Article from www.masjidtucson.org

Quran is the Source: How to show the practices of Submission (Islam) from Quran

God tells us in the Quran that His book is complete, perfect, and fully detailed, and that we shall not seek any other source besides it for religious instruction. Everything we need to know about practicing the religion correctly, from religious duties to various laws and instructions for leading a righteous life, is contained in the Quran (6:114-115, 17:9).

When starting to follow Islam, newer Muslims (Submitters) sometimes express a little difficulty in finding certain details about the religion in the Quran, especially the method of the religious practices namely, Salat (Contact Prayers), Zakat (Obligatory Charity), Seyyam (Fasting), and Hajj (Pilgrimage).

It is quite understandable when people say that they cannot find the method of the religious practices in the Quran. This is because what they are looking for is a set of detailed instructions spelling out each stage step by step like, “to open the Contact Payer, raise your hands to the side of your head and say Allahu Akbar” or “do 2 units for the dawn Contact Prayer and 4 at noon,” and so on.

While the method of the practices is not described like this in the Quran, it does not mean that we cannot get them from the Quran. God does not ask us to do something and then leaves us alone without telling us how to go about it. Therefore, when we obey God’s command to study the Quran carefully from cover to cover - and in the right context - He will show us exactly how to follow the religion correctly from it (5:15-16, 47:24, 73:4). 

The key to knowing the method of the practices from the Quran is to understand God’s system of providing us the information and teaching it. The Quran is extremely efficiently designed where specific details are mentioned where required, or sometimes only a few words are adequate to fully address a subject (10:37, 18:109). Some instructions are spelled out elaborately in the Quran, while some instructions are to be derived from the Quran using the information provided in it. The essential condition set by God for acquiring knowledge from the Quran is that we must not seek any other source besides it. “No other source besides it” means that the Quran must always be the starting point for information, after which God will direct us to the correct understanding in various ways (18:27).

To help us understand how this works, let us draw a correlation to how you would source information about traveling to a country that you plan to visit, God willing. In today’s age, you will probability start out with the country’s visitor website. When you study it, you will find that most of what you need to know is clearly detailed in the website’s pages. However, some aspects related to your travel may be mentioned briefly and less detailed, quite simply because that information is obvious and assumed to be known by you. For example, it will be assumed that you already know that to travel to another country, you must have a valid passport of your country, or know how to get it. Additionally, you may also be advised to consult with an authorized officer or agent who can best guide and confirm the entire process for you correctly; and the details of that person will also be found from the website.

So for all practical purposes, the country’s website is your original source or “starting point” for all the information you need to travel to that country. Most of what you need to know is described and ready-to-go in there, while some information needs to be further pursued using the information from the website. It works quite like that with seeking religious instruction about Islam, where everything you need to know about following the religion must be sourced from God’s authorized source – the Quran. Most of the instructions are already described and ready-to-go in the Quran pages, while some instructions are to be derived from the Quran using the information God has provided in it.

Contact Prayer method from the Quran

Finding the method of the Contact Prayer is one of most asked about subjects when discussing the awesome wisdom and structure of the Quran. Therefore, let us take the Contact Prayer itself to demonstrate how its exact method can be shown from the Quran. Here goes, God willing…

To begin with, you must know that the practices of Islam were never originally taught to Prophet Muhammad. They were originally given to Prophet Abraham and handed down from generation to generation since then (2:127-138, 21:73, 4:125). When the Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad, these practices were already in existence and he was asked to “follow the religion of Abraham,” meaning that these practices were to be continued (9:54, 16:123, 22:78).

While the Quran covers new and existing laws/instructions to lead a righteous life and develop the soul, when dealing with the religious practices, the Quran does not bring anything new. It only (1) confirms the existence of the practices and asks to continue doing them; (2) corrects and restores those parts of the practices that had become distorted over time – such as incorrect tone of voice (17:110); and (3) modifies a practice ­– i.e. allowing sexual intercourse during the nights of fasting (2:187). Based on this, the Contact Prayer method can be established from the Quran by the following five steps: 

1. Divine Preservation

   1. The very fact that Prophet Muhammad was asked to carry on the practice of the Contact Prayers, tells us that God has divinely preserved the method since the time of Prophet Abraham. Even today, Muslims around the world pray in the same way, following the same steps of bowing, prostrating etc.

2. Universal Acceptance

• 1. The number of units (24434), physical positions (opening, standing, bowing, prostrating, sitting, ending), recitation of Al-Fateha in the standing position, words uttered during bowing, prostrating and sitting; are universally accepted components of the prayer. Despite so many disputes about the religion otherwise, the Muslims are quite in agreement about these aspects of the prayer. The only portions they really differ over, or are not sure about are (a) what to recite after the Al-Fateha and (b) if and how many extra Contact Prayers there are beyond the five daily prayers decreed by God. These doubts and disputes about what else to do or say, clearly point out that they are not part of the original format. Only the Al-Fateha must be recited in the standing position, and there are strictly no extra prayers other than the five prayers.

3. Distortions purified by Quran

• 1. With the core structure maintained by divine preservation and universal acceptance, all that remains is purification of the distortions that have entered the prayer over the centuries. The Quran tells us exactly which these are so the Contact Prayer is now completely purified and restored to its original format:

  2. (1) Devotion to God Alone: The foundation of Islam is to ‘Worship God Alone’ and therefore all worship has to be devoted absolutely to God alone. You cannot mention or bear witness about any other entity besides God in the prayer (3:18, 6:162, 63:1-2). Muslims presently mention the name of Prophet Muhammad along with God in their prayers and Adhan (calls to prayer).

  3. (2) Tone of Voice: The Contact Prayers must be recited in a moderate tone throughout, not completely silent in some steps as is being practiced by traditional Muslims presently (17:110).

  4. (3) Ablution: There are strictly only four steps in the ablution, not eight to twelve steps being done throughout the Muslim world (5:6).

4. Mathematical Confirmation

• 1. In addition to the logical evidence described in points A to C above, God has also provided us physical proof where the details of the Contact Prayer are confirmed by the Quran’s mathematical code based on the number 19.

5. Overall confirmation by God’s Messenger of the Covenant

Over and above all this, God has blessed the world immensely by sending a consolidating messenger in this era to purify and clarify various aspects of the religion, including the correct method of the religious practices. Dr. Rashad Khalifa, God’s Messenger of the Covenant (3:81), has confirmed the Contact Prayer method once and for all so it can be practiced correctly by all future generations (5:19).

            Five point process to show the Contact Prayer method from Quran

Remember, everything is sourced from the Quran alone:

• • The prayer method is largely known and practiced in the same way by all the people who associate their religion with the Quran (Islam)

  • The distortions are clearly mentioned in the Quran - now restored to their original format

  • The 19 math code is built into the Quran - providing additional physical evidence

  • The Messenger of the Covenant is also proven from the Quran. It is God’s system that this messenger will purify and confirm the method for the whole world

  • If God wanted, He could have put even more details in the Quran, but it is His will to make us study and know the method this way (31:27). God is the Teacher of the Quran (55:1-2)

The Contact Prayer method is not in the Hadith Books

Lastly, an important point to be prepared for in a discussion about where to find the method of the Contact Prayer in the Quran, is the traditional claim or belief that it is described in the Hadith books. This sometimes catches people off-guard but is nothing but a clever trick by Satan who takes the chance that people will not counter check.

Firstly, the Hadith is an illegal source of religious information that was never decreed by God or Prophet Muhammad. Unfortunately, on date, it is nearly the default source of religious information for those who proclaim to be Muslims. Secondly, the Contact Prayer method is not described in the Hadith. There is no Hadith volume or section in the Hadith books called ‘Salat Method.’ The internet pages and books published by those who do not use Quran alone as their source of religious guidance, are nothing but pieces of information pulled out from here and there (including Hadith books), and then joined together to show as if the method comes from the Hadith. But this does not make sense. If the method already exists in the Hadith as people claim, why don’t they just republish the Hadith volume that has the method in it, or provide the references of the Hadith books or pages where the method is supposed to be detailed?

In reality, most Muslims almost never verify religious information for themselves, whether the source of information is Hadith or whatever. They follow conjecture and hearsay based on what they got from peers and relatives. This constitutes blind practice and certainly not how God wants the religion to be followed (6:116, 31:21, 34:53). If only they would worship God alone and follow the Quran alone, they would exit the misery and turmoil being experienced throughout the Muslim world today (2:37-39, 5:46-49).

Now here is where the irony of all this cannot be missed. Since the method is not in the Hadith books (as people believe), what the Muslims are really doing without their realizing it, is actually following God’s divinely preserved format of the Contact Prayers! And while they are not verifying their source of information (which they should), without their realizing it, they are actually following God’s system of universal acceptance which has maintained the original method through the centuries! One way or another, God’s system always prevails and the truth is established.   

Therefore, whenever someone throws a challenge to show the details of the Contact Prayer in the Quran, you can counter ask to show it in the Hadith. They can never show it in the Hadith, but you can definitely show it from the Quran.

Important: This article is based on Appendix 9 & Appendix 15 of “Quran, The Final Testament, Authorized English Version,” by Dr. Rashad Khalifa, explaining how to know and prove the method of the religious practices from the Quran. It is absolutely essential that you read both these appendices for a thorough explanation and important additional information about the religious duties of Islam. To ensure that you do the Contact Prayers exactly as per the format decreed by God, you should also watch the video on how to perform the Contact Prayers, demonstrated by God’s Messenger of the Covenant himself.