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The Muslim prayer is not an act of “domination” over non-Muslims

Friday Khutba by Dr Zahid Aziz, for Lahore Ahmadiyya UK, 27 March 2026

“Recite what has been revealed to you of the Book and keep up prayer. Surely prayer keeps (one) away from indecency and evil; and certainly the remembrance of Allah is the greatest (force). And Allah knows what you do. And do not argue with the People of the Book except by what is best, save such of them as act unjustly. But say: We believe in what has been revealed to us and revealed to you, and our God and your God is One, and to Him we submit.” — ch. 29, Al-‘Ankabūt, v. 45–46

اُتۡلُ مَاۤ اُوۡحِیَ اِلَیۡکَ مِنَ الۡکِتٰبِ وَ اَقِمِ الصَّلٰوۃَ ؕ اِنَّ الصَّلٰوۃَ تَنۡہٰی عَنِ الۡفَحۡشَآءِ وَ الۡمُنۡکَرِ ؕ وَ لَذِکۡرُ اللّٰہِ اَکۡبَرُ ؕ وَ اللّٰہُ یَعۡلَمُ مَا تَصۡنَعُوۡنَ ﴿۴۵﴾ وَ لَا تُجَادِلُوۡۤا اَہۡلَ الۡکِتٰبِ اِلَّا بِالَّتِیۡ ہِیَ اَحۡسَنُ ٭ۖ اِلَّا الَّذِیۡنَ ظَلَمُوۡا مِنۡہُمۡ وَ قُوۡلُوۡۤا اٰمَنَّا بِالَّذِیۡۤ اُنۡزِلَ اِلَیۡنَا وَ اُنۡزِلَ اِلَیۡکُمۡ وَ اِلٰـہُنَا وَ اِلٰـہُکُمۡ وَاحِدٌ وَّ نَحۡنُ لَہٗ مُسۡلِمُوۡنَ ﴿۴۶﴾

There seems to be no connection between these two verses which occur together in the Quran as verses 45 and 46 of chapter 29. Before coming to any such connection, I would like to point out that the first verse begins by addressing one person, using the singular form of the word “you”:

“Recite what has been revealed to you (thee) of the Book and keep up prayer”.

But while worded as if it addressing the Holy Prophet Muhammad, commanding him to recite his revelation and to keep up prayer, it is clear that each and every Muslim is meant because prayer is the duty of every Muslim. Moreover, the verse 45 then switches into the plural when it says:

“And Allah knows what you do”.

The second verse, verse 46, is all in the plural. When it says:

“do not argue with the People of the Book except by what is best”

and:

“say: We believe in what has been revealed to us”, this is all in the plural, referring to all Muslims.

The only statement in these two verses which could be considered as referring exclusively to the Holy Prophet Muhammad is the opening one:

“Recite what has been revealed to you of the Book”.

However, in many places the Quran tells us that it was revealed to Muslims, just as in other places it tells us that the Quran was revealed to the Holy Prophet Muhammad. For example, right at the beginning of the Quran it addresses the Holy Prophet when it says: “what has been revealed to you” — unzila ilai-ka (2:4). But in other places it addresses all Muslims and describes the Quran as having been revealed to you all, unzila ilai-kum (5:68, 7:3, 39:55). Even here in verse 46 that I read above, it tells Muslims to say to others that “We believe in what has been revealed to us” — unzila ilai-nā.

With regard to the scriptures of the Jews and the Christians as well, while as having been revealed to their individual prophets, sometimes these are mentioned as having been revealed to their communities. For example, it says “what was revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob” (2:136, 3:84), but here it says to their followers “what has been revealed to you”. This all shows that the opening words of verse 45, “Recite what has been revealed to you (thee) of the Book and keep up prayer”, are directed at every Muslim, not only at the Holy Prophet Muhammad.

In that whole verse, the recitation of the Quran, the keeping up of prayer and the remembrance of Allah are mentioned. The prescribed daily prayers necessarily include some recitation from the Quran, along with other words which constitute the remembrance of Allah. It is stated here that these prayers keep a person away from all kinds of bad and wrong actions and behaviour. Apparently there is no connection between this topic of prayer and the instruction in the next verse which tells Muslims to say to the People of the Book:

“We believe in what has been revealed to us and revealed to you, and our God and your God is One”.

However, an event occurred a few days ago in London, which makes the second verse highly relevant in connection with prayer. You may have heard that an iftār event with Maghrib prayers was organised in Trafalgar Square. Following this, some politicians alleged that this public holding of Muslim prayers with Adhan was an act to demonstrate Muslim domination” over non-Muslims. On the other hand, many responsible and recognised Christian and Jewish spokespersons rejected this criticism. The Bishop of Willesden wrote:

“The public iftar in Trafalgar Square was not an act of cultural imposition, nor a signal of division. It was, rather, a moment of hospitality … extended by one community to the wider public. It was open, generous and peaceful” (see link).

The Jewish News published an editorial entitled: “In defence of praying during Iftar in Trafalgar Square”. It stated that this event:

“had been openly and legally booked for Trafalgar Square. Muslims present had every right to pray as a part of that.”

It explained that Jews also hold similar religious events in public in the UK, and added:

“We would be wise to defend that right for others, because what guarantee do we have that if it were taken from them, we would not be next?” (See link).

The first verse that I recited states clearly the purpose of the Muslim prayer. It is to give the person praying the strength to be able to stay away from “indecency and evil”. The only “domination” by Muslims through prayer is domination over their own bad desires.

One prominent politician, a former leading government minister and former Foreign Secretary, said in a TV interview last Sunday, with reference to some of the words of the Adhan which was sounded at the ceremony, that this:

“made it clear that there is no God other than the God of Islam and no prophet other than the Prophet Muhammad.”

This, he claimed, was “exclusionary”. (BBC1 programme Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg; in the iPlayer recording see at 47mins). To hear a recording of his words from the programme, please select this link.

It so happens that the second verse I recited (29:46), after the one emphasising the importance of prayer, is a simple answer to such ignorance. In this verse, consisting of two sentences, the second sentence instructs Muslims to say to the People of the Book, which refers in particular to the Jews and the Christians:

“We believe in what has been revealed to us and revealed to you, and our God and your God is One, and to Him we submit.”

This is a plain rebuttal of the allegation of this politician, that Muslims are proclaiming to others that ours is the only God. Islam clearly recognises that the Supreme Being worshipped by other religions is the same God whom we call Allah, the one whom Christians refer to as “God the Father”. The error of others that Islam points out is that while they worship the One true God, they take other beings as His partners. It is also plainly stated here that Muslims believe that the same God Who sent the Quran to the Holy Prophet Muhammad also sent the scriptures of other religions, meaning in particular the scriptures of the Jews and the Christians, to their prophets.

There is no concept or teaching in Islam of a God of Islam or a God of Muslims. As everyone knows, the Quran begins by describing Allah as “Lord of all the worlds”. Then its first-occurring commandment is:

“O mankind, serve your Lord Who created you and those before you” (2:21),

and in its last chapter Allah is called:

“the Lord of mankind, the King of mankind, and the God of mankind” (114:1–3).

As to Jews and Christians specifically, Allah says in the Quran:

“And when We made a covenant with the Children of Israel: You shall serve none but Allah” (2:83),

and:

“And with those who say, We are Christians, We made a covenant” (5:14).

The covenant or promise made by Allah, first with the Israelites through Moses, and then with the Christians through Jesus, was that if they fulfilled their side of the bargain of remaining true to the teachings given to them, Allah would fulfil His promise to them of bestowing his spiritual favours upon them. The same covenant was made with the Muslims, as the Quran says:

“And remember Allah’s favour on you and His covenant with which He bound you when you said: We have heard and we obey” (5:7).

These covenants are mentioned several times in the Quran, and significantly in chapter 5 the covenant with Muslims is mentioned in verse 7, with the Jews in verse 12, and with the Christians in verse 14. It was the same God making the same covenant through His prophets with their people.

The other allegation made by the politician mentioned above, that Muslims were declaring that there is “no prophet other than the Prophet Muhammad” is based on such deplorable ignorance of commonly and widely known facts that it hardly needs any refutation. If a Muslim made such a declaration, it would be exactly as if he was leaving the religion of Islam. A person cannot possibly remain a Muslim without acknowledging all the prophets named in the Quran, including Abraham, Moses and Jesus, and several other prophets of the Bible.

I will now briefly turn to the first sentence of the second verse, 29:46, that I have been dealing with above. It begins by instructing Muslims:

“Do not argue with the People of the Book (i.e., principally Jews and Christians) except by what is best, save such of them as act unjustly”.

In another place the Quran has made explicit what that “best” is. It says:

“Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and argue with them in the best manner” (16:125).

The “best” way of arguing is to put forward arguments and teachings which appeal to human reason and to the human minds and hearts. The aim of the argument should be to convince the other person of the truth for his own benefit. It should not be to defeat, humiliate or belittle the other person, score debating points, or achieve victory by tricks and unfair and unscrupulous tactics. “Best way” also means to conduct the argument sincerely in a good-mannered, polite and decent way. The verse adds here that some of those with whom you are arguing may act “unjustly”. That refers to those who merely attack you and use bad language, ridicule and mockery to gain cheap laughs, and knowingly hide or distort the truth to reject your argument. In such situations, the Quran advises Muslims not to engage with such people. Muslims must not descend to their level, but the Quran allows Muslims to respond, in a careful and restrained way, to the undesirable language used by their opponents. Thus the Quran requires Muslims to be respectful towards people of other religions even while engaging in a debate with them.

Let us pray that Allah enables us to present these teachings of the Quran to those who are unaware of them and who are jumping to their own wrong conclusions, ameen.

Website: www.aaiil.uk