Significance of Postures in Salat — Essence of Islam Vol. 2

14 Sep, 2026 Essence of Islam 0

Essence of Islam Book Cover by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS)

Introduction

In this discourse from Essence of Islam (Volume 2), Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS), the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, expounds upon Significance of Postures in Salat, presenting profound spiritual insights and scriptural verities.

Book Series: Essence of Islam (Volume 2)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (AS)
Section: Part 8: The Pillars of Islam
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: Salat Protects From Sin | Next: The Real Salat »

Salat Protects from Sin Salat is an instrument for delivery from sin. It is a quality of the Salat that it makes a person secure against sin and vice. So seek a Salat of that type and try to make your Salat such. Salat is the soul of bounties. The grace of God Almighty is received through the Salat. Then observe it duly so that you might become heirs to the bounties of God Almighty.
[Malfuzat, vol. V, p. 126]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 308]

What is the Salat? It is the submission of one’s humility and one’s weakness to God and to seek the fulfilment of one’s needs from Him. In the course of the Salat the worshipper sometimes stands before God with folded arms signifying his consciousness of the glory of God and his eagerness to carry out His Commandments; at other times he falls into prostration in complete humility and devotion and seeks the fulfilment of his needs. Sometimes like a beggar he praises Him from Whom he begs and proclaiming His greatness and His glory seeks to move His mercy and supplicates Him. A faith that has nothing comparable to the Salat is altogether empty…. Salat means the love and fear of God and the preoccupation of the heart with His remembrance. That is faith. He who seeks escape from Prayer is no better than an animal. To eat and drink and sleep away the hours like an animal is not faith. This is the practice of the disbelievers….For him who desires to meet God and is anxious to reach Him the Salat is a conveyance by climbing into which he can arrive at his goal speedily. He who gives up the Salat, how shall he arrive? Since the Muslims have abandoned the Salat or have given up observing it with the serenity and comfort and love of the heart, being neglectful of its true reality, Islam has begun to decline. The time when the Salat was observed properly was a great time for Islam, when it had become dominant in the whole world. Since the Muslims have given up the proper performance of the Salat they themselves have been abandoned. It is the Salat performed with heartfelt earnestness that delivers a person from all difficulties. It is my repeated experience that I pray for the resolving of some difficulty and while I am still occupied with the Salat God resolves the difficulty. What happens in the Salat? One raises one’s hands in supplication and the Other listens to him well. Then a time comes when He Who listens speaks and responds to the supplicator. This is the situation in the Salat. The worshipper falls into prostration before God Almighty and submits his difficulties and his needs to Him. The result of true and real Salat is that soon the time comes when God Almighty responds to the supplicant and comforts him with His words. Can such an experience be possible without the true observance of Salat?
[Malfuzat, vol. V, pp. 253-255]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 308]

Have a Question?

Introduction