"I am GOD; there is no other god beside Me. You shall worship Me alone, and observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) to remember Me.

The Quran teaches prayer in two forms. The first is the Contact Prayer (Salat), a set duty performed at fixed times. The second is supplication, calling on God for any need at any time. Both are worship, and both belong to God alone: "The places of worship belong to GOD; do not call on anyone else beside GOD" (72:18). God commands Moses, "worship Me alone, and observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) to remember Me" (20:14). So the point of the prayer is set from the start: it keeps God in mind. "The remembrance of GOD (through Salat) is the most important objective" (29:45). In his footnote, Dr. Khalifa adds that "your god is whatever occupies your mind most of the time."
The Quran treats Salat as a practice that already existed. It says Abraham and his descendants were taught "how to observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and the obligatory charity (Zakat)" (21:73). That is why the Quran does not teach the prayer from scratch. Instead it fixes the times, which "are decreed for the believers at specific times" (4:103), and names them across several verses. These are the two ends of the day and the night (11:114), the decline of the sun from noon (17:78), the middle prayer (2:238), and the Dawn and Night Prayers mentioned by name (24:58). Dr. Khalifa reads these verses together as the five daily prayers: dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset and night, with 2, 4, 4, 3 and 4 units. He points out that these numbers, written in a row, give 24434, which is 19 x 1286 (2:238). In Appendix 15 he shows that a longer number built from each prayer's recitations, bowings, prostrations and Tashahhuds is also a multiple of 19. On Fridays, believers are told to "hasten to the commemoration of GOD, and drop all business" for the Congregational Prayer (62:9).
The Quran also sets the conditions of the prayer. Ablution comes first: washing the face, the arms to the elbows, wiping the head, and washing the feet. Where there is no water, touching clean dry soil takes its place, because "GOD does not wish to make the religion difficult for you" (5:6). The prayer is said in a moderate voice, "not... too loudly, nor secretly" (17:110). It bends to circumstances but does not lapse. A believer may pray "while walking or riding" when conditions are unusual (2:239). The prayer may be shortened when traveling in danger during war, and believers take turns standing guard (4:101-102). Once the danger passes, the regular prayers resume (4:103). From this it follows that the prayer is a duty to keep in whatever form circumstances allow, not one to drop.
The Quran ties the prayer to how a person lives. "The Contact Prayers prohibit evil and vice" (29:45), and the believer is told to "seek help through steadfastness and the Contact Prayers" (2:45). Empty ritual is condemned: "woe to those who observe the contact prayers (Salat), who are totally heedless of their prayers. They only show off. And they forbid charity" (107:4-7). The Quran also warns of generations "who lost the Contact Prayers (Salat), and pursued their lusts" (19:59). The prayer also reaches beyond its set times. After it, believers are to "remember GOD while standing, sitting, or lying down" (4:103), and to "remember GOD frequently" as they go about their business (62:10).
Alongside the Contact Prayer stands supplication. "I am always near. I answer their prayers when they pray to Me" (2:186). "Implore Me, and I will respond to you" (40:60). Dr. Khalifa notes that imploring God for anything, even material luxuries, is itself a form of worship, and that an atheist never does it (40:60). Taken together, the Quran asks the reader to keep the five daily Contact Prayers faithfully, devoted "totally to GOD" (2:238), to let them shape their conduct, and to turn to God, and to Him alone, in every need between them.
Verses
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You shall recite what is revealed to you of the scripture, and observe the Contact Prayers (Salat), for the Contact Prayers prohibit evil and vice. But the remembrance of GOD (through Salat) is the most important objective.* GOD knows everything you do.
*29:45 Your god is whatever occupies your mind most of the time (see 20:14 & Appendix 27).
You shall consistently observe the Contact Prayers, especially the middle prayer, and devote yourselves totally to GOD.
*2:238 All five prayers are found in 2:238, 11:114, 17:78, & 24:58. When the Quran was revealed, the Contact Prayers (Salat) had already been in existence (Appendix 9). The details of all five prayers—what to recite and the number of units (Rak'aas) per prayer, etc.—are mathematically confirmed. For example, writing down the number of units for each of the five prayers, next to each other, we get 24434, 19x1286. Also, if we use () to represent Sura 1 (Al-Fãtehah), where ()=the sura number (1), followed by the number of verses (7), followed by the number of each verse, the number of letters in each verse, and the gematrical value of every letter, writing down 2 () () 4 () () () () 4 () () () () 3 () () () 4 () () () () produces a multiple of 19 (see 1:1).
Under unusual circumstances, you may pray while walking or riding. Once you are safe, you shall commemorate GOD as He taught you what you never knew.
When you travel, during war, you commit no error by shortening your Contact Prayers (Salat), if you fear that the disbelievers may attack you. Surely, the disbelievers are your ardent enemies.
When you are with them, and lead the Contact Prayer (Salat) for them, let some of you stand guard; let them hold their weapons, and let them stand behind you as you prostrate. Then, let the other group that has not prayed take their turn praying with you, while the others stand guard and hold their weapons. Those who disbelieved wish to see you neglect your weapons and your equipment, in order to attack you once and for all. You commit no error, if you are hampered by rain or injury, by putting down your weapons, so long as you remain alert. GOD has prepared for the disbelievers a shameful retribution.
Once you complete your Contact Prayer (Salat), you shall remember GOD while standing, sitting, or lying down.* Once the war is over, you shall observe the Contact Prayers (Salat); the Contact Prayers (Salat) are decreed for the believers at specific times.
*4:103 Your god is whoever or whatever occupies your mind most of the day. In order to belong in God's kingdom, and enjoy His grace and protection, the Quran exhorts us to remember God "always" (2:152 & 200, 3:191, 33:41-42). This profound fact explains the numerous verses asserting that "most" of those who believe in God are going to Hell (12:106, 23:84-89, 29:61-63, 31:25, 39:38, 43:87). See Footnote 3:191 and Appendix 27.
O you who believe, when you observe the Contact Prayers (Salat), you shall: (1) wash your faces, (2) wash your arms to the elbows, (3) wipe your heads, and (4) wash your feet to the ankles. If you were unclean due to sexual orgasm, you shall bathe. If you are ill, or traveling, or had any digestive excretion (urinary, fecal, or gas), or had (sexual) contact with the women, and you cannot find water, you shall observe the dry ablution (Tayammum) by touching clean dry soil, then rubbing your faces and hands. GOD does not wish to make the religion difficult for you; He wishes to cleanse you and to perfect His blessing upon you, that you may be appreciative.