Surah 96: The Call to Prostrate
1. What is the role of prostration in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and did the ancient Greeks really refuse to prostrate?
2. Can God in all three Abrahamic religions fairly be described as "Unity" and "Unity-Consciousness" or are these merely attributes of God?
3. I would like to learn more about the master-servant relationship between God and the human being as reflected in the symbolism of prostration.
4. Do Muslim scholars agree that there are two ways to prostrate, either ritualistically or in spontaneous response to an encounter with divine presence?
5. Why does Islam require five daily prayers, not six or four - does it really matter to God, if the intention is sincere?
6. Can you elaborate on why prostration is so important to Surah 96 of the Quran, the first Surah in chronological order?
7. Say more about the Sajdah of Tilawah - what does that mean?
8. I read Surah 96 for the first time a few days ago and immediately felt called to prostrate to God. I delayed because I am not a Muslim. Could this have been a message from Allah through the Quran?
9. I am approaching my study of the Quran as a non-denominational "new monastic" Christian with an open heart, and I want to develop my own liturgy of the hours for daily prayer life that includes prostration. Do you have any recommendations?
10. I'd like to focus on your idea of a "surrender of the day" at Sunset, Vespers, and Maghrib. That would be around 5:45 PM for me on most days. Does it matter if this prostration is before my meal, and what kind of prayer text for surrendering the day can you recommend?
11. I live as a hermit, so I have considerable freedom to schedule my hour from 6 to 7 PM accordingly. I would like to maintain the sense of divine presence while eating a light meal, taking medications, brushing my teeth, doing dishes, changing my clothes, and then ideally sitting in silent centering prayer for 10-15 minutes with a cup of herbal tea. What do you recommend?
12. Let's go over a prayer plan for Compline next. After reading and sometimes journaling for 1-2 hours I usually go to bed between 8-9 PM. Since I read in bed to relax it is easy for me to fall asleep without praying. What do you recommend for a "small death" prayer habit that fits this situation?
13. Moving forward to tomorrow morning, I wake at 5 AM, use the bathroom, make my bed, prepare herbal tea, and sit in silent meditation, journaling any important thoughts that arise, until 6 AM when I turn on my computer and begin Torah study. What do you recommend as a prostration and prayer during this 5-6 AM hour?
14. Let's bring this back to the Prayer for Unity that you presented earlier on this thread. How can I integrate that prayer into a 1-hour midday meal and prayer ritual from 12-1 PM (my main meal of the day, so it takes a lot of time in the kitchen preparing, eating and cleaning up)? I am usually tempted to listen to a podcast at this time. Maybe if it is a religious podcast or music that is acceptable?
15. I would like to learn more about the mixtum, and liturgically I want to aim for this to happen around 8 AM.
16. I will be putting all of these recommendations together into a single printout. What is this kind of daily liturgical guidebook called in contemporary Christian new monasticism?
17. Are you able to summarize the key points we have thus far discussed in my horologion from 5 AM wake-up to 9 PM sleep?
18. Let's try to make "Jonathan's Lent 2026 Horologion" more complete. What liturgical headings or watches do you suggest if we add Torah study from 6 AM to 8 AM, religious writing from 8:15 AM to Noon, chores from 1 PM to 3 PM, and religious office work from 3 PM to 5:45 PM?
19. Jonathan's Lent 2026 Horologion
20. There will be many adjustments I will need to make for medical appointments and so on, and it will not be easy for me to implement all of this at first, but can you tell if most new monastic hermits would consider this a solid starting structure?
While I am not committing to any of this yet, it is definitely something to contemplate!
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