Stop already,

Submitted by Abdullah Al Hashimi (United Arab Emirates), Mar 3, 2009 at 05:08

More semantics. If someone understood Arabic, in the slightest, they would understand that all verbs are derived from their 2-4 letter words of origin. Yasaloo: Plural present Saloo: Plural past Saly: Single present Sala: Single past Sil: To connect to, or reach, or the action of striving to reach something. The problem is semantics. Muslims and Christians have different forms of worship. Muslim worship : "Praying" as it is most commonly referred to, reciting Quran, saying a Du'aa. Interesting to note, that "saying a prayer" in christianity most resembles reciting the Quran in Islam, or saying a Du'aa.

Now Du'aa literally translated is either a supplication or a prayer. However, El Sala, which is the collection of physical movements and recitation of the Quran as well as Du'aa in a specific order and sequence is commonly translated into the English language as "Prayer". This is where the semantics arise. When a Muslim wants to refer to the Sala in English, he/she most commonly says "I will pray" or "I must go pray" or "It's prayer time". By Prayer he/she means they must go and Worship Allah, in a specific manor taught to us in Islam by the Quran and Prophet.

HOWEVER, in Arabic, Sala literally translates to Reaching, or to reach, or to make an effort to reach and connect to. Furthermore, there are what we call Ahruf in arabic that usually follow a verb, that change the connotation of the word entirely . In the Quran, and in many Du'aa we say "Salee 3la Mohamed" which means to reach to, connect to the prophet, or to strive to be like him. it's not the same as saying "Salee lilAh" which means "worship for god"or "pray to god", or "Salee ila Allah" "pray to god" "Salee ala Mohammed" does not mean pray to Mohamed. Learn Arabic, it is much more complex than English, but it is very easy in this day and age to learn. Well, for most of us at least. It's hard to explain Arabic to none-native Arabic speakers.

I'm sure Sheikh Yusuf Hamza would do a much better job, if you guys really want to know the truth you can always send him an email and I'm sure the kind sheikh would be happy to respond with the most accurate and correct knowledge and translations. However, if you guys just want to play with words and insist that everything have a counterpart or literal translation into English which suits your predetermined agenda, take it elsewhere.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".