Salah

Salah
Muslims performing ruku' (bowing) during salah at a mosque
Official nameصَلَاة
Also calledPrayer in Islam
Observed byMuslims
TypeIslamic
SignificanceMuslim prayer offered to Allah according to legal jurisprudence
Observances
Related toTilawa, ruku, sujud

Salah,[a] also known as namaz,[b] is a form of worship performed by Muslims. Facing the direction of prayer, it is performed standing, bowing, and sitting in various stages, during which phrases from the Quran and Sunnah are typically recited.

Salah is composed of prescribed repetitive cycles of bows and prostrations, called raka'at (sing. rak'a). The number of raka'at vary from prayer to prayer. Ritual purity and wudu' are prerequisites for performing the prayers.[1][2][3] Salah can be performed either in solitude, or collectively (known as jama'a). Worshippers performing jama'a line up in parallel rows behind a leader, known as the imam. Special prayers are exclusively performed in congregation; such prayers include the Friday prayer and the Eid prayers, and may be coupled with two sermons each, delivered by the Imam.[1]

The daily obligatory prayers collectively form the second of the five pillars in Islam, observed three[4][5] or (most commonly) five times every day at prescribed times. These are usually Fajr (observed at dawn), Zuhr (observed at noon), Asr (observed late in the afternoon), Maghrib (observed after sunset), and Isha (observed at dusk).


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  1. ^ a b "salat | Definition & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  2. ^ The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. "Salat". oxfordislamicstudies. Archived from the original on 1 September 2009.
  3. ^ Farrakhan, M.R.; Arefian, A.; Jahromi, G.S. (2016). "A Reanalysis of Social - Cultural Impacts and Functions of Worship: A Case Study on Salah (Namaz)". Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences. doi:10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n4S1p249.
  4. ^ Na, Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im; Naʻīm, ʻabd Allāh Aḥmad (30 June 2009). Islam and the Secular State. ISBN 9780674033764.
  5. ^ Edward E. Curtis IV (1 October 2009). Muslims in America: A Short History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-974567-8.