Understanding Salat — Page 35
Qiyam 35 heart, ‘I am not among those who associate partners with Allah. ’ The more we refresh this epiphany, the more our capac- ity to experience materialistic pleasures dies away on its own. Heartbreak is a temporary feeling, and when it fades, our heart inclines back to worldly attachments. This feeling has to be refreshed again and again in our S al a t ; then our moment of clarity will start to become a life of clarity. We slowly find our hearts turning away from idolatry ( shirk ) and becoming ever inclined to Allah. The verse of the Holy Quran that we say in Niyyah starts with the words inn ī wajjahtu. However, when the Holy Prophet sas would start S al a t with this verse, he would do so without the words inn ī. Instead, he would begin with the words wajjahtu. ( S a hīh Muslim, Book 6, Chapter 26) The words wajjahtu mean, ‘I have turned. ’ The words inn ī mean ‘surely I’ and add strong emphasis on the ‘I’ in ‘I have turned. ’ Literally, inn ī wajjahtu means ‘surely I, I turned. ’ In the context of the story of Hadrat Ibrāhīm as narrated in the Holy Quran, the reason for the strong emphasis on the ‘I’ in ‘I have turned’ is to create a contrast between the idol- aters and Hadrat Ibrāhīm as. When he refutes the idolaters, he establishes himself in opposition to them. The idolaters turned their attention to the worship of the sun, moon, and stars, whereas Hadrat Ibrāhīm as turned his attention to the Why does Niyyah not start with the words “innī”?