Islam the Basics Part 3: Prayer

Salam wa'alikum,

Sorry it's been so long since my last post, a lot of personal problems have been happening lately! Now however, I am back and insha'allah, I will help everyone learn about prayer!

Prayer in the life of a muslim is extremely important! To muslims prayer is a direct audience with Allah (God) Himself. Islamic prayer does differ from Christianity slightly though. In Islam there are two types of prayer. Formal or Ritual prayer, and non-formal prayer. First I'll explain non-formal, then formal.

Non-Formal Prayer

Non-formal prayer is a prayer that can be anywhere any time for any reason. It can be aloud, silent, or even in your head. There isn't anything special you have to say or do have non-formal prayer. An example of having non-formal prayer would be if you were about to have a test and asked Allah for help to pass it.

Formal Prayer

Formal prayer, or Salah is a bit different, and this is really where Islamic prayer differs from Christian prayer. Formal prayer for Muslims is a requirement of the faith. There are 5 certain times throughout the day that a muslim must stop and have prayer. These times are generally judged based on the placement of the sun in the sky. The times are as follows:

• Fajr - Morning prayer - 2 required, 2 before sunnah
• Dhuhr - Noon Prayer - 4 required, 4 before sunnah, 2 after sunnah
• Asr - Afternoon prayer - 4 required, 2 before sunnah
• Maghrib - Evening prayer - 3 required, 2 after sunnah
• Isha - Night prayer - 4 requied, 2 after sunnah
• Vitr - End of day prayer - odd number sunnah

You'll notice that even though I said there were only 5 certain times, but 6 prayers. That's because in Islam, there are required prayers and sunnah prayers. Just as it might imply, required prayers are a must, if a muslim does not do these, its considered a sin, however sunnah prayers are optional! These are simply extra prayers that the Prophet (SAW) used to do in addition to the required prayers. As an example, for Dhuhr prayer, you could do 4 sunnah, then the 4 required, then 2 more sunnah!

Now I know what you're thinking, why number prayers? Well thats because of how prayers are preformed in Islam. Unlike Christianity, where you kneel and prayer, Islamic prayer is a full body/mind experience. Prayers are measured in "ra'kat". So if a prayer has 2 required, you need to do 2 ra'kat. One ra'kat goes something like this:

1. Standing straight up, lift you hands to your ears.
2. Say "Allahu Akbar" (God is greater) while moving your hands to your stomach, right hand over left.
3. Recite the first chapter of the Qur'an, Al-Fatiha.
4. Recite one other chapter of the Qur'an
5. Bend at the waist into a 90 degree angle, while saying "Allahu Akbar"
6. Say "Sub-hanna Rab-be-el Ad-eem" or "Glory be to God" 3 times.
7. Stand back up straight saying "Allah Akbar".
8. Kneel down placing your forehead against the ground saying "Allahu Akbar"
1. It's important to note that your forehead, knees, toes, and both hands should be flat on hte ground at this point.
9. Say "Sub-hanna Rab-be-el Allah" 3 times.
10. Sit up on your feet saying "Allahu Akbar"
11. Say "Lord forgive me of my sins".
12. Place your forehead back on the ground like before and say "Sub-hanna Rab-be-el Allah" 3 times.
13. Stand back up saying "Allahu Akbar"

Now it's important to remember that this is only a very simplified version. The full prayer has a lot of different wordings and phrases to say, and is usually done in all Arabic as well. It's also important to remember that this is only one ra'kat, even the shortest required prayer has to be 2 ra'kat.

A lot different than Christian prayer huh?