Salat
For an Indian village, see Salat, Kulpahar. For the river of southwestern France, see Salat River.Salat (also
salah and other spellings) (
Arabic: صلاة,
Qur'anic Arabic: صلوة), meaning to pray, or to bless, generally refers to prayers that
Muslims offer to
Allah and most commonly refers to the five daily ritual prayers in
Islam. It is one of the
Five Pillars of Islam in
Sunni Islam, and one of the ten
Branches of Religion in
Shi'a Islam. As such, it is compulsory
(fard) upon every Muslim. It is quite commonly known as
namaaz in south Asian languages such as
Urdu and non south Asian languages such as
Persian.
Performing salat is the most compulsory act in Islam, after the declaration of faith (
shahadah).
The salat must be performed in the
Arabic language to the best of each worshipper's ability (although the
du'a afterwards need not be in Arabic), and are to be recited by heart, although beginners may use written aids. The person performing salah is referred to as a
musalleeh.
All salat should be conducted within their
waqt (prescribed time) and with the appropriate number of
raka'ah. While they may be prayed at any point within the
waqt, it is considered best to pray them exactly at the beginning of their periods, when the call to prayer (
adhan) announces the time of prayer. When too far from a
mosque to hear a call to prayer, the time may be inferred from the position of the sun in the sky.
The word 'salat' is from the root
Saad-
Lam-
Waw and has the following meanings, taken from Classical Arabic lexicons (e.g. E. W Lane): prayer, supplication, petition, oration, eulogy, benediction, commendation, blessing, honour, magnify, bring forth, follow closely, walk/follow behind closely, to remain attached, to contact or to be in contact. Its core underlying meaning relevant to all its usage in the Qur'an is
to go/turn towards, as mentioned in Qur'an 75:31-2.
To Muslims the daily ritual prayers are to firstly honour and fulfil their 'contract' with God and also serve as a constant reminder to Muslims that they should be grateful for Allah's blessings.
The prayer is mentionend in the
Qur'an as a means to keep the believer safe from social wrong and moral deviancy (ref. Qur'an 29:45).
Prayers are generically classified as compulsory and optional. A more precise division consists of classifying salat into four types: fard, wajib, sunnah and nafl.
*
Fard salat are compulsory and denial of which renders one a non-Muslim.
*
Wajib salat are compulsory and denial of which renders one a sinner.
*
Sunnah salat are optional and were those practised by the prophet Muhammad in addition to the
Fard salat and the
Wajib salat.
*
Nafl salat are optional and regarded as extra prayers which bring more reward.
The
fard salat are the five daily prayers, the Friday prayer and the funeral prayer. Fard prayers are further classed as
fard al-ayn (obligation of the self) and
fard al-kifayah (obligation of sufficiency). The first means obligatory on each individual, and the second means obligatory on the Muslim community so that if some people carry it out no Muslim is considered blameworthy - but if no one carries it out all incur a collective guilt.
The five daily prayers
Muslims are commanded to perform salat fives times a day. These prayers are obligatory on every Muslim above the age of puberty, with the exception being those who are mentally ill, too physically ill for it to be possible, menstruating, or experiencing post-partum bleeding. Those who are ill or otherwise physically unable to offer their prayers in the traditional form are permitted to offer their prayers while sitting or laying, as they are able.
Some Muslims offer
Sunnah prayers in addition to the fard prayer. Shia refer to these prayers done immediately before or after the
fard prayers as nafil, or nawafil, prayers and perform them in sets of two raka'ah. The number of
raka'ah (prayer units) for each of the five obligatory prayers as well as the
sunnah prayers are listed below:
| Name | Time Period | Sunnah before fard | Fard | Sunnah after fard | | - | Sunni | Shi'a | Sunni | Shi'a |
|---|
| Fajr (فجر) | Dawn to Sunrise | 2 Raka'ah1 | 2 Raka'ah | 2 Raka'ah | - | - |
| Dhuhr (ظهر) | After true noon until Asr | 4 Raka'ah1 | 8 Raka'ah | 4 Raka'ah2 | 2 Raka'ah1 | - | Asr (عصر) | See footnote3 | 4 Raka'ah | 8 Raka'ah | 4 Raka'ah | - | - |
| Maghrib (مغرب) | After sunset until Isha'a | - | - | 3 Raka'ah | 2 Raka'ah1 | 4 Raka'ah |
| Isha'a (عشاء) | Dusk until Fajr4 | 4 Raka'ah | - | 4 Raka'ah | 2 Raka'ah1, 3 Witr | 2 Raka'ah |
1Prayed daily by the prophet
Muhammad2Replaced by
Jumu'ah on Fridays.
3According to
Imam Abu Hanifa, 'Asr starts when the shadow of an object becomes twice its height (plus the length of its shadow at the time of Dhuhr). For the rest of Imams, 'Asr starts when the shadow of an object becomes equal to its length (plus the length of its shadow at the time of Dhuhr). 'Asr ends as the sun begins to set.
4According to Shi'a Imams, it is valid at any time after the Maghrib prayer has been validly performed and ends at the time for the Fajr prayer.
Optional prayers can be offered at any time during the day, except at
sunrise,
true noon, and
sunset. The prohibition against salawāt at these times is to prevent the appearance of sun-worship.
Jumu'ah
Salat al-Jumu'ah is a congregational prayer performed on Friday and which replaces the Dhuhr prayer. As such, it is sometimes referred to as the 'Friday prayer' in some countries. It consists of a sermon (
khutba) given by the
khatib after which 2 rakahs are performed.
Janazah
Salat al-Janazah is a funeral prayer. It is classed as
fard kifayah.
Exceptional circumstances
Qada
In certain circumstances one may be unable to perform one's prayer within the prescribed time period (
waqt). In this case, the prayer must be performed as soon as one is able to do so. These prayers performed after the prescribed waqt are called
qada. It is not permissible to deliberately miss performing the salat within its waqt with the intention of performing it afterwards.
Qasr and jama
When travelling over long distances, one may shorten some prayers, a practice known as
qasr. Furthermore, several prayer times may be joined, which is referred to as
jama. Qasr involves shortening the obligatory components of the Dhuhr, Asr and Isha prayers to two rakaat. Jama combines either the Dhuhr and Asr prayers into one prayer offered between noon and sunset or Maghrib and Isha between sunset and Fajr. Neither qasr nor jama can be applied to the
Fajr prayer.
The
wajib salat are considered compulsory in the sense that denial of which renders one a sinner (but not necessarily a non-Muslim).
Witr
Witr salah is performed after the salah of 'Isha. It may contain any odd number of
raka'ah from one to eleven according to the different
madha'ib. However, Witr is most commonly offered with three raka'ah. It is preferable to perform Witr in the latter part of the night, but it is much better to perform it at the beginning of the night than not at all.
During a three-raka'ah Witr prayer, it is recommended that the
sura following
Sura al-Fatiha be
Sura al-Ala. In the second rak'ah, it is preferred that that sura be
Sura Al-Kafirun while in the third raka'ah, one of the last three chapters of the Qur'an is recommended. Before going to
ruk'u in the third raka'ah, the Muslim should offer an extra
takbir and
du'a while standing.
Eid
Eid salat is performed on the morning of
Eid ul-Fitr and
Eid ul-Adha. It is
wajib upon males to perform it, but women will often times still attend. It consists of two
raka'ah, with seven
takbirs offered before the start of the first raka'ah and seven raka'ah offered before the second. Unlike with
Jumu'ah prayers, the
khutbah (or sermon) is offered after salat. However, the khutbah is an integral part of the Eid salat. The Eid prayer must be offered between
sunrise and true noon, or between the time periods for
fajr and
dhuhr, respectively.
Sunnah prayers are those that are performed to emulate the practices of Muhammad.
Sunni Muslims also perform sunnah prayers for extra reward.
While nafl salat may be performed at almost any time of the day, certain Sunnah prayers have prescribed waqts associated with them. Those ordained for before the fard prayers must be performed between the call to prayer (
adhan) and the start of the
iqamah, while those ordained for after the fard prayers can be performed any time between the end of the fard prayers and the end of the current prayer's waqt. Any amount of extra
raka'ah may be offered, but most madhabs prescribe a certain number of raka'ah for each Sunnah salah.
Nafl (supererogatory) prayers are numerous which one can offer, as many as he or she likes almost any time. They cannot be offered at
sunrise,
true noon, or
sunset because of the practice of sun-worship, which is regarded in Islam as a form of idolatry.
Cleanliness and Dress
When a Muslim is praying, his clothes and the place where he is praying must be clean. Men and women each are directed to cover their bodies in reasonably loose-fitting garments, with women covering all but their faces, hands, and sometimes feet, and men covering at least from their navels to their knees, with preference given to covering their chests and to above their ankles. Many men, in accordance with tradition, also choose to wear a
kufi cap or other headcovering for prayer.
Ritual ablution
Prayer can only be conducted after a Muslim has performed wudu (ritual
ablution). In wudu, Sunni Muslims wash their hands, teeth, faces, noses, arms, hair, ears and feet three times in a particular order. Shi'a Muslims first wash their faces, then their arms, and then wipe their heads and feet with the moisture on their hands. If a Muslim has had sexual intercourse, ejected semen, or is new to the faith, he or she must perform ghusl, a full-body cleansing.
When no water is available for performing ablutions, clean sand may be used in its place (this type of cleansing is known as tayammum). If the ablutions were performed using water, the Muslim is considered to have cleansed him or herself from the physical manifestations of sin in a lasting fashion that extends between prayers; unless the Muslim does something to remove this cleanliness, the cleansing would not need to be repeated before the next prayer. When sand is used, the cleansing is only temporary and regardless of whether or not the Muslim commits any physical acts of uncleanliness he or she will need to undergo the ceremonial cleansing immediately before the next prayer.
 |
Muslims performing salah |
Once the time for salat has begun and the call to prayer given, a Muslim performs salat by reciting various verses of the Qur'an coupled with supplications praising Allah whilst prostrating in various positions. A Muslim must perform these actions with sincere devotion (
khushoo), otherwise the salat is considered invalid (see section below). The details of the actions are now given.
The Muslim performing salat begins his prayer by standing and facing the direction of the
Qibla and making
niyyah (the - typically non-verbal - intention to pray). He raises his hands and speaks aloud a phrase called the
takbir:
| الله اكبر الله اكبر | Allahu akbar |
At the beginning of each
raka'ah, the first
chapter of the
Qur'an,
Sura al-Fatiha, is recited.
| بِس'مِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّح'مَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيم | Bismillah ar-rahmaan ar-raheem | | "Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds," | ٱل'حَم'دُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱل'عَـٰلَمِين | Al-hamdu lillahi rabb al-alameen |
| "The Beneficent, the Merciful," | ٱلرَّح'مَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيم | Ar-rahmaan ar-raheem' |
| "Master of the day of judgment" | مَـٰلِكِ يَو'مِ ٱلدِّين | Ma[a]liki yawm ad-deen |
| "You (alone) do we worship, and you (alone) we ask for help;" | إِيَّاكَ نَع'بُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَس'تَعِينُ | Iyyaaka naabudu wa iyyaaka nastaeen |
| "Show us the straight path" | ٱه'دِنَا ٱلصِّرَ ٰط ٱل'مُس'تَقِيمَ | Ihdina s-siraata l-mustaqeem |
| "The path of those You bestowed favor upon, not anger upon, and not of those who go astray." | صِرَ ٰطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَن'عَم'تَ عَلَي'هِم' غَي'رِ ٱل'مَغ'ضُوبِ عَلَي'هِم' وَلاَ ٱلضَّاۤلِّينَ | Siraata l-latheena anamta alaihim ghair al-mughdoobi alaihim wa la daaleen |
During the first two raka'ah, and following the recitation of al-Fatiha, any other chapter or several verses of the
Qur'an are additionally recited. The Muslim then bows at the waist into
ruk'u, repeating the takbir, and once in ruk'u says at least three times:
| Subhaana rabbiy al-‘azheem |
The Muslim then returns to a standing position, saying:
| Sami‘a-llaahu liman hamidah | | "Our Lord, for You is all praise" | Rabbanaa wa laka-l-hamd. |
and subsequently prostrates into
sajdah, placing his forehead, nose, hands, knees, and toes on the floor, while once again repeating the takbir. Once in sajdah he says at least three times:
The worshipper then says at least three times:
{
"Glory to my Lord the Most High" | Subhaana rabbiy al-alaa | 
