Understanding Salat — Page 162
Understanding S al A t 162 ْ وَاجْبُرْنِي and make good for me my shortcomings The word Jabara means, ‘he set a bone; reduced it from a frac- tured state;’ ( Lane’s Lexicon, Root: جبر , Entry: جبر ). When we break a bone, the way it has to be forced back into place is a unique metaphor on the way certain spiritual illnesses have to be treated. There is a parallel between the categories of physical illnesses and spiritual illnesses. Different spiritual illnesses require treatment with different spiritual medicines. An example of this is homeopathic and allopathic med- icine. With homeopathic medicines, the body’s own capac- ities are used to overcome an illness. With allopathic med- icines, a new substance has to be introduced into the body to combat the illness. However, if a person breaks a bone, no quantity of medicine will fix his fracture. The bone has to be physically forced back into place and then held there for weeks until it heals. These same realities exist in spirituality. For example, some people just need to be reminded to observe S al ā t and they will become regular in it. They had the inclination within themselves and only needed a home- opathic remedy to bring that inner quality out. Then there are some who only observe S al ā t if they do it in congregation with people; otherwise, they miss their prayers. They need an external influence to combat their own disinclination to S al ā t. The spiritual medicine they need is an allopathic