SALĀH (PRAYER)
Prayer is the most essential obligation which a Muslim must perform. This is the most obvious act which a Muslim does to show his/her obedience to Allāh (Sub-haanahu wata'aala). This is also the Second Pillar of Islam.
Allāh (Sub-haanahu wata'aala) gave prayer as a gift to the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) for his Ummah on the night of Miraj.
In prayer, a person leaves everything and devotes himself to the Worship of Allāh (Sub-haanahu wata'aala). This can be done individually or in congregation (Jamā'ah).
Before performing prayer, a person must make sure that his body, clothes and his place of worship are clean.
It is a Hadīth of the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) that: "A person who reads Namaz five times a day, his/her sins will fall like leaves fall off a tree during autumn."
DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF SALĀH
In general, there are four categories of Salāh:
1. Fard: means duty. It is compulsory and should not be avoided. It has two sub-divisions:
A. Fardi ayn; which is compulsory on all Muslims, for example, offering Salāh five times a day, fasting the month of Ramadān etc. One who performs it gets the reward but one who does not perform it is a sinner, liable to be punished. One who rejects it altogether is a Kāfir (unbeliever).
B. Fardi kifayah: which is not compulsory on all Muslims and even if a group of Muslims perform it, the responsibility of all Muslims would be fulfilled, for example salatul janaza (funeral prayer).
2. Wajib: means essential or necessary. It is next to Fard in importance, for example salatul eid. One who performs it gets the reward but one who does not perform it at all is a sinner liable to be punished.
3. Sunnāt: means that which prophet Muhammad (Blessings and Peace be upon him) did. There are two types of Sunnāh:
A. Sunnāti mu'akkadah: that which prophet Muhammad (Blessings and Peace be upon him) always did and ordered his followers to do. One who does it gets the reward and one who does not do, will be deprived of intercession by Prophet Muhammad (Blessings and Peace be upon him) on the day of judgement.
B. Sunnāti ghair mu'akkadah: that which prophet Muhammad (Blessings and Peace be upon him) did occasionally and which is optional on his followers. One who does it gets a reward.
4. Nafil: means extra. One who does it gets a reward but one who does not do is not liable to be punished.
SALĀH INVOLVES THE FOLLOWING POSTURES.
1. First takbeer in standing position to begin prayer.
2. Standing erect.
3. Bowing down.
4. Standing erect after bowing.
5. Prostration.
6. Sitting between prostrations.
7. Second prostration.
8. Last sitting.
9. Saying Peace to end the Salāh.
﷽
SALĀH 1- (FIVE DAILY PRAYERS )
صلاة
Basic duties have been declared to the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) through the Archangel Gabriel. However, the five compulsory daily prayers were directly presented to the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) on the night of Mir’aj, the miraculous journey of the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) to the heavens. At first, it was fifty daily prayers, but when Prophet Moses (Peace be upon him) told Prophet Muhammad (Blessings and Peace be upon him) that:
“ – O Messenger of Allāh! I unsuccessfully tried this on the Sons of Israel before you. Your people cannot bear that responsibility either!”
The Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him), that night, appealed to Allah five times to reduce it to five daily prayers.
Prophet Moses (Blessings and Peace be upon him), again, told Prophet Muhammad (Blessings and Peace be upon him):
“ – They cannot bear the five daily ones either!”
The Prophet answered:
“ – I have no face to appeal to Allah any more!”
And it was, then, determined to be five times a day.
However, Allah showed Mercy due to the appeal of the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him), and also announced good news to the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) as well as reducing it to five daily ones:
“O the Prophet! Allah (Sub-haanahu wata'aala) abides by His word. You will get reward of fifty for the five.” (Ibn Maja, Ikamatu’s-Salah, 194).
The Prophet tells his people about the five daily prayers:
“Allah said: ‘I enjoined the five daily prayers on your people. There is a pledge by Me. I will surely place those who perform the five daily prayers in time into the paradise. And there is no pledge by Me to those who do not keep these prayers.’” (Ibn Maja, Ikametu’s-Salah, 194).
It is stated in another saying of the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him):
“Allah enjoined the five daily prayers on His servants. Allah assures those who faithfully do these prayers of paradise on the Day of Judgement. Yet, Allah does not assure those who do these prayers lightly, without care and have defects in the manner of its performance; Allah deals with them as He wishes, either punishes them, or forgives them.” (Ibn Maja, Ikametu’s-Salah, 194).
The Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) asked the following question to the companions to explain to them the importance of the five daily prayers:
“ – If one of you has a river next to his door, and he washed himself five times a day in this river, do you think that person can have a scrap of dirt on his body?”
The Companions answered:
“ – No dirt will remain on that person.”
The Prophet went on:
“Five daily prayers function in the same way. Allah deletes sins through five daily prayers.” (Bukhari, Mawaqit, 6).
The Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) announced the following good news in several sayings as well:
“If deadly sins are avoided, the five daily prayers and the Friday congregational prayers are considered to be redemptions for minor sins committed between them. And this is valid for all times.” (Muslim, Taharat, 14).
“If a Muslim makes ablution when the time for prayer is due, and does the prayer in pious reverence, this prayer redeems his previous sins. And this is valid for all times.” (Muslim, Taharat, 7).
It must be stated here that the five daily prayers are all-important. There is a wisdom behind their being at different times of the day. The way they are divided is good for humans both bodily and spiritually. Therefore, one should be serious about performing each one of them with sincerity. Allah says in the Qur’an:
“So (give) glory to Allāh, when you reach eventide and when you rise in the morning; To him be praise, in the heavens and on earth; and in the late-afternoon and when the day begins to decline.” (Ar-Rum 30: 17-18).
Abdullah ibn Abbas regards these verses as covering the five daily prayers and says:
“The words ‘when you rise in the morning’ refers to the morning prayer;
The words ‘in the late afternoon’ refers to the noon-prayer;
The words ‘the day begins to decline’ refers to the late-noon prayer;
The words ‘when you reach eventide’ refers to the evening and late-night prayer.”
There are other verses in the Qur’an referring to the obligatory prayers.
Saphiri attaches great importance to the five daily prayers and describes the condition of those who do not offer them as follows:
“The angels call to those who give up the morning prayer as ‘O the great sinner!’;
‘those who give up the noon-prayer as ‘O deprived one!’
‘Those who give up the late-noon prayer as ‘O rebel’
‘Those who give up the evening prayer as ‘O ungrateful one!’
‘Those who give up the late-evening prayer as ‘O loser!’...”
On the other hand, the ways and regulations of prayer, and also the additional prayers (sunnah ) that the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) always performed or the ones he usually did, should be attentively observed. These are essential parts of the five daily prayers besides the optional ones throughout the day.There are many narratives attributed to the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) in this regard:
“The two units of sunnah of morning prayer is more beneficial than the world and also all the creation in the world.” (Muslim, Salat al-Musafirin, 96).
“The Prophet used to pray four units before the obligatory units of the noon-prayer, and he also used to pray two units after that.” (Tirmidhi, Cuma, 66).
“May Allah show mercy to those who pray four units before the obligatory units of the late-afternoon prayer.” (Tirmidhi, Salat, 201).
“Hurry up to pray the two units of sunnah prayer after the three obligatory units of evening prayer as it is uplifted together with the obligatory units.” (Rezin).
The following narrative is said to refer to the four extra units before the late-night prayer:
“There is a prayer between the call to prayer(adhan) and the call for the beginning of the obligatory units(iqamat).” (Bukhari, Azan, 16).
And the two extra units after the obligatory units of the late evening prayer is known to have been done by the Prophet routinely.
One of the most important aspects of prayer is to do it in time. Whenever the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) was asked:
“What is the most virtuous worship?”
He answered:
“The prayer that is performed in time.” (Bukhari, Mawakitu’s-Salah, 5).
So it is preferable to offer prayers as soon as their time is due. The Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) says in this regard:
“Allah is pleased with those who offer prayers in their due time, but He forgives those who do them towards the end of the time.” (Cam’u’l-Fawaid, I, 163).
Apart from the five daily prayers there is also the obligatory Friday (Jumu’ah) prayer. It is offered in congregation with a sermon on Fridays in place of the noon prayer. All adult male Muslims must take part except for travellers. It is not a must for women, but they can join. It is said in the Qur’an about the importance of Friday prayer:
O you who believe! When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday (the Day of Assembly), hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of Allah, and leave off business (and traffic): that is best for you if you but knew!” (Al-Jumu’ah 62: 9)
Amounts of Rakah for each time
Fajr:
i) First two rak'ats Sunnat Mokadda
ii) Two rak'ats Fard
Zuhr:
i) Four rak'ats Sunnat Mokadda
ii) Four rak'ats Fard
iii) Two rak'ats sunnat Mokadda
iv) Two rak'ats Nafl (Optional but spiritually beneficial)
Asr:
i) Four rak'ats sunnat ghair mokadda (Optional but spiritually beneficial)
ii) Four rak'ats Fard
Maghrib
i) Three rak'ats Fard
ii) Two rak'ats Sunnat Mokadda
iii) Two rak'ats nafl (Optional but spiritually beneficial)
Isha:
i) Four rak'ats sunnat e Ghair Mokadda (Optional but spiritually beneficial)
ii) Four rak'ats Fard
iii) Two Rak'ats Sunnat Mokadda
iv) Two rak'ats Nafil (Optional but spiritually beneficial)
v) Three rak'ats Wajib
vi) Two rak'ats Nafil (Optional but spiritually beneficial)
Prayer is the most essential obligation which a Muslim must perform. This is the most obvious act which a Muslim does to show his/her obedience to Allāh (Sub-haanahu wata'aala). This is also the Second Pillar of Islam.
Allāh (Sub-haanahu wata'aala) gave prayer as a gift to the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) for his Ummah on the night of Miraj.
In prayer, a person leaves everything and devotes himself to the Worship of Allāh (Sub-haanahu wata'aala). This can be done individually or in congregation (Jamā'ah).
Before performing prayer, a person must make sure that his body, clothes and his place of worship are clean.
It is a Hadīth of the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) that: "A person who reads Namaz five times a day, his/her sins will fall like leaves fall off a tree during autumn."
DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF SALĀH
In general, there are four categories of Salāh:
1. Fard: means duty. It is compulsory and should not be avoided. It has two sub-divisions:
A. Fardi ayn; which is compulsory on all Muslims, for example, offering Salāh five times a day, fasting the month of Ramadān etc. One who performs it gets the reward but one who does not perform it is a sinner, liable to be punished. One who rejects it altogether is a Kāfir (unbeliever).
B. Fardi kifayah: which is not compulsory on all Muslims and even if a group of Muslims perform it, the responsibility of all Muslims would be fulfilled, for example salatul janaza (funeral prayer).
2. Wajib: means essential or necessary. It is next to Fard in importance, for example salatul eid. One who performs it gets the reward but one who does not perform it at all is a sinner liable to be punished.
3. Sunnāt: means that which prophet Muhammad (Blessings and Peace be upon him) did. There are two types of Sunnāh:
A. Sunnāti mu'akkadah: that which prophet Muhammad (Blessings and Peace be upon him) always did and ordered his followers to do. One who does it gets the reward and one who does not do, will be deprived of intercession by Prophet Muhammad (Blessings and Peace be upon him) on the day of judgement.
B. Sunnāti ghair mu'akkadah: that which prophet Muhammad (Blessings and Peace be upon him) did occasionally and which is optional on his followers. One who does it gets a reward.
4. Nafil: means extra. One who does it gets a reward but one who does not do is not liable to be punished.
SALĀH INVOLVES THE FOLLOWING POSTURES.
1. First takbeer in standing position to begin prayer.
2. Standing erect.
3. Bowing down.
4. Standing erect after bowing.
5. Prostration.
6. Sitting between prostrations.
7. Second prostration.
8. Last sitting.
9. Saying Peace to end the Salāh.
﷽
SALĀH 1- (FIVE DAILY PRAYERS )
صلاة
Basic duties have been declared to the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) through the Archangel Gabriel. However, the five compulsory daily prayers were directly presented to the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) on the night of Mir’aj, the miraculous journey of the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) to the heavens. At first, it was fifty daily prayers, but when Prophet Moses (Peace be upon him) told Prophet Muhammad (Blessings and Peace be upon him) that:
“ – O Messenger of Allāh! I unsuccessfully tried this on the Sons of Israel before you. Your people cannot bear that responsibility either!”
The Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him), that night, appealed to Allah five times to reduce it to five daily prayers.
Prophet Moses (Blessings and Peace be upon him), again, told Prophet Muhammad (Blessings and Peace be upon him):
“ – They cannot bear the five daily ones either!”
The Prophet answered:
“ – I have no face to appeal to Allah any more!”
And it was, then, determined to be five times a day.
However, Allah showed Mercy due to the appeal of the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him), and also announced good news to the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) as well as reducing it to five daily ones:
“O the Prophet! Allah (Sub-haanahu wata'aala) abides by His word. You will get reward of fifty for the five.” (Ibn Maja, Ikamatu’s-Salah, 194).
The Prophet tells his people about the five daily prayers:
“Allah said: ‘I enjoined the five daily prayers on your people. There is a pledge by Me. I will surely place those who perform the five daily prayers in time into the paradise. And there is no pledge by Me to those who do not keep these prayers.’” (Ibn Maja, Ikametu’s-Salah, 194).
It is stated in another saying of the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him):
“Allah enjoined the five daily prayers on His servants. Allah assures those who faithfully do these prayers of paradise on the Day of Judgement. Yet, Allah does not assure those who do these prayers lightly, without care and have defects in the manner of its performance; Allah deals with them as He wishes, either punishes them, or forgives them.” (Ibn Maja, Ikametu’s-Salah, 194).
The Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) asked the following question to the companions to explain to them the importance of the five daily prayers:
“ – If one of you has a river next to his door, and he washed himself five times a day in this river, do you think that person can have a scrap of dirt on his body?”
The Companions answered:
“ – No dirt will remain on that person.”
The Prophet went on:
“Five daily prayers function in the same way. Allah deletes sins through five daily prayers.” (Bukhari, Mawaqit, 6).
The Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) announced the following good news in several sayings as well:
“If deadly sins are avoided, the five daily prayers and the Friday congregational prayers are considered to be redemptions for minor sins committed between them. And this is valid for all times.” (Muslim, Taharat, 14).
“If a Muslim makes ablution when the time for prayer is due, and does the prayer in pious reverence, this prayer redeems his previous sins. And this is valid for all times.” (Muslim, Taharat, 7).
It must be stated here that the five daily prayers are all-important. There is a wisdom behind their being at different times of the day. The way they are divided is good for humans both bodily and spiritually. Therefore, one should be serious about performing each one of them with sincerity. Allah says in the Qur’an:
“So (give) glory to Allāh, when you reach eventide and when you rise in the morning; To him be praise, in the heavens and on earth; and in the late-afternoon and when the day begins to decline.” (Ar-Rum 30: 17-18).
Abdullah ibn Abbas regards these verses as covering the five daily prayers and says:
“The words ‘when you rise in the morning’ refers to the morning prayer;
The words ‘in the late afternoon’ refers to the noon-prayer;
The words ‘the day begins to decline’ refers to the late-noon prayer;
The words ‘when you reach eventide’ refers to the evening and late-night prayer.”
There are other verses in the Qur’an referring to the obligatory prayers.
Saphiri attaches great importance to the five daily prayers and describes the condition of those who do not offer them as follows:
“The angels call to those who give up the morning prayer as ‘O the great sinner!’;
‘those who give up the noon-prayer as ‘O deprived one!’
‘Those who give up the late-noon prayer as ‘O rebel’
‘Those who give up the evening prayer as ‘O ungrateful one!’
‘Those who give up the late-evening prayer as ‘O loser!’...”
On the other hand, the ways and regulations of prayer, and also the additional prayers (sunnah ) that the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) always performed or the ones he usually did, should be attentively observed. These are essential parts of the five daily prayers besides the optional ones throughout the day.There are many narratives attributed to the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) in this regard:
“The two units of sunnah of morning prayer is more beneficial than the world and also all the creation in the world.” (Muslim, Salat al-Musafirin, 96).
“The Prophet used to pray four units before the obligatory units of the noon-prayer, and he also used to pray two units after that.” (Tirmidhi, Cuma, 66).
“May Allah show mercy to those who pray four units before the obligatory units of the late-afternoon prayer.” (Tirmidhi, Salat, 201).
“Hurry up to pray the two units of sunnah prayer after the three obligatory units of evening prayer as it is uplifted together with the obligatory units.” (Rezin).
The following narrative is said to refer to the four extra units before the late-night prayer:
“There is a prayer between the call to prayer(adhan) and the call for the beginning of the obligatory units(iqamat).” (Bukhari, Azan, 16).
And the two extra units after the obligatory units of the late evening prayer is known to have been done by the Prophet routinely.
One of the most important aspects of prayer is to do it in time. Whenever the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) was asked:
“What is the most virtuous worship?”
He answered:
“The prayer that is performed in time.” (Bukhari, Mawakitu’s-Salah, 5).
So it is preferable to offer prayers as soon as their time is due. The Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) says in this regard:
“Allah is pleased with those who offer prayers in their due time, but He forgives those who do them towards the end of the time.” (Cam’u’l-Fawaid, I, 163).
Apart from the five daily prayers there is also the obligatory Friday (Jumu’ah) prayer. It is offered in congregation with a sermon on Fridays in place of the noon prayer. All adult male Muslims must take part except for travellers. It is not a must for women, but they can join. It is said in the Qur’an about the importance of Friday prayer:
O you who believe! When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday (the Day of Assembly), hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of Allah, and leave off business (and traffic): that is best for you if you but knew!” (Al-Jumu’ah 62: 9)
Amounts of Rakah for each time
Fajr:
i) First two rak'ats Sunnat Mokadda
ii) Two rak'ats Fard
Zuhr:
i) Four rak'ats Sunnat Mokadda
ii) Four rak'ats Fard
iii) Two rak'ats sunnat Mokadda
iv) Two rak'ats Nafl (Optional but spiritually beneficial)
Asr:
i) Four rak'ats sunnat ghair mokadda (Optional but spiritually beneficial)
ii) Four rak'ats Fard
Maghrib
i) Three rak'ats Fard
ii) Two rak'ats Sunnat Mokadda
iii) Two rak'ats nafl (Optional but spiritually beneficial)
Isha:
i) Four rak'ats sunnat e Ghair Mokadda (Optional but spiritually beneficial)
ii) Four rak'ats Fard
iii) Two Rak'ats Sunnat Mokadda
iv) Two rak'ats Nafil (Optional but spiritually beneficial)
v) Three rak'ats Wajib
vi) Two rak'ats Nafil (Optional but spiritually beneficial)
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