No prayers in the Quran or Hadith by Aaron Musa
There is absolutely no prayer mentioned in the Quran. The mullahs are the first ones to point out this fact. The Quran does not mention five daily prayers, the details of the prayer or the names of all the five prayers. The mullahs have randomly picked out the word salatin the Quran and say it refers to prayer. The word salat in the Quran does not mean prayer. Likewise, there are no complete details of prayer in the authentic hadith either.
The daily prayer rituals are copied from the Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians.
The prayer rituals appear to be a mix copied from the Zoroastrians, Christians and Jews. For example, the five prayer times correspond with the five times for namáz or prayer in Zoroastrianism: Havan (sunrise), Rapithwin (noon), Uzirin (afternoon), Aiwisruthrem(sunset) and Ushahin (night prayer). The mullah’s five daily prayers are called Fajr (sunrise), Zuhur (noon), Asar (afternoon), Maghrib (sunset) and Isha (night prayer).
This worshipping at the different positions of the sun in the sky is a leftover from the reverence for natural phenomena. The Quran mentions the people ruled by the Queen of Sheba (Saba) who worshipped the sun:
27:24 "I found her and her people prostrating before the sun, instead of Allah. The devil has adorned their works in their eyes, and has repulsed them from the path; consequently, they are not guided."
Wajad-tu-ha wa-qawma-ha yas-judoo-nalil-shamsi min dooniAllahi- I found her and her people prostrating before the sun, instead of Allah.
Worshipping at different positions of the sun in the sky
The mullahs five daily ritual prayers begin with the ‘adhaan’ or call to prayer. This call to prayer is not found anywhere in the Quran. It is clearly plagiarised from the Jewish Shema Yisrael call to prayer. You can listen to it at this link:
The actual prayer ritual itself consists of sets of bowing and prostrating in the direction of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. These movements are also never found in the Quran.
The mullahs twist the meaning of the word 'ruku’ to mean bowing while the word 'sujood' is taken to mean prostrating. The word ruku’ does not mean bowing and neither does the word sujood mean physically prostrating. As they are used in the Quran both these words indicate an obeisance, a process of submitting or endearing oneself to something. There is no physical bowing down or physical prostrating in prayer in the Quran. In Sura Yusuf the prophet Yusuf has a dream where he sees 11 stars, the sun and moon ‘sujood’ to him (12:4). There is no way Yusuf saw 11 stars, the sun and moon physically ‘prostrating’ to him. The stars are just points of light in the sky while the sun and moon are round. In the same Sura when the parents of prophet Yusuf reunite with him after his long absence, they too ‘sujood’ to him (12:100). Again, there is no way his parents ‘prostrated’ to Yusuf. They showed their endearment to their long-lost son.
Plus, there is not one verse in the Quran where the words ruku’ and sujood are mentioned together as a part of salat. The Muslim readers will be especially surprised to know this fact. This is something that is inexplicable for the mullahs. Nowhere in the Quran does it mention in one sentence that the ruku' and sujoodare part of salat. There is no such thing.
Before ritual prayer the Zoroastrians perform ablution with water where they must wash their face, hands and feet three times. The mouth must be rinsed thoroughly. The mullahs perform an almost exactly same ablution before prayers where they also wash their face, hands, feet, mouth, rinse their nose and wipe their heads three times. The mullahs call their ablution wudhu, a word that is not found in the Quran.
In Zoroastrianism the prayers are recited in Avestan or the holy language. Likewise, the mullah’s prayers must only be recited in Arabic. The head MUST be covered during Zoroastrian prayers. The mullahs cover the head during their prayer. Zoroastrian women must always cover their head. For Muslim women it is also compulsory to cover their heads.
For a brief video comparison of the Jewish, Christian and mullah versions of prayer you can search “Similarities between Muslim, Jewish and Christian Prayer” on You Tube - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/StKXYyaemVs.
In this montage above you can clearly see the similarities between the physical movements in Jewish ritual prayer (top row) and the mullah’s ritual prayer (bottom row). The Jews stand in their ritual prayer and clasp their right hand over their left hand. As you can see the mullahs do the exact same thing. At the end of the ritual prayer the Jews bow and turn their heads to “greet the angels” on their left and right shoulders. At the end of their ritual prayer, the mullahs also turn their heads to “greet the angels” on their right and left shoulders but while seated. The Jews fall prostrate on their faces during their prayer. The mullahs do the same prostration on their faces. It is obvious that the mullahs have plagiarized their prayer rituals from Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Christianity.
Sura 2:120 Never will the Jews or Christians be pleased with you, until you follow their faith. Say, “Allah’s guidance is the only ‘true’ guidance.” And if you were to follow their desires after all the knowledge that has come to you, there would be none to protect or help you against Allah.
To give credibility to their prayer as exclusively ‘Islamic’ and not plagiarised from the Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians the mullahs have concocted the story of the prophet’s night journey (isra’) and his ascension to heaven (mi’raj) to get the commandments directly from god for the five daily prayers. The isrami’raj is said to have happened in 622 AD. The entire story is false.
The Glorious Night Journey (Isra) & Miracle of Ascension (Mi’raj)
Imam Bukhari in his Jami us-Sahih, in the “Book of Tawhid” has a chapter devoted to Miraj, whilst Imam Muslim’s Jami us-Sahih has a chapter called “Isra” in the “Book of the beginning of the revelation”.
The two original narrators that heard it directly from the Prophet appear to be Abu Darr Ghiffariand Malik ibn Sa’sa Ansari, whilst others report it from these two original narrators.
Anas ibn Malik in Sahih Muslim begins his Hadith by saying “Abu Darr Ghiffariused to tell us…” suggesting that Abu Darr Ghiffariseems to be the source of the Madani Sahaaba narration.
The Prophet says: “One night I was asleep, in the Haram near the Kaabah when I was woken by Jibril. He informed me of the Divine will and took me to the well of Zam Zam, whereupon he opened my chest and poured wisdom and faith into it. Then he sealed it. I was then presented with a beautiful Buraq. This is an animal larger than a mule but smaller than a horse. I mounted it.” It traveled at phenomenal speed. The Prophet was soon at the second precinct of Masjid al-Aqsa. There all of the prophets of the past ages were assembled and waiting for him. He led them in congregational prayer.
This noble assembly marked the end of the horizontal part of the journey. From here, accompanied by Jibril, the prophet travelled on the Buraq ascending the heavens.In the first heaven, he met Adam, who greeted him with love and affection in the words, “Welcome O righteous Son!” The ascension continued to the second heaven where he met Isa and Yayha, then on to the third heaven where he was met by Yusuf, at the fourth by Idris, at the fifth by Harun, and at the sixth by Musa and at the seventh he was greeted by Ibrahim. The journey continued beyond the heavens until he reached theBaiyt al Mamur – The Kaabah of the Angels, from where he ascended to the Lote tree of the uttermost boundary.
http://www.download.sunnionlineclass.com/ya_nabi/files/al-isra_wal-miraaj_english.pdf
The story carries on with how the prophet then received the commandments to pray – 50 times a day!!
Isra Mi’raj Mystery: The mullahs say that when the prophet returned from the isrami’raj, among the people to whom he directly related the event were Saidina Abu Bakar, Saidina Umar and Saidina Ali. Saidina Umar initially had some doubts but Saidina Abu Bakar’s willingness to believe in the isrami’raj story without any hesitation earned him the title Abu BakarAs-Siddiq (Abu Bakar the Truthful). Yet only Abu Darr Ghiffari and Malik ibn Sasa Ansari are recorded as having narrated this hadith directly from the prophet. There are no hadith about this most important event narrated directly from the prophet by Abu Bakar, Umar or Ali.
So according to this tale after leading all the prophets in prayer (including Adam, Moses and Abraham) at the Masjid al Aqsa the prophet travelled on the magical four-legged, winged animal called the Buraq. The Buraq was able to travel at “phenomenal speed” to heaven. But the story does not explain how the prophets Adam, Moses and Abraham travelled from the Masjid al Aqsa to the first, sixth and seventh gates of heaven respectively ahead of the prophet? Certainly, Adam, Moses and Abraham must have had a much faster means of transportation than the prophet!
The story of gods and heroes flying through the heavens astride magical four-legged, winged creatures is as old as campfire storytelling itself. The ancient Greeks had the Pegasus, the Assyrians had the Lamassu while the Hindus had theKhamadenu andthe Uchchaihshravas.
Top left, a Persian depiction of the magical Buraq. Top right, the Greek Pegasus.
Bottom right the winged Kamadhenu from Hindu mythology
and bottom left the Assyrian Lamassu.
Pegasus was a mythical beautiful winged divine horse.
Lamassu was an Assyrian hybrid of a human, bird, and either a bull or lion.
TheUchchaihshrava was the preferred winged horse of the Hindu god Indra to fly through the heavens.Kamadhenu was a flying, bovine-goddess described in Hinduism as Gou Mata, the mother of all cows.
The Mythological Zoroastrian Ascension
The stories of Mi'raj begin with Zoroastrianism. The prophet Arda Viraf ascended to heaven to be shown the other world and preach about it to the faithful. In heaven, god shows him the souls of the blessed.Viraf then gets a tour of hell to be shown the sufferings of the wicked. Viraf is told by god that the Zoroastrian faith is the only proper and true way of life. God asks Viraf to serve as his prophet, and to tell the people what he saw, and calling on them to worship him. The Zoroastrian version of the ‘mi’raj’ emerged between 6000 and 600 BCE in Persia.
(https://raseef22.net/article/1069641-journeys-islamic-jewish-zoroastrian-babylonian-heavens).
Quite obviously the mullahs have plagiarised the myth from the Zoroastrians. To lend credibility to their plagiarism the mullahs distort the meaning of Sura 17:1 to justify their version of the Zoroastrian mi’raj. There is no mention of mi’raj as an ascension to heaven in Sura 17:1 or anywhere else in the Quran.
In the Quran the word isra’ and its grammatical derivatives simply mean to travel or to journey. The four occurences of isra’ refer directly to Moses (Musa). Sura 17:1 refers to Moses. This is evident from reading both Surah 17:1 and the next verse 17:2.
- Sura 17:1-2 Most glorified is the One who summoned His servant during the night (isra bi abdihilaylan), from the masjidilharaami (sanctioned submission) to the masjidilaqsa (the fringes of submission) which we have blessed, to show him some of our signs. He is the Hearer, the Seer. And we gave Moses the scripture (waaatayna MUSA al kitaba), and rendered it a beacon for the Children of Israel that: "You shall not set up any idol as a Lord and Master beside Me."
It was Moses who was summoned during the night (17:1 isra bi abdihilaylan) to be given the book (17:2 waaataynaMUSA al kitaba).
The almost exact phrase isra bi abdihi(summoned His servant) appears in three other verses in the Quran and all three verses refer to Moses. Here they are:
- Sura 44:23 (Moses) "Travel with My servants during the night; you will be pursued.(Fa asri bi ibadilaylaninnakum mut-taba’oon)
- Sura 26:52 We inspired Moses: "Travel with My servants; you will be pursued." (Wa-aw-haynaila MUSA an asri bi-ibadiinnakum mut-taba’oon)
- Sura 20:77 We inspired Moses: "Travel with My servants” (Wala-qad aw-hay-naila MUSA an asri bi-ibaadi)
In ALL the FOUR verses above, the phrase “travel with My servants” and ‘travel with My servants during the night’ refers to Moses by name.
And 17:2 above mentions the Children of Israel (Bani Israil),which is why Sura 17 is called Bani Israil (The Children of Israel). However, to support their magical flying horse story, which is NOT found in the Quran, the mullahs changed the name of Sura 17 to Sura al Isra (the Night Journey). The mullahs also changed the name of Sura 42 i.e., Sura al Qital to Sura al-Muhammad, to justify their fabrication of the proper noun ‘al-Muhammad’ which does not exist anywhere in the Quran.
The mullahs have also created the fiction that in this ‘ascension to heaven’ the prophet was commanded “by god” to pray 50 times a day. On his way “down” the prophet met Moses (still waiting at the sixth gate of heaven) who told him that50 prayers a day was quite outrageous. So, the prophet goes back to god and bargains. There is a series of bargaining, but the hadith are unclear how exactly this bargaining proceeded. There is also no mention of Abraham who was standing at the seventh gate of heaven. God finally agrees to just five prayers a day, which made Moses happy as well.
So, the five times a day ritual prayer that the mullahs have hoisted upon their followers is actually the result of a series of bargaining between Moses and god, with the prophet playing the role of go-between. This is the mullah fairy tale behind their five daily prayers.
87:18-19 says that the message of the Quran is the exact same message given to Abraham and Moses ( صُحُفِإِبْرَٰهِيمَوَمُوسَىٰ ).
6:115 says that there is no changing the kalima or the Words of Allah
(لَّامُبَدِّلَلِكَلِمَـٰتِهِۦۚ) .
Then in 20:14 Moses was also commanded to uphold the salat (وَأَقِمِٱلصَّلَوٰةَلِذِكْرِىٓ).
If it was indeed five prayers a day, then Moses and Abraham too would have prayed five times a day (87:18-19 and 20:14 above). Surely god would not change his words (6:115 above) and decree 50 prayers a day. Or go through a charade of bargaining to finally settle at five prayers a day. The entire isrami’raj story is obviously false.
There is no ritual prayer in the Quran
The mullahs acknowledge that there is noritual prayer detailed in the Quran. The mullahs have always challenged, “If you uphold the Quran alone how are you going to perform the five times a day ritual prayer because the prayer is not detailed inside the Quran?" In brief their ritual prayers are non-Quranic.
Lately some mullahs have tried to justify that the five daily prayers are indeed mentioned in some verses of the Quran. They are not being honest because the verses they refer to do not mention the word salat at all.
As we have discussed in the earlier series there is absolutely no connection between the Quran and Islam. The absence of prayer in the Quran is more evidence for this disconnection.
The mullahs insist that the Arabic word salat which is mentioned numerous times in the Quran refers to their ritual prayer. The word ‘salat’ in the Quran does not mean prayer at all.
Salat and its derivatives mean a link, a tie, a bond, a door hinge (that holds or connects the door to the frame), a connection, to follow closely, a responsibility, an obligation or a commitment that is incumbent.
For example, ‘sila’ is a derivative of salat and the well-known phrase silatur-raheem means the ties, bonds (sila) of the womb or raheem. It refers to family kinship.
Silatur-raheem does not mean prayer of the womb.
Another derivative of salat is ‘solli’ which is part of another well-known phrase ‘allahumasolli alaykum’ which the mullahs translate as “May Allah shower His blessings upon you”. Solli here is taken as ‘blessings.’ It does not mean ‘May Allah pray upon you.’
In a horse race, the winning horse is called a ‘musabik’. The No. 2 horse if it runs a close race, nose to the tail behind the winning horse, is called a musolli i.e. to follow closely. It does not mean that No. 2 horse was praying behind the tail of the No. 1 horse. These are the meanings of salat. Salat does not mean prayer.
The very brief verse 108:2 (FasolliLi Rabbika) means “So uphold your obligations for your Lord”.
Here is a simple tabulation of the various forms of salat in the Quranwhich exposes the mullahs giving different meanings to this word.
| Form | Occurs | Explanation |
| Solaa | 3 | In 75:31, 96:10 –prayer |
| faSol-laa | 1 | In 87:15, 108:2 - prayer |
| Sol-laa | 3 | 2:27, 13:21, 13:25 tie, connect, relationship withAllah, not prayer |
| ol-lee | 1 | 9:103 supplication or du’anot prayer |
| tuSol-lee | 1 | 9:84 prayer (over the hypocrites) |
| faSol-lee | 1 | 108:2 – prayer |
| yuSol-lee | 2 | 33:43 and 3:39 |
| (a) In 33:43 - Allah ‘blessed’ the believers. Not prayed. | ||
| (b) In 3:39 –prayer | ||
| Sol-lu | 1 | 33:56 “honour” (sollu) the Prophet. Not prayer. |
| yuSol-lu | 3 | Once in 33:56 and twice in 4:102. |
| (a) 33:56 Allah blessed (yusollu) the Prophet. Not prayed. | ||
| (b) In 4:102 yusollu becomes prayer. | ||
| yaSilu | 5 | 4:90, 6:136 (2), 11:70, 11:81, 13:21 and 8:35 connect a relationship with Allah. Not prayer to Allah. |
| muSollan (sing.) | 1 | 2:125 a place of worship, NOT a person who prays. |
| muSolleen(plur.) | 3 | 70:22, 74:43, 107:4 NOT a place of worship but people who pray. |
| Sol-laa ta | 46 | Prayer |
| Sol-laa tee | 20 | Prayer |
| Sol-laatu | 1 | 62:10 –prayer |
| Sol-laa taka | 1 | 9:103 the prophet’s “prayer” makes people happy? This is not possible. The prophet’s “commitment” makes people reassured. |
| Sol-laa-tika | 1 | 17:110 - ‘prayers’ |
| Sol-laatuka | 1 | 11:87 - prophet Shuaib’s ‘prayers’ demand changes in the economic system? Not possible. |
| Sol-laatahu | 1 | 24:41 - birds and creatures perform ‘prayer’? Not possible. |
| Sol-laatehim | 5 | 6:92, 23:2, 70:23, 70:34 and 107:5 |
| Sol-laatuhum | 1 | 8:35 their prayer is nothing but controversy and rebellion. |
| Solaa-waatee | 3 | 9:99, 2:238 and 23:9. |
| In 9:99 their good deeds will take them closer to Allah and closer to the prayer of the prophet? Anillogical statement. | ||
| Solaa-waa-tun | 2 | 2:157 ‘upon them shall be prayers (solaawaatun) from their Lord?’ Not possible. 22:40 solaawaatunbecomes churches. Not prayers. |
From the above tabulation you can see the mullahs have created different meanings for the same word salat, totally unrelated to the root word. The mullahs cannot provide any logical explanation for these inconsistencies.
Questions that the mullahs cannot answer
The mullahs cannot quote any verse from the Quran to show the details of ritual prayer.
- If salat is ritual prayer then in 4:101-102 how can the Prophet lead the prayers for the kafirs or non-believers?
4:101-102 Surely the disbelievers (kafir) are your manifest enemy, and if you are in their midst you shall lead them in prayers (solaata)
The prophetdid not lead the kafirs in prayer.4:101-102 only makes sense when salat is correctly read as obligations or commitments.
4:101-102 Surely the disbelievers (kafir) are your manifest enemy, and if you are in their midst establish for them their obligations (solaata).
Likewisehow can idol worshippers perform ritual prayers?
- 9:4 Except those of the idolaters (mushrikeen) with whom you made a treaty, then they have not failed you in anything and have not backed up any one against you, so fulfill their agreement to the end of their term; surely Allah loves those who are careful (of their duty).
- 9:5 So when the sanctioned months have passed away, then slay the idolaters (mushrikeen) wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and establish prayer and pay the zakat poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
- 9:6 And if one of the idolaters seek protection from you, grant him protection till he hears the word of Allah, then make him attain his place of safety; this is because they are a people who do not know.
9:4 refers the mushrikeens’ treaty obligations with the believers. Then 9:5 follows through as follows:
- 9:5 So when the sanctioned months have passed away, then subdue the idolaters (mushrikeen) wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and uphold their obligations (aqeemussolaata) and purify themselves (waaatuzzakaata), leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
In 9:103 how can the prophet pray over people? And how can the prophet’s ritual prayer be a relief for anyone? But this is how the mullahs explain 9:103.
From their wealth take some charity, you would cleanse them and purify them thereby and pray over them (wasollialayhim); surely your prayer is a relief to them (innasalatakasakanunlahum); and Allah is Hearing, Knowing (9:103).
9:103 only makes sense when salat means to commit / to oblige.
From their wealth take some charity, you would cleanse them and purify them thereby andcommit yourself upon them (wasollialayhim); surely committing yourself (upon them) is a relief to them (innasalatakasakanunlahum); and Allah is Hearing, Knowing.
- How can yuSollu mean prayer in 4:102 but in 33:56itmeans honour and support? ‘Obligations’ fits perfectly in both verses.
- Likewise, how can yuSollee in 3:39 become prayer while in 33:43 the same word means ‘honour’?
- Solluu in 33:56 and Sollee in 9:103 mean honour and supplication. But in 75:31 and 96:10 the same words become prayer. This is the Mullah Shuffle again.
- How do the birds in the sky and everything between the heavens and the earth (including frogs, termites and trees, for example) perform prayer (24:41)? But all creatures know their obligations and responsibilities in life.
It is inappropriate for the word salat or any of its derivatives to be rendered as an act of prayer. The correct meaning is an obligation, responsibility, commitment, link, tie, connection or bond which obliges human beings, birds and all living things towards some deliberate deeds and actions. Aqeemussolaata therefore means ‘uphold your obligations’ or ‘live up to your responsibilities’ which are actions that must be upheld every day, 24/7.
What are a human being's obligations or commitments? Here is the answer:
24:41 Do you not realize that everyone in the heavens and the earth glorifies Allah, even the birds as they fly in a column? Each knows its obligations (salat) and its glorification. Allah is fully aware of everything they do.
Even the birds which are equipped with only a bird’s brain know their obligations and their responsibilities. Birds build nests, give birth to their young, catch worms to feed themselves and their young and live a bird’s life. These are their obligations and their responsibilities.
Surely the human being must know better what his obligations and commitments are to live his life as well as or better than the birds.
And most definitely salat is also the commitment to observe the whole of Allah’s commandments in the Quran. Which means it covers our entire lives. Salat represents all our obligations and responsibilities that we should uphold.
In his infamous vow, satan promised to deviate the human being from the straight path (siratalmustakeem). He has misled multitudes of humansinto thinking that standing, sitting, clasping their hands or moving their hands in a certain manner is fulfilling their obligations. He has misled people to abandon their real responsibilities and obligations (their salat) in life and to waste time performing empty rituals that achieve nothing and get them nowhere.
Aaron Musa is a researcher of social affairs and religion.
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