The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 17
I - Early Establishment of Madīnah and Foundation of the Islāmic Government 17 its prescribed form due to an illness, etc. , is permitted to forgo its apparent form and offer his Ṣalāt whilst sitting, or if this is difficult as well, even whilst lying down. Similarly, it is compulsory to face the Ka‘bah during Ṣalāt. Despite this however, when a person is on journey and he is unable to ascertain the direction upon his means of conveyance, or if it is difficult to maintain direction, Islām permits such an individual to offer his Ṣalāt in the direction of his conveyance. Similarly, it is necessary to perform ablution in the prescribed manner for the Ṣalāt. However, an individual who cannot obtain water, or is at a risk of contracting an illness if he performs ablution, is permitted to leave it, etc. Similarly, whenever a reasonable and practical difficulty presents itself, Islām appropriately alters the form of its injunctions and presents another alternative. This demonstrates that firstly, the message of Islām possesses universal dimensions, which fully takes varying circumstances into account. Secondly, the true essence of the Islāmic Sharī‘at is the spirit of worship; and its physical form has only been prescribed to sustain and protect that spirit. It is for this reason that whenever it becomes difficult to maintain the physical form due to a change in circumstances, the physical form is abandoned, and the spirit is maintained. At this occasion, it would not be out of place to mention that of all the Islāmic forms of worship, the Holy Prophet sa has laid most emphasis on Ṣalāt. The Holy Prophet sa would state that, “Ṣalāt is the Mi‘rāj 1 of a believer. ” Moreover, he would state that Ṣalāt is such a form of worship, in which a servant converses with God and reaches the assembly of Allāh, as it were. The Holy Prophet sa possessed such a deep love for Ṣalāt , that in addition to the five daily prayers, which were of course compulsory, the Holy Prophet sa would offer voluntary Ṣalāt in great abundance as well. The Holy Prophet sa was so fond of the Tahajjud 2 Prayer, i. e. , the late night prayer, that the Holy Prophet sa would wake up regularly to offer this prayer without fail. It has been narrated that the Holy Prophet sa would stand in the Tahajjud Prayer for so long that at times his feet would become swollen. The Holy Prophet sa would often say: 1 The word literally means, ‘ascension’ but in this context, refers to the spiritual apex of a believer. That is to say that Ṣalāt is the means by which a believer attains the highest point of his spiritual perfection. [Publishers] 2 Voluntary pre-dawn prayer [Publishers]