{"id":1625,"date":"2016-03-25T18:31:41","date_gmt":"2016-03-25T18:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/?p=1625"},"modified":"2018-03-28T21:10:41","modified_gmt":"2018-03-29T02:10:41","slug":"the-second-pillar-of-islam-the-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/the-second-pillar-of-islam-the-prayer\/","title":{"rendered":"The Second Pillar of Islam: The Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By Imam Kamil Mufti<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Salah<\/em> is the daily ritual prayer enjoined upon all Muslims as one of the five Pillars of Islam.\u00a0 It is performed five times a day by all Muslims.\u00a0 <em>Salah<\/em> is a precise worship, different from praying on the inspiration of the moment.\u00a0 Muslims pray or, perhaps more correctly, worship five times throughout the day:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Between first light and sunrise.<\/li>\n<li>After the sun has passed the middle of the sky.<\/li>\n<li>Between mid-afternoon and sunset.<\/li>\n<li>Between sunset and the last light of the day.<\/li>\n<li>Between darkness and midnight.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Each prayer may take at least 5 minutes, but it may be lengthened as a person wishes.\u00a0 Muslims can pray in any clean environment, alone or together, in a mosque or at home, at work or on the road, indoors or out.\u00a0 Under special circumstances, such as illness, journey, or war, certain allowances in the prayers are given to make their offering easy.<\/p>\n<p>Having specific times each day to be close to God helps Muslims remain aware of the importance of their faith, and the role it plays in every part of life.\u00a0 Muslims start their day by cleaning themselves and then standing before their Lord in prayer.\u00a0 The prayers consist of recitations from the Quran in Arabic and a sequence of movements: standing, bowing, prostrating, and sitting.\u00a0 All recitations and movements express submission, humility, and homage to God.\u00a0 The various postures Muslims assume during their prayers capture the spirit of submission; the words remind them of their commitments to God.\u00a0 The prayer also reminds one of belief in the Day of Judgment and of the fact that one has to appear before his or her Creator and give an account of their entire life.\u00a0 This is how a Muslim starts their day.\u00a0 In the course of the day, Muslims dissociate themselves from their worldly engagements for a few moments and stand before God.\u00a0 This brings to mind once again the real purpose of life.<\/p>\n<p>These prayers serve as a constant reminder throughout the day to help keep believers mindful of God in the daily stress of work, family, and distractions of life.\u00a0 Prayer strengthens faith, dependence on God, and puts daily life within the perspective of life to come after death and the last judgment.\u00a0 As they prepare to pray, Muslims face Mecca, the holy city that houses the Kaaba (the ancient place of worship built by Abraham and his son Ishmael).\u00a0 At the end of the prayer, the<em>shahada<\/em> (testimony of faith) is recited, and the greeting of peace, &#8220;Peace be upon all of you and the mercy and blessings of God,&#8221; is repeated twice.<\/p>\n<p>Though individual performance of <em>salah<\/em> is permissible, collective worship in the mosque has special merit and Muslims are encouraged to perform certain<em>salah<\/em> with others.\u00a0 With their faces turned in the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca, the worshipers align themselves in parallel rows behind the <em>imam<\/em>, or prayer leader, who directs them as they execute the physical postures coupled with Quran recitations.\u00a0 In many Muslim countries, the &#8220;call to prayer,&#8221; or \u2018Adhan,\u2019 echo out across the rooftops.\u00a0 Aided by a megaphone the muezzin calls out:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest),<\/em><br \/>\n<em> Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest),<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest),<\/em><br \/>\n<em> Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest),<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Ash-hadu an-laa ilaaha il-lal-lah (I witness that none deserves worship except God).<\/em><br \/>\n<em> Ash-hadu an-laa ilaaha il-lal-lah (I witness that none deserves worship except God).<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Ash-hadu anna Muhammadar-Rasool-ullah (I witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God).<\/em><br \/>\n<em> Ash-hadu anna Muhammadar-Rasool-ullah (I witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God).<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Hayya \u2018alas-Salah (Come to prayer!)<\/em><br \/>\n<em> Hayya \u2018alas-Salah (Come to prayer!)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Hayya \u2018alal-Falah (Come to prosperity!)<\/em><br \/>\n<em> Hayya \u2018alal-Falah (Come to prosperity!)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest),<\/em><br \/>\n<em> Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest),<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>La ilaaha il-lal-lah (None deserves worship except God).<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Friday is the weekly day of communal worship in Islam.\u00a0 The weekly convened Friday Prayer is the most important service.\u00a0 The Friday Prayer is marked by the following features:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It falls in the same time as the noon prayer which it replaces.<\/li>\n<li>It must be performed in a congregation led by a prayer leader, an \u2018Imam.\u2019 It can not be offered individually.\u00a0 Muslims in the West try to arrange their schedules to allow them time to attend the prayer.<\/li>\n<li>Rather than \u00a0a day of rest like the Sabbath, Friday is a day of devotion and extra worship.\u00a0 A Muslim is allowed normal work on Friday as on any other day of the week. \u00a0They may proceed with their usual activities, but they must break for the Friday prayer.\u00a0 After the worship is over, they can resume their mundane activities.<\/li>\n<li>Typically, the Friday Prayer is performed in a mosque, if available.\u00a0 Sometimes, due to unavailability of a mosque, it may be offered at a rented facility, park, etc.<\/li>\n<li>When the time for prayer comes, the Adhan is pronounced.\u00a0 The Imam then stands facing the audience and delivers his sermon (known as <em>khutba<\/em>in Arabic), an essential part of the service of which its attendance is required.\u00a0 While the Imam is talking, everyone present listens to the sermon quietly till the end.\u00a0 Most Imams in the West will deliver the sermon in English, but some deliver it in Arabic.\u00a0 Those who deliver it in Arabic usually deliver a short speech in the local language before the service.<\/li>\n<li>There are two sermons delivered, one distinguished from the other by a brief sitting of the Imam.\u00a0 The sermon is commenced with words of praise of God and prayers of blessing for Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him.<\/li>\n<li>After the sermon, the prayer is offered under the leadership of the Imam who recites the Fatiha and other Quranic passages in an audible voice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Special, large congregational prayers, which include a sermon, are also offered at late morning on the two days of festivity.\u00a0 One of them is immediately following the month of fasting, Ramadan, and the other after the pilgrimage, or hajj.<\/p>\n<p>Although not religiously mandated, individual devotional prayers, especially during the night, are emphasized and are a common practice among pious Muslims.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>From: Islamreligion<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Imam Kamil Mufti Salah is the daily ritual prayer enjoined upon all Muslims as one of the five Pillars of Islam.\u00a0 It is performed five times a day by all Muslims.\u00a0 Salah is a precise worship, different from praying on the inspiration of the moment.\u00a0 Muslims pray or, perhaps more correctly, worship five times &#8230; <a title=\"The Second Pillar of Islam: The Prayer\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/the-second-pillar-of-islam-the-prayer\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about The Second Pillar of Islam: The Prayer\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2787,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-five-pillars-of-islam"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/pillar-2.jpg","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/pillar-2.jpg",1280,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/pillar-2-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/pillar-2-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/pillar-2-768x432.jpg",768,432,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/pillar-2-1024x576.jpg",1024,576,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/pillar-2.jpg",1280,720,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/pillar-2.jpg",1280,720,false],"gform-image-choice-sm":["https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/pillar-2.jpg",300,169,false],"gform-image-choice-md":["https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/pillar-2.jpg",400,225,false],"gform-image-choice-lg":["https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/pillar-2.jpg",600,338,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"ASKM","author_link":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/author\/askm\/"},"uagb_comment_info":1,"uagb_excerpt":"By Imam Kamil Mufti Salah is the daily ritual prayer enjoined upon all Muslims as one of the five Pillars of Islam.\u00a0 It is performed five times a day by all Muslims.\u00a0 Salah is a precise worship, different from praying on the inspiration of the moment.\u00a0 Muslims pray or, perhaps more correctly, worship five times&hellip;","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcT0IL-qd","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7074,"url":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/the-second-pillar-of-islam-the-prayer-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1625,"position":0},"title":"The Second Pillar of Islam: The Prayer","author":"Site Admin","date":"06\/07\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Salah is the daily ritual prayer enjoined upon all Muslims as one of the five Pillars of Islam. It is performed five times a day by all Muslims. Salah is a precise worship, different from praying on the inspiration of the moment. Muslims pray or, perhaps more correctly, worship five\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Transactions &amp; Worship&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Transactions &amp; Worship","link":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/category\/transactions-and-worship\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1614,"url":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/less-than-5-mins-pillars-of-islam\/","url_meta":{"origin":1625,"position":1},"title":"Less than 5 Mins \u2013 Pillars of Islam","author":"ASKM","date":"03\/20\/2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The first and most important pillar ofIslam is the testimony of faith. It is a simple yet powerful declaration which forms the basis of Islam. It means that there is no God worthy to be worshiped except for Allah, andMuhammad is the Messenger. The second pillar of Islam is Prayer.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7091,"url":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/the-five-pillars-of-islam\/","url_meta":{"origin":1625,"position":2},"title":"The Five Pillars of Islam","author":"Site Admin","date":"06\/07\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Every sound structure must have a solid foundation in order to remain strong. Islam\u2019s foundation is the five pillars it was built upon, forming the basis of Islamic teaching as taught by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), wherein he said: Islam is built upon five pillars: 1. The Declaration\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Transactions &amp; Worship&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Transactions &amp; Worship","link":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/category\/transactions-and-worship\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6158,"url":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/first-level-lesson-6-the-five-pillars-of-islam-in-brief\/","url_meta":{"origin":1625,"position":3},"title":"First Level [Lesson 6] &#8220;The Five pillars of Islam in brief&#8221;","author":"Site Admin","date":"03\/28\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Five Pillars of Islam \u26a1\ufe0fAllah has mandated five acts upon which the whole religion of Islam is built. Due to their importance, the Prophet stated : \u2066\ud83d\udcab\ud83d\udcabthe Messenger of Allah (\ufdfa) said: (The superstructure of) al-Islam is raised on five (pillars), testifying (the fact) that there is no god\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;New Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"New Article","link":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/category\/new-article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/IMG_20200329_004726_228.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/IMG_20200329_004726_228.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/IMG_20200329_004726_228.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/IMG_20200329_004726_228.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7082,"url":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/prayer-in-islam\/","url_meta":{"origin":1625,"position":4},"title":"Prayer in Islam","author":"Site Admin","date":"06\/07\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The religion of Islam and the Muslims feature prominently in the media nowadays; unfortunately, they are often depicted as fanatical or extreme for simply following the basic tenants of Islam. The information that is circulated is often incorrect or inadequately explained. Basic practices and pillars of Islam begin to take\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Transactions &amp; Worship&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Transactions &amp; Worship","link":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/category\/transactions-and-worship\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1622,"url":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/the-first-pillar-of-islam-the-muslim-profession-of-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":1625,"position":5},"title":"The First Pillar of Islam: The Muslim Profession of Faith","author":"ASKM","date":"03\/26\/2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By Imam Kamil Mufti All practicing Muslims accept belief in the \u2018Six Articles of Faith\u2019 and are obliged to follow the \u2018Five Pillars.\u2019 \u00a0They are: 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muslim profession of faith orshahada. 2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ritual Prayer or salah. 3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Obligatory Charity or zakah. 4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fasting or sawm. 5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pilgrimage or hajj. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Five Pillars of Islam&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Five Pillars of Islam","link":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/category\/the-five-pillars-of-islam\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/pillar-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/pillar-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/pillar-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/pillar-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/pillar-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1625"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2850,"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1625\/revisions\/2850"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}