The purpose of the creation of man, according to Islam, is that he should worship Allah. Allah says in the Holy Quran: َ ِلي َ َ َْ ُ ُ ْ وما لقتا نوالا سالا ِ عبدون ِّ ْ ْ َْ َ ِ لج ن َ َخَْ ُ ِ ّ And I have not created the Jinn and the men but that they may worship Me. (51:57)

Salat - Book of Prayer:  It is the longest, with 1,398 ahadis divided into 203 chapters. But in all these pages, one looks in vain for any reference to such problems as self-exploration and self-knowledge, problems of enduring concern for the spirituality of the Indian tradition.  There is not even a remote hint of different men endowed with different natures taking different paths toward a divinity differently figured. As there is one Allah, one Guide, one Book, there is also one Prayer, caught and fixed in a single formula.

From the titles of the 203 chapters, this book contains, one can see that they all relate to the externals: Azan (the call to prayer), postures like bowing, prostrating, and rising, the number and times of the different prayers, the place of Imam in the system of prayers, the merits of prayers at different times, the prayer for rain, the prayer for protection against windstorms and other calamities, the prayer relating to the dead, and so on.

Azan

We are told how the institution of Azan began. In the beginning, in Medina, people forgathered in the mosque without knowing when they were to pray. As a means of calling people to prayer at fixed times, some suggested using a bell, as the Christians did; others a horn, as the Jews did. Some even suggested that a fire should be lighted.  All these methods were ruled out.  To make the Muslim practice different from that of the Jews, the Christians, and the Fireworshippers, the system of the human voice was introduced.   Bilal, who was very loud-throated, and Abdullah b. Umm MaktUm, who later became blind, were the first muazzin (callers) (735, 737, 741).

Azan is very effective. When Satan hears the call to prayer, he runs away to a distance like that of RauhA, a distance of 36 miles from Medina (751).

Attacks on Non-Muslims

Azan became a great indicator. Where it was heard, it meant that everything was not kufr (infidelity). The Messenger of Allah used to attack the enemy when it was dawn.  He would listen to the Azan; so if he heard an Azan, he stopped (745).  This the commentator finds greatly virtuous in Muhammad.  The greatest contribution made by the Holy Prophet in the sphere of warfare is that he elevated it from - the surface of reckless murder or slaughter to the level of humani]ed struggle for the uprooting of evil in society.  The Holy Prophet, therefore, did not allow his Companions to take the enemy unawares under the cover of darkness of night (note 600).

Blessings of Muhammad

When men hear the muazzin, they should repeat what he says and invoke blessings on Muhammad. They should beg from Allah al-WasIla for me, which is a rank in Paradise fitting for only one of Allah's servants. If anyone asks that I be given the WasIla, he will be assured of my intercession, says Muhammad (747).

In a variation on this theme, if a man who hears a caller responds by testifying that he is satisfied with Allah as my Lord, with Muhammad as Messenger, and with Islam, as dIn [religion] his sins would be forgiven (749).

In seeking blessings for himself, Muhammad does not forget his wives and progeny.  Apostle of Allah, how should we bless you? Muhammad is asked.   He replies: O Allah! bless Muhammad, and his wives and his offspring... He who blesses me once, Allah would bless him ten times (807. 808).

Posturing during Prayer

Muslim prayer is not carried on in one tranquil posture, sitting or standing; it is accompanied by many bodily movements.  These have been codified on the basis of the practice and precepts of Muhammad. 

Muhammad was commanded by Allah that he should prostrate on the seven bones and he was forbidden to fold back his hair and clothing. The seven bones are: The hands, the knees, and the e[tremities of the feet and the forehead (991).   But he asked his followers to observe moderation in prostration and not to stretch out their forearms on the ground like a dog (997).

Originally the practice had been to put one's hands together, palm to palm, and then to put them between one's thighs.  But later on, this practice was abrogated and the followers were commanded to place their [hands] on their knees (1086-1092).

Another precaution: People should avoid lifting their eyes towards the sky while supplicating in prayer, otherwise their eyes would be snatched away (863).

The Imam

Muslim prayer is mostly group prayer. It should be led by an Imam. Muhammad exhorts his followers to follow their Imam. When he prostrates, you should also prostrate; when he rises up, you should also rise up, he tells them (817). He also forbids them to bow and prostrate themselves ahead of the Imam: Does the man who lifts his head before the Imam not fear that Allah may change his face into that of an ass? (860). Also, those who are being led in prayer are required to keep pace with the Imam and are forbidden to recite so loudly as to compete with him. When someone once did this, Muhammad told him: I felt as if  [you were] disputing with me... and taking out from my tongue what I was reciting (783). 

The First Mosque: Facing the Qibla

Somebody asked Muhammad which was the mosque first set up on the earth. He answered that it was the Ka'ba. The second one was the great mosque in Jerusalem (1056, 1057).

In the beginning, when Muhammad was trying to cultivate the Jews, he prayed to face their temple in Jerusalem. But later on, the direction (qibla) was changed to Mecca. One tradition says: We prayed with the Messenger of Allah towards Bait-ul-Maqdis for sixteen months or seventeen months. Then we were made to change our direction towards the Ka'ba (1072). 

The translator assures us that this was a change of far-reaching importance. It strengthened the loyalty of the Muslims to Islam and the Prophet (note 732). It must have made a strong appeal to Arab nationalism.

Allah allows Muhammad Terror and War booty

While giving his opinion of the first mosques, Muhammad makes some interesting disclosures. He does not deny that the Jews and the Christians also had their prophets but adds: I have been given superiority over the other prophets in six respects:

1. I have been given words that are concise but comprehensive in meaning;
2. I have been helped by terror (in the hearts of the enemies);
3. spoils have been made lawful to me...;
4. I have been sent to all mankind,
5. and the line of prophets is closed with me (1062).
6. The whole earth is also made a mosque for him and given to him as a legitimate place of prayer for him and his (1058). 

This is the idea of the world as a mandated territory bestowed on the believers by Allah.

We see here that European imperialism with all its rationalizations and pretensions was anticipated by Islamic imperialism for a thousand years. In Islam we find all the ideological ingredients of imperialism in any age: a divine or moral sanction for the exploitation of the barbarians or heathens or polytheists; their land considered as a lebensraum or held as a mandate; they themselves regarded as the wards and special responsibility (zimma) of the civili]ing masters.

Another hadis mentions Muhammads power of intercession on the Day of Judgment, which other prophets lack (1058).

Women and Mosques

Women can go to the mosque but they should not apply perfume (893), a privilege not denied to men who can afford it. They were also told not to precede men in lifting their heads from prostration. The translator e[plains that this hadis relates to a period when the Companions were very poor and could not afford proper clothing.  The instruction was meant to give them time to adjust their clothing before the women lifted their heads (hadis 883 and note 665).

Curse on the Jews

It is meritorious to build a mosque, for he who builds a mosque for Allah, Allah would build for him a house in Paradise (1034).  But it is forbidden to build mosques on graves and to decorate them with pictures.  Aisha reports that when the Prophet was about to breathe his last . . . he uncovered his face and said in this very state: Let there be a curse upon the Jews and the Christians that they have taken the graves of their Apostles as places of worship (1082).

Friday Prayer

Friday is a special day. On it Adam was created, on it, he was made to enter Paradise, on it he was e[pelled from heaven (1856).

Every ummah was given the Book before the Muslims. But though Muslims are the last, they shall be the first on the Day of Resurrection. While the Jews and the Christians observe Saturday and Sunday as their respective days, Muslims were fortunate to have Friday as their day, the day prescribed by Allah Himself for them. We were guided aright to Friday, but Allah diverted those who were before us from it (1863).

Muhammad as a Preacher

JAbir b. Abdullah draws for us a pen-portrait of Muhammad delivering a sermon. He reports: When Allah's Messenger delivered the sermon, his eyes became red, his voice rose, and his anger increased so that he was like one giving a warning against the enemy and saying: The enemy has made a morning attack on you and in the evening too. He would also say: The Last Hour and I have been sent like these two, and he would Moin his forefinger and middle finger Gust as there is no other finger between these two, similarly there will be no new Prophet between Muhammad and the Day of Resurrection) and would further say: The best of the speech is embodied in the Book of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance given by Muhammad.  And the most evil affairs are their innovations, and every innovation is an error (1885).

Prayers for the Dead

There are also prayers for the dead and the dying. The dying must be treated with a bit of theology. Exhort to recite, There is no god but Allah, to those who are dying, says the Prophet (1996).

When you visit the sick or the dead, supplicate for good, because angels may say amen to whatever you say. Umm Salama tells us: When Abu Salama died, I went to the Apostle of Allah and said: Messenger of Allah, Abu Salama has died. He told me to recite: O Allah! Forgive me and him [Abu Salama] and give me a better substitute than he. So I said this, and Allah gave me in exchange Muhammad, who is better for me than him [Abu Salama] (2002).

Umm Salama was the widow of Abu Salama, to whom she had borne many children.  He died at Uhud, and Muhammad married her four months later.

Weeping over the Dead

Muhammad discouraged weeping over the dead: The dead is punished because of his family's weeping over them (2015). He also taught haste in the disposal of dead bodies. If the dead person was good, it is a good state to which you are sending him on: but if he was otherwise it is an evil of which you are ridding yourself (2059).

Muhammad himself wept over the death of his loyal followers. Weeping over the dying Sad b. UbAda, he said: Allah does not punish for the tears that the eye sheds or the grief the heart feels, but He punishes for this [pointing to his tongue], meaning loud lamenting (2010). Muhammad also sobbed aloud, according to certain traditions, over his expiring child, who was only eighteen months old. His followers tried to comfort him by reminding him of his own exhortation not to weep. Muhammad replied: It is not this that I forbade, but loud wailing and false laudation of the dead.

References:

Understanding Islam through Hadis - Religious Faith or Fanaticism? - Ram Swarup