Prayer
๐ In short
Prayer is the second pillar of Islam, and the first act of worship we learn. We pray five times a day: Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha, thanking God for His blessings, calling on Him and asking Him for what we need.
ุฅูููู ุงูุตููููุงุฉู ุชูููููููฐ ุนููู ุงููููุญูุดูุงุกู ููุงููู
ููููุฑู๐คฉ Did you know?
- The five prayers have 17 rak'ahs in all each day.
- The Prophet ๏ทบ said: โTell your children to pray when they are 7 years oldโ (reported by Abu Dawud).
- All over the world, Muslims face the Kaaba in Makkah when they pray.
- A person is closest to their Lord while prostrating, as the Prophet ๏ทบ said in a hadith reported by Muslim.
๐ Find out more
๐ Prayer times
Each prayer has its time: Fajr before sunrise, Dhuhr after midday, Asr late in the afternoon, Maghrib after sunset and Isha when darkness falls. The call to prayer (adhan) tells us the time has come.
๐ How do we pray?
We do wudu, face the qiblah and say โAllahu akbarโ, recite al-Fatihah, then bow and prostrate. At the end of the prayer we sit for the tashahhud and say โAs-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahโ to the right and to the left.
๐ก Number of rak'ahs
Fajr has two units of prayer (rak'ahs), Maghrib three, and Dhuhr, Asr and Isha four each. That makes seventeen rak'ahs a day.
๐ฏ Praying together
A man's prayer in congregation at the mosque is twenty-seven times better than praying alone. On Friday, Muslims gather for the Friday prayer and its sermon.
๐ Key words
- Qiblah
- The direction of the Kaaba, which we face in prayer
- Rak'ah
- A part of the prayer with standing, reciting, bowing and two prostrations
- Adhan
- The call that announces prayer time
๐ฑ Put it into practice today
Make a chart with the five prayers and the days of the week, and put a star โญ every time you pray on time. At the end of the week, count your stars!
๐งฉ Test yourself
1 What do we recite in every rak'ah?
2 How many rak'ahs are in the Isha prayer?
3 What tells us it's time to pray?
๐ Read next
- ๐ The five pillars of Islam
- โจ The six pillars of faith
- ๐ง Wudu and purity
- ๐ Ramadan and fasting
- ๐คฒ Zakat and charity
- ๐ Hajj and Umrah
- ๐ Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha
- ๐ Friday
- ๐คฒ Du'a
- ๐ Hijri months
- ๐ The Qur'an
- ๐ The Prophet Muhammad ๏ทบ
- ๐ The mosque, the house of God
- ๐ฌ Honesty
- ๐ค Trustworthiness
- ๐จโ๐ฉโ๐ง Kindness to parents
- ๐ Mercy and kindness to animals
- ๐งผ Cleanliness is part of faith
- ๐๏ธ Being good to neighbors
- ๐ฝ๏ธ Table manners
- ๐ Greetings and smiles
- โต The story of Noah (Nuh)
- ๐ฅ The story of Abraham (Ibrahim)
- โญ The story of Joseph (Yusuf)
- ๐ The story of Moses (Musa)
- ๐ The story of Jonah (Yunus)
- ๐ฑ Patience