In The Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
The second Principle of Islam is to offer the Obligatory Prayers five times a day.
Prayer is the act of worshipping Allah according to the teaching of the Holy Prophet of Islam. The essential requisites for offering prayersare:-
It is also an obligation upon Muslims to keep the body clean from dirt and all minor impurities and to be ever ready for prayers. Towards this end, Muslims must wash the private parts of his or her body
with water whenever any impure matter issues form the body.
(1) The worshipper must be a Muslim.
(2) The worshipper's clothes and body must be free from all impurities.
(3) The place where the Prayer is to be offered should be pure and clean.
(4) The part of the body between the navel and the knees of a male worshipper must be fully covered, and the whole body excepting the hands and face of a female worshipper.
(5) The worshipper must face the Ka'ba in the Great Mosque at Mecca (Saudi Arabia) and the direction of Ka'ba outside Mecca.
(6) The worshipper must form the Niyyat (intention) in his or her mind of the particular Prayer, Fard (Obligatory) or Sunnah or Nafl (Optional), he or she is about to offer.
(7) The worshipper must observe the times and rules prescribed for the respective Prayers, and instantly heed to the Azan (Call) for the Prayers.
(8) The worshipper must have performed the Wudu (Ablution).
(9) The worshipper must have performed the Ghusl (bath).
There are six kinds of prayers:
(1) Fard al-'ain: It is the compulsory prayer that must not be missed on any account whatsoever. This obligatory prayer must be offered
at any cost for if one fails to do so he or she will be liable to severe punishment. The nature of its importance is evident from the fact that
if one denies its obligatory nature, he or she is classed as an unbeliever.
(2) Fard al-kifayah: It is the kind of prayer which should preferably be offered by all those present at the time, but one at least out of the group
must offer it to free others from responsibility; for example, if any one individual from amongst the inhabitants of a locality where Deat of a Muslim has
taken place or from those who join the funeral procession to the cemetery, offer the 'Funeral Prayer', the obligation of all concerned is fulfilled.
(3) Wajib: It is the prayer which comes next in rank to Fard al-'ain in accordance with the importance attached to it by the Holy Prophet.
(4) Sunnat-ul-mu'akkadah: It is the class of prayer which the Holy Prophet used to offer daily without fail and has ordered his followers to do so. One is liable to be questioned
for neglecting to offer the same without some very cogent reasons.
(5) Sunnatu-gharil-mu'akkadah: It is the kind of prayer which the Prophet offered occasionally and desired his followers to do so.
(6) Nafl: It is a volunatry prayer and it is commended for the uplift of one's soul, and for the acquirement of spiritual benefits.
Daily Obligatory Prayers
There are FIVE daily obligatory prayers. The times of each of the five daily prayers are related to the rising and setting of the sun. These will vary in different parts of the world. The following prayer
periods are generally observed in most of the countries of the world:-
(1) Subuh (Salatul-Fajr): This is the early morning prayer which must be offered after dawn and before sunrise. Two Rakaat Fard.
(2) Salatus-Zuhr: This is the early afternoon prayer, the time for which commences immediately after the sun has crossed the meridian and has begun to decline. The period lasts till the sun is about
midway on its course to setting. Four Rakaat Fard.
(3) Salatul-'Asr: This is the late afternoon prayer which must be offered sometime after the sun is about midway on its course to setting, until a little before it actually begins to set. Four Rakaat Fard.
(4) Salatu-Maghrib: This is the evening prayer which must be offered between the sunset and the disappearance of the light similar (civil twilight period) to the light at dawn, which follows when the red glow
from the horizon in the West has vanished. Three Rakaat Fard.
(5) Salatul-'Isha': This is the night prayer which must be offered anytime after the time for Salatul-Maghrib comes to an end, and before the break of dawn, but it should preferably be offered before midnight. Four Rakaat Fard.
Rakaat
A prayer consists of either two, three or four Rakaats. In his daily prayers a Muslim follows a sequence of postures accompanied by a set of words (in Arabic), which include praise, requests and thanks. The postures include Standing Erect (Qiyam) and placing the right hand, upon the left below the navel and to recite some verses from the Holy Qur'an; Bending Forward (Ruku); Kneeling and Sitting Together (Sajdah and Qa'dah). Together the words and postures form one Rakaat.
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