Call for Prayer Words + Safa & Marwah

[Reader Questions]

REPEATEDLY ASKED ON FACEBOOK


"And when you proclaim the call for As-Salat [call for the prayer (adhan )], they take it (but) as a mockery and fun; that is because they are a people who understand not. ??As per the above Quranic verse the Muslims proclaims the call for Salat ? Can you tell me what were the words they used to proclaim before Salat?"

"I asked you several times about a particular verse of Quran where it's mentioned "[ And when you proclaim the call for As-Salat [call for the prayer (adhan )], they take it (but) as a mockery and fun; that is because they are a people who understand not] . Could you provide me the details of how the Muslims used to proclaim the call before As-Salat and what are those words ??"

"As salam alaykum brother u didn't reply back I'm waiting for ur response brother."

"Can anybody tell me people who reject hadiths how do they proclaim the call for As-Salat??"

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Al-Baqarah 2:158

إِنَّ ٱلصَّفَا وَٱلْمَرْوَةَ مِن شَعَآئِرِ ٱللَّهِۖ فَمَنْ حَجَّ ٱلْبَيْتَ أَوِ ٱعْتَمَرَ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِ أَن يَطَّوَّفَ بِهِمَاۚ وَمَن تَطَوَّعَ خَيْرًا فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ شَاكِرٌ عَلِيمٌ

Indeed, as-Safa and al-Marwah are among the symbols of Allah . So whoever makes Hajj to the House or performs 'umrah - there is no blame upon him for walking between them. And whoever volunteers good - then indeed, Allah is appreciative and Knowing.

I would like to know from people who reject hadiths why does Allah tells in Quran to walk between safa and marwa the 2 mountains ??

[Joseph Islam]

Dear [Name Removed]

As-salamu alaykum

With utmost respect dear [removed], I have repeatedly and kindly requested that you ask questions of me on the dedicated platform for Q&As (QM Forum). Yet sadly, you appear to have consistently dismissed / ignored my request and I feel, almost badgered me on my private space(s) to provide you responses where you have demanded them.

If you are a sincere enquirer (and I have no reason to deny this), is it such an unreasonable request to respect the rights of someone who is willing to sincerely assist you but within their terms of engagement for very good deliberated reasons? [1]. After all, you are the one soliciting an opinion. Why then should the demand be made on your terms?

Please kindly understand that I simply cannot answer the same questions asked of me numerous times by different people individually throughout the years. As I trust one will agree, this would be an extremely ineffiicient use of anyone's time.

It is far more effective that I resoectfully respond to a theme / question once, share it on a public space and refer the links to other sincere enquirers to read.

The questions / themes you ask are not new. They have been asked numerous times in one way or another and have been responded to.

CALL TO PRAYER

For your question pertaining to the call of prayer, please see reference [2] below, in particular the excerpt:

"The tradition to signify a call to prayer to invite believers to worship would have started from the Prophetic ministry and would thus arguably be an en masse practice.

An expectation is clearly captured in verse 62:9 and there would be a strong argument here to suggest that a practice had been initiated by the first believers before ritual prayers / congregational worship.

Whether one call is made or a secondary call (iqama / iqamat) is made just before prayer starts does not conflict with the essence of the Quran's guidance on this matter which is the need to establish worship and the expectation that there is a call of some form.

Therefore in my humble view, this would have been an en masse practice enshrined later in the Ahadith corpus. Hence, I would see no need to break tradition.

Calling to prayer is not a new concept amongst Abrahamic faiths (no matter how it is performed). One is familiar with the Jewish Barechu or the Christian Bells.

The Quran in the main does not appear to be focused on how it is performed as long as some suitable form exists." [2]

SAFA & MARWAH

With regards your question on Safa and Marwah, first point to note is that the Quran does not refer to these as mountains as you have intimated. Please kindly see link [3] below and in partcular the excerpt below:

"Safa and Marwah have only been mentioned in the Quran as a place where there were 'symbols' (sha'airi) of God (Not necessarily connected with Prophet Abraham). (pbuh) These were sites that the Pre-Islamic Arab community were familiar with and circumambulation of them was allowable if desired.

This was not a prescriptive 'action' but rather an 'optional action' given that the place already had some significance with the ancient Arabs, details of which were not elaborated by the Quran.

002.158

"Indeed! Safa and Marwa are among the Symbols of God. So whoever performs Hajj of the house or performs Umrah it is no blame on him that he circumambulates (Arabic: Tawaafa) both of them (Arabic: Bihima). And whoever performs his own impulse to good, then indeed God is He Who is All-Appreciative and All-Knowing"" [3]

May I please kindly request again that any further Q&As be asked of me on the QM Forum as per the terms of engagement on my About page.

Finally, if it assists, my theological approach is somewhat captured in the link [4] below. This will hopefully deter you in the future from using epithets which has the implication of 'hadith rejectors'.

I hope this helps, God willing
Joseph


REFERENCES:

[1] Facebook vs A Dedicated Forum for 1-1 Debates
https://www.facebook.com/joseph.a.islam/posts/401073196696480?stream_ref=10
[2] Re: Is Iqamah before salat a Sunnah?
http://quransmessage.com/forum/index.php...
[3] PROPHET ABRAHAM'S (pbuh) ORIGINAL SANCTUARY - AT MAKKAH (MECCA) OR BAKKAH (BACA)?
http://quransmessage.com/articles/makkah%20bakkah%20FM3.htm
Section: Safa and Marwah
[4] HOW I ENGAGE WITH THE SUNNAH AND WIDER ISLAMIC SECONDARY SOURCES SUCH AS THE AHADITH CORPUS
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=258274607643007

[Wakas]

Dear Joseph,
peace/salaam,

"Safa and Marwah have only been mentioned in the Quran as a place where there were 'symbols' (sha'airi) of God (Not necessarily connected with Prophet Abraham). (pbuh) These were sites that the Pre-Islamic Arab community were familiar with and circumambulation of them was allowable if desired.

This was not a prescriptive 'action' but rather an 'optional action' given that the place already had some significance with the ancient Arabs, details of which were not elaborated by the Quran.

002.158

"Indeed! Safa and Marwa are among the Symbols of God. So whoever performs Hajj of the house or performs Umrah it is no blame on him that he circumambulates (Arabic: Tawaafa) both of them (Arabic: Bihima). And whoever performs his own impulse to good, then indeed God is He Who is All-Appreciative and All-Knowing"" [3]

Might be better to incorporate your own clarification on TWF stated here into your article:
http://quransmessage.com/forum/index.php?topic=546.msg1829#msg1829

Also, you said:

"Safa and Marwah have only been mentioned in the Quran as a place where there were 'symbols' (sha'airi) of God

Might be better to re-word to something like:

"The usage of safa and marwah in the Quran suggest they are places one can circuit / go between, and are from the 'symbols' (sha'airi) of God".

Because:
1) They are not mentioned as a place per se, that is an interpretation.
2) They are not a place where there were symbols, they ARE symbols/sha'air.