I think though, we have to take into consideration that the prior Prophets were only sent to their own people, so this issue of what language to use, in a true sense, was not applicable. I mean, it did evolve to co-opt additional languages for Judaism and Christianity in particular, but the Prophets were actually only sent to their own peoples – and you can see that by translation and re-translation, with the original lost, so much is distorted because no translation is exactly the same as the original language.

But Prophet Muhammad was sent for humankind. For this purpose God chose another Semitic language, Arabic. Most of the recitations in salat are expressly taught by the Prophet, as we learn from the Hadith. Therefore to preserve its meaning we should say it in Arabic and instead learn what it means – rather than the other way around of learn what it means and say it in another language’s approximation.

But aside from that, for du’a etc. I agree that we should use our native tongue, because it is us that is speaking to God and intending the meaning from ourselves, so we use the language that we are best at to express what we feel since there is in this case no issue of intended meanings being lost in translation.

Sa-salamualakum Charles9 May the Peace, Mercy and Blessings of Allah(S.W.T) be on you. In my opinion the Salah(Prayer should be in the Arabic Language for two major reasons, 1) The Quran was revealed in the Arabic Language and to translate that in any language and offering Salah would be out of the question, 2) As mentioned by you, The unity of the Ummah which is one of the primary objective of Religion.

There are good reasons why the ritual prayers should be in Arabic, such as unity of the ummah, learning the Quran and Islam better, and others. And there are reasons why they should be in one’s native language. That is, a primary purpose of prayer is to cleanse and purify the heart, and to drawer closer to Allah. Understanding what one is saying during prayer helps in this regard, and, generally speaking, one’s native language has a stronger effect on the heart, and thus iman, than does a second language.

However, the primary reason I’ve heard that ritual prayers are done in Arabic is due to the example of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). He prayed in Arabic. Yet, every nation has had their prophet, and we can assume that all of them prayed in their native language. Certainly, the Hebrew prophets did. Thus, one might conclude that there is a general principle at work here that indicates that the sunnah of the Prophet is not praying in a specific language but praying in the language of his birth. From this perspective, praying in Arabic could be considered to derive from “factors related to time and place,” and thus praying the ritual prayers in Arabic would not be fardh.

The criteria for taking such a perspective would be that requirements of Islam need to be guided by principles established by Allah and the corollary that specific instantiations of a principle cannot be considered fardh.

The need for principles to guide requirements in Islam is suggested by one hadith from Bukhari:

“Narrated Abdullah bin Umar: That Allah’s Apostle said, “Allah will not look on the Day of Judgment at him who drags his robe (behind him) out of pride.” Abu Bakr said “One side of my robe slacks down unless I get very cautious about it.” Allah’s Apostle said, “But you do not do that with a pride.””

From here, we see that it was not the specific practice of dragging one’s robe, but the general principle of not doing something “out of pride.”

Of course, it may be, as you’ve mentioned, that at times, we can’t determine the principle behind some action of Prophet Muhammad. In this particular case, however, the principle seems clear as it’s unlikely that Allah would have sent revelation to any prophet in a language that he didn’t understand.

Thus, could it not be that it was not the specific practice of the Prophet praying in Arabic but rather the general principle of all prophets praying in their native languages that should govern the language of ritual prayer? If not, could the criteria be given of how scholars determine that this particular matter of worship is not influenced by “culture, custom, or factors related to time and place”? Perhaps that would take quite a bit of time to respond to. In that case, perhaps you could recommend a book or two (in English) that delves into these issues from a scholarly perspective.

ON the point of the Time for prayer in those areas..My concern has always been: What is considered a normal time setting? since it gradually changes as you go more north or more south.. The other thing is that we are commanded to use the sun as our indicator for the timing of Salat. We observe the sun where ever we are and use its position to tell us the times for salat, why is this aplicable to some and not aplicable to others?(taking into consideration that the division of the day into 24 units called ‘hours’ did not exist during the period of legislation and the day was always dependent on the position of the sun).All the way from the equater the the time for salat is dependent on the position of the spreading out north and south no matter the varying periods between the prayers…my question until what poit does this rule no longer applies and on what basis was it set?

This is one of the most insightful series at our website. Sr. Shazia, you have done an excellent job!

SDW

It’s an excellent series. It gives me a better idea of how scholars think and work, and it also leads me to think of other questions to ask to further my understanding. Thanks.

wa iyyaki Sr. Emmatullah! It’s very encouraging to know that there are people following the series. Alhamdulillah, it’s definitely been a learning experience for me, and I have to admit when the last article is posted I will be partly sad that it’s done, and partly relieved to not have to worry about all those footnotes anymore 😉

salaam,
shazia

Hi Charles,

Thanks for the great question. There are other means by which rulings can change that I didn’t get a chance to mention in this article – One of them is in cases of extreme hardship on a person, or when one is realistically unable to do something. In such cases scholars would work to facilitate things for the person and make certain concessions to make it possible for them to follow the Shari`ah as much as is within their capacity. This is the case even with definitively established matters like prayer, fasting, and so on. Unfortunately I ran out of time and space to discuss this topic, though it is a very important one.

I actually forwarded your question to Imam Suhaib Webb, and he responded with the following which gives more insight into how scholars would consider and address this scenario. (I am sharing it with his permission.):

“While there are texts that teach us the times of prayers there are also texts that make it clear that taklif [legal accountability for doing the obligatory and refraining from the prohibited] is based on ability, and that one’s inability to truly perform an act is an accepted means for the qualified scholar to change aspects of the act to facilitate it according to the situation. This is called takhsis bi al-haqiqa or ‘adm al-qudra and is accepted by the majority of the scholars of Usul.

One’s inability (‘adm al-audra) here could mean a lack of inner control, such as a person who cannot control his/her bowels in relation to ritual purity, or an outer control caused by a person’s environment such as the case here, both of which touch on realities that are simply and truly out of a person’s control.

There are a large number of texts that support this contention. Here are a few: The Prophet (sa) said, “Pray standing if you can. If you can’t, then sit. And if you can’t sit, then pray on your sides.” The Prophet (sa) said, “What I have ordered you to do, do it as best you can. (to your ability).”

For this reason scholars coined the axiom, used in determining the maslaha when this type of ijtihad presents itself, “al-Awamri Mubnaiya
al-listita’a.” (obeying orders is based on one’s ability).

The question posed by Charles was addressed in the past by scholars who differed on the best way for people in these areas to achieve the
ultimate Maslaha, worshiping God with Islam and success in the Hereafter. The Egyptian House of Fatwa noted that these people could simply follow the prayer times of the closest area to them, where the sun rises and sets at a normal time period. Others allowed them to follow the times at Mecca. The issue is open, but the Shari’ah provides the language to address it.

Allah knows best.”