RESOURCE- SALAAT and Wudoo presentation.

SALAAT- WUDOO PRESENTATION for use within a Mosque Setting. 

• Messenger received revelation over 23 years.
• Early obligation to pray 
• The Quran states that the Whole World is a place of Sujood- prostration and so Muslims do not have to pray in a Mosque. They are obliged to pray and you may see them praying outside, because of that obligation. 
• Manner of prayer and the times of prayer taught by Angel Gabriel. And therefore revealed mode of prayer, sent down and not man made. 
• Messenger (saw) taught us how to pray. 
• A master of pithy sayings: “Salah Miftahon Jannah, Wudoo miftahoon Salaat”: Prayer is the key to heaven, ritual purification is the key to the Prayer. 
• His sayings differ substantially in style from the revealed Quran. 
• Wudoo, ritual purification, described in the Quran. Get them to read translation of S. Maida verse 6. 
• Demonstrate Wudoo with reference to Qur’an and show that the Sunnah explains it and clarifies it. 
• Explain that Wudoo is an act of devotion, in a similar manner to Salaat being an act of devotion. It is a ritual. 
• But Wudoo is also more than this, Muslims for example are advised make Wudoo before every major decision. It freshens then senses as you can feel the water touches all of your senses, and Allah in the Quran declares that He calls to life. 
• So Islam is at core, conscious and deliberate submission. 
• Rifadayn, the outstretched palms, at the start of Salaat symbolise this. 
• Ask them who knows which way we face?
• Ask, for the first 15 years of the Messengers mission does anyone know the direction of the Muslim prayer?
• Get them to read translation of S Baqara v144. 
• In Salaat we begin with al-Fathiha also known as Sab al Mathaani, the seven oft repeated. Explain why it’s called this. 
• Ask if anyone knows the Lords Prayer and ask them to recite it. Explain that there is nothing problematic in the Lords Prayer since it talks about God and not the Trinity. 
• Explain that Muslims believe that there was one message brought by all Prophets. 
• That we believe that they were all Muslims in the operational sense, and so were the Hawareyoon- the term that we use to describe the twelve disciples of Jesus (as). 
• We do not believe that Jesus (as) brought a new message from God. We further believe that he was raised to God and did not get crucified. And that on his return he will confirm the truth of Muhammed (saw) - the last Messenger sent from God with His greatest miracle - the Qur’an. 
• The Qur’an is for Muslims the literal speech of God. That He has preserved through 1400 plus years. 
• Then get them to read al Fathihah- the opening of the Quran- and it’s translation. 
• Explain that Rab, the Lord Provider is similar in context to the Christian understanding of God, the Father- the Provider. 
• Explain that the first verse of Fathihah is about thankfulness and that being thankful is the core to Happiness. 
• Ask if anyone has visited a Muslim Country and how they found the people? Unlike the media impression Muslims are a happy people. 
• Imagine finding something to be thankful for 27 times a day, when all you have is the shirt on your back. 
• Next go through the structure of the Salaat exposing what we say. 
• We stand in prayer, prostrate and sit. And it’s interesting that we sit when we send dua and supplication upon Muhammad (saw), the Messenger of God. 
• He would not suffer for anyone to stand for him. He (saw) was many things, but he was not a King of Men. And foremost he was a teacher. 
• The Quran was revealed over 23 years of his life and to understand it needs a contextual appreciation of his life. 
• His life was well documented and he lived within the fullness of history.  
• If you want to ask any questions then ask it of a Muslim and do not use the internet. You can always come to this Mosque.