Islam for Muslims
- THE FAITH OF MUSLIMS
- GOOD DEEDS IN PERSONAL LIFE
- GOOD DEEDS IN SOCIAL LIFE
The Essentials of Prayer (Salat)
21: THE ESSENTIALS OF SALAT (PRAYER)
Introduction: Praying five times a day is second only to the faith in priority order of compulsory deeds. For every adult and sane Muslim (male and female), it is a compulsory obligation which means a proxy cannot be used to bear this burden.
Importance: The overriding importance of salat comes from its most numerous citations (among all the Five Pillars) in the Quran like the verse “Establish salat regularly for celebrating My praise” (20:14). On the Day of Judgment, the accountability of salat will be pivotal which means if you get clearance on this account, you would win more than half the battle. Salat is the hallmark of the Muslims that make them different from non-Muslims. Violation of prayer carries the risk of painful consequences caught up in a short dialogue to be staged in the Afterlife: “What led you into Hellfire? They will say ‘We were not of those who prayed” (74:42/43). In another verse, God lamented for “the worshippers who are neglectful of their prayers” (107:4/5). The high-end value of salat can be traced to lack of exemption from this obligation even in the battlefield where the warriors take turns to pray group by group (4:102).
On the positive side, there are citations of bountiful merits and honorable rewards for offering prayer. Prayers will qualify you for forgiveness as “these good deeds erase the evils or sins” (11:114). Those who “guard their prayers”, will “inherit the Paradise” to “dwell therein (forever)” (23:9/11). The dominant reason behind putting high premium on prayer is that it represents the best form of physical and mental devotion to God. Prostration (placing forehead on the ground) is the humblest component of salat that aims to wipe out any vestige of arrogance and opens up direct links with God by “bringing yourself closer to Him” (96:19).
Five Times of Prayer: God requires you to “remain steadfast” (70:23) in prayers for five times a day. These are: (1) Fazr (predawn) (2) Juhr (afternoon) (3) Asr (before sunset) (4) Maghrib (immediately after sunset) and (5) Isha (at night). In Quranic language, these timings are: “before the rising of the sun” (Fazr), and “before its setting” (Asr), “when the day begins to decline” (Juhr) and “for part of night hours” (Maghrib and Isha) (20:130; 30:18; 20:130). Prayers of ‘fazr’ (predawn), ‘juhr’ (afternoon), ‘asr’ ( pre-sunset), ‘maghrib’ (post-sunset) and ‘isha’ (nightly) time have respectively 2, 4, 4, 3 and 4 compulsory rakats of prayers in addition to semi-compulsory or optional ones.
Apparently, the Quran does not specifically mention 5 times of prayer by name but it clearly describes their timings. This, however, does not give rise to any question on the legality of 5 times of daily prayer. Because the Prophet picked up the real meaning of the Quranic verses and accordingly acted upon this ideal of five times daily prayer throughout his life. These prayer obligations will stand good for any adult and sane persons located in any part of the world who face the above five stages of time throughout 24 hours of day and night with some adjustments for the polar areas.
Fourteen Essentials of Prayers: There are 14 compulsory formalities in prayer. Violation of any of these conditions will have no alternative to repetition of the entire prayer. These are recounted below:
(1) Timeliness of Prayer: It is mandatory to perform prayer “at stated times” (4:103), as described below:
(i) Fazr: The time of ‘fazr’ prayer extends from pre-dawn (when at the end of night the eastern sky exposes a horizontal white lining) until sunrise. With the rise of sun, the proper time of ‘fazr’ expires. As the chance of missing this prayer is higher on account of sleeping, the advantage of alarm system in cell phone or clock may be taken or the worshippers may arrange for mutual calling.
(ii) Juhr: The time of this prayer ranges from slight leaning of the sun after high noon to little before the start time of ‘asr’ prayer in the late afternoon. To ensure perfect timing, this prayer should be completed well before the onset of ‘asr’ time.
(iii) Asr: When in the late afternoon the shadow of an upright object becomes about double of its size (as per Hanafi madhab) or its same size (per other madhabs), then this prayer time begins to last until setting of the sun, preferably before dimming of its shine.
(iv) Maghrib: This prayer time begins soon after complete setting of the sun and lasts until the reddish color vanishes from the horizon (about an hour after sunset). The ideal time is, however, limited within half an hour of the sunset.
(v) Isha: This prayer is timed after decisive expiration of ‘maghrib’ (about one hour and a half after sunset) and lasts until before beginning of ‘fazr’, desirably before midnight.
Prostration for prayer is generally prohibited or discouraged at both sunrise and sunset. When the exact time of sunrise, sunset or positions of sun cannot be ascertained due to cloudy weather, help may be sought from local newspapers or observers. Yet better will be an initiative for the Muslim activists to develop a permanent time calendar for prayers applicable for local region.
(2, 3 & 4) Purity of Body, “Clothes” (74:4) and Prayer Place: If a prayer is forgetfully performed with impure body or clothes or on unclean mat or place, then it is considered invalid and that has to be done over. As a precondition for prayer, you have to take ritualistic bath for ceremonial purification of your body if contaminated by sexual activity, menstruation or child birth. Besides your body, clothes and prayer mat will also gain impurity through contact of semen, blood, stool and urine of human beings of any ages and those of some specific animals as well. Exemptions apply to small quantity like thin sprays of urine or small drop of blood etc. Likewise, street soil or mud without any clear sign of impurity will not be counted impure.
Water as a Purifying Agent: Clean water is the only acceptable means for formal purification of any impure stuff. Water from any sources is considered clean as long as (i) it does not contain any impurity or (ii) its color, taste or odor remain unchanged or (iii) it does not get mixed with another stuff to gain a new identity (ex: rosewater). Running water of river or other water bodies is generally considered clean. Impurities (like body of an animal) located at a corner of a big pond or mixing of small amount of liquid impurity (e.g. alcohol) does not make the whole pond water impure as long as water color, taste and odor remain unchanged.
By means of clean water, the impurities on body or clothing should be washed well to make it pure, if necessary by scratching away any sticky stuff, and desirably by washing with soap. If, despite sincere and repeated efforts at cleaning in the above manner, the sign of impurity does not go off, then that will be treated as clean and usable.
Praying Mat: Like the body or clothing, the place or mat of prayer must be clean, at least for the areas that come in contact with forehead, nose, hand/palm, knee, leg, feet etc. during prayer. There is no problem with placing prayer mat upon dry impurity. As an alternative to prayer mat or clean paper, any ground or place can be used for prayer, as long as there is no visible sign of impurity. The Prophet said “the whole earth is a prayer place like mosque”. This provision gives needed flexibility for praying on any place where the mosques are very few and far between.
(5) Covering Private Parts (‘satr’) of the Body: It is mandated that “at every time and place of prayer, wear your beautiful (clean) clothes” (7:31), properly covering the designated private organs. For the men, it is the area from their navel to knee and for the women, it represents the entire body minus the face, hand (palm) and feet. If any of the above organs (such as men’s thigh or women’s hand) get accidentally exposed, they must immediately cover that up. Otherwise, the prayer will be cancelled with liability to repeat. Similar will be the consequence if clothing is glassy enough to offer an inner view of the private parts. Covering an extended area of the body and selection of clothes for the men (for example wearing long pant or trouser; cap or turban) are optional but generally virtuous.
(6) Facing the Kaaba known as Qibla: The Muslims, regardless of their location, either on the earth or up the airplane, they must “turn (their) face (during prayer) in the direction of the sacred Mosque (with Kaaba located therein)” of Mecca” (2:149). In general, this means the worshippers in the Western hemisphere will turn their face to the East and those from the Eastern area will face the West during prayer. If, otherwise, any other ‘qibla’ is deliberately chosen (including Masjid Nabawi or Al-Aska Masjid which was the earlier ‘qibla’), then that will simply undo the prayer.
In any new place, the ‘qibla’ is to be ascertained by means of solar position, map, compass or through local inquiry. When none of these are available, the same will be decided by the judgment or verdict of mind and any prayer performed accordingly will be treated final. Aboard any transports like rail, boat etc., their shifting directions will require necessary body adjustments in conformity with ‘qibla’.
(7) Making Intention (niyet) of Prayer: Before starting a prayer, its various features: timing (‘juhr’, ‘asr’ etc.), type (‘fard’ or ‘sunnah’ etc) and number of rakats (2 or 4 etc.) must be clearly intended in mind. Oral expression of intention, which can be done in both Arabic or mother tongue, is not anything more than optional. It is only the mental intention that counts. For example, if you recite words of intention for performing ‘fazr’ (morning) prayer by wrongly uttering it as ‘isha’ (nighttime) prayer, your prayer will not go wrong as long as you had in mind a conscious idea about the time of morning prayer.
(8) Pronouncing ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is Great): It is mandatory to open prayer by pronouncing ‘Allahu Akbar’ immediately after making intention. Known as ‘taqbir’, these two words need to be uttered exactly as they are and not in any translated version. This should be done in your standing position unless you have an excuse for that. If, in a rush to join the congregation at the bowing stage, you had no time to pronounce the ‘taqbir’ while standing or you forget to do that, then your prayer will stand invalid and must be repeated. Lifting of both hands up to ears at about the same time is simply optional and will not undo prayer by default.
(9) Maintain Standing Position: The portion of prayer that is used for Quranic recitation is required to be performed in “standing position” (25:64; 26:218). This is a mandate for compulsory prayers only and for the optional ones this condition is optional but virtuous. Exemptions apply for valid reasons like illness or weakness that takes away your ability to stand even for minutes required for prayer. In such cases, there is approval for using the alternatives like “sitting down”, leaning or, “lying down on your sides” (4:103) or other positions as may be needed to ease hardships.
(10) Recitation from the Quran: All prayers (compulsory or optional) must include recitation from the Quran starting with mandatory opening chapter named ‘sura fatiha’ known as “the Seven Oft-repeated (verses)” (15:87). This chapter will then be followed by a minimum of any 3 small verses (‘ayat’) equivalent of ‘sura kauthar’ (sura #108) for example, or at least one larger verse equivalent of any small 3. If you forget to recite verses, you have to offer corrective prostration to make amends.
Exceptionally for only the last 2 of 4 rakats of compulsory prayers of ‘juhr’, ‘asr’ and ‘isha’ each and the last 1 of 3 rakats of ‘magrib’ compulsory prayer, only ‘sura fatiha’ will be recited, unaccompanied by any other verses. There is no alternative to recitation from original Arabic version such as Quranic translation into local language. Accuracy of recitation is important but you cannot postpone your prayer until you gain that skill. Rather you keep on praying with the present level of accuracy while at the same time you intensify your effort to master that at your earliest. The women will maintain silence in recitation for all their prayers without any exception. Silence in this case does not mean the mental imaging of verses without moving the tongue. Instead it means clear pronunciation of verses in lower voice audible to self but not to others.
(11 & 12) Performing bowing (‘ruku’) and prostration (‘sizda’): Each rakat of prayer comprises of sequentially one “upright standing”, one “bowing” and 2 “prostrations”, which must be performed correctly (22:26). During standing you will recite verses, then you will go to bowing, with head and back parallel to the ground. From bowing you will go to full standing with a pause before going to prostration, with forehead, nose, palms, knees and feet all placed on the ground. In between two prostrations, you will sit down properly with a pause. Both during bowing and prostrations, you will recite specific words glorifying God (Subhana Rabbi Al Azeem during bowing and Subhana Rabbi Al A’la in prostrations) preferably for odd number of times e.g. 3, 5, 7 or more. Furthermore, the place of prostration should not be excessively elevated. In prostration, you better feel your head falls on the imaginary feet of God that may trap your mind inside prayer.
(13 & 14) Conclusive Sitting & Exit from Prayer: At the end of prayer it is mandatory to sit as long as is needed for completing designated recitation known as ‘tashahud’. If you wrongly or incompletely recite ‘tashahud’ or even forget to recite it, you need to make that up by corrective prostration. After ‘tashahud’ comes ‘dorud-e-Ibrahim’ which should be recited as ‘sunnah’. Then comes the final ritual in the form of making formal exit from prayer by uttering designated words of greeting “Assalam u Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah”: once while turning face right and then again during turning face left.
Recollection of Sequential Steps: The above essentials need to be performed in the following sequence: (1) Getting ready with purified body (with wudu), clothes and prayer mat/place, (2) Qiam or Standing with attention, (3) Non-Quranic citations: Thana, & seeking Satanic protection, (4) Beginning with Taqbir (Allahu Akbar), (5)Reciting Sura Fatiha, (6) Reciting other verse(s) if applicable, (7) Ruku (bowing), (8) Rise to complete standing, (9) Going to first prostration (sizda), (10) Going to complete sitting, (11) Going to second prostration, (12) rising up to full standing and recite verses again, (13) repeating ruku, standing and 2 prostrations for subsequent rakats (14) Then sitting & reciting Tashhud end of 2 rakats before getting up for subsequent rakat if applicable, or (15) for 2 rakat salat, also recite dorud Ibrahim while sitting and then (16) exit with Salam.
Attention in Salat: “Humbleness” and “sincere devotion” along with full attention to prayer are overly important (23:2; 7:29). These are however not counted as preconditions for these are not easily achievable for every one for every time. However, you can help your concentration in salat by doing the following: (i) in prep for salat, address the potential causes of distraction like hunger, nature’s calls etc. (ii) imagine your prostration at the feet of God who you think is watching your salat which you may fear to be the last of your lifetime (iii) engage your mind in understanding the meaning of recitation, if possible (iv) avoid unnecessary body movement and bite your teeth, if necessary for closer attention to slow and accurate progress of salat procedures. (v) try to box your mind in salat and if it escapes from salat, bring it back inside.
Semi-Compulsory (‘wajib’) Formalities: While transgression of any of the above-stated 14 ‘fard’ conditions cancel the prayer which must be repeated, violation of ‘wajib’ may be corrected through special prostration. Some of these semi-compulsory rules are already discussed above in relevant context and others are as follows:
(i) taking some time at bowing, prostration, during standing in between bowing and prostration and during sitting between 2 prostrations (ii) loud recitation of verses by ‘Imam’ in 2 rakats of compulsory ‘fazr’ prayer, first 2 rakats of mandatory ‘magrib’ and ‘isha’ prayers, 2 rakats of compulsory Friday prayer and 2 rakats of prayers in both Eid festivals (iii) silent recitation in ‘juhr’ and ‘asr’ prayers by both individual worshippers and congregational ‘Imam’. (iv) Six extra ‘taqbirs’ (Allahu Akbar) in two Eid prayers (v) making extra single prostration if you recite any of the 14 special verses with prostration (sizda) requirement. (vi) showing loyalty to congregational ‘Imam’, by following his step by step actions, without outpacing him.
Corrective Prostrations: If you violate any semi-compulsory (wajib) formality, you may correct the mistake by special prostrations. How can you do that? At the last sitting, after you recite only ‘tashahud’, you only turn right offering ‘salam’ and then instead of turning left, offer 2 prostrations and then complete last sitting and exit with salam.
Invalidation of Prayer: Described above are the rules of prayer that God has “taught you” (2:239). As cited above, any neglectful violation or unintentional mistakes in any of the above 14 compulsory rules will invalidate your prayer. Other reasons for possible invalidation are doing any unauthorized acts inside prayer like talking, greeting, uttering words (e.g. salam), checking time, reading from a nearby Quran, crying, laughing, eating, drinking, toying with clothes, stretching, answering cell call, unnecessary excessive itching or doing things that are done outside prayer. Prayers spoiled for any reasons need to be done over. Likewise, if you break prayer in response to any emergencies like fire, robbery, dangerous animals etc., you need to repeat that.
Missed (Qaza) Prayer:
Prayer, by virtue of its oversize importance, is not allowed to forgo in a premeditated manner. It has to be made up once it is already missed for reasons beyond your control. Examples include: being under full anesthesia for a surgery or going off sense for any other reason, failure to remember prayer or wake up from sleep late despite honest intention to rise on time. Any prayer missed this way should be regretted deeply and be made up at your earliest, preferably before arrival of the next prayer time and in sequential order in case of multiple missing prayers. Make-ups become due only for 17 compulsory rakats of daily prayer and 3 rakats of ‘witr’ prayers and not for ‘sunnah’ or ‘nafl’ variants.
Prayer Congregation (Jamat): Significance: Though praying in congregation is not a ‘fard’ level obligation, it is nonetheless a strong tradition of Islam with significance from various standpoints. The Quran insists “Bow down your head with those who bow down (in the worship)” (2:43). The Prophet also attached so much value to congregational prayer that during his troubling illness, he made his way to the mosque by leaning on other’s shoulders; yet he did not even think of missing his prayer at congregation.
Benefits: The importance of congregational prayer comes from the following:
(i) It enjoys huge comparative advantage over personal prayer in terms of reward or blessings. Multiplicity of reward ranges from 27 times in a local mosque to 500 for bigger mosque that holds Friday jamat to 100,000 in Grand Mosque of Mecca.
(ii) It helps cementing social bond among the Muslims.
(iii) There is greater likelihood for accuracy of prayer under the leadership of ‘Imam’.
(iv) There is higher acceptance potential for making collective dua to God.
(v) Hands-on training on prayer as well as oral presentations on various Islamic topics may be available at many mosques.
Relevant Rules on Prayer Jamat: The above merits make a strong case for your attendance at mass prayer unless there are genuine excuses like torrential rain, muddy road, long distance, illness, blindness and so on. The ‘Imam’ must be a male person (never a female or transgender) without any exception. He should also honor the Prophet’s tradition by keeping the prayer size reasonably down, keeping in mind (i) the physical limitations of the weakest among attendees and (ii) inconveniences of some worshippers who might be praying in the mosque extension, possibly unprotected from freezing temperature or scorching heat. Prayer at the personal level, however, can stretch to any greater length. Likewise, importance should be given to timeliness of prayer congregation particularly during day time as there may be some among the participants who may have to make difficult adjustments with their job. In the mosque, there should be a separate covered section for the females so they do not have to miss their ‘fard’ prayers during their essential trips.
The Friday (‘Juma’) Prayer: The Muslims have ‘fard’ obligation to perform 2 ‘rakats’ of congregational ‘Juma’ prayer on Fridays, in replacement for 4 rakats of ‘juhr’ prayer for the day. The Quran insists, “When the call is proclaimed to Friday prayer, hasten earnestly to the remembrance of God and leave off business” (62:9). Exempted from this are the women, the minor, the blind, the ill, the disabled, the insane, the weak and the travelers. There is no alternative to this prayer and you will simply offer regular ‘juhr’ prayer if you miss it. The Friday prayer immediately follows a sermon named ‘khutba’.
Shortened (‘qasr’) Prayer for the Travelers: During traveler status, you are allowed a concession to perform “shortened prayer” (4:101). (i) You will shorten prayer both during journey and also at the place of destination if the trip is longer than about 48 miles in total and your stay at the destined place is shorter than about 15 days. (ii) You will offer shortened prayer only during journey if the trip exceeds about 48 miles but no ‘qasr’ at the destination if your intended stay surpasses 15 days.
If you began the trip with an intention to stay off-home only a few days but the changing nature of your business leaves you undecided about the exact date of your return from destination, then you keep on praying in shortened format even if you stay longer than 15 days. During your trip with qualified total distance of about 48 miles, if you pay short visits to different places, then you will pray ‘qasr’ during both trips and halts. The rules of ‘qasr’ do not apply during your visit to your home even if you do not live there permanently. Your regularly living place will count as a base and the moment you step out of home, you will start praying ‘qasr’ if your intended trip is higher than 48 miles and shorter than 15 days.
The concession of ‘qasr’ takes the form of condensing 4 rakats of compulsory ‘juhr’, ‘asr’ and ‘isha’ prayers each to only 2 rakats. You need to enjoy this concession even if your journey is not troubling enough to justify that. Three rakats of ‘magrib’ and ‘witr’ prayer each remains unchanged and optional ‘sunnat’ ‘or ‘nafl’ salat is not impacted by ‘qasr’ ruling. Make no mistake that traveler status only allows you the shortening of salat but no exemption from it. Besides ‘qasr’, combining fard part of Juhr and Asr back to back as well as Maghrib and Isha likewise is also allowed as a concession during difficult trips.
Conclusion: Discussed above are the essential elements that must be complied with in order to make your salat flawless and qualitative. (The above rules represent the mainstream Muslim cultures with high level of accuracy).