What does As-salat mean?

Islam > Glossary > As-salat

Discover the meaning of the term As-salat (صلاة) in Islamic vocabulary.

Definition As-salat

As-salat according to Kitab at-Ta'rifat (Al-Jurjani)

In language: supplication. In the Law: it denotes specific pillars and known invocations, with conditions confined to determined times. The salat is also: seeking honour for the Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) in this world and the next.

As-salat according to Dustur al-'Ulama (Al-Ahmadnagari)

In language, the most common meaning is supplication, as Allah, the Most High, said: "and pray over them", that is: pray for them. It is said: the moving of the two salwayn, the two bones on which the knees rest; and the one who prays also moves his two salwayn in bowing; hence the term was transferred to specific pillars and known invocations, with conditions confined to determined times in the Law. Supplication is the seeking of mercy; but when it is attributed to Allah, the Most High, saying: may Allah pray over him, it is stripped of the sense of asking and mercy is meant figuratively, for the Most High is far above any asking, as He exempted the night journey from night in His word: "Glory to Him who made His servant travel by night". It is said: the salat from Allah, the Most High, is mercy, from the angels is seeking forgiveness, and from the believers is supplication; its reality comes back to the descent of mercy in all of it. It has also been defined as conveying good to another; hence the objection to using salat in the sense of supplication, namely that salat in the sense of supplication, when used with 'ala, must carry the sense of harm, since supplication used with the lam carries the sense of benefit and that used with 'ala the sense of harm; and intending harm to the Prophet entails disbelief and exclusion from his intercession. In "Ghayat al-Hidaya" and its answer: firstly, the word used with those two letters is thus, otherwise not; and salat is used only with 'ala, whereas salam is not so, although it is used with both, as His word: "and peace to you from the people of the right hand, and peace to the Yasin". I say: one may restrict this by saying that supplication and what is of its meaning are thus, but not every word. Secondly, I say: it is not necessary that two synonyms agree in usage, as with ahl and al: the latter is used only for people of nobility and is not annexed to time or place, unlike the former.

As-salat according to Mu'jam al-Mustalahat al-Fiqhiyya

Its root in language: invoking good, according to His word: "and pray over them".

As-salat according to Maqalid al-'Ulum (As-Suyuti)

An act of worship of covenant and peace.

As-salat according to At-Tawqif (Al-Munawi)

Among the Mu'tazila: among the legal names, and they differed over the manner of analogy with many views.