Praying
فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لِي وَلَا تَكْفُرُونِ
Salat, the obligatory Muslim prayer, is done at appointed times, fixed in relation to the sun’s position throughout the day, and fluctuates depending on the season. The time of Fajr, the morning prayer, begins at dawn and ends at sunrise. The time of Zuhr, the midday prayer, begins immediately after the sun crosses the high noon point and begins to descend. The Asr prayer begins in the late afternoon when the sun descends halfway between high noon and sunset. The time of the Maghrib prayer begins immediately after sunset. The Isha prayer begins after dusk has completely disappeared, giving way to total darkness of the night.
Fazail-I-Salat (Merits of Salat): After reciting Kalima (announcing the oneness of Allah and witnessing that Mohammad is Allah’s messenger), Salat is the second pillar of Islam. It provides us the best opportunity to communicate directly with Allah and to worship with the complete submission of heart, soul, mind and body to the will of Allah. This is the best form of Allah’s Dhikr (remembering Allah). We often become very busy in our daily life, and Salat provides us a moment to pause and remember Allah. Along with remembering our Creator, it also prevents us from indecent acts as noted in the Qur’an; “And perform Salat, Indeed Salat prevents one from shameful and indecent acts”.[1] We are closest to Allah during our prayers. This point is stressed by Prophet Mohammad who said, “Worship your Lord as if you see Him during worship, and if you cannot do that, then worship as if He sees you.”[2] During our prayers, we can express our needs directly to Allah. Salat also gives us the opportunity to evaluate our past actions and prepare for the future. It teaches us punctuality and discipline that is important both for an individual and a community. Performing our Salat in a congregation is recommended as it develops love and understanding for each other. This congregation may be at home with the family, in the Masjid with community or any place where community people can gather. This helps create the feelings of brotherhood.
Conditions for performing Salat: Since Salat links us directly with our Creator and our loved one, we have to prepare ourselves to perform Salat. That preparation is called the conditions for performing Salat. Those conditions are as follows; Body and clothes should be clean (as explained in Cleanliness chapter). Conditions of Star (Covering of the body, for men it is from naval to knees, and for women whole body except face, hand and feet) should be fulfilled. Clean place, time of the prayer and facing towards Ka’ba. Wudhu or ablution. Intention for Salat.
Fazail-I-Salat (Merits of Salat): After reciting Kalima (announcing the oneness of Allah and witnessing that Mohammad is Allah’s messenger), Salat is the second pillar of Islam. It provides us the best opportunity to communicate directly with Allah and to worship with the complete submission of heart, soul, mind and body to the will of Allah. This is the best form of Allah’s Dhikr (remembering Allah). We often become very busy in our daily life, and Salat provides us a moment to pause and remember Allah. Along with remembering our Creator, it also prevents us from indecent acts as noted in the Qur’an; “And perform Salat, Indeed Salat prevents one from shameful and indecent acts”.[1] We are closest to Allah during our prayers. This point is stressed by Prophet Mohammad who said, “Worship your Lord as if you see Him during worship, and if you cannot do that, then worship as if He sees you.”[2] During our prayers, we can express our needs directly to Allah. Salat also gives us the opportunity to evaluate our past actions and prepare for the future. It teaches us punctuality and discipline that is important both for an individual and a community. Performing our Salat in a congregation is recommended as it develops love and understanding for each other. This congregation may be at home with the family, in the Masjid with community or any place where community people can gather. This helps create the feelings of brotherhood.
Conditions for performing Salat: Since Salat links us directly with our Creator and our loved one, we have to prepare ourselves to perform Salat. That preparation is called the conditions for performing Salat. Those conditions are as follows; Body and clothes should be clean (as explained in Cleanliness chapter). Conditions of Star (Covering of the body, for men it is from naval to knees, and for women whole body except face, hand and feet) should be fulfilled. Clean place, time of the prayer and facing towards Ka’ba. Wudhu or ablution. Intention for Salat.