Establishing Salah: The Sign of the Believers
[The sign of] the believers is establishing salah (iqamat al-salah): “ویقیمون الصّلاة.”The verse has used the expression “یقیمون,” meaning establishing and upholding, which differs from the expression “یُصَلّون,” meaning performing salah. Perhaps the reason for using this expression is one of these aspects: first, that establishing salah means performing salah in the manner it ought to be performed; that is, the believers would perform salah “علی وجهها”; otherwise, the hypocrite also prays, and sometimes the outward form of the hypocrite's salah is even better than the believer's, and he prays with humility, but it has no spirit and no substance.
Another aspect is this: that what is meant by “ویقیمون الصّلاة” may be performing salah in society; that is, not only do they themselves pray, but they urge society to salah and strive so that all the people turn to salah.
The True Meaning of Establishing Salah
Establishing salah is other than performing salah, and unfortunately in some translations one sees that they write: “and they perform salah,” whereas performing salah in Arabic is “یصلّون,” and “یقیمون الصّلاة” means they establish salah. So establishing salah is something more than performing salah, though of course it also includes performing salah; that is, if you want to be among those who establish salah, you cannot abandon performing salah. Establishing salah means bringing this obligation and this subtle reality into being in the environment and in society, making the environment an environment of salah, inviting others to salah, performing salah with attentiveness, and realizing the concepts of salah in life.
Establishing a Monotheistic Society by Means of Salah
To move in this arena, what is needed more than anything is two things: one is motivation—that inner force that moves a person and leads him along the way; the other is that compass, so that a person does not forget that guiding star and his direction does not go astray. If there were no motivation, one would be left stranded midway; the difficulties are many. Establishing a monotheistic society, establishing justice among humankind, pitching the tent of truth amid all these storms of false desires, is no easy task; motivation is needed. This motivation consists of attention to Allah; “ذکر الله” [the remembrance of Allah]; seeking help from the Lord; doing the work for Allah's sake. And that compass pointing to the qiblah (the direction of prayer) consists of attention to the goal of the work, and to the fact that our aim is not power, is not wealth, is not the worship of desires, is not personal wishes, is not various political considerations; rather, our goal is Allah. These two characteristics, these two important factors—that is, motivation and orientation—are summed up in salah.
Reaching the Ideal Society by Salah Taking Its Proper Place
The importance of salah must be properly understood. What has been declared—that if salah is accepted at the court of Allah, one's other services and toils are accepted too, and if salah is rejected, everything besides it is rejected as well—shows us a great truth. That truth is this: if salah takes its rightful place in the Islamic society, all constructive material and spiritual efforts will open their way toward the ideals and bring society to the desired, ideal point of Islam; and if the importance of salah is neglected and salah is treated with indifference, this path will not be traveled properly, and the efforts and struggles will not have the necessary effect in reaching the summit that Islam has drawn for human society.
This truth warns all of us and reminds us of a heavy duty. Cultural and artistic efforts, educational planning and the like must all be designed and carried out in such a way that salah, with the desired quality, flourishes day by day among the people, especially the youth and adolescents, and that everyone truly benefits from this spring of purity and light. Undoubtedly, the many bodies in charge of cultural and educational affairs, the national radio and television (IRIB), and those involved in running the masjids must feel a sense of responsibility more than others.
Establishing Salah in an Islamic Country: One of the Most Binding Obligations
Establishing salah in a country that has raised the banner of Islam above its head and has been honored with the rule of Islam is one of the most binding obligations (fara'id); because all the goals of a felicitous society—such as securing social justice, attaining public welfare and material flourishing, nurturing talents and creativity in every individual among the people, possessing knowledge, insight and experience, national dignity, independence and strength, the spread of human ethics and of healthy relations among the people, and other lofty goals—are secured only when individual upbringing and moral refinement are secured in every individual among the people, especially in those who run the country's affairs, and when there are in that society pure human beings endowed with resolve, reliance on Allah, ikhlas (sincerity), patience and diligence, who, with the help of this spiritual backing, have the capacity to carry heavy burdens and the strength to stand firm against various obstacles, and especially against the waves of corruption and ruin. The greater the number of such human beings in a society and a country, the brighter the horizon of the future of that society and that country will be, and the more possible and easier the movement toward felicity in that society and that country will be.
The Duty of Every Member of Society in Establishing Salah
Now salah—an incomparable gift and an unceasing wellspring of grace—is at our disposal, so that with it we may make righteous human beings, first of ourselves and then of everyone we love. This is a gateway opened onto a vast and pure expanse. It is a pity for a person to spend a lifetime next to a pure paradise and never look in on it, nor lead his loved ones to it. Divine revelation commanded the Prophet of lofty station (peace and blessings be upon him and his household) thus: “وأمر اهلک بالصّلاة واصطبر علیها.”Today, all of you should count yourselves as addressed by this command, and appreciate the worth of salah—the sacred reality and the shining jewel that is Allah's gift to the Ummah of Muhammad al-Mustafa (peace and blessings be upon him and his household). In this duty everyone has a particular share: fathers and mothers should, by their words and deeds, encourage and guide their children to salah. Teachers should set the students of schools and universities moving in the direction of this shining reality. The respected learned scholars, 'ulama (religious scholars) and clerics should regard leading the congregational prayer (salat al-jama'ah) in educational centers and student residences as a precious opportunity for the new generation. The writers of textbooks should include the secrets, the mysteries and the lessons of salah in the textbooks. The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the Islamic Propagation Organization and the national radio and television should use art, especially the art of cinema, to show the jewel of salah and the face of the one who prays. Dear artists, through the language of poetry, story, painting and the like, and by creating works of art of high quality—indeed outstanding ones—should put the masterful hand of art to work on so worthy a task. In schools, teachers and principals, and in all centers, the officials, should encourage worshippers by their own presence in the rows of salah. At scholarly, cultural, educational and propagation gatherings, they should perform salah at its proper time, as an inspirer of truthfulness and guidance. Religious writers and speakers should speak and write about salah and its concept, philosophy, aim, effects, blessings and rulings. The people should bring life to the masjids by attending the congregational prayers, which are the best way of performing salah. In all public buildings and places where, in the natural course of things, people always gather—such as airports, railway stations, ports, public transport terminals, government offices, city parks and the like—they should build prayer rooms or masjids; and beyond this, the people should regard any clean and suitable ground as a masjid when the time of salah arrives, and stand in salah there.
There is work of this kind for every person and every stratum of the people; each person must search and find his share of this universal obligation and set his hand to it. It is in such a state that our Islamic society has been able to establish salah and become an embodiment of this noble verse: “الّذین ان مکّناهم فی الارض اقاموا الصّلاة و آتوا الزّکوة و امروا بالمعروف و نهوا عن المنکر و للّه عاقبة الامور.”
The Invitation to Salah: An Invitation to the Most Beautiful Manifestations of Life
The invitation to salah is an invitation to the most beautiful manifestations of life, because salah is a chapter of life in which a person, before the Creator and Possessor of all goodness and beauty, lovingly lays out his need, and adds to the measure of beauty and goodness of his soul and heart. This enormous volume and this effective language of exhortation to dhikr (remembrance of Allah) and salah in the Qur'an and hadith are a sign of this very feature of the invitation to salah. Allah's righteous and virtuous servants should take this as a lesson for themselves and invite others to salah. Believing officials in the Islamic system should place their extensive resources at the service of this invitation. The cleric, the teacher, the educator, the manager and the official, everywhere, should draw their audiences and their circles of influence in this direction and make of them inviters to Allah and to salah.
The Long-Term, Medium-Term and Short-Term Goals of Establishing Salah
The long-term goal of establishing salah in society is the righteousness and salvation of all; but until that lofty aim is reached, the medium-term goal is to kindle the lamp of salah in every home and in the home of hearts; and the short-term goal is to employ all the country's scholarly, artistic and propagation capacity along this path and to give direction to all such efforts toward this end. Just as, to perform salah, one must know the qiblah and turn toward it, so too, to fill the atmosphere of the world and the world of hearts with the fragrance, splendor and spirit of salah, there is a qiblah that must be found and turned toward. This qiblah is the lofty and ultimate goals of salah, and turning toward it means traveling the paths that lead to it; and these paths can be defined in the form of short-term and medium-term goals.
The Need for the Sound of the Adhan to Be Heard Throughout the City
Why, in this city of such grandeur, amid all these various clamors from every side and corner, should the melody of the adhan (the call to prayer) not be heard everywhere in the city?! The adhan is the mark of being Muslim. Who has said that the adhan should not be called through loudspeakers on the rooftops of masjids or in the large and main masjids, even at pre-dawn—noon and night go without saying? When the time of the adhan comes, Tehran must be filled from end to end with the sound of the adhan. Is this not the Qubbat al-Islam (the Dome of Islam)? Do we not say so? That it becomes noon, and an hour passes after noon as well, and someone walks in the street yet does not sense that it has become noon—is this consistent with that claim?!
The Necessity of Broadcasting the Adhan from Masjids
Some time ago, I gave advice regarding the adhan, and of course I said that in the mornings the adhan should not be called with loudspeakers everywhere, so that people are not woken from their sleep. It seems some of the believers listened to this second part more than to the first part! What we meant was that at pre-dawn a loudspeaker should not sound in every single place; but it did not mean that at pre-dawn the sound of the adhan should not be heard in a city like Tehran! No, in a place like Tehran it is good for the adhan to be broadcast by loudspeaker from at least a few of the important masjids—even the dawn adhan. In small towns too, in proportion to the size of the town, the dawn adhan should be broadcast in a few places. But at noon and at night they should call the adhan—the adhan by loudspeaker, and in front of the masjids, and inside the masjids, and in the streets—so that people become accustomed to calling the adhan.
Establishing Salah: The First Fruit and Sign of the Rule of the Righteous
Forming an assembly of experts for establishing salah is one of the most fitting and necessary things that had to be done in the Islamic Republic; for establishing salah is the first fruit and sign of the rule of the righteous; and it is in the next rank after it that the turn comes to “zakat,” as the financial ordering of society and the uprooting of poverty, and also to “enjoining good and forbidding evil,” that is, steering toward good deeds and holding back from evil deeds: “الّذینَ اِن مَکّنّاهُم فی الأرضِ أَقامُوا الصَّلاةَ وَآتَوا الزَّکاةَ وَأمَرُوا بِالمَعروفِ وَنَهَوا عَنِ المُنکَرِ.”
Establishing salah is not merely that the righteous themselves perform salah; that is not something that depends on forming a divine government; rather, this pillar of religion must be set up in society, and everyone must become acquainted with its secrets and allusions and benefit from its blessings. The radiance of spirituality and the serenity of the remembrance of Allah should illuminate and purify all the horizons of society, and bodies and souls together should hasten to salah and, in its shelter, find tranquility and firmness.
The Responsibility for Promoting Salah Lies with Those Acquainted with Islamic Teachings
The truth is that there have been many shortcomings in the work of introducing salah; and the result is that salah has not yet attained its rightful place, even in our Islamic system. This heavy responsibility rests on the shoulders of scholars and those acquainted with Islamic teachings: to make salah better known to everyone, especially to the young generation. From the primary-school child to the researcher in advanced studies, each, according to his own mind and understanding, can take steps along the path of knowing salah and its secrets, and become acquainted with things yet unknown. Even the great gnostics have written and taught “Asrar al-Salah” (The Secrets of Salah) for the wayfarers of the valley of ma'rifah (spiritual knowledge); that is, the depths of this ocean still remain unknown and waiting to be traversed.
The Mission of the National Radio and Television and Other Media in Promoting the Culture of Salah
In our society, an important chapter must be opened in introducing salah at all levels. The media, and especially the national radio and television, should introduce salah and remind people of it in various ways. Everywhere and always, on radio and television, salah should be given priority, and the yearning of faith and the thirst for the remembrance of Allah should arise in hearts.
Showing a forsaken congregational prayer with a small handful of people—and those, too, from among the worn-out and listless—is not promoting the congregational prayer; just as broadcasting the sound of the adhan on the audio and visual media is not enough. Our young people form thousands of fervent and spirited congregational rows all over the country; many of the people about the realities of whose lives feature films are made are people of salah, supplication and night vigil (tahajjud); many throats, out of faith and devotion, raise their voices in this spiritual anthem at the time of the adhan; huge crowds stop their daily work at the time of salah and turn to the masjid; in artistic productions, these can show everyone the beautiful and inspiring face of this saving obligation.
In these dramas that are shown—in the serials and such—sometimes a single word of the dialogue in the film has a great effect on the viewer; sometimes a single word. One sentence may turn a large group of young people into people who pray; there is no need at all for us to necessarily show someone doing wudu' (ritual ablution) and praying in order to encourage people to pray. Sometimes, if you can artfully fit a single sentence into these very conversations—“dialogues,” as you call them—it may well be that a single sentence will incline people toward salah.
The Necessity of Including a Masjid and Prayer Room Annex in All Major Engineering Projects in the Country
All major engineering works must have a masjid-and-prayer-room annex. When we design a metro, a masjid should be taken into account in it for the metro station; we design a railway station, we design an airport—a masjid must certainly be provided for in it. We design a township—a masjid must certainly be taken into account in it at the necessary centers, where more than one may be needed. Is it possible for us to design a township and forget to lay out its streets? Can there be a township without streets? This is the eye with which we must look at the masjid. A township without a masjid is meaningless. When mass-housing developers want to obtain a permit for mass construction and put up buildings, then in the plan they submit, on the basis of which the permit is issued, a prayer room must be provided for. This is how we must treat the prayer room.
The Necessity of Observing the Times and Facilities for Establishing Salah on Flights and Train Journeys
On the various flights—domestic, international, long-haul—that span the time of salah, the matter of salah must certainly be observed. If possible, there should be time for salah before the flight and after the flight; it should not be that, for example—suppose—they set off before the dawn adhan and arrive at the destination after sunrise; no, they should arrange the schedule in such a way that people can perform their salah, either before or after. If that is not possible—sometimes necessities arise with respect to domestic and international flights and airlines that make it impossible—they should provide the facilities for praying inside the aircraft, and of course the qiblah can be fully determined; that is, the pilots are experienced, they understand, they know; so that those who wish to pray inside the aircraft are able to. Of course, the matter of trains in motion is all the more so like this.
Today in our country these aspects are not comparable with before the Revolution. Most of you do not remember the time before the Revolution. It was astonishing! Both here and in some other places. We had gone to Iraq; we were making a pilgrimage to the 'Atabat (the holy shrines in Iraq); whatever we did, it would not stop for the dawn (fajr) prayer; that is, it was simply impossible; they had arranged it in such a way that it was impossible. And I was forced, from the rear of the train, which was near the station or at the beginning of the station, to throw myself out of the window so that I could pray; because inside the train it was dirty and one could not pray. In any case, these things were not observed at all. Now it has changed a great deal; but more than this is expected. The importance of salah must be evident.
Comparing the Establishment of Salah in the Two Periods Before and After the Revolution
Today in the Islamic Republic, the establishment of salah is not comparable with before the Revolution. Before the Revolution, praying was a stigma, and in this very masjid of the University of Tehran a very limited number of people would go and pray, so much so that once I had some business and had gone there looking for someone; the masjid was empty, and no one went near the masjid except a small handful out of several thousand students.
As for praying in one's surroundings—especially in some surroundings—if a person was caught somewhere and wanted to pray, everyone would stare, and it was a cause for astonishment. At that time, if they wanted to praise a young man, they would say, “This young man is very good, and he prays”; “he prays” meant “very good.” Being one who prays was regarded as a kind of sanctimoniousness; and even then, that same person, if at some point he had something to do, and had a meeting, or had a class, or had some nice, pleasant engagement, would very easily abandon salah; but today it is not like that. Today our young people, in the university and outside the university, seek salah, are fond of salah and are committed to salah; but this is not enough, and so you must do something in your environment so that salah becomes widespread.
Indicators of the Establishment of Salah
There are signs and indicators such that, whenever and wherever they are seen, one can say: salah has been given its due.
1- Salah Becoming Universal
The first is salah becoming universal. It is great ingratitude for someone to live in an Islamic environment and not perform salah, which is the highest duty of every Muslim. Such a person is disgraced before Allah and before Allah's servants, and has wronged himself, because he has deprived himself of the blessings of salah and has fallen short with regard to salah. When in the Islamic society everyone—old, young and adolescent, in every social or family position, in all conditions of time, place and weather, in ease and in hardship, and in joy and sorrow—performs salah as the foundation of religion and a part of a Muslim's life, and does not deliberately abandon it on any pretext, then the most important sign of salah being given its due has become manifest.
2- Performing Salah Well
Another sign is performing salah well; that is, with attention to the meaning and sense of the words of salah, and accompanied by khushu' (humble devotion) and presence. And this is the spirit of salah, without which salah is a lifeless body; and although it discharges the minimum of the duty, it does not fulfill all the goals and purposes for which it was legislated. That is one point. Of course, it requires teaching and also practice, and if, with divine help, it is secured, it will bring with it depth of religious spirit and the abundant blessings of faith and action.
3- Thriving Masjids and an Increase in Congregational Prayers
Another sign is the thriving of the masjids and the increase in congregational prayers, and this means the blessings of salah appearing at the level of social cooperation and solidarity. Undoubtedly this obligation too, for all its reliance on the inner factor—that is, attentiveness, dhikr and presence—like the other religious obligations, concerns the whole arena of human life, and not just a part of it, namely the individual and personal life of each person. And where the collective activity and vitality of the members of society come into play, salah, as the warmest and most fervent collective worship, takes on a great role. The manifestation of this characteristic is these very five daily congregational prayers, the Jumu'ah (Friday) prayer and the Eid prayers.
4- Raising the Question of Salah in the Arena of Scholarly Study and Research
Another sign is salah being raised in the arena of scholarly study and research; just as the discussion of salah and its preliminaries in fiqh (jurisprudence) forms the longest of the fiqh discussions in the Islamic seminaries (hawzahs), the theological, gnostic and social discussion of salah must likewise give rise to an important series of religious discussions raised at the level of society. Those knowledgeable in religion, researchers and writers should produce articles, studies and books on this subject, and the discussion of salah should be raised repeatedly in all the forums of religious propagation, in various languages and styles and from various angles. In the textbooks of the various levels, a chapter on salah—concise or extensive as appropriate, but in any case deep and solid—should be included.
5- Presenting the Lessons of Salah in the Programs of the National Radio and Television
On the national radio and television, salah should be treated as a subject that must be taught to everyone, and it should be spoken about in a separate program or within various programs, and its depths, secrets and lessons should be explained to all the people. In religious lectures in masjids and elsewhere, the teachings of salah, like its rulings, should also be recounted again and again.
6- Building Suitable Prayer Rooms in Public and Government Places
Another sign is that in all public and government places and buildings a fitting prayer room is to be found, and performing salah everywhere is regarded as something within everyone's reach.
7- The Presence of Prominent Figures and Notables of Society in Prayer Rooms
Another sign is that the notables of society, and those on whom eyes are fixed and at whom fingers point, are seen in the public centers of salah, and that the prayer rooms of public centers are not regarded as the preserve of idle or lowly people; and other signs that can be arrived at through reflection. Whenever these signs all appear in a society, one must rightly say that the due of salah has been rendered in that society; and the more of these signs there are, the greater the inclination toward giving salah its due.
Recommendations That Pave the Way for Establishing Salah
1. A persistent, all-round effort should be made to explain the depth of salah and to introduce its secrets and beauties. In the Islamic studies textbooks of the universities, in the textbooks of the pre-university levels, and in small booklets that everyone can understand, many fine and profound sayings and fresh themes on this subject should be included.Those acquainted with Islamic teachings should explain, in eloquent ways, the station of salah, its spirit and content, and the scope of its influence on the soul of the individual and of society; and artists in particular should make use of the effective tools of art for this purpose.
2. Fathers and mothers should acquaint children and adolescents with the form and meaning of this obligation, and if help must be sought from others, they should read delightful, easy-to-understand books to their children.
3. School teachers, at the time of salah, should encourage adolescent boys and girls to attend the school prayer rooms, and should themselves hasten to salah before everyone else.
4. Those in charge of moral upbringing in schools should place salah at the head of their upbringing programs.
5. The country's sports officials should breathe spirit into the sports environment by reminding people of salah and establishing it, and in setting the times of sports competitions, they should keep the hour of salah free and make the place and the time ready for holding salah.
6. Those who plan the movement of means of travel, such as trains, airplanes and others, should take into account in their planning the preservation of passengers' prayer time and of their ability to pray.
7. The masjids should be dusted and cleaned in a fitting manner, and service to the masjid should be regarded as a popular and communal task.The respected leaders of congregational prayers should make the masjids more active than ever, and include in their programs the teaching of the translation, meaning and spirit of salah in a novel and attractive way.
8. The dawn prayer should be established in the masjids.
9. The fiqh rulings of salah should be published in a simple and fluent form, and booklets and audio and video tapes suitable for sending among other nations should be prepared.
10. The adhan should be broadcast everywhere from the throats of people with beautiful voices, and no city or neighborhood should remain deprived of the melody of the adhan.
11. The Friday prayers in every city should be made more fruitful through the participation of the wise and the people of ma'rifah in their headquarters.
12. The managers of administrative and government bodies should themselves take charge of establishing salah in those bodies.
13. In the barracks, teaching salah and acting upon it should be taken more seriously than it is now.
14. Along desert roads, enough masjids should be built, and in the towns along the way there should be a masjid that is open and ready for all 24 hours.
15. In newly built cities and townships, the Jami' Masjid (the principal congregational masjid) should be built and placed as the first building and the true center of the city.
16. In all gatherings, when the time of salah arrives, salah should be established; and for gatherings that, because of their large size or for any other reason, are unable to do this, the timetable should be arranged in such a way that it does not coincide with the time of salah.
17. How good it would be if, from all the cities in which there is an Islamic seminary and students of the religious sciences, groups were sent to the villages every Thursday night (the eve of Friday). The first slogan of these messengers of religion and spirituality should be establishing salah.And, in short, make the condition of the country's cities and villages such that whoever newly enters them will know them to be a place of devotion to salah and a place where it is established.
18. It is fitting that the religious scholars and learned men who are engaged in services in the various government sectors attend to the spiritual revival of masjids in which the congregational prayer is not held; they should also regard leading the prayer in a masjid as a great duty.