Prayer, Practice & Posture

 

Jesus called God Abba (Mark 14:36), Adonai or Lord (Matthew 11:25), and Father (John 17:1). He taught all his disciples to pray to God calling him Father (Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:2). He was of Jewish descent (Romans 1:3), so he followed all the festivals (John 7:10), and drank wine. The Pharisees called him a winebibber(Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:34). He sang hymns, showing that like David (Psalm 57:7) and Solomon (Song of Solomon 1:1), he was into music. As they went up the Mount of Olives, he sang hymns with his disciples (Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26).Being Jewish, he definitely danced like David danced (2 Samuel 6:14), as it was in their custom to dance at festivities like the wedding at Cana, where he turned water into wine (John 2:1-11). He was a wonderful person with finer qualities; everyone flocked to him—people, children, animals (Mark 10:13-16), even dogs who ate crumbs off his table (Matthew 15:27; Mark 7:28).When Jesus prayed, he looked up to the heavens and prayed (John 17:1; Mark 6:41). He did kneel and bow, but it was not about posture; it was about how he communicated with God. He taught his disciples to always pray to God as the Father (John 16:23), and to ask anything in His name, in the name of Jesus, and it will be done for you (John 14:13-14; John 15:16). Jesus did not teach or mention posture in his whole ministry and teachings.

Muhammed did not follow the teachings of Christ and reverted back to tribal laws, but did not teach the people the 10 commandments that Moses gave, dismissing it as "explanations about everything" (Quran 7:145). The people assumed all tribal laws were God's laws. Jesus clearly separated the church and the state, offering no governance and no legal tribunal (John 18:36), only to follow standard practices, even paying taxes (Matthew 22:21). He was focused on modernization and only left the people with Love God and Love neighbor as the two commandments (Matthew 22:37-40) and to follow the law and order of the land. Muhammed followed and instituted the tribal laws. He had different views about prayer, he scolded people who looked up in prayer, warning that their eyesight would be taken away (Sahih al-Bukhari 750). He also warned them that they would have the head of a donkey if they raised their head before the Imam during prayer (Sahih al-Bukhari 691). He executed people (Sahih al-Bukhari 3018) where Jesus forgave (John 8:7-11; Luke 23:34). He instituted praying toward and touching the Black Stone for the forgiveness of sins (Jami` at-Tirmidhi 959; Sunan an-Nasa'i 2919). So, he did not keep the laws of the covenant nor did he follow the standards set by Jesus, but continued all the practices, including adding some new ones. He forbade associating Allah with Jesus (Quran 5:72) and declared that Allah is a father to no one (Quran 112:3-4).So why did Muhammed break all idols in the Kaaba (Sahih al-Bukhari 2478)? Could it be personal? His grandfather, Abd al-Muttalib, nearly sacrificed Muhammed's father, Abdullah, to the premier Kaaba idol Hubal. Abd al-Muttalib had made a vow to sacrifice one of his sons if he was blessed with ten, and the divining arrows inside the Kaaba repeatedly chose Abdullah. Following the intense protests and advice of his tribal peers, the grandfather consulted a sorceress and ultimately substituted his father's life by sacrificing 100 camels instead (Sirat Rasul Allah / Ibn Ishaq biography). Muhammed famously alluded to this personal history later on, declaring himself to be the "son of the two sacrifices"—referring to Ishmael and his own father, Abdullah (Tafsir Ibn Kathir).