262. Having mentioned the laws for the guidance of human society, God rounds off this address by emphasizing Prayer, for it is Prayers which instil in man the fear of God. They inculcate the feelings of goodness and purity and the disposition to obey the ordinances of God, and foster adherence to righteousness. Without Prayer it would be impossible for men to persist in observing the laws of God, and they would likely be swept away by a current of defiance and disobedience, as happened in the case of the Jews.
263. 'Re expression al-salat al-wusta has been variously interpreted to mean
the Morning, Mid-Day, Sunset or Night Prayers. But no direct statement explaining
this expression has come down from the Prophet himself. All the divergent opinions
are deductions made by scholars. The opinion of the majority, seems to he inclined
in favour of the Afternoon ('Asr) Prayer. since it is claimed that on one occasion
the Prophet alluded to this as al-salat al-wusta. The event cited in support
of this inference is that during the Battle of the Ditch the Prophet once so
preoccupied with the problems posed by the siege of Madina, by the polytheists,
that he could not perform his 'Asr Prayer within the scheduled time. and the
time of sunset drew close. On that occasion the Prophet said: 'God fill the
graves and houses of these people with fire. They have caused us to our wusta
(mid-most) Prayer.' This statement led people to believe that the expression
'mid-most Prayer' referred to the
'Asr Prayer. It seems more likely, however, that the Prophet meant that the
cares of the battle had prevented him and his followers from performing the
Prayer in an excellent way; the delay in the Prayer meant that instead of praying
with equanimity, concentration and total devotion, they were forced by circumstances
to pray hurriedly.
The adjective wusta in addition to signifying the middle position of the subject
that it qualifies, also signifies its excellence. Hence the expression could
legitimately be interpreted both in the sense of the middle Prayer as well as
in the sense of the Prayer which is performed at the right time and with full
devotion and attention to God, a Prayer which contains all the attributes of
excellence. The admonition which follows, 'stand before Allah as utterly, obedient
servants', seems to indicate what was meant by the 'mid-most Prayer'.