Detaining witnesses after Salath

[Sardar Miyan]

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا شَهَادَةُ بَيْنِكُمْ إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَكُمُ الْمَوْتُ حِينَ الْوَصِيَّةِ اثْنَانِ ذَوَا عَدْلٍ مِّنكُمْ أَوْ آخَرَانِ مِنْ غَيْرِكُمْ إِنْ أَنتُمْ ضَرَبْتُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَأَصَابَتْكُم مُّصِيبَةُ الْمَوْتِ تَحْبِسُونَهُمَا مِن بَعْدِ الصَّلَاةِ فَيُقْسِمَانِ بِاللَّهِ إِنِ ارْتَبْتُمْ لَا نَشْتَرِي بِهِ ثَمَنًا وَلَوْ كَانَ ذَا قُرْبَىٰ وَلَا نَكْتُمُ شَهَادَةَ اللَّهِ إِنَّا إِذًا لَّمِنَ الْآثِمِينَ
5:106
O you who believe! call to witness between you when death draws nigh to one of you, at the time of making the will, two just persons from among you, or two others from among others than you, if you are traveling in the land and the calamity of death befalls you; the two (witnesses) you should detain after the prayer; then if you doubt (them), they shall both swear by Allah, (saying): We will not take for it a price, though there be a relative, and we will not hide the testimony of Allah for then certainly we should be among the sinners.
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Salam All As per 5:106 One has to detain two witnesses after "Salath"but I could not understand well about "detaining after Salath" Thanks

[Ismail]

Salaam.

It is a moment of great anxiety and expediency, when death approaches and the person who is dying is away from home and friends. In order to give witness to his will, he is constrained to call two strangers and pronounce his last testament to them.

The will is proclaimed to the two stranger-witnesses after the prayer. There is no need of waiting for the prescribed time of formal prayers to arrive. Here (in 5:106), sheer paying rapt attention to God is what is meant by the word Salah.

Salah is necessary here because it will - God willing - guard the witnesses against tampering with the will or giving false witness. (For, "....prayer restrains from shameful and evil deeds..." 29:45.)

Regards,
A. Ismail Sait.

[Sardar Miyan]

Salam Bro I could not understand the need for Salath here when a person needs witness for his Will?Even Dr Shabbir translates Salath as Prayer.

[Ismail]

Salaam.

Prayer is a general word. Prayer may be formal or informal. In my last post it is prayer in my (borrowed) translation of 5:106.

The reason why it is not necessarily the formal, prescribed, time bound Salat, but only "sheer paying rapt attention to God", (please read my previous post) is that in the Arabic text, the word Salah is written without the letter waw in 5:106 as well as in 29:45, and also in many other places.

Such differences in the construction of the word Salah in different places in the Quran and their vital significance has been pointed out by Muhammed Shahrur in "Qur'an, Morals and Critical Reason", available in the Net.

Regards,
A. Ismail Sait.

[optimist]

Salam All As per 5:106 One has to detain two witnesses after "Salath"but I could not understand well about "detaining after Salath" Thanks

Wassalam!

I believe it refers to detaining the witnesses after funeral prayer of the deceased.  The witnesses should not be allowed to go without verifying the facts and also making necessary arrangement to record the final testament made by the deceased.   

Regards
Optimist

[Sardar Miyan]

Whether it is formal prayer or Funeral prayer as per remarks posted by Bros Ismail & Optimist I humbly request Bro Joseph Islam to kindly clarify. Thanks

[Joseph Islam]

As-salam alaykum,

With deepest respect dear brother Sardar, I don[t feel any clarification is needed as I already share much of the sentiments of the two brothers that have taken time to kindly respond to you on this thread.

Regards,
Joseph.

[Sardar Miyan]

Jazakalla hu Khair Bro JAI