What is the real meaning of ṣalāh?
The scholars taught that ṣalāh has an outer form and an inner life. One without the other is a body without a soul. This is what they meant.
10 passages from 6 books in the library
The scholars, above all al-Ghazali in his Book of Prayer, taught that salah has both an outer form and an inner life, and that one without the other is "a body without a soul." The heart, he stressed, must be present in prayer — not merely uttering the words while absent from their meaning, but standing before Allah with the same attentiveness one would have before a person of high rank. The cited passages also note prayer's standing among the acts of worship and the example of those who spent their nights in prostration and standing before Allah, the marks of devotion between their eyes.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 6 books by Imam al-Ghazali and Ibn Battuta — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Scholars have noted that if one is in prayer and misses responding to the call to prayer, he can respond after finishing his prayer, even if the caller has stopped."
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"and three others are the duha prayer, the prayer between Maghrib and Isha, and the tahajjud prayer."
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"If one is occupied with an obligatory act or making up a missed prayer, it fulfills the greeting and achieves the virtue because the intent is to not leave the entrance without an act of worship specific to the mosque."
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"The fifth point, performing two units of prayer after ablution is recommended because ablution is an act of devotion intended for prayer."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"prayer, advising on it until he passed, repeating, The prayer, the prayer, Aisha, may Allah be"
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"My husband the commander of the faithful was killed at the dawn prayer and my father was killed at the dawn prayer"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"prostration in prayer, which is remote, as the command concerning prostration should"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Marks like the knees of goats were between their eyes as they spent the night in prostration and standing before Allah,"
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
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"They spent the Friday night in prayer, remembrance, and supplication, then performed the Fajr prayer,"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"before completing the prayer, this can invalidate the prayer and nullify the act. If the inclination"
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