Anyone know when , who, why Muslims pray 5 times daily?

[SoCalDem]

I can understand why they "face" Mecca. but the 5 times a day seems very obsessive to me.. Has it always been that way?? Any reason give for it? (other than to keep them inordinately "busy", and always looking for a place to take off their shoes and pray)

[sabra]

1. In Judaism, religious jews pray 3 times a day

morning, afternoon, and evening in addition to prayers before meals, etc...

[datasuspect]

2. try reading more about their religion

start with the koran i guess.

[SoCalDem]

5. Seeing as how I am "Catholic-born", and have never read the bible,

I probably will skip the koran too:)

Just thought someone could enlighten me.. Wondered if the 5 times a day was from the start of Islam, or if it had gradually become the accepted thing:)

[datasuspect]

7. i'm basically an atheist

and find much religious literature actually edifying in some respects.

please notice the qualifier "some."

[JDPriestly]

23. I tried to read the Koran once many years ago.

I couldn't get past the hate mongering in the first few pages. This was in the '60s. I was dating a guy from Saudi Arabia (who claimed to be a prince if you can believe it. Princes must be a dime a dozen in Saudi Arabia.) and he gave me a copy of the Koran. It was just unbearably awful. Maybe it was just my translation.

I apologize to Muslims. I do not mean to insult your religion, but I have to be honest. Maybe you would feel the same way about the Bible if you had to read through the begets and if it started with its many stories of vicious battles and slayings. I'm not Jewish, but I just could not read the Koran for all the anti-Jewish language.

[The Quizzical Toad]

3. It's pretty much always been that way.

If I am not mistaken, the 5 times a day rule was commanded by Muhammad, the prophet of Islam (well, Muslims will state that it was commanded by God through Muhammad, but of course that's a matter of opinion as far as I'm concerned... ;)). The idea is that by turning their thoughts to God at set times throughout the day, they sanctify their daily lives. This is important because Islam does not draw a distinction between religious life and every day life, and thus there is little problem seen with the action.

[Lecky]

4. Lots of religions seem odd if you are not familiar

[SoCalDem]

10. Not saying it's "odd".. Just curious..

I know that there are different "flavors" of Judaism, and some Catholics are Sunday-only..

Islam does seem to be more than a religion..and the parallel between it an the fundy churches here are striking

[The Magistrate]

6. It Was Instituted By Mohammed, Ma'am

Although the original direction was towards Jerusalem, it is a practice dating from the very start of the faith.

The frequency may relate to the continual activity of Allah in creating the world; this is not, by my understanding, anyway, viewed as a settled thing done once, as in Genesis, but a continual instant by instant effort.


Doubtless some of our Moslem members can enlighten you more fully.

[Violet_Crumble]

29. I'm not Muslim, but I can add to what you said...

The prayers are called the salut, and it was originally three times a day and later increased to five. There was also a practical and social aspect to the salut. I can't remember if it's hands or feet that had to be washed before or during prayers, but cleanliness wasn't a huge thing back in the days of Mohammed, and for many worshippers, prayers were the only time they did wash. And the reason they originally faced Jerusalem was because they were turning their backs on Kabah, which was something like Pagan Central to followers of Islam. A lot of the traditions in Islam seem to have stemmed from practical and social reasons, which makes sense because much like Judaism, Islam is more than a religion and it's a way of life...

Violet...

[Aristus]

8. It's one of the five pillars of Islam.

The others are:

2. Proclaiming that God is the only god, and Mohammed is his Prophet.
3. Fasting and praying during the Holy month of Ramadan.
4. Giving generously to the poor.
5. Making a hajj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca at least once in your life.

It's a demanding, exacting way of life.

[JDPriestly]

9. How often to monks and cloister nuns pray during the day?

I'd just like to compare.

Actually, if Christian prays before getting out of bed, before each of three meals and before falling asleep, he or she has prayed five times. I bet a lot of people do that fairly regularly without counting the number of times they pray. But, the whole deal with the prayer rugs and praying toward Mecca, etc. sounds very cumbersome and inconvenient.

[SoCalDem]

11. and is a built-in 'obstacle' to assimilation into any other

culture..

I'm watching a special ohn Link about a british girl who became muslim, and it's about the scarf and what it means to her..

She hadn't told her parents that she converted yet..

[kestrel91316]

12. Pssst, Miss Litella, that's PRAY. Muslims PRAY 5 times a day.

I believe they do so because the Koran requires it. They do it because it is a command of God. You have a problem with them being devotees of their religion and doing this 5 times a day??

[SoCalDem]

13. Where did I say I had a "problem" with it?

I was merely curious about when the requirement came about.
Catholics used to have to abstain from meat on fridays, but that's been done away with now..

and priests used to be able to marry, but now they cannot..

No ulterior motive here..

..love,
emily :P

[Just Me]

16. You made it a point of your post.

Were you seeking understanding?

I suspect that was your intention.

[Just Me]

14. I am a deist,....I pray all day long,..24/7,....

:7 I don't expect reward,...I get strength.

So, do you think I'm weird?

[SoCalDem]

15. Not a bit weird..

you are only as weird as you think you are :P

[Just Me]

17. You just want to understand that discipline, yes?

:shrug:

We could all do with a bit of discipline e.g. FOCUS,...it seems to me,...these days.

[SoCalDem]

18. That's it..

It seems that Islam may be the only religion that has no "lite" version .. That was all..

[charlie]

19. Sufism

Is a less doctrinaire, more introspective, gentler, and mystic form of Islam. In some ways, they have more in common with Zen Buddhists than other Muslims.

[libodem]

20. I'd say Christians are supposed to pray 5 times a day, too

Morning prayers when you get out of bed to make and intention for the day and ask for help. Before each meal to bless the food and ask for strength and nourishment. And then before bed to ask for forgiveness and to bless all of ones loved ones and to forgive our enemies. It doesn't seem excessive to pray that much of you are a practicing believer. signed a big fat Pagan :)

[uppityperson]

21. It is not a way of looking at "god" but a way of living.

This is for reminders to consider your part in everything, that you are not in charge, that you are only part of it all, spread throughout the day so you do not forget this or take it for granted. It is a way of life, a way of living rather than a way of looking at a god or the almighty. (Allah translates to "the all") You are part of it all, but only a part, but truly a part, and the people who understand this the most and truly live it "pray" continuously, with everything they do, no matter what organized (or non-organized) religion they follow.

[Yupster]

22. My favorite Islamic site is

www.askimam.com

It's a place where Muslims, or anyone else I guess can ask religious leaders their questions and get answers.

Many of the questions are from Muslims who have moved to the west and are trying to keep their face in the different culture. It's a fascinating site to me. There are questions and answers about any topic you can think of.

Here's some of the questions about prayer...

http://www.islam.tc/cgi-bin/askimam/search.pl?query=prayer&start=20&limit=20&where=question

[SoCalDem]

24. Another thing that always gets me is this..

The documentary that sparked my question.. The girl who converted showed pictures from before she met her huband (from Yemen). She was a typical young British girl..makeup..sparkly dresses, very cute actually. The Muslim guy actively sought her out.. went where she went ...to even meet her. She drank, smoked etc. This type of girl (ordinary westerner) was what attractyed him in the first place, and he felt free to cross into her culture to find her...and yet as soon as they became a couple, SHE had to suddenly change from the very person who attracted him in the first place//

Why do Muslim men not just seek out Muslim women? Is it because they are so hard to find? And marriages must be arranged? If a not-so-well-connected Muslim guy wants a mate, he almost HAS to find someone willing to convert (or so it seems)

At the end of the documentary, she was leaving the UK and heading for Yemen with him and their boys..

It almost seemed as if he came there to find a wife:shrug:

[Orangeone]

25. I find you comments slightly offensive

Religion is not the only reason people marry. People marry for a lot of reasons. It's like you think that the Yemeni guy should just marry his own kind. My husband is a Muslim and I'm not but it never was a big issue.

[SoCalDem]

26. Did you see the documentary?

My point is that there must not be very many muslim young women out and about for these young expatriotas to MEET.. perhaps that's why they meet and fall in love with non muslim women..and then the women must convert.. Do the muslim men ever convert?

Do they have access to muslim women their age..without familial assistance..

Soory if you find that offensive.. It's not meant that way at all.

Google the documentary.. http://www.linktv.org/programming/programDescription.php4?tz=0&code=mum

[The Magistrate]

27. It Does Not Always Go Like That, Ma'am

For years we were quite friendly with a couple (they moved to Texas, and we have lost track), consisting of a Pakistani gentleman, a Twelver Shia, and a Cambodian woman, a devout Buhddist. Neither converted; there were Buhddas about their home, and she also did Moslem prayers on occassion. It all seemed quite amicable; they got on very well.

[NuttyFluffers]

28. Let me tell you the story i heard...

It's a quite beautiful story, unfortunately i'll probably butcher a few parts of it. But listen anyways.

Muhammed, peace be upon him, was taking down the tenants of how to be obedient to the will of The God (Allah) from the Messenger of The God, Gabriel (Gibreel). In his conversations with Gabriel he was taken to paradise to meet The God and ask how often to take time from the day and make reverence to The God for all that has been give, aka how often to pray.

He was told by The God to make reverence in equal to the number of man by the number of names of The God. The number of man is the number of his appendages, 5, 2 legs, 2 arms, 1 head, and that is the power man works with for physical manifestation of his strength on earth. The number of names for The God, 100, is to show the beatific ways The God can manifest His benevolence upon the world. It is a perfect number, it is the number of completion, 10, times another level of completion, 10, to produce a sacred number of "completion upon completion -- the totality of all, the universe," thus 100. The last name is beyond utterance or comprehension so this is why the prayer beads are for reciting the 99 names of The God, for the world is imperfect and we cannot hope to come upon the last true name. But this gets us off the story. The assigned number of times to pray a day to give thanks to The God was to be set as 500.

As Muhammed, peace be upon him, was about to leave heaven he was approached by the Patriach of All True Faiths, those of The Book who follow The God, Abraham. Abraham talked to Muhammed and found out what brought him here. Upon knowing that the assigned amount of daily prayer was 500 Abraham said, "No. This will not do. Man cannot accomplish anything if he is set to praying all the time. He needs to act upon the world so that he may survive and so that he may live and experience the beauty that has been provided by The God." Muhammed started to reply, "But wouldn't The God provide?" Abraham, "Of course he can, but of what value then would be all these gifts? To have everything tended for you but mandated to be in endless prayer you cannot experience anything. No, man is a creature who would not listen to such a request, it is too much. Man has moments to be lazy, to enjoy life, to labor and create. You must go back and ask for a lessening of this."

So back he went to The God to lessen the amount of daily prayers. God immediately understood and expected this, knowing his creations better than anyone. He said, "Then pray 50 times a day. The number of man to one level of completion." So Muhammed said thank you for The God's mercy and started to return. Once again Abraham caught him before leaving paradise. "50 times a day? No, no, no. That is still too much. You must go back and ask for something lower!" Muhammed listened to the Patriarch and went back.

The God heard Muhammed appeal for another mercy on the level of prayer per day and agreed. Asking man to use all his power to understand even to the basic level of completion is too much, let alone daily. The God was pleased to reduce the daily prayers to 5. With this Muhammed quickly started to exit heaven. Abraham once again caught up with him and asked how much did he lower it. Muhammed mentioned 5 times a day. Abraham still thought this is too much, for man is a fallible creature and needs to spend even more time than allowed by this to function well in the world. Muhammed, quite unnerved by having to question The God's pronouncement, let alone twice, was unwilling to do it a third time. "I do not want to test the mercy of The Most Merciful. 5 times a day will have to be enough for my followers, and they will be faithful about it, for The God has been quite merciful already. With 5 times a day we shall remember we are to be using all our power to remember what really matters in the world, The God. With all our power we are peacefully submitting to the authority of The God and shall keep him at the forefront of all our days. Thank you most kindly Abraham, but my followers will have to settle for this level of mercy, and they will follow gladly for you have encouraged me to petition this far. They can now live a life on earth, but will always have The God at the focus of their days."

tah-dah! :D

[rman]

30. many don't

(many who live in the West that is) because it is unpractical.

it's much like with western religion; many people are not fundamentalist about it, many don't even go to church.

[Bridget Burke]

31. You said you are "Catholic born"...

Have you ever head of the Divine Office? There are specific times for prayer throughout the day & night--now observed only by certain priests, monks & nuns. Throughout Christendom, bells rang out at Prime, Terce, Sext, None & Vespers--so even lay folk were quite aware of the passage of time & of constant prayer.

If you sincerely want to understand Islam, check some of the several websites already mentioned. Also--there are these things called "books."

Speaking of "obsessive" behavior--how much time to you spend online every day?

[ithinkmyliverhurts]

32. Praying the hours in many Christian households worldwide:

6:00 p.m. Vespers

9:00 p.m. Compline and Evening prayers

The Midnight Office

3:00 a.m. Morning prayers and Matins

7:00 a.m. First Hour

9:00 a.m. Third Hour

12 noon Sixth Hour

3:00 p.m. Ninth Hour

This schedule will be followed by monastic Eastern Christians, Byzantine Catholics, and many Western Catholics. During Lent, or other fasts, the lay will also follw these hours.

[Clark2008]

33. I find this thread a bit strange.

My ex is Muslim, sort of. He didn't pray five times a day, but neither did he eat pork. He didn't expect me to convert (and I wouldn't have, anyway). In Islam, as long as they marry another "believer" (as in Christian, Jew or Muslim), then it's OK under their religion.
Many are devout because it's more of a way of life than simply their religion, but many also give up, slowly, that way of life when they move to the "western" world.
They're not any more or any less "fanatic" than any other religion and we simply need to stop judging them from our viewpoint as a, still, mostly secular society.

[bicentennial_baby]

34. Whew! Glad I'm not the only one!

:hi:

[mwb970]

35. Sadly, the administration doesn't know anything about Islam either.

With all respect, America's ignorance about Islam at this fundamental level is part of the problem we are having. I might just mention that there are entire books available describing the basic tenets of Islam, which yes, has "always been that way", at least since the 7th century.