حَافِظُوا عَلَى الصَّلَوَاتِ وَالصَّلَاةِ الْوُسْطَىٰ وَقُومُوا لِلَّهِ قَانِتِينَ (سورة البقرة: ٢٣٨)

Translation: [Guard your prayers, especially the Middle Prayer; and stand before Allah in devotion] (Al-Baqarah: 238)

This post is just for the purpose of appreciating the beauty of Qur’an and its very well-chosen phrases, that keep blowing my mind.

I’ve recently learned how this Ayah (verse) is an indication that we’re asked to pray five times a day, without actually mentioning the number itself. And the realization made me smile so wide.

See, the word ‘صلوات' (prayers) in Arabic, refers to a plural - which has to be more than two. Otherwise it would be 'صلاتين' (two prayers). So for a start, we know there’s a reference to at least three prayers. Then comes ‘والصلاة الوسطى' (and the middle prayer), which adds one more prayer, possibly making them four. But they can’t really be four because ‘الوسطى’ (the middle) has to refer to an odd number. You can’t have one median for a set of even numbers. You only get a middle number for odd ones. Which automatically moves the calculation forward to five.

And there you go; reaching a conclusion with three words giving away a number that’s not explicitly mentioned, but only needs someone to pay attention and use their brain. How extremely beautiful is that?

It can definitely be argued this might rather mean 7, 9, 11, etc. which is also cool. If we want to pray more, we can. There’s no harm. At least we know there’s a minimum of 5 (that are also supported by other evidence and) that we’re told about so subtly, yet so loudly. Without referring to an actual figure of its own. It’s soso beautiful, I can’t.

What adds more to such beauty is how this Ayah came in the middle of a discussion on divorce. Before and after it, details are given on how to go about divorce, the rulings and all. Which is brilliant. Because in the middle of a hardship like this, where two people (two families/worlds) are literally losing connection, and a very strong bond that once got them so close, Allah reminds us to guard our prayers. For that’s exactly the kind of connection that’s supposed to mend our hearts and heal every little broken part. Fellow humans were never meant to be our main source of happiness and comfort. He reminds us, we only need to turn back to Him. On this hardship, but really, on any other hardship that brings along similar pain.

March 31, 2020