Salat a ritual prayer?

By David Namuh
While it is true the debate on Salat is ongoing but here is the thing, if you try to plug any other 'meaning' instead of a ritual prayer, it just introduces contradictions in the book of God. What most do to get around these contradictions is to change the meanings of very well understood Arabic words, by the dozens.

You may be interested to read my detailed note on the issue here on FB:

"Hence, when we take Quran 4:101 to 4:103 together, a logical slam dunk materializes. There are three aspects in these three verses. The first is that Al-Salat has a beginning for which a call is made. The second aspect is that Salat has a conclusion. (The word used in Quran 4:103 for this is (قضيتم). Attempts have been made to twist this very clear term. But it is clear to any Arabic speaker that almost all connotations of this word point to coming to an end.) The third is that Salat can be shortened. All in a course of a day or part of a single day. In addition, it shoots down some of the linguistics gymnastics that are initiated to try and prove that Al-Salat has no ritualistic aspects to it.

Those who have declared that standing, bowing and prostration doesn’t mean physical activities then after the Salat is concluded, what are we to make of standing sitting and laying on one’s side? (The remembering aspect is repeated in Quran 3:191 in these exact terms). So, we are to engage in the remembrance of God in a non-ritualistic manner and then conclude doing so but at the same time continue to remember God again in non-ritualistic manner.

Hence, standing doesn’t mean standing during A-Salat and apparently standing doesn’t mean standing after its conclusion. Let us keep in mind that during Al-Salat, Quran gives us a sequence of physical steps that is standing, bowing and prostration in the relevant verse. Then it gives us a slightly different sequence of physical states after its conclusion of standing, siting and laying on one’s side. The genius of the Quran is that whenever somebody wants to twist straightforward wording of God, Quran takes it to them till they are forced to see sense.  For them to make their claim plausible they essentially have to rewrite the meaning of commonly understood everyday use words. Although, the etymology of these words have not changed at all. "

https://www.facebook.com/notes/david-namuh/salat-a-ritual-or-not/1750531055227564/

God bless