The Indian mystic musician Hazrat Inayat Khan, who brought some Sufi ideas to the West in the early part of this century, said, "A person who never accomplishes [salat] has no hope of ever advancing any other way, for it is to be prescribed before further sacred teachings. lf he fails to advance in this, every posture has a wonderful meaning and a particular effect ... there is no hope for his future."
Salat is at once an external and an internal practice: a set of physical exercises (some have compared them toyoga asanas), and the richest spiritual nourishment. By considering each of these aspects in some detail, we can learn why the Sufis have considered in many cases that they would rather die than forgo the salat. Masha' Allah!
The practice of qnlif is performed at five regular intervals throughout the day as a minimum and can be done ai other times according to the capacities of the worshiper. The times of performance are fixed according to the journey of the sun and planets across the heavens. These times are as follows:
Fajr: Begins approximately forty-five minutes before sunrise and extends up to the rising of the sun.
Zuhr: Begins after the sun has passed the median point in the sky and has just begun its downward arc.
Asr: Begins when the sun has crossed a bisection of the arc made by the sun, midpoint between noon and the line of the horizon; or when the body's shadow is equal to two body lengths.
Maghrib': Begins just after the sun has set below the horizon and no light is left reflecting off the clouds (i.e., there is no more redness).
Isha: Begins when night has fully fallen, approximately one hour and twenty minutes after the time of maghrib, or sunset.
By following these prayer times, one is perfectly attuned to the motions of the planets, seasonal changes, and geographic variations. In so doing, one becomes harmonized with all of the natural cycles of the universe.
There are three aspects to the salat: thought, word, and action. Before beginning the salat, one must clean oneself of any physical dirt on the body or clothing, or on the place where one intends to pray. At this same time, one must drive out all negative or evil thoughts and cleanse the mind to concentrate fully upon the glory of Allah the Almighty. This preparation, called wudu', consists of washing the hands, rinsing the mouth (and brushing teeth if necessary), snuffing water up the nose, wiping the face from brow to chin and from ear to ear, washing the forearms from the wrists up to the elbows, wiping over the head and the back of the neck, and, finally, washing the feet up to the ankle bone. Each of these washings is repeated three times and must be done in the sequence described. When these actions have been carefully completed, one goes to the place of prayer and, assuming a humble attitude, with head down, hands at sides, and feet evenly spaced below the shoulders, utters the intention to offer the salat, as follows:
I intend to offer (the obligatory number of) ra'kats of salat, and face the qiblah, the Exalted Kabah, for the sake of Allah and Allah alone. I take refuge with Allah frora the rejected and evil satan, and I begin in the Name od Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
This invocation may be made in Arabic, but any language will suffice as well. However, the remainder of the salat must be recited entirely in Arabic. The one offering prayer must be facing in the direction of the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. (In the United States, this would mean facing generally eastward.)
The salat is done by assuming eight separate positions of the body (arkan), and reciting various Qur'anic verses with each posture. These postures are illustrated in turn, and a brief description is given of the benefits ascribed to each.
See more: http://magic.bosnianforum.com/t2319-sufi-healing
