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Salat—The Muslim Prayer Book3children. It is for this reason that the Holy Prophetsahas directed that when children reach the age ofseven, parents should urge them to be regular in theirPrayers and when they reach the age of ten, they mustbe admonished if they fail to offer their Prayersregularly. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Kitabus-Salat).Once the children reach the age of maturity, itbecomes compulsory for them to offer their Prayers.At that stage, no individual or Government has theright to force them to offer their Prayers, as the Salatoffered under compulsion does not mean anything. Itought to be offered willingly. The matter restsbetween the person and his God. Therefore, it is theduty of every and all Muslim parents to prepare theirchildren for Salat from an early age. Moreover, it ishighly essential for them to pray to God Almighty thattheir children become regular in Prayers. God’s helpis sought because the task is huge.It is mentioned in the Holy Quran that throughouthis life Hadrat Ishmaelas used to exhort members ofhis household to offer their Prayers regularly. It isoften observed that in homes where elders offer theirPrayers regularly, the children start copying themovements of their elders naturally and thus becomeregular in their Prayers, with time. However, when achild reaches the age of seven, the proper method ofPrayer should be taught to him. He should beencouraged to join in Prayer and, if possible, heshould be persuaded to accompany the parents to themosque. This will develop in the child an affinity withPrayer, and will safeguard the habit of Prayer in the

4Salat—The Muslim Prayer Bookfollowing generation. The parent or guardian,however, is permitted to be somewhat strict with thechildren between the ages of 10 to 12, should theybecome slack in offering their Prayers. This does notmean that they should be treated cruelly or punished,rather they should be admonished to the same degreeas parents often admonish them for missing school.However, when they reach the age of twelve, theyshould be made to realise that their parents havedischarged their duty and from that time on, thematter rests between them and God, to Whom they areanswerable. This does not mean that they should notbe advised, exhorted or admonished because as far asadvising them is concerned, it can go on for life, ifrequired. It is only the element of strictness whichcomes to an end when the child reaches the age oftwelve. As mentioned earlier, Hadrat Ishmaelasadopted the same method of love and kind persuasionwith the members of his household. The Holy ProphetMuhammadsa treated the grown-ups in his family inthe same manner. It is reported that he used to call outto his daughter Hadrat Fatimahra and his son-in-lawHadrat ‘Alira to wake them up for Fajr Prayer.2. IMPORTANCE OF PRAYERSalat or the prescribed Prayer has been mentionedin the Holy Quran as an essential characteristic of atrue believer. The Holy Quran states:ۛ ۖۚ َ ْ اﻟﻜﺘﺐ َﻻ َرﻳ اﻟﺬﻳْ َﻦ ِ َّ ﲔۙ ِ َّ ُ ْ ّ ﻫﺪی ِﻟ ً ُ ۛ ِﻪ ۚ ْ ﺐ ﻓِﻴ َ َِٰ ْ ﻠﻤﺘﻘ ُ ٰ ِ ْ ذﻟﻚ

Salat—The Muslim Prayer Book رزﻗﻨﻬﻢ َ ٰ ﻟﺼ ِ ْ َ ْ ِ ﺆﻣﻨﻮن َّ ِ ﻠﻮة َو َّ ﻘﻴﻤﻮن ا ْ ُ ٰ ْ َ َ ﳑﺎ َ ْ ُ ْ ِ ُ ﺑﺎﻟﻐﻴﺐ َو ﻳ َ ْ ُ ِ ْ ُ ﻳ نۙ ْ ُ َُِْ ﻳﻨﻔﻘﻮ 5This is a perfect Book; there is no doubt in it; it is aguidance for the righteous, Who believe in theunseen and observe Prayer, and spend out of whatWe have provided for them; (2:3-4)Prayer or Salat, helps us to get rid of sins; inclinesus more and more towards God and goodly things andso gradually purifies us. But this is not the end. Prayerdoes much more than this. It brings man closer to hisCreator. The worshipper tries to imitate God in Hismost excellent attributes and is constantly transformedfrom a lowly and worldly person to a highly noble andsublime servant of God. The Holy Quran mentionsthis distinctive quality of Salat by saying: ﻠﻮة َ ٰ ﻟﺼ ُُِْ ٰ ِ ْ اﻟﻴﻚ ِﻣ َﻦ َّ ان ا َّ اﻟﻜﺘﺐ َو اَﻗ ِِﻢ ا َّ ِ ؕ َة ﻟﺼ ٰﻠﻮ َ ْ َ ِ او َ ِ ْ ُ ۤ اﺗﻞ َﻣﺎ ِ َ ْ َ ْ ﺗﻨ ٰ َﻋ ِﻦ َ ْ ُ ْ اﻟﻔﺤﺸﺂء َو ا ﻠﻢ ِ ّٰ ﻟﺬ ْﻛ ُﺮ ِ َ ؕ ِﺮ َو ﳌﻨﻜ ْ َ اﻪﻠﻟ َُْ ّٰ ﱪ َو ُ ؕ َ اﻛ ُ َ اﻪﻠﻟ ﻳَ ْﻌ ﻌﻮن َ ْ َ َﻣﺎ َ ْ ُ ﺗﺼﻨ Recite that which has been revealed to thee of theBook, and observe Prayer. Surely, Prayer restrainsone from indecency and manifest evil, andremembrance of Allah indeed is the greatest virtue.And Allah knows what you do. (29:46)Prayer is indeed a sure and well-tried prescription

6Salat—The Muslim Prayer Bookfor purity of the heart and the soul. It is through Salatalone that we are able to establish a living communionwith Allah. The Quran says: اﻧﻔﻘﻮا ِ ّٰ ﻛﺘﺐ ِ َّ ان َ ٰ ﻟﺼ َّ اﻗﺎﻣﻮا ا ْ َ اﻟﺬﻳْ َﻦ ُ َ َ اﻪﻠﻟ َو ْ ُ َ ْ َ ﻠﻮة َو َ ٰ ِ ﻠﻮن َ ْ ُ ﻳﺘ َّ َِ ً ِ ِﻴﺔ ﻳَﺮﺟﻮن ﺗﺒﻮ َر ۙ َ َ رزﻗﻨﻬﻢ ِﺳ ًّﺮا َّو َّ َِ َ َ ْ ُ ْ ّ ً َ ﻋﻼﻧ ْ ُ َ ﲡﺎرة ﻟّ ْﻦ ْ ُ ٰ ْ َ َ ﳑﺎ ٖ ِ ﻓﻀ ﻏﻔﻮر ْ َ ﺰﻳﺪﻫﻢ ِّﻣ ْﻦ ٌ ْ ُ َ اﻧﻪ ٗ َّ ِ ؕ ﻠﻪ ْ ُ َ ْ ِ َ اﺟﻮرﻫﻢ َو ﻳ ْ ُ َ ْ ُ ُ ِﻴﻬﻢ ْ ُ َ ﻟﻴﻮ ّﻓ َُِ ﺷﻜﻮر ٌُْ َSurely, only those who follow the Book of Allah andobserve Prayer and spend out of what We haveprovided for them, secretly and openly, hope for abargain which will never fail; In order that He maygive them their full rewards, and even increase themout of His bounty. He is surely Most Forgiving, MostAppreciating. (35:30-31)According to the Holy Prophetsa Salat is thepinnacle of the spiritual life of the believer. It is thehighest form of Divine worship. The Holy Prophetsa isfurther reported to have observed:Prayer brings the believer into communion with hisLord.It must be realised that sincere prayer never goesin vain. Sometimes, the deep spiritual experience ofthe intense love of God brings tears to the eyes.Sometimes, a milder pleasure of love fills the heartwith sublime happiness. These experiences are signs

Salat—The Muslim Prayer Book7of the Prayer being alive, meaningful and fruitful.Otherwise, just a performance of formality is notenough to benefit man. That would be obeying anorder without one’s heart being in it. That is why it ishighly essential that every beginner should keep thisnoble objective before him and always try to make hisPrayers come alive.The Salat combines all forms and degreesexpressive of humility and submission. Theworshippers stand in rows and respectfully behind theImam.All the worshippers who line up behind the Imammust follow his movements at his call. The call forevery movement is Allahu Akbar except when theImam straightens himself from the position of Ruku‘,i.e. the bowing position, when instead of sayingAllahu Akbar, he says Sami‘allahu Liman Hamidahwhich means 'most certainly God listens to those whopraise Him.' At this call, all the followers alsostraighten up with arms by their sides, sayingRabbana Wa Lakal Hamd, Hamdan KathiranTayyiban Mubarakan Fihi.Sincerity and humility are the essence of prayer.Allah enjoins believers: ِْﻢ ِ ﺻﻼ ِ َّ نۙ َ َ ﻫﻢ ِ ْﰱ َْْ ُ اﻟﺬﻳْ َﻦ ْ ُ ِ ْ ﻗﺪ َا ْﻓﻠ َ َﺢ ا ْ ُﳌ َ ﺆﻣﻨﻮ نۙ ِْٰ ُ ﺧﺸ َ ﻌﻮ Surely, success does come to the believers, Who arehumble in their Prayers, (23:2-3)

8Salat—The Muslim Prayer BookThe Holy Prophetsa has said: No servant of Allahhumbles himself for the sake of Allah, but Allahthereby brings about his Raf‘a. Raf‘a is an Arabicword meaning 'to raise'. It does not mean that Allahwill lift him bodily to heaven. Obviously it means thatAllah will exalt his status before Him.True humility can only be achieved by mentallyconcentrating on the attributes of Allah. When Hisimmense greatness dawns on someone, one has nochoice but to be humbled.3. THE TIMING OF PRAYERSFor each of the five obligatory Prayers, there is anappointed time fixed in relation to the sun’s position.The time of the Fajr or morning Prayer beginswith dawn and ends just before sunrise.The time of the Zuhr or midday Prayer beginsafter the sun has crossed the zenith point and hasbegun to decline.The time of the ‘Asr Prayer is when the sun hasfurther advanced in decline and reaches a point nearlyhalfway between the beginning of decline and sunset,which we may call late afternoon but not very late. Itends up quite some time before sunset, when thesunlight has paled. Although it is not entirelyforbidden to say the ‘Asr Prayer that late in the day, itis most certainly preferred that it be offered beforedaylight has started fading out while the sun is stillabove the horizon by a good measure.It is to be remembered that at the times of sunrise,

Salat—The Muslim Prayer Book9sunset and when the sun is at its zenith, it is forbiddento offer Prayers. Also, when the ‘Asr Prayer has beenperformed, no optional Prayer should be offeredbetween that time and the time of sunset. Similarly,between morning Prayer and sunrise no optionalPrayer should be offered.The time of Maghrib Prayer begins immediatelyafter the sun has set. It lasts till dusk. But the worddusk is differently understood by the different schoolsof Jurists. The Wahhabis and similar sects with a rigidattitude insist that Maghrib Prayer should be offeredalmost immediately after sunset and that the time ofdusk, according to them, ends when the redness of thesunset gives way to a dusky grey. Many other sectsbelieve that dusk lasts still when there is some lightleft on the horizon after sunset. According to suchschools, the allotted time for offering Maghrib Prayeris almost as long as that allotted for performingmorning Prayer which lasts from early dawn tosunrise.All schools of jurisprudence agree that the timefor the ‘Isha’ Prayer begins when dusk has finallydisappeared, giving way to the darkness of night.According to most, this period lasts till midnight butsome even extend it beyond midnight till one retiresfor sleep. It is, however, very strongly advised andpreferred that Prayers should be generally offered atthe beginning of their respective times and should notbe delayed until the time is about to run out.

10Salat—The Muslim Prayer Book4. CONDITIONS FOR PRAYERSome prerequisites and conditions exist regardingthe offering of Prayers. They are as follows:i. Determination of Intention: The intention toperform a Prayer must be made prior to thebeginning of the Prayer.ii. The Prayer should be offered within the fixedtime allotted for that particular Prayer.However, it should be remembered that if onefails to perform a Prayer in time due to somecompelling reasons, that Prayer can be offeredwhenever one remembers it. However, it shouldnot be offered at forbidden times. The questionarises that if the timings for Prayer and fasting,etc., are associated with the duration ofsunlight, with the rotation of the earth and therelative position of the sun and moon, howcould one determine the timings of Prayer andfasting in extreme Southern and Northern areaswhere the duration of days and nights arelonger than twenty-four hours? It should benoted that the Holy Prophetsa replying to aquestion from a Companion, explained that inthose areas where the days and nights are oflonger duration as compared to the normal 24hour day, Muslims should offer their Prayers bymeasuring time in accordance with the normallength of a day.iii. One should be clean in body and, as far aspossible, in mind and spirit also. Cleanlinesshere is a term which means:

Salat—The Muslim Prayer Book11a. The body should be clean from all filth.b. If one has answered the call of nature andhas been to the toilet, one should washoneself properly so that all remnants offaeces or urine have been properly washedaway.c. After conjugation, whether ejaculation hastaken place or not or when, in whatevermanner, ejaculation has taken place, forinstance during sleep, cleanliness wouldmean not just washing oneself partially, buta full bath becomes essential.d. A full bath is also essential for women aftermenstruation, and after post-parturitionbleeding (bleeding following childbirth).iv. The place and mat of Prayer must be neat andclean.v. The body must be properly covered during thePrayer.vi. Qiblah or Direction: All Muslims must facetowards the Ka‘bah. Qiblah means facing theKa‘bah in Makkah, the first House of worshipbuilt on earth.All Muslims throughout the world should alwaysface the general direction of the Ka‘bah during everyPrayer. However, during a journey and whentravelling, if one fails to determine the directionproperly or when one is unable to face towards theKa‘bah because of illness, for it is beyond one’scapacity to do so, then one is not obliged to facetowards the Qiblah. Also, when on a journey, riding

12Salat—The Muslim Prayer Bookon a mount, train, boat or plane, one should say one’sPrayers facing in the same direction towards whichone is moving, or indeed any convenient position willbe acceptable.ABLUTIONThe word ablution applies to washing some partsof the body preparatory to the performance of Prayer.This is a prerequisite which must be fulfilled,otherwise the Prayer will not be considered valid. TheHadith clearly instructs that one should wash one’shands three times with water and then clean one’smouth by rinsing with water three times.Then, the nose should be internally cleaned bypushing a little water into the nostrils three times.

Salat—The Muslim Prayer Book13And then the entire face should be washed threetimes.After this, the whole of the forearm up to andincluding the elbow should be washed three timeseach, starting with the right.

14Salat—The Muslim Prayer BookThen, having wetted the hands with some wateragain, a pass should be made over the head with bothhands, palms downwards withthumbs outstretched so thatalmost the whole head is coveredby this in a passing motion. Atthe end of this motion, the earsshould be cleaned with the tips ofthe forefingers. The forefinger ofthe right hand is used for the rightear and the forefinger of the lefthand is used for the left ear. Thefinger tips move along the crevices and grooves of theoutside ear and are dipped slightly into the ear holes.After passing the finger tips around the grooves ofthe external ear and dipping them into the ear holes,all fingers are joined together and the hands areinverted so that the palms now are facing outwards.With the back of the hands, a pass is made from thenape of the neck to the front of the neck.

Salat—The Muslim Prayer Book15Lastly the feet should be washed up to the anklesinclusive, three times each, again beginning with theright. If for some reason, the limbs are washed justonce, or twice, during the ablution, the ablution is stillcomplete, even though the best form of ablution isthat which we find in the established Sunnah of theHoly Prophet Muhammadsa which is to wash thelimbs three times. Thus the ablution is completed.It is essential that the following prescribed prayerbe recited for ablution: ﳌﺘﻄﻬ ِﺮ ﻳْ َﻦ َ اَﻟ ٰﻠﻬﻢ اﺟﻌﻠﲎ ِﻣﻦ اﻟﺘﻮاﺑﲔ و اﺟﻌﻠ ِّ َ َ ُ ْ ﲎ ِﻣ َﻦ ا ْ ِ ْ َ ْ َ َ ْ ِ َّ ّ َ ْ ِ ْ َ ْ َّ ُ ّTransliteration:Allahummaj‘alni minat-tawwabina waj‘alni minalmutatahhirin.Translation:O Allah make me of those who seek forgiveness andmake me of those who are cleansed.

16Salat—The Muslim Prayer BookThis is ablution in normal circumstances whenone is healthy and the use of water is not medicallyinadvisable, and where clean water is easily available.In case of illness or non-availability of water, there isa simple substitute for ablution in the following formwhich is called Tayammum.If a clean dusty surface or a solid surface isavailable, one should pat the surface with the openpalms of both hands, and make a motion with bothhands passing them over one’s face. Then, one shouldpass the hands over the back of each othersuccessively. If too much dust accumulates on thehands, then one is permitted to dislodge the excess.This is only a token ablution to remind one thatwhenever possible, proper ablution should beperformed.It is essential that one should offer Prayer whileone’s ablution is intact. If one’s ablution remainsintact then even with one ablution, more than onePrayer can be performed. This means that the state ofablution is necessary when one performs Prayer butfor each Prayer repetition of ablution is not necessaryif the previous ablution is still valid.FACTORS WHICH

SALAT—The Muslim Prayer Book First Published in U.K. in 1994 Reprinted with some changes in 1996, followed by several editions in different countries of the world.