Salat During War (4:102)

The Quran informs believers that they can modify how they perform their Salat under unusual circumstances, particularly during times of war. These commandments are found in verses 2:239, 4:101, and 4:102.

In order to understand 2:239, it helps to start from 2:238 in order to understand that the context is Salat. This verse informs the believers that during times of insecurity they can perform their Salat while walking or riding.

[2:238] You shall consistently observe the Contact Prayers, especially the middle prayer, and devote yourselves totally to GOD.

حَافِظُوا عَلَى الصَّلَوَاتِ وَالصَّلَاةِ الْوُسْطَىٰ وَقُومُوا لِلَّهِ قَانِتِينَ

[2:239] 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.

فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ فَرِجَالًا أَوْ رُكْبَانًا فَإِذَا أَمِنْتُمْ فَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَمَا عَلَّمَكُمْ مَا لَمْ تَكُونُوا تَعْلَمُونَ

Below is a word-by-word translation of the above two verses.

4:101 informs the believers that during times of war, they are allowed to shorten their Salat.

[4:101] 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.

وَإِذَا ضَرَبْتُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَلَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ أَنْ تَقْصُرُوا مِنَ الصَّلَاةِ إِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَنْ يَفْتِنَكُمُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِنَّ الْكَافِرِينَ كَانُوا لَكُمْ عَدُوًّا مُبِينًا

4:102 provides the believers specific instructions on how they are to perform the Salat when they have to be on guard during war.

[4:102] 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.

وَإِذَا كُنْتَ فِيهِمْ فَأَقَمْتَ لَهُمُ الصَّلَاةَ فَلْتَقُمْ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْهُمْ مَعَكَ وَلْيَأْخُذُوا أَسْلِحَتَهُمْ فَإِذَا سَجَدُوا فَلْيَكُونُوا مِنْ وَرَائِكُمْ وَلْتَأْتِ طَائِفَةٌ أُخْرَىٰ لَمْ يُصَلُّوا فَلْيُصَلُّوا مَعَكَ وَلْيَأْخُذُوا حِذْرَهُمْ وَأَسْلِحَتَهُمْ وَدَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَوْ تَغْفُلُونَ عَنْ أَسْلِحَتِكُمْ وَأَمْتِعَتِكُمْ فَيَمِيلُونَ عَلَيْكُمْ مَيْلَةً وَاحِدَةً وَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِنْ كَانَ بِكُمْ أَذًى مِنْ مَطَرٍ أَوْ كُنْتُمْ مَرْضَىٰ أَنْ تَضَعُوا أَسْلِحَتَكُمْ وَخُذُوا حِذْرَكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ أَعَدَّ لِلْكَافِرِينَ عَذَابًا مُهِينًا

Before going through the word-by-word translation of the above verse, it is worth pointing out that many individuals who read the above verse often become confused about how this is to be understood and conducted. The reason for this confusion is that in English we do not typically utilize a distinction between the singular you and the plural you; e.g. you all. In the Arabic Quran, typically when the singular “you” is used it is in reference to the prophet, while the plural “you all”, is used is in reference to the people.

The Arabic clearly shows that the prophet is leading the Contact Prayer (Salat) the whole time for both groups, while the believers in two groups take turns praying behind him rotating in after prostration. This way there is always a group that is standing guard and holding their weapons. For simplicity, I translated the verse specifying group #1 as the group that stood guard first, and group #2 as the group that stood guard second.

[4:102] When you (prophet) are with them (the believers during battle) and you (prophet) lead the Contact Prayer (Salat) for them (the believers during battle), then let a group stand guard (group #1) with their weapons, over them (group #2) and you (prophet). Then when they (group #2) prostrated, then let them (group #2) go behind you [all] and let another group (group #1) come forward, who has not prayed and let them (group #1) pray along with you (prophet). And let them (group #1) take their precautions and their weapons.

Did The Messenger Prostrate

Some argue that according to 4:102, the messenger did not prostrate with the believers when they were performing their Salat. The supposed claim for this argument is that the verse only indicates that “they prostrated” and does not specifically mention the messenger prostrating, but this can easily be disproved.

Firstly, the absence of explicitly stating that the messenger prostrated does not mean that he did not prostrate with the group. At best, this can only be insinuated, but, as we will see below, it is clear that the messenger was part of the group that prostrated.

Secondly, the verse states that the messenger was the one who was leading the Salat for the believers, this would mean that he was performing all the actions of the Salat, while each of the two groups would join him before and after the prostration.

Before looking at the Arabic grammar it is worth pointing out the three forms that are used in the verse to address the various parties.

• the singular “you” is used when addressing only the prophet with the suffix "ta" ( تَ ) or "ka" ( كَ )

• them/their is used when addressing each group or both groups with the suffix "hum" ( هُمُ )

• the plural “you” is used when addressing the prophet and the group with the suffix "kum" ( كُمْ )

So, let’s look at these uses in the context of the verse. In the snippet below, the singular “you” is used when addressing the messenger, and “them” is used for the rest of the believers.

In the next section, we see that the first group of believers is to stand guard over the other group and the prophet while they perform their Salat.

Then, the verse states that after “they prostrated,” the other group comes forward to pray with the prophet. Here, individuals claim that the “they” refers only to the group and not the prophet, but if we just look at the next couple of words, we see that the prophet was included in this “they” because it uses the term “behind you [all]” and not “behind [them],” which indicates that the prophet was among those prostrating.

If we look at the grammar, we see that it uses the suffix “you all” ( كُمْ ), which is the plural form of the word "you" in the word "warāikum" ( وَرَائِكُمْ ), which means “behind you [all]”. If the prostration did not include the messenger then it would have used the term "warāihum" ( وَرَاءَهُمْ ) “behind them” using the suffix "hum" ( هُمْ ) "them", but since it uses the term "warāikum" ( وَرَائِكُمْ ) “behind you [all]” this indicates that the messenger was included with those who were prostrating.

Below is a color-coded translation to help clarify this point:

• Group #1 is the group that stood guard first

• Group #2 is the group that stood guard second