Prayer (Salah)
Times, the call to prayer, how to pray, praying together, and putting mistakes right.
Why prayer matters
- Why prayer matters What prayer (salah) is, why it stands before every other act of worship, what abandoning it costs, and the blessings it brings.
- The command to pray, and who it is obligatory on Prayer (salah) is individually obligatory on every sane, mature Muslim, and the conditions that make it obligatory on a given person.
- The number of units (rakats) in the daily prayers The full count of units (rak'ahs) of each daily prayer in the Hanafi school: the sunnah before, the obligatory (fard), the sunnah after, Witr and the voluntary (nafl), with the emphasised sunnah marked apart.
The times of prayer
- The times of the five daily prayers When Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha begin and end, the best time to pray each one, and the disliked delays.
- Forbidden times, disliked times, and combining two prayers The three times when prayer is forbidden, the times when it is merely disliked, and why two prayers cannot usually be combined.
The call to prayer (Adhan)
- The call to prayer (adhan) and the call to begin (iqamah): what they are, their words, and the extra call (tathwib) What the call to prayer (adhan) and the call to begin (iqamah) are, the exact Arabic words of each with their meaning, and the extra call (tathwib) given between them.
- The rules of the call to prayer (adhan) and the iqamah, and when an adhan counts Who must give the call to prayer (adhan), when it is and isn't required, and the four conditions that make an adhan valid.
- The sunnah method of the call to prayer (adhan) and the iqamah, step by step How the caller (muadhin) gives the call to prayer (adhan) from start to finish, and how the call to begin (iqamah) differs from it.
- The sunnahs and preferred acts of the call to prayer (adhan) and the iqamah How the caller (muadhin) should stand, move and speak while calling, the purity he should be in, and the mistakes to avoid in pronunciation.
- Disliked ways of giving the call to prayer (adhan), and who may not give it The acts that make a call to prayer (adhan) disliked, whose adhan does not count at all, and whose adhan counts but should ideally be repeated.
- How to respond to the call to prayer (adhan) and the call to begin (iqamah) What to do on hearing the call to prayer (adhan), the words to say in reply to each phrase, the supplication after it, and how to answer the call to begin (iqamah).
- The call to prayer (adhan) for a newborn and in distress, and other rulings Giving the call to prayer (adhan) outside the five daily prayers, and a set of everyday rulings about calling and repeating it.
The parts of the prayer
- The conditions for prayer to be valid The six external conditions: purity of body, clothes and place, covering the body (awrah), facing the direction of the Kaaba (qibla) and the intention, with what each requires.
- The seven pillars (arkan) of prayer The seven internal pillars of prayer that cannot be left out, from the opening takbir (Allahu Akbar) to ending the prayer, with what each requires.
- The obligatory acts of prayer (wajibat) The twelve necessary (wajib) acts of prayer: the Fatiha, the surah, order, stillness (tumaninah), the sittings, the testimony (tashahhud), recitation volume, the closing greeting (salam), the supplication (qunoot) and the Eid takbirs.
- The sunnahs of prayer and the recommended acts The sunnah acts of prayer, from raising the hands at the opening takbir (Allahu Akbar) to the wording of the closing greeting (salam), and the further recommended (mustahabb) etiquette.
How to pray
What spoils the prayer
- What nullifies the prayer The things that break the prayer: speaking, eating, laughing, unnecessary movement and more; what does not break it, and when breaking it is necessary.
- The disliked (makruh) acts in prayer The two grades of disliked act in prayer (makruh tahrimi, close to forbidden, and makruh tanzihi, merely better avoided), what falls under each, and the rules on reciting the suras out of order.
Putting mistakes right
- The prostration of forgetfulness (sajdah sahw) Two extra prostrations put right specific mistakes in prayer: the five general causes, the particular cases, and how to act on a doubt about your number of units (rak'ahs).
- The prostration of recitation (sajdah tilawah) The single prostration that becomes obligatory on reciting or hearing one of the fourteen verses of prostration, how it is performed, and its three causes.
- The prostrations of forgetfulness (sahw), recitation (tilawah) and thanks (shukr) The prostration of forgetfulness that fixes a mistake in prayer, the prostration due on reciting a verse of prostration, and the prostration of gratitude.
Praying together (Jama'ah)
- Congregational prayer, its virtues, and excuses for missing it What counts as a congregation, how strongly each prayer's congregation is emphasised, and the valid excuses for praying alone instead.
- Who most deserves to lead the prayer The order of priority for choosing an imam, and who may not be appointed to lead at all.
- The conditions for valid leadership (imamate) and for valid following What is required of a person for their leading a prayer to be valid, and what is required of a follower for the congregation to count.
- The rules between the imam and the follower How rows are formed and filled, what happens when imam and followers disagree on the count of units (rak'ahs), prompting the imam (luqma), and where a woman may stand.
- Joining a congregation that has already begun When to break off a prayer you started alone to join the congregation (jama'ah), when a sunnah must be finished first, and how catching the bowing (ruku') counts as catching the unit (rak'ah).
- The four categories of follower: on time (madrik), interrupted (lahiq), late (masbooq), and late and interrupted The four kinds of follower (muqtadi) depending on when they joined and whether they fell behind, and what each one must do to complete the prayer.
- When ablution (wudu) breaks during prayer, and continuing it (bina) What to do if your ablution (wudu) breaks mid-prayer, the conditions for validly continuing rather than restarting, and how an imam appoints a substitute (khalifa).
- The rules and etiquette of the mosque How to behave in the mosque, what is forbidden or disliked there, trade and charity inside it, and the funeral and marriage rulings that touch it.
Witr and the voluntary prayers (Nafl)
- The Witr prayer Witr is necessary (wajib) after Isha: three units (rak'ahs) with an extra surah in each, and the supplication (Dua-e-Qunoot) recited standing in the third.
- The sunnah and voluntary (nafl) prayers The twelve emphasised sunnahs of the day, the sunnahs that are not emphasised, and the voluntary (nafl) prayers, including the sunrise (Ishraq), forenoon (Duha) and after-Maghrib (Awwabin) prayers.
- The night prayer of Ramadan (Tarawih) The confirmed sunnah of Ramadan night prayer: its twenty units (rak'ahs), its timing, completing the Qur'an, and the rules of praying it in congregation.
- The greeting-the-mosque, after-wudu, sunrise (Ishraq), forenoon (Duha), night (Tahajjud) and guidance (Istikhara) prayers A handful of further recommended prayers tied to particular moments, and how to pray the prayer for guidance (Salat al-Istikhara) when facing a decision.
Missed prayers (Qada)
Illness and travel
- The prayer of a sick person Praying seated or lying down when standing, bowing (ruku) or prostration (sujood) are not possible, what to do if ability returns mid-prayer, and the case of a woman in labour.
- The prayer of a traveller: shortening it (qasr) What distance and duration make someone a traveller, what that comes to in miles, which prayers are shortened to two units (rak'ahs), and the other rulings the same distance decides.
Prayers for particular occasions
- The eclipse prayer (Salat al-Kusuf and Khusuf) The sunnah prayer for a solar eclipse and the recommended prayer for a lunar eclipse: when to pray, how many units (rak'ahs), and how they differ from an ordinary prayer.
- The prayer for rain (Istisqa) Seeking rain from Allah during a drought, through repentance and supplication (dua), and, in the view most of the school's fatwa follows, a congregational prayer and sermon.
- The prayer of fear (Salat al-Khawf) How an obligatory prayer is split between two groups when an enemy is present, so a congregation can still pray together without leaving itself undefended.
- Prayer during a frightening event or calamity The two units (rak'ahs) recommended for a storm, earthquake, epidemic or similar calamity, prayed alone at home, and the supplication in hardship (Qunoot-e-Nazilah) recited in Fajr while it lasts.
Reciting well (Tajweed)
- What is correct recitation (tajweed)? The meaning of correct recitation (tajweed), the two kinds of recitation mistake (obvious, lahn jali, and subtle, lahn khafi), and when to say the seeking of refuge (isti'adhah) and the basmalah.
- The articulation points of the letters (makharij) The seventeen points in the mouth, throat and nose from which the twenty-nine Arabic letters are pronounced, and how to find a letter's own point of articulation (makhraj).
- The characteristics of the letters (sifat) The qualities of sound that distinguish letters sharing a point of articulation (makhraj): necessary and occasional, and the five pairs and seven single qualities among the necessary ones.
- The rules for lam, ra, silent (sakin) mim and nun, lengthening (madd) and hamzah When lam and ra are pronounced heavy or light, how a silent mim and a silent nun behave before the next letter, the letters of prolongation, and two rules for hamzah.