Words on this site
What the words mean
Every term this site leans on, in plain English, with the verse behind it. Nothing here asks to be taken on trust.
Hadith · Sunnah · Submitter · Submission · This translation · Footnote · Appendix · Sura · Contact Prayers (Salat) · Obligatory charity (Zakat) · Ablution (Wudu) · Dry ablution (Tayammum) · The Key · Qiblah
Hadith
A saying, or a report. That is all the word means, and the Quran uses it of itself: God calls this book “the best Hadith” [39:23], and asks, “In which Hadith other than GOD and His revelations do they believe?” [45:6]. It warns about people who “uphold baseless Hadith” [31:6].
Today the word usually means something else — sayings gathered generations after the Prophet died and attributed to him. The Quran never uses it that way.
Sunnah
A way, or a system. In the Quran the word belongs to God: “This is GOD's eternal system, and you will find that GOD's system is unchangeable” [33:62]. The same is said in [48:23] and [17:77].
Today the word usually means the Prophet's own customs, collected long after his death. The Quran does not use it that way.
Submitter
Someone who submits to God alone. It is God's own name for us: “He is the one who named you ‘Submitters’ originally” [22:78]. Abraham told his children the same — “do not die except as submitters” [2:132].
Submission
The religion of submitting to God alone. “The only religion approved by GOD is ‘Submission.’” [3:19]
Not a new religion — the one God pointed out to Abraham, and to his children after him [2:132].
This translation
Quran: The Final Testament, translated by Rashad Khalifa. Every verse quoted on this site comes from it, word for word, along with its footnotes, its headings over the verses, and its appendices.
Footnote
A note printed under a verse in this translation, explaining it.
The footnotes are the translator's, not scripture. This site says so whenever it leans on one.
Appendix
One of the thirty-eight essays at the back of this translation. They are the translator's own writing, not scripture.
All thirty-eight are on this site to read in full.
Contact Prayers (Salat)
The five daily prayers. The Quran calls them Salat, and this translation renders that as Contact Prayers, because the prayer is contact with God.
“observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) to remember Me” [20:14]
Obligatory charity (Zakat)
The charity God makes obligatory: 2.5% of net income, given on the day the income arrives.
“give the due alms on the day of harvest” [6:141]
Ablution (Wudu)
The washing before prayer. God gives it in four steps in one verse: wash the face, wash the arms to the elbows, wipe the head, and wash the feet to the ankles [5:6].
Dry ablution (Tayammum)
What we do when there is no water: touch clean dry soil, then wipe the face and hands [5:6].
God says in the same verse that He “does not wish to make the religion difficult for you”.
The Key
Sura 1, seven verses, recited in every unit of the Contact Prayers.
It is the one part of the prayer said in Arabic.
Qiblah
The direction we face in prayer: towards the Sacred Masjid in Mecca [2:144].