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From: mmdh@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (mazen.mokhtar)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: Re: Ahadith dilemma: # of prayers/day
Message-ID: <1991Jun10.020106.17010@wpi.WPI.EDU>
Date: 10 Jun 91 02:01:06 GMT
References: <1991Jun6.010816.3944@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
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Assalamy `alaykum,

In article <1991Jun6.010816.3944@nntp-server.caltech.edu> bes@tybalt.caltech.edu (Behnam Sadeghi) writes:
>
>Concerning the woman who said "Ya Ali," when she stood up:  

  Ali was the cousin of the messenger (PBUH). Ali means aproximately
'high' as in noble. One of the names of Allah (God) is 'Al-Ali',
which means 'The High' ie 'The Most High'. Please note the 'Al',
which means 'The'. Names of Allah cannot be used as personal names,
of course, but Ali is different from Al-Ali in spelling as well as
in meaning.
  
  When comeone is calling on Allah in Arabic, the article 'Al' is
no longer needed because of Arabic grammar, so one calls on Allah
by saying 'Ya Ali' instead of 'Ya Al-Ali'. 'Ya' is used to call
someone, similar to the english 'Oh' (eg: "Oh people, worship your
Lord who has created you and those before you that you may be
pious.")
 
  Therefore 'Ya Ali' is calling upon Allah. It is used by all groups
of Muslims (I intensly dislike the division of Muslims into sects
and try to avoid using sect names when possible. Muhammad did not
belong to a sect, there is no reason why I should. I prefer to say
that I am a Muslim who happens not to think that `Ali was
designated to be the successor of Muhammad.)

  Similarly:
  Al-`Aziz is a name of Allah. `Aziz is a personal name of many. When
calling on Allah, people often say: "Ya `Aziz". When calling `Aziz
they would also say: "Ya `Aziz".

Assalamu `alaykum,

Mamdouh Maher