The Holy Qor-aan 002:044
وَاَقِيۡمُوا الصَّلٰوةَ وَاٰتُوا الزَّكٰوةَ وَارۡكَعُوۡا مَعَ الرّٰكِعِيۡنَ
Wa aa-qee-mo os-sua-laa-ta wa aa-to oz-za-ka-ta Wa ur-ka-oo ma-aur raa-kay-een.
And observe the Prayer. And pay the Purification from earnings. And bow down in prayers along with the Bowers.
- وَ — Wa — And (= Conj., It links words, phrases or clauses; also; but; additionally; though; when; while; yet; whereupon)
- اَقِيۡمُوا — Aa-qee-moo … (s) — Observe (= v., pres., pl., 2nd person. Attend to. Be steadfast. Comply fully with all dictates of all prayers. Establish. Perform properly. Observe regularly. See Note 002:044)
- الصَّلٰوةَ — Sua-laa-ta — The Prayer (= n., This worship consists of five daily Prayers mandated upon Moslems and precedented by the Holy Prophet, s.a.w., who also offered two more. See Note 002:044a)
- وَ — Wa — And (= Conj., Connects words, phrases or clauses. See وَ above)
- اٰتُوا — Aa-too … (z) — Pay (= v., pres., pl., 2nd person. Award. Confer. Contribute. Deliver. Distribute. Donate. Give. Grant. Hand over. Lay out. Pay. Practice. Present. Remit)
- الزَّكٰوةَ — Za-kaa-ta — The Purification (= n., Alms paid to purify one’s earnings. Donations. See Commentary titled as Islam 104 – 5 Acts of worships)
- وَ — Wa … (ur) — And (= Conj., Connects words, phrases or clauses; also; but; additionally; though; when; while; yet; whereupon)
- ارۡكَعُوۡا — Aur-ka-oo — Bow down (= v., pl., You all bow, head down in prayer. Bow and pray lowering heads, bent forward from waist while still on feet standing. Submit in obedience)
- مَعَ — Ma-aa … (ur) — Along with (= In the company of; going with; following)
- الرّٰكِعِيۡنَ — Ra-kay-een — Bowers (= n., pl., Congregation of worshipers. Who submit to God Almighty in total obedience. Worshipers who pray bowing down. Worshipers praying with a single-minded and wholehearted devotion in service of God. See also 003:044)
* Note 002:044. The Holy Qor-aan has used several derivates from the root ق ا م . The root carries the concept of digging deep, establishing, making firm, fully observing, faithfully discharging and honestly performing.
The derivates اَقِيۡمُوا and اَقَامَ are verbs in this Command. They come just before nouns الصَّلٰوةَ (002:044) and الۡوَزۡنَ (055:010).
Translating these two verbs in a single word include affirm, balance, comply, confirm, determine, do, enforce, establish, observe, set and weigh. Translating them in more words than one are many. The following are just a few. Attend to. Be steadfast. Comply fully. Firm up. Fully balanced. Give in full. Observe with all dictates, fullness and integrity. Perform properly and regularly. Weigh fully and honestly. Turn to. Carry out commands [005:067]. In 007:030 the translations include ‘see upright,’ ‘fix aright’ and ‘fix … aright’ and ‘Face Him only (i.e. worship none but Allah and face the Qiblah, i.e., the Ka’bah at Makkah during prayers’)
** Note 002:004a: This verse Commands doing three things. The first two commands are repeated in the Holy Qor-aan several times, both in the in the 2nd person format, i.e., ‘you’ in اَقِيۡمُوا الصَّلٰوةَ وَاٰتُوا الزَّكٰوةَ , or in the 3rd person format, i.e., ‘they’ in اَقَامَ الصَّلٰوةَ وَاٰتَى الزَّکٰوةَ.
The first command is to offer الصَّلٰوةَ (Saa-laa-ta) or prayers that refers to two things.
- It’s beseeching, invoking, praying, requesting, supplicating and worshiping the Almighty God. This act involves praying night and day in everything with full focus and attention [003:192].
- It refers to one specified It was mandated upon Israelites [verses 002:044 and 002:084]. Later it was prescribed for Moslems as well [verses 002:111 and 005:056]. It is included in the Five basic worships mandated upon Moslems [See our Commentary ISLAM – 104 — 5 Acts of worships or pillars of Islam].
The second Command is to pay الزَّکٰوةَ (Zakaat) i.e., bring about one’s purification.
- Translations of Zakat have been many. Alms. Alms-tax. Alms that purify. Charity. Donation. Portion of income paid as alms or tithes to purify earnings and soul. Poor due. Poor-rate. Purification. The amount invested in the causes of Allah, to make earnings grow and to reap greater rewards in the future and Hereafter.
- This worship is to adduce, collect, display or produce for Zakat and show and spend it to improve the life of everyone alike. Zakat is not the same as صد قه (= Saud-quah) meant for only the less fortunate and not for others; see Charity in Commentary “Tr – Azam Al, an Ahmadi Moslem – Ch 06 – Food”
- So-called religious scholars have turned this worship for … * Abusing it as the means to measure a Moslem’s sincerity of Faith. * Developing sophisticated mafia-style art to extract collections for it. * Exploiting it for public show and discrediting the non-compliant. * Practically encouraging the criticism that Islam has justified exhibitionism. * Examples of misusing this worship include Pakistan (with its “largest number of beggars than any other Muslim country” as reported by its journalists in Jan 2026, A.D.), Saudi Arab (as shown in our Commentary Islam – Zakat) and India (as shown in our Commentary Religion, Islam and Sikhs)
These two Commands are repeated in words [verses 002:044, 002:084, 002:111, 002:178, 002:278, 022:079, 073:021] and in essence [verses like 005:056, 009:011, 009:071, 019:056, 098-006]
The third Command is reiterated also, such as in in verse 005:056.
One significance of these Commands is that a man should by these physical actions express love for (a) his Creator, the Almighty God and (b) His creation, his fellow beings. . This precisely why the Arabic word for man is اِنۡسَا ن (In-saan) which means one with two loves, i.e., love for God and love for fellow human
