Every Muslim is expected to pray five times a day, as prescribed by Islam.
All Muslims start the day with Fajr, the first prayer at dawn.
The second prayer is Zuhr, followed by Asr (During which none of your business should ever take up less than 15 minutes).
After Maghrib or Isha prayers, which occur at sunset, Muslims usually relax for about two hours, and then comes Fajr again in the morning.
One of the most important tasks that a Muslim can perform during their lifetime is to pray, and those who live with this task are called Umrah or Hajj pilgrims.
The Basics of the Muslim Prayer
Muslims usually perform two formal prayers and one additional prayer that all Muslims are supposed to perform: The five daily prayers (Salah) and the optional extra prayer.
There are many ways to perform the Salah. However, Muslims consider them all essential. The best way to perform the Salah is in a congregation with several other people who pray together as well.
Some people might prefer praying alone while others do so on special occasions or when they can’t get away from their family, or if they aren’t allowed to go out at times because of religious laws about women wearing certain clothing.
1. Taharah (Purification)
The first step to performing the prayer is to make yourself ritually clean. The purpose of this is to make you feel clean so that you will feel especially pure when you pray. Purifying yourself also serves another important purpose.
Since God is pure and holy, any Muslim who wants to see God or listen to God or be in the presence of God must purify themselves first. Muslims believe that Allah is pure and holy.
Quran, Surah Al-Baqarah 02:286 “Allah does not charge a soul.” He can’t even stand the sight of a sinful person, and Muslims want to appear as clean and innocent as possible when they are in His presence. You can find more Surahs on Quran-Pro.
2. Removal of Najas
The next step in performing the prayer is to remove anything considered as najis (filthy). It’s important to understand the distinction between najas and muzna. Najis are things that you shouldn’t touch or put in your body because they are dirty and they make you unclean.
Muzna, on the other hand, are things that aren’t considered dirty or impure, but they can harm your health if you eat them. This includes food, cigarettes, etc. When Muslims perform Salah, they remove anything that isn’t necessarily considered dirty or impure.
3. Wudu’ (Ablution)
The next step in performing the prayer is to make sure all body parts are clean and purified. This is done by washing your hands, face, and arms. The way you wash your hands is by making a small bowl of water on a flat surface (such as a mat). You should then wash your hands three times so that all dirt, dust, sweat, and grime is wiped away from them.
Then, you should pour water into your cupped hands and rub them together to create friction between your fingers. Make sure all of the water goes into the palms of the hands. When you do this, you must keep both sides of your forearms parallel to each other, facing down.
How to Perform Wudu’
To perform the ablution, you must first wash your face. You should rub your hands (and sometimes even your face) with water. Then, you should pour some water into both cupped hands and then rub them together so that the friction created by this action is transferred to the fingers of your hands, and you “scrub” all dirt from the palms of your hands.
Do not pour all the water in a single bucket. Otherwise, you won’t be able to clean off all the dirt from your hands when you are done. Next, wash both arms from elbow to elbow.
Benefit
One of the benefits of performing the ablution properly is that it helps you to complete and understand the prayer better. Only after you have purified and washed thoroughly can you pray properly.
4. Ghusl (Full Shower)
What some Muslims do is follow their ablution by performing a full shower. This is done to ensure that all body parts are clean. When following a Muslim tradition, you will find that there are rules governing one’s interaction with other people. One of these rules concerns how clean one should be when interacting with others and according to God.
5. Tayammum (Dry Purification)
To perform this last step, you should walk to a stream or well and pour water on yourself. This is done to ensure that you are completely clean and that no impurities have been missed.
Preparations Before Praying
There are various things that Muslims should do before they pray. This includes making sure that the environment is clean and that the place will be suitable for prayers. The prayer area should not be in a public place such as a busy marketplace where there is much noise or people talking.
It’s also recommended to make sure that there are no weapons, pigs, dogs, vermin, etc., present in the area where one will perform their Salah because these things can disrupt your prayer and the other people praying with you.
The Bottom Line
One of the most important things a Muslim should do is to pray. It’s almost as though a Muslim is nothing without his prayer. Muslims pray because they want to be closer to God.
Praying gives you the opportunity to spend time with God, listen to Him and receive His blessings.
One way of being closer to God is by performing Salah on a daily basis; when you pray, you ask for guidance and help from God in all things. The longer your prayers are, and the more often you pray, the shows that you have put in extra effort into achieving closeness with your Lord – and He will definitely reward that effort in the best ways possible!