An Insider and Outsider Perspective on Sunni and Shia Muslims Salah

Salah is one of the five pillars of Islam in Muslim world. It is an obligatory prayer, that is implied on a Muslim, when he becomes seven years of age. A Muslim offers Salah five times a day, depending on rising and setting of the Sun. The main function of this practice is to have communication with God, where the Muslim offers appreciation and gratefulness in return for the unlimited blessings of God, and also seeks forgiveness from the sins he might have committed during his day or in the past.

Another function of Salah is to remain in a state of total hygiene and spirituality, where Muslims refrains from activities that might lead him to unhygienic, such as refraining from going into dirty places, or telling lies. There are many different sects amongst Muslims, but the two most popular sects are Sunni and Shia Muslims.

Depending on these sects, there is a slight difference in practicing the Salah. Sunni Muslims offers prayers by binding their hands, while Shia Muslims offers Salah with unbound hands. Though, the main functions of Salah remain the same for both these sects i.e., seeking spirituality, convening with God and asking for forgiveness, however, there is a slight difference in the passion.

Sunni Muslims offers Salah in order to do the above-stated things with more numbers, while Shia Muslims tends to go a step further by doing all the above-mentioned things with less numbers, and then, paying their regards to their twelve Imams, and praying for the Last Imam to descend and lead them to ultimate victory against the war against the Satan.

            To the insiders of both sects of Muslims, Salah is fulfilling, and it gives the feelings of contentedness, boosting spirituality and a sense of calm, irrespective of their differences in beliefs and practice modes. Furthermore, it strengthens the relationship with God, improves a person’s character i.e., to be more virtuous, prevents a person to submerged in despair, and provides hope for the better days.

In the past, there have been many debates amongst both sects on deciding the way perfect for Salah, but recently, there have been some major developments in which both sects agree on a mutual stance, Salah can be offered in different ways and accepted, if it follows the intention of convening with God, and involves all the obligatory steps mentioned in their Holy Scripture, The Quran.

To an outside scholar, who is not part of the group, a scholar might be led to believe that Salah practice is to benefit the physical aspects of a person, such as doing a Yoga, which is put in religion to get people to exercise. Though, offering Salah has proven aspects of bodily flexibility and workout evidence, but to an insider, that is not what Salah is for.

For instance, both sects of Muslims believe they are subjugating and standing, just because of the masterpiece artwork of God, which gives them the power to bend and stand, and they are thanking God for such an ability and other blessings. Another difference is conviction and faith.

Insiders in offering Salah, gives the testimonial that God is one and Muhammad (PBUH) is the last prophet, while to an outsider religious scholar, this might be just another practice in order to pursue spirituality, such as a singing a song in black churches, where people are dancing and singing, letting their emotions out to have sense of calm and sobriety.

To the Religious Studies scholar, the evidence required for making a claim would be from the source, that is undisputed and most reliable according to the Muslims, and the world, and that will be the Holy Scripture, The Quran. Though, he could also observe the Muslims, while they offer Salah in a mosque.

The claim that the Religious Studies scholar might make would be the ultimate discipline, and obedience this practice demands of Muslim, as God requires from its follower. In Holy Quran, it is stated that the Muslims should offer prayers, as there is refuge for them against the ill-world.

Now, it’s quite peculiar here and that is, the use of the word ‘should’. This might lead Religious Studies scholar to believe that this practice is ‘optional’, rather than ‘obligatory’, which an insider of the faith will not accept. To an insider, Salah is mandatory and obligatory, and this teaching comes from another popular source of Muslims, and that is “Hadiths”, and it is the words of the last Holy Prophet Muhammed (PBUH), noted down by his followers 1400 years ago, and passed down.

Now, in both sects of Muslims, there is some disagreement amongst, where some believe some hadiths to be true, while other raise doubts on their credibility. Nonetheless, Muslims follows both, Quran and Hadith, to spend their lives and offer their obligations. At this point, an insider would not take Salah is ‘optional’, because according to Hadiths, Salah is mandatory, and after death, the first question will be asked of Salah. Hence, the evidence sources have some distinctions for both, the insiders and Religious Studies scholar, based on inclusion and exclusion from the group.

It’s true, that when an outsider studies religion, he needs to be sensitive towards the religion, and how it serves the needs of its followers. If an outsider is rigid in studying religion, he might be lead astray in his research, and would ultimately include biasness, which ruins the credibility of the research.

The scholars need to be open-mindedness, when they are in contact with the insiders, to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments they present. The outsider might be a follower of a different religion, or might be an atheist, but if he remains rigid, then he won’t be able to understand the religion at all. He might be unable to see the purposes and functions of religion/s and its/their practices.

For instance, the above-stated example of Hadiths and Quran serves the best example here. For Muslims, both Sunni and Shia, Hadiths is an extension of Quran, where many issues that were not discussed in the Quran were addressed in great depths, and also, in Hadiths, there are predictions of how the world would be in the time of apocalypse.

Furthermore, Hadiths provides valuable insights for Quran, where a normal Religious Studies scholar would fail to understand the context, if he discarded Hadiths as a valuable source. If he is sensitive towards Hadiths as well, then, he might be able to make claims about Salah, as why is it so important for Muslims to offer, and how it fulfills their spirituality needs, and why, Muslims offer prayers with such passion, that exceeds any logic.  

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