Knowledge card

The Five Daily Prayers (al-Ṣalawāt al-Khams)

Uṣūl al-Fiqh (Legal Theory)Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah

The five obligatory prayers — Fajr, Ẓuhr, ʿAṣr, Maghrib, ʿIshāʾ — the second pillar of Islam, examined as a legal ruling traced to its sources.

Also known as:الصلوات الخمسṢalāh

Uṣūl al-Fiqh Worship (ʿIbādah) Foundational

Essence
S1A timed, recurring covenant of worship binding the servant to God across the day and night. [1.1]

Dimension I

Definition

What it is — and what it is not

What it is: S2In language (lughatan) — Ṣalāh linguistically means supplication and invocation (duʿāʾ).
S3In the Sacred Law (sharʿan) — Specific sayings and actions opening with the takbīr and closing with the taslīm, performed with conditions at appointed times.
What it is not: S4Not a voluntary devotion nor a cultural ritual; it is a fixed, individual obligation.
Wisdoms: S5Hikmah — restraint — It restrains from indecency and wrong: "Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing."
S6Hikmah — remembrance — It is the standing remembrance of God five times a day, refreshing the bond with Him.
S7Hikmah — discipline — Its fixed times train the soul in order, punctuality, and equality before God.
Necessary conditions: S8Conditions of obligation (shurūṭ al-wujūb) — It becomes obligatory upon the one who is Muslim, sane, and has reached puberty — and, for women, free of menstruation and post-natal bleeding.
S9Conditions of validity (shurūṭ al-ṣiḥḥah) — Valid only with: purity from major and minor impurity; removal of filth from body, clothes, and place; entry of the time; facing the qiblah; covering the ʿawrah; and intention.
Attributes: S10Integral pillars (arkān) — Its pillars include intention, the opening takbīr, standing for the able, reciting al-Fātiḥah, bowing, rising, prostrating twice, the final sitting and tashahhud, ṣalāh upon the Prophet, the two taslīms, stillness in each act, and keeping their order.
Common misconceptions: S11That the intention must be pronounced aloud, or that bodily motions without presence of heart fulfil it.

Dimension II

In practice

How to deal with it

How to deal with it: S12Anchor the day around the five times rather than fitting prayer into spare moments.
What to do: S13Learn its conditions and pillars so the prayer is valid, not merely performed.
S14Guard the prayer in congregation and at the start of its time where possible.
S15Make up (qaḍāʾ) a prayer missed by sleep or forgetfulness as soon as it is remembered.
What to avoid: S16Avoid letting a prayer pass out of its time without a valid excuse.
Warnings: S17Deliberate abandonment of prayer is the gravest neglect after disbelief; denying its obligation removes one from Islam.
Consequences: S18Consequence of its neglect — Without it the most regular link to God is severed; the first deed reckoned on the Day of Judgement is the prayer — if sound, the rest is sound.
Examples: S19The Prophet prayed even in fear and on journey, in shortened or combined form — showing it is lightened but never dropped.

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Encyclopedia

The Five Daily Prayers (al-Ṣalawāt al-Khams)