their followers to recite these orders back to God in their prayer ritual. In one of their favourite surahs for this purpose, they tell God:
Say!: O you disbelievers, I do not serve what you serve, nor are you serving what I am serving. I will never serve what you are serving, nor will you ever serve what I am serving. To you is your own way, and to me is my own way. (surah 109)
However, if they choose to recite surah 108 in their prayer, they will tell God:
We have given you many bounties. In appreciation, you shall serve your Lord and be charitable. Your enemy will henceforth be the loser. (surah 108)
Obviously, not all non-Arabs know what they are saying to God in their ritual prayers. Maybe there is some excuse. But even native Arabic-speaking Arabs including religionists and Arabic scholars say these things to God every day!
Having finished the liturgy of (frequently inappropriate) verses, you should raise both hands and say ‘allah-hu-akbar’ or ‘God is bigger’ again.
Then you bow forward for a few seconds before standing erect and calling out ‘God is bigger’ again. Then you prostrate – placing your forehead on the floor – and recite more Arabic words. Then you should sit up and then prostrate again before rising to the standing position. This procedure represents one unit of prayer. The number of units and whether what you say will be aloud or quiet will depend on a number of factors devised by the religionists such as time of day and ‘type’ of prayer. Generally, (although there are variations depending on whether you perform the ‘extra’ night prayers) a Muslim is required to bow seventeen times and prostrate thirty-four times in a twenty-four hour period.
At the end of any one particular set of units, you are to sit and send greetings to Prophet Abraham and Muhammad and their families (no need to wait for them to reply, however), then greet the ‘two angels sitting on both of your shoulders’ (again, no reply is expected).
Reading clearly says:
You cannot be heard by those in the graves. (35:22)
Yet, the followers of the Arab religion the world over are greeting only the dead prophet Muhammad and their families five times a day! We are not supposed to make any distinction between the prophets4: but Isaac, Jacob, Ishmael, Joseph, David, Solomon, Moses, Aaron, Zachariah, John (Yahya), and Jesus were somehow left out of this private club. How very rude"
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