Understanding Salat — Page 4
Understanding S al A t 4 while the tongue is instructed to praise and glorify God in this state. The purpose in this is so that man stands before Allah the Exalted in the spiritual sense as well. Praise is expressed by standing firm on one point. A person who truthfully and sincerely praises someone, stands firm on one view. Therefore, an individual who says: ‘All praise belongs to Allah’ can only sincerely proclaim these words when they develop a firm belief in the fact that Allah Almighty is the Possessor of all forms of praise in totality. When a person accepts this fact with complete open-heartedness, this is known as Qiy a m or ‘standing’ in the spiritual sense, because the heart begins to ‘stand’ firm in this belief, as though it were upright, so to speak. Therefore, in the Prayer, a person stands demonstrating an apparent state, so that they may be blessed with the ability to ‘stand’ in the spiritual sense. (Malf uza t (English), vol. 2, pp. 148) Man is required to stand in the presence of God Almighty and standing is also from among the eti- quettes of servants. (Malf uza t (English), vol. 1, pp. 161) The Prayer starts with Takb ī r-i-Tahr ī mah, i. e. the Imam raises both hands to the level of his earlobes and says All ā hu Akbar (God is the Greatest). …After raising his hands to the lobes of his ears and reciting