INTRODUCTION

This prayer guide is a step by step guide to learning to pray. This pray page also includes articles on common mistakes done whilst performing the pray so that brothers and sisters can beware of them. And common questions regarding prayer.

The five time prayers become obligatory from the moment a person embraces Islam. This is an extremely important tenet of Islam and has been enjoined with great emphasis both in the Holy Quran and the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). According to one of his (peace be upon him) sayings, it is the borderline between a Muslim and a non-believer.

As a matter of fact, it is a form of worship which establishes the link between man and his Creator and Benefactor, Allah. Through salah (prayer) a person communes with his Lord, the Creator and the Sustainer of the Universe.

A Muslim turns toward Makkah (Mecca in Saudi Arabia) when performing these prayers, facing the first house built for the worship of The One God. This house is called the Ka`bah. It was erected by Abraham and his son Ishmael for the worship of The One and Only True God. We are not worshipping the Ka`bah; we simply worship God while facing the Ka`bah.

PRAYER TIMES

Prayer timings vary throughout the globe and slight variations from day to day due to changes in daylight hours.

There are five obligatory prayers which are performed at five different times of the day.

1 FAJR PRAYER (The Morning Prayer)

It is the first of the five obligatory prayers of the day. It starts at dawn and ends at sunrise. Thus it can be prayed between these points. But it is best to pray at the beginning of its time (i.e. just after start of dawn)

2 DHUHR PRAYER .(The Early Afternoon Prayer )

It starts when the sun begins to decline from its zenith and ends when the the size of an object's shadow is equal to the objects size.

3 ASR PRAYER (The Late Prayer )

It starts when an object's shadow is equal to the objects size and ends when just before sunset.

It is better to pray Asr before the sky becomes yellow (even though it is allowed to pray at such a time) because the Prophet ( peace be upon him) disliked Muslims praying at such as time and. He remarked that the the Munafiq (Hypocrite ) offers his pray at this time.

4 MAGHRIB PRAYER (The Sunset Prayer ) .
Its time begins just after sunset and ends when twilight has just disappeared

5 ISHA PRAYER (The Night Prayer )
It starts when twilight has disappeared and ends before midnight

Before starting the prayer, a person should perform Wudhu (ablution).

However if a person has had a wet dream or sex then they should perform Ghusl.

Ghusl should also be performed at the end of a women period of menstruation has ended and at the end of 40 days after childbirth (unless the bleeding stops before completing the 40 days period, then she must make the Ghusl as soon as the bleeding stops).

Ghusl in Islam means the bathing of the entire body with water. Proof of its legitimacy is embodied in the Holy Qur'an as follows:“ And if ye are in a state of ceremonial impurity, bathe your whole body” (Qur'an 5:6).

HOW TO PRAY

Stage1

Learning to pray when your language is not Arabic can seem to be a very difficult task. However it is not as difficult as it may appear to you. A certain amount of text is memorized and the same text can be recited in all the 5 daily prayers.

Since a Muslim should pray right away after converting to Islam, it would be reasonable to say that he or she would be unable to memorize the whole text of the prayer in the same day. Allah does not put a burden on anyone that they cannot bare.

Therefore the Prophet peace be upon him instructed new Muslims to learn a short supplication (Subhaan-Allaah wa’l-hamdu Lillaah wa laa ilaaha ill-Allaah wa Allaahu akbar wa laa hawla wa la quwwata illa Billaah) which they can recite in all their 5 daily prayers.

So for a new Muslim or a Muslim who does not know how to prayer. The following will be sufficient for him to memorize and incorporate in all the 5 daily prayers. As shown in the New diagrammatic New Muslim prayer guides that I have prepared for you below.
1 Allahu Akbar
2 Subhaan-Allaah wa’l-hamdu Lillaah wa laa ilaaha ill-Allaah wa Allaahu akbar wa laa hawla wa la quwwata illa Billaah
3 Sami Allaahu liman hamidah

4 Rabbana wa lakaal hamd
5 Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah

If you are more confidant then you can also memorize the following
6 Subhana rab-bi yal atheem
7 Subhana rubbiyal a'ala
8 Rabbi eghfir lee

So memorize the above and incorporate into the prayers as shown in the diagrams below.

Now lets look at how to pray each of the five daily prayers

1 FAJR PRAYER (The Morning Prayer)
2 DHUHR PRAYER .(The Early Afternoon Prayer )
3 ASR PRAYER (The Late Prayer )
4 MAGHRIB PRAYER (The Sunset Prayer )
5 ISHA PRAYER (The Night Prayer )

Each prayer consists of a number of Units called rakah's. The best way to possibly explain this is by using the Track event in Athletics.

If the track is 400 metres. Then to run 800 metres you Start form point A and then walk round the track and when you reach point A again you have completed your first lap but not finished and as soon as you cross point A. You begin your secound Lap and when you go round the track once again and you reach point A, you complete the secound Lap and with it the race. So if you think of each Rakah being similar to a lap on a running track. Then you will grasp the idea easier

The Fajr Prayer consists of 2 rakahs,

The Dhuhr , Asr and Isha prayers consist of 4 rakahs each

The Maghrib prayer consist of 3 rakahs.

    © 2009 Jamia Masjid