We have posted many verses from Qur'an on importance of As Salat (You may refer to our previous posts on As Salt from our reference Page: As Salat and the second reference page on Compiled verses from Qur'an on specific subjects; As Salat). Herein under, we share the 14th verse of Surah 20 Ta Ha that spells out in very plain words what As Salat is, that is solely to remember Allah!!
اِنَّنِىۡۤ اَنَا اللّٰهُ لَاۤ اِلٰهَ اِلَّاۤ اَنَا فَاعۡبُدۡنِىۡ ۙ وَاَقِمِ الصَّلٰوةَ لِذِكۡرِىۡ
(20:14) Verily I am Allah. There is no god beside Me. So, serve Me and establish Prayers to remember Me.
This is the real object of Salat. It has been prescribed to remind people that they should not become neglectful of Allah by worldly diversions and that they should remember that man is not an unbridled free being but a servant of Allah. Salat has been prescribed five times a day to remind man of Allah's presence.
Some people are of the opinion that it means: "Establish Salat, so that I may remember you."
Incidentally, according to this verse, if one forgets to offer a prayer in time, one should offer it when one recollects it. This is also supported by a tradition related by Hadrat Anas: "If one forgets to offer a certain prayer at the proper time, he should offer it whenever he recollects this; for there is no other explanation for this omission." (Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmed). There is another tradition related by Abu Hurairah to the same effect. It was inquired from the Holy Prophet: "What should we do if we remained asleep during the time of prayer?" The Holy Prophet said, "There is no sin if one remains asleep. The sin is that one should neglect one's prayer intentionally while awake. Therefore, if one forgets to offer a prayer or remains asleep one should offer that prayer on remembering it or on awaking." (Tirmizi, Nasa'i, Abu Da'ud).
Tafsir Ibn-Kathir:
(Verily, I am Allah! There is no God but Me,) This is the first obligation upon all responsible people of age, that they know that there is no God worthy of worship except Allah alone, who has no partners.
Concerning Allah's statement, (so worship Me,) This means, "Single Me out alone for worship, and establish My worship without associating anything with Me.''
(and perform Salah for My remembrance.) It has been said that this means, "Pray in order to remember Me.' It has also been said that it means, "And establish the prayer whenever you remember Me.''
There is supporting evidence for this second statement in a Hadith recorded by Imam Ahmad from Anas, who said that the Messenger of Allah said, (Whenever one of you sleeps past the prayer, or he forgets to pray, then let him pray when he remembers it. For verily, Allah said, (And perform Salah for My remembrance.)) In the Two Sahihs it is reported from Anas that the Messenger of Allah said, (Whoever slept past the prayer, or forgot it, then his expiation is that he prays it when he remembers it. There is no explanation for it other than that.)
Muhammad Asad Explanation:
Thus, conscious remembrance of God and of His oneness and uniqueness is declared to be the innermost purpose, as well as the intellectual justification of all true prayer.
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Explanation:
This is the first teaching lesson given to every prophet because the whole religion is based on this belief.
After belief in monotheism, this is the first directive of religion: when there is no deity except God, only He should be worshipped. About worship, I have explained at various instances in this book that the essence of worship (‘ibādah) is humility and servility. The first manifestation of this essence is serving the Almighty. Since a person also has a practical life in this world, this servitude relates to this practical life as well and in this manner becomes inclusive of obedience. The manifestations in the first case are glorifying Him and singing His praises, praying to him and supplicating before Him, kneeling and prostrating before Him, making vows (to please Him), offering animal sacrifice and doing i‘tikāf. In the second case, a person, after regarding someone as an independent law giver and ruler, considers that he has the authority to give directives of what is forbidden and what is not and what is allowed and what is not and submits before all his directives. It is the verdict of God Almighty that none of the above-mentioned things can be reserved for someone other than Him.
The status monotheism occupies in beliefs is exactly the same as the prayer occupies in deeds. It is evident from the Qur’ān that the prayer is the foremost consequence of the comprehension of God which one gets after being reminded by His revelations and, as a result of this comprehension, of the emotions of love and gratitude that appear for the Almighty in a person or should appear in him.
Tafsir Qur'an Wiki:
This brief revelation sums up three crucial aspects of the divine faith: belief in God’s oneness, addressing all worship to Him alone, and belief in the Last Hour. These are the foundation of God’s message that remained the same throughout human history.
God’s oneness is the cornerstone of faith. In His address to Moses, God emphasizes it in different forms: first in a statement bearing a strong emphasis, “Indeed, I alone am God.” (Verse 14) Then Godhead is clearly stated as applicable to no one else: “There is no deity other than Me.” (Verse 14) When Godhead is thus established, worship follows. Worship means that every activity should aim to please God. Singled out among all human activity is prayer: “Establish regular prayer to celebrate My praise.” (Verse 14) Prayer is the most complete and perfect of all types of worship celebrating God’s praise. In fact, its sole purpose is such. It discards everything else. Thus, in prayer we are prepared for contact with God.
Now you may listen to the following short clipped video to explanation of the aforesaid Ayat by eminent Muslim scholar Nouman Ali Khan:
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى) help us understand Qur'ān and follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which is embodiment of commandments of Allah contained in the Qur'ān. May Allah help us to be like the ones He loves and let our lives be lived helping others and not making others' lives miserable or unlivable. May all our wrong doings, whether intentional or unintentional, be forgiven before the angel of death knocks on our door.
وَمَا عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡبَلٰغُ الۡمُبِيۡنُ
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”
That is Our duty is only to convey to you the message that Allah has entrusted us with. Then it is for you to accept it or reject it. We have not been made responsible for making you accept it forcibly, and if you do not accept it, we shall not be seized in consequence of your disbelief, you will yourselves be answerable for your actions on Day of Resurrection.
Reading the Qur'ān should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully. It will also help the Muslims to have grasp over social issues and their answers discussed in the Qur'an and other matter related to inter faith so that they are able to discuss issues with non-Muslims with authority based on refences from Qur'an.
May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.
Note: When we mention God in our posts, we mean One True God, we call Allah in Islam, with no associates. Allah is the Sole Creator of all things, and that Allah is all-powerful and all-knowing. Allah has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life.
For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an. You may also refer to our Reference Pages and Understanding Al Qur'an for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Qur'ān from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that the exegesis of the chapters of the Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided, additional input has been interjected from the following sources:
- Tafsir Ibn Khatir
- Muhammad Asad Translation
- Yusuf Ali Translation
- Translation Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
- Qur'an Wiki
- Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
- Towards Understanding the Quran
In addition, references of other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.
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