Three Salats or five?

 With reference to my previous note “Salat a ritual or not” the never ending debate of 3 vs 5 Salats is still raging on, allow me to have a go.

The key seems to be the term "zulufann min al-layl’" in Quran 11:114. The way to arrive at an accurate meaning of the term is to find out how the operative word zulufann, a plural form with the root "zāy lām fā (ز ل ف)" is used in the Quran itself. Verses 38:25, 38:40 and 39:3 and others, all are conveying a clear meaning of nearness which is similar but yet distinct from "approaches", a commonly found translation.

So the logical question to ask and asked by many before me is near to what? The obvious answer has to be the other elements (s) in the verse besides the "night", notice the singular form it is used, are the two end points of the day. When combined with the plural form of Zulfa as in "zulufann min al-layl", it is clear that the verse is pointing to two adjacent time periods of a single night that are literally near to it, the two corresponding ends of the "day", again singular form of it is used.

It is clear from Quran 2:238 that there are more than two Salats with the use of the word "Salawaat". It is safe to assume that it is referring to a single day as opposed to Salat in general because when God refers to Salat in general then it is qualified by Al-Salat in its singular form as in Quran 2:110 for example. If one were to accept at least one meaning of the word "Wusta" as being middle then the number has to be an odd number more than 2. One of the other possible meaning of Wusta being best or best part of something contextually doesn't make sense. That much is pretty straightforward. Similarly, those who object to Al-Wusta as a name for the third Salt are unfamiliar with how the prefix “Al” is used in the Quran.

The source of confusion seems to be the fixation on the word "Wa" used in the verse Quran 11:114, immediately before the term "zulufann min al-layl". Instead of interpreting the two points in time being joined to the beginning and end of the night to establish two distinct periods during which Salat can be performed, the traditional and I would say lazy interpretation assume it to mean a third period of time that is distinct from the two endpoints of the day. The two periods being, one starting from the sunset, a very short interval of time in itself, to the near part of the night, that is the beginning of the night and the second one starting with the near part that is towards the end of the night and up to the beginning of daybreak, another very short interval of time, the sunrise.

Notice the Quran does not use the words sunset and sunrise to denote the two ends of the day in Quran 11:114. Given that the actual time it takes for the sun to dip behind the horizon at sunset and emerge from below the horizon in the morning is not enough to perform the Salat, less than two minutes at the equator and that too assuming that one is able to identify this very short interval in all weather conditions accurately. Hence, the need to define a generous enough period with one defined endpoint each to perform one's Salat without putting an undue burden on the believers is more logical, another Quranic guideline.

Once we nail down the interpretation of verse 11:114 to mean two Salats timings are mentioned and not three, the rest is Mickey Mouse stuff. Thereafter, we can arrive at only one conclusion that there are three Salats mentioned in the Quran both by name and timings. The only remaining question is whether the third Salat is at noon or in the middle of the night. Given the need for secrecy Quran 7:55 advocated by God while remembering God and one of the objectives of Salat being just that remembering God, Quran 20:14, I would go with the middle of the night possibility but this is more of an opinion. Especially given the fact that the other objective of establishing Salat is to protect oneself against acts of indecency “الفحشاء”, which arguably happens mostly in the darkness of the night.

Hence, it should not come as a surprise that the three named Salats, all suitably prefixed with “Al” are:

1- Salat Al-Fajr, the morning or dawn Salat Quran 24:58

2- Salat Al-Isha, the night Salat Quran 24:58

3- Al-Salat Al-Wusta, the middle Salat Quran 2:238