Islam the way of life

Salah is the formal prayer which is directed to the One and only Supreme God without any intermediaries. Muslims do not pray to the Prophet Muhammad, the Ka’abah in Makkah, or any other human, angel, Jinn, or idol. The formal prayer is offered at five separate times every day in Arabic.

The prayers fit into everyday life

The prayers are carried out during certain time periods, so that they are spaced out during the day and night. The time periods are between dawn and sunrise (Fajr or Subh), between midday and mid afternoon (Dhuhr), between mid-afternoon and sunset ('Asr), just after sunset (Maghrib), and between the fall of darkness and dawn (Isha).
The Salah prayers can be performed anywhere, inside or outside, as long as they are performed in a place, and in modest clothes, that are all free from impurities such as blood, excrement, urine etc. To do the Salah, Muslims must also get rid of impurities on their bodies, through having completed a wash called the wudu, or special bath/ shower called the ghusl.
Muslims are encouraged to pray these five prayers in congregation with other Muslims, and men are encouraged to do them at the mosque, it being obligatory to go to the Friday prayer. Although the mosque is a community centre to be used by men and women for education, welfare, cultural activities and social gatherings, women do not have to pray in the mosque, as it is easier, and often necessary, when they have small children, for them to pray in their homes. Children are taught about God and prayer (why and how it is done and the words and their meanings) from a young age and from age seven are particularly encouraged to get into the routine of praying regularly, e.g. by gradually increasing the number of daily prayers each year. By the age of ten they are expected to try their best to pray 5 times a day.

The prayers are short, being five to ten minutes each. The prayers are very similar to each other, and phrases are often used more than once.

Prayers consist mostly of recitation of passages from the Qur’an, thanking, praising, and glorifying God for all His blessings to human beings; asking for His forgiveness for your sins and faults, and asking for His guidance and help; renewing your statement of belief in Islam; remembering your relationship with God, and asking God to bless the Prophet (pbuh) and his family, and others.

God is Greater (than all)
In the name of God, the Most Merciful Most Mercy-giving.
Praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds, The Most Merciful, Most Mercy-giving,
Master of the Day of Judgement.
You only do we worship, and yours is the only help we seek.
Guide us to the straight path, the path of those on whom you bestow your blessings, those with whom you are not angry, and who do not go astray.
Amen.
Say, ‘your God (Allah) is One and Only, The Eternal, Absolute (God from whom all others seek help), He begets not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like Him.
God is Greater. Glory be to the Lord, The Majestic
God hears those who praise Him, Lord to you be all praise.
Glory be to the Lord, Most High (X 3)
God forgive me, Glory be to the Lord, Most High (X 3)
God is Greater.

If there are difficulties such as when travelling long distances, Zuhr and Asr, and/or Maghrib and ‘Isha can be performed in pairs with each other in the same time period. Also, they can be shortened. All these aspects make doing the prayer quite easy and flexible, to fit in with any lifestyle or situation.

Learning the Arabic used in the prayers is often surprisingly quick for new Muslims, who are usually not Arabic-speaking, as well as for children. The Qur’an and the supplications that make up the prayers are usually poetic, with rhyme, rhythm and repetition. Added to the meaningfulness of the words, and their immediate applicability to everyday life, these all help with the memorisation of the prayers. A gradual approach to learning is the only possibility, focusing on the most important aspects, and firstly learning the meaning in one’s mother tongue if possible.

Praying at regular times, spaced throughout the day, helps to keep Muslims mindful and conscious of God at all times of the day, so that their behaviour is as much as possible in keeping with what pleases God. This could be described as staying 'centred' on God, or staying 'connected' to God.

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said that 'Prayer is the ascension of the Muslim'. Prayer can bring the Muslim into a higher state which is closer to God.

The five formal daily prayers are all that is obligatory on Muslims. However, if they want to go further, Muslims are encouraged to pray extra prayers of the formal type (Salah), usually on their own, especially at home and in privacy, whenever they want to and feel able to. Other informal prayers or supplications (du’as) are also encouraged, to be done individually or with others, in order to help people to stay conscious of God, to express their gratefulness towards and dependence upon God, and to ask Him for whatever they need and therefore to receive as many blessings as possible in this life and the next. These supplications are recommended at all times, in all places and in all situations, following the example of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), for example when eating, going to sleep, dressing, travelling etc.

Muslims are encouraged to learn the actual wording of the prayers that the Prophet used. Also, it is good, and more likely that informal supplications will be answered if they are preceded by remembrance and praise of God, as well as prayers for blessings to be given to Muhammad (pbuh) and his family. However, prayers of any type, provided they are made only to God and in a respectful and sincere way, are also encouraged.

The five main prayers (Salah) consist not only of words but also actions involving the whole body. Muslims must try their best to face the Qibla (in the direction of the Ka'bah, which is in a city called Makkah (Mecca), in Saudi Arabia). The main actions include standing up with bowed head, bowing, prostrating with the forehead on the ground, and sitting in a type of kneeling position. These actions can be seen to symbolise the uprightness and dignity of being just and righteous; and the reverence, the humility, and the submission that a Muslim should have as a human-being in the presence of God, being created and sustained by Him.
As the prayer involves reciting the Qur'an, the person leading the congregational prayer, who is called the Imam, is the person who knows most Qur'an, and can recite it well; usually a learned and knowledgeable person. There is no religious institution or hierarchy in Islam, so there are no priests or ministers who always lead the prayer. A man would take the role of Imam and men pray in rows separate from and in front of the rows of women, in order to preserve the dignity and privacy of women, and to avoid distraction from the prayer and from God. Sometimes women lead other women in prayer, when there are no men.

According to Islamic sources, the method of praying was taught, by demonstration, to the Prophet Muhammad by Angel Jibril (Gabriel), as well as the physical (and spiritual) ritual cleansing or 'Wudu' that must be completed before these prayers.

A similar method of praying was also known to other Prophets, according to Islam, but also the Bible. Jesus (pbuh), in the garden of Gethsemane, knelt and prayed to God (to ask God to ‘let this cup pass from me’ i.e. to stop the crucifixion being a part of his destiny) (Luke, 22, 41, The Holy Bible), and, at this time, he also ‘fell with his face to the ground and prayed’ (Matthew 26, 39, New International Version of the Bible). In doing this, Jesus (pbuh) was,following the practice of the previous Prophets such as Abraham, Moses, Aaron, and David (pbut). When God was speaking to the Prophets (pbut) as mentioned in the Bible, or when they were speaking to God, they ‘fell with their face to the ground’ (e.g Abraham (pbuh) in Genesis 17,3; and Moses and Aaron (pbut) (Numbers 16, 22). In one psalm, by Prophet David (pbuh), it says, ‘Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord Our maker, for He is our God (Psalm 95, 6, New International Version of the Bible). Jesus was also praying in the way of other pious Jews such as Daniel, who knelt three times a day facing in the direction of Jerusalem (Daniel, 6, 10., The Holy Bible). One of the common words for worship in the New Testament, is the word ‘proskunein’, from which we get the word ‘prostrate’, which means humbling oneself on the floor, as the Muslims do in front of God.