Salah: the prayer that begins with "Allahu akbar"

In a minute

Salah (also spelt salat) is the Muslim daily prayer. Allah commands it in the Qur'an, and the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace be upon him) showed how to do it: "Pray as you have seen me praying" (Sahih al-Bukhari 631). It takes about five to ten minutes. It is not a list of requests. It is standing in front of the One who made you, and saying so with your body.

Establish worship at the two ends of the day and in some watches of the night. Lo! good deeds annul ill-deeds. This is reminder for the mindful.

Qur'an 11:114 · Pickthall

1. The call

The adhan, the call to prayer, begins "Allahu akbar" (God is greater). In Britain a mosque timetable gives the five times, which move with the sun.

2. Washing (wudu)

O ye who believe! When ye rise up for prayer, wash your faces, and your hands up to the elbows, and lightly rub your heads and (wash) your feet up to the ankles.

Qur'an 5:6 · Pickthall

The brackets are the translator's. Sunni schools wash the feet. Shia Muslims wipe them, reading the same verse differently. Both traditions place wudu before prayer.

The Prophet's companion Uthman showed the order: hands, mouth and nose, face, forearms, head, feet, three times each (Sahih al-Bukhari 159). The washing is not about dirt alone. It is a pause between the world and the prayer. The Qur'an says "Allah loveth those who have a care for cleanness" (2:222, Pickthall). If there is no water, or it would do harm, a dry purification (tayammum) is allowed (Qur'an 5:6).

3. Facing the qibla

Muslims everywhere face the Kaaba in Makkah (Mecca).

Turn thy face toward the Inviolable Place of Worship, and ye (O Muslims), wheresoever ye may be, turn your faces (when ye pray) toward it.

Qur'an 2:144 · Pickthall

From Britain it is roughly south-east, a little east of it. A mosque timetable or a qibla finder gives it exactly. The direction is a discipline, and the Qur'an reminds the believer that it is not the whole point: "It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces to the East and the West; but righteous is he who believeth in Allah and the Last Day" (2:177, Pickthall).

4. Standing (qiyam)

The worshipper raises the hands and says "Allahu akbar", then recites the opening chapter of the Qur'an, al-Fatihah, and another passage. In a mosque, people stand shoulder to shoulder behind the imam.

5. Bowing (ruku')

Hands on knees, back level. The worshipper says "Subhana rabbiyal-'azim": "Glory be to my Lord, the Magnificent."

6. Standing again

"Sami'a Allahu liman hamidah": "Allah hears the one who praises Him."

7. Prostration (sujud)

The worshipper goes down so that seven parts touch the ground: forehead (with the nose), both hands, both knees and the toes. The Prophet ﷺ said: "I have been ordered to prostrate on seven bones" (Sahih al-Bukhari 812). The worshipper says "Subhana rabbiyal-a'la": "Glory be to my Lord, the Most High."

This is the heart of the prayer. The Prophet ﷺ said: "The nearest a servant comes to his Lord is when he is prostrating himself, so make supplication in this state" (Sahih Muslim 482). The Qur'an says: "Prostrate thyself, and draw near (unto Allah)" (96:19, Pickthall). For the same gesture in Judaism and Christianity, see prostration in three faiths.

8. Sitting, then a second prostration

A moment of rest between the two.

9. Sitting and the greeting

At the end of the last unit (rak'ah) the worshipper sits, says the tashahhud (the declaration of faith, with blessings on the Prophet ﷺ), then turns the head to the right and to the left: "As-salamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullah", "Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah."

Calm, not hurry

A man once prayed quickly in the Prophet's ﷺ presence. He was told three times to go back and pray, "for you have not prayed". He asked to be taught. The lesson was to bow until at ease, stand, prostrate until at ease, and sit with calmness (Sahih al-Bukhari 757).

Counting

There are 17 units (rak'ahs) in the five obligatory prayers: 2, 4, 4, 3 and 4. Each unit has two prostrations. A Muslim who prays all five obligatory prayers puts their forehead on the ground at least 34 times a day, and more if they add the optional prayers.

Why five?

The Qur'an names times of day (11:114, 17:78, 20:130) and commands prayer at fixed times (4:103). The pattern of five comes from the practice of the Prophet ﷺ, which Muslims receive as part of the faith. He likened the five prayers to bathing five times a day in a river at your door (Sahih al-Bukhari 528).

Why pray at all?

Recite that which hath been inspired in thee of the Scripture, and establish worship. Lo! worship preserveth from lewdness and iniquity, but verily remembrance of Allah is more important.

Qur'an 29:45 · Pickthall

Sunni and Shia: small differences

Many Sunni Muslims fold the right hand over the left when standing. Some Sunnis, and Shia Muslims, hold the arms at the sides. Many Shia Muslims pray the five prayers at three times of day, joining midday with afternoon and sunset with night. Many Shia Muslims also place the forehead on a small tablet of baked earth (a turbah), while Sunnis may pray on any clean surface. All agree on the five prayers, the washing, the direction and the prostration. The hadith on this page come from the Sunni collections. Shia Muslims draw on their own collections for the details of prayer.

Side by side

• Times a day. Judaism: three (Shacharit, Mincha, Maariv). Christianity: the Hours in Catholic, Orthodox and Coptic churches. Islam: five.
• Before prayer. Judaism: hands washed on waking, and hands kept clean before prayer. Christianity: no washing rule; baptism once. Islam: wudu.
• Direction. Judaism: towards Jerusalem. Christianity: no single required direction; many older churches are built with the altar to the east. Islam: towards Makkah.
• The body. Judaism: standing and bowing, with kneeling to the floor on the High Holy Days in many synagogues. Christianity: standing and kneeling, with prostration in some churches and rites. Islam: standing, bowing, prostration and sitting.

For Jewish washing before prayer and the Jewish and Christian hours, see Judaism: prayer and Christianity: prayer. Islam's own account is at Islam: Salah.

Next: Face to the ground: prostration in three faiths.