(^42) T" lIN FoolJltPJ of the PropINf
Enshrouded One), one of the rust revealed, contains me warning "Soon
We shall send d own [ 0 you a weighty Word."10 Anmher verse uses a pow-
erful im age to express the s piritual status of the Quean: " Had We scnt
down this Quran on a mountain, verily, you would have seen it humble
itself and cleave asunder in awe o f God."l1 The revealed text, God's
Word (kala", Allah), presents itself both as a benevolent reminder and as
a particularly demanding moral injunctio n that spreads spiritual inspira-
tio n as much as it strucrures the d efinite form o f religious ritual.
Prayer
While he was walking in th e surroundings of Mecca, the Prophet received
a visit from the Angel Gabriel, who ta ught him how to p erform ablutions
and practice ritual praycr.1 2 T his teaching came very carlyon, immediate-
ly associating the act of purification through water with the injunction to
perform prarer based on reciting the Quran and o n a precise, cyclkal
series o f gestures (raka). T he Prophet foUowed the Angel Gabriel's
instructions one by one, then went ho me and taught his wife, Khadijah,
how to pray. During mose e arly years, ritual prayer was performed only
twice a day, in th e morning and in the evening.
T he surah "Al-Muzzammil," q uoted ab ove, also refers to th e nigh t
prayer, which b ecame an obligation fo r all Muslims at the beginning of
the Meccan period and remained so until the duty to p erform five daily
prayers was finally establishe d. T he spiritual training and the ritual were
particularly demanding:
o you enshrouded a nd Stand ito prayer] by night, but not all night-h~r
of it, o r a little less, or a little mo re; and recite (he Quran in slow, measured
rhythmic [Ones. We shall soon send down to you a weighty \'(Iord. Truly the
rising by night is a time when impress ion is more keen and speech more
ce rtain. T rue, there is for you b}' day prolonged occupation WiU1 o rd inary
duties. Bu! keep in remembrance the name o f your Educato r [RaM] and
devote yourself to Him [commune with Him] wholeheanedly.13
At the heart of J-lecca, in an increasingly hostile environment, the
women and men who had accepted Islam were training unsparingly, qui-
etly: they rose at night to p ray lO God lengthily, reciting by heart the signs
('9'al) of th e Quran, which the One has established as th e prkileged link
martin jones
(Martin Jones)
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