Salah (, also spelled salat or ; see etymology), also known as namaz in the Persosphere (), is the practice of formal worship in Islam, consisting of a series of obligatory ritual prayers performed at prescribed times daily. These prayers, which consist of units known as rak'ah, include a specific set of physical postures, recitation from the Quran, and prayers from the Sunnah, and are performed while facing the direction towards the Kaaba in Mecca (qibla). The number of rak'ah varies depending on the specific prayer. Variations in practice are observed among adherents of different madhahib (schools of Islamic jurisprudence). The term salah may denote worship in general or specifically refer to the obligatory prayers performed by Muslims five times daily.Jafarli, Durdana. "The historical conditions for the emergence of the Quranist movement in Egypt in the 19th-20th centuries." МОВА І КУЛЬТУРА (2017): 91.
The obligatory prayers play an integral role in the Islamic faith, and are regarded as the second and most important, after shahada, of the Five Pillars for Sunnis, one of the Ancillaries for Twelver Shias, and one of the Seven Pillars for Ismailis. In addition, supererogatory salah, such as optional (sunnah) and free to do (nafl) prayers may be performed at any time, subject to certain restrictions. Wudu, an act of ritual purification, is required prior to performing salah. Prayers may be conducted individually or in congregation, with certain prayers, such as the Friday and Eid prayers, requiring a collective setting and a sermon (khutbah). Some concessions are made for Muslims who are physically unable to perform the salah in its original form, or are travelling.
In early Islam, the direction of prayer (qibla) according to tradition was toward the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, before being changed to face the Kaaba; a result of a Quranic verse revelation to Muhammad, the verses 144, 149, and 150 of the al-Baqarah chapter of the Quran, each of which contains a command to "turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque" ().
Etymology and other names The Arabic word salah (, or ) means 'prayer'. The word is used primarily by English speakers to refer to the five daily obligatory prayers. Similar terms are used to refer to the prayer in Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia (using ), Somalia, Tanzania, and by some Swahili speakers. In the pre-Islamic period, Christian and Jewish monks along the Syrian frontier and in Northern Arabia used the word צלותא (Slōthā veya Tslotha) to refer to the acts of worship and psalm recitations they performed by bowing and rising at specific times of the day. Early Arabic adopted this term and transformed it into the form "salat."
However, translating the word in this manner created theological problems in the translation of certain Quranic verses —such as "Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet" Al-Aḥzāb-56 —leading to a search for alternative meanings for the word. Some have suggested that derives from the triliteral root (w-ṣ-l) which means 'linking things together', relating it to the obligatory prayers in the sense that one connects to Allah through prayer. Following this trail Rashad Khalifa, translated it as the 'contact prayer', either because of the physical contact the head makes with the ground during the prostration, or again because the prayer connects the one who performs it to Allah. Another theory suggests the word derives from the triliteral root (ṣ-l-w), the meaning of which is not agreed upon.
In Iran and regions influenced by Persian culture – particularly the Indo-Persian and Turco-Persian traditions – such as South Asia, Central Asia, China, Russia, Turkey, the Caucasus or the Balkans, the Persian word () is used to refer to salah. This word originates from the Middle Persian word for 'reverence'.
In Southeast Asia, the Malay term (lit. 'to worship the Yang [i.e. Allah]') is a commonly used synonym; the prayer rug is a , ablution is and so on.
History Ritual prayers such as salat did not originate from scratch with Islam, nor did they acquire their final form solely through the teachings of Muhammad. Elements integral to the prayer ritual —such as ablution, specific prayer times, orientation toward a focal point (qibla), standing (qiyam), bowing (ruku), prostration (sajdah), recitations of praise (tasbihat), and the raising of hands— were adopted from various religious cultures of the Late Antique Middle East. Some of these elements were subsequently "Islamized" by being fused into a syncretic whole through retrospective narratives attributed to Muhammad.
According to classical Islamic discourse, while early Meccan verses such as Ta-Ha-130 or Hûd-114 point to acts of worship performed at the two ends of the day (morning and evening), a "middle prayer" is mentioned in verse 238 of Surah Al-Baqarah, which dates to the Medinan period; nevertheless, the text of the Quran contains no explicit statement regarding five distinct prayer times. Prior to Islam, the concept of a qibla existed in Judaism, and the practice of ablution was found among the Mandaeans. While ordinary monotheistic Christians practiced morning and evening prayers that included bowing and prostration, the rigorous discipline of prayer involving five or more daily sessions was a form of worship observed on a societal scale in Zoroastrianism, and—on an ascetic level—exclusively within the esoteric Judeo-Christian circles of monastics dedicated to a life of piety.
Religious significance
The word salah is mentioned 83 times in the Quran as a noun.Gerrans, S., "The Quran: A Complete Revelation", 2016
Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) divides human actions into five categories, known as "the five rulings" (). Acts of worship are classified accordingly: mandatory (farḍ or wājib), recommended (mandūb or mustaḥabb), neutral (mubāḥ), reprehensible (makrūh), and forbidden (ḥarām). Salah is generally classified into obligatory or mandatory (fard) prayers and supererogatory prayers, the latter being further divided into Sunnah prayers and Nafl prayers.
Hanafi fiqh does not consider both terms as synonymous and makes a distinction between "fard" and "wajib"; In Hanafi fiqh, two conditions are required to impose the fard rule. 1. Nass, (only verses of the Qur'an can be accepted as evidence here, not hadiths) 2.The expression of the text referring to the subject must be clear and precise enough not to allow other interpretations. The term wajib is used for situations that do not meet the second of these conditions."According to the Bishair the fardh, is like the wajib but the wajib expresses [that something should] occur and the fard, expresses [that something has] a definitive assessment. https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789047400851/B9789047400851_s012.xml?language=en However, this understanding may not be sufficient to explain every situation. For example, Hanafis accept 5 daily prayers as fard. However, some religious groups such as Quranists and Shiites, (Note: Shiite Ja'farism seeks to counterbalance the oppressive Sunni paradigm through a formula of five daily prayers performed at three separate times) who do not doubt that the Quran existing today is a religious source, infer from the same verses that it is clearly ordered to pray two or three times,Zum Beispiel Sayyid Ahmad Khan. Vgl. Ahmad: Islamic Modernism in India and Pakistan 1857–1964. 1967, S. 49.Vgl. Birışık: "Kurʾâniyyûn" in Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi. 2002, Bd. 26, S. 429.; Yüksel; al-Shaiban; Schulte-Nafeh: Quran: A Reformist Translation. 2007, S. 507. not five times. In addition, in religious literature, wajib is widely used for all kinds of religious requirements, without expressing any fiqh definition.
According to riwāya, prayer is held to be extremely important in Islam, and according to all four of the madhabs, those who have a disdain towards prayer are no longer seen as Muslims.
While some sects claimed that those killed in this way remained Muslims, others claimed that they had apostatized from the religion. In this case, Islamic duties could not be made for their funerals, they would not be buried in Muslim cemeteries, and their heirs could not claim inheritance rights from the property they left behind, and would be public property. However, even if today's dominant understanding defines the abandonment of worship as sinfulness, does not approve of giving worldly punishment for them. However, in sharia governments, their testimony against a devout Muslim may not be accepted, they may be humiliated and barred from certain positions because of this tag. In practice, since early on in Islamic history, criminal cases were usually handled by ruler-administered courts or local police using procedures which were only loosely related to Sharia.
In sermon language, the main purpose of the is given as acting as a means of communication with Allah. Other emphases include cleansing the heart, getting closer to God, and strengthening faith. It is believed that the soul requires prayer and closeness to Allah to stay sustained and healthy, and that prayer spiritually sustains the human soul, just as food provides nourishment to the physical body. (exegesis) of the Quran can give four reasons for the observation of . First, in order to commend God, Allah's servants, together with the angels, do ("blessing, salutations"). Second, is done involuntarily by all beings in creation, in the sense that they are always in contact with Allah by virtue of him creating and sustaining them. Third, Muslims voluntarily offer to reveal that it is the particular form of worship that belongs to the prophets. Fourth, is described as the second pillar of Islam.
Performing salah There is consensus on the vast majority of the major details of the salah, but there are different views on some of the more intricate details. A Muslim is required to perform Wudu (ablution) before performing salah, and making the niyyah (intention) is a prerequisite for all deeds in Islam, including salah. Some schools of Islamic jurisprudence hold that intending to pray suffices in the heart, and some require that the intention be spoken, usually under the breath. The purpose of making the niyyah is to differentiate salah from ordinary routine actions, marking it as an act of worship ('ibāda) rather than a mechanical action ('āda).
The person praying begins in a standing position known as Qiyam, although people who find it difficult to do so may begin while sitting or lying on the ground. This is followed by raising the hands to the head and recitation of the takbir, an action known as the Takbirat al-Ihram (). The hands are then lowered, and may be clasped on the abdomen (qabd), or hang by one's sides (sadl). A Muslim may not converse, eat, or do things that are otherwise halal after the Takbirat al-Ihram. A Muslim must keep their vision low during prayer, looking at the place where their face will contact the ground during prostration.
A prayer may be said before the recitation of the Quran commences. Next, Al-Fatiha, the first chapter of the Quran, is recited. In the first and second rak'a of all prayers, a surah other than Al-Fatiha or part thereof is recited after Al-Fatiha. This is followed by another takbir after which the person praying bows down their waist in a position known as ruku with their hands on their knees (depending on the , rules may differ for women). While bowing, specific versions of tasbih are uttered once or more. As the worshipper straightens their back, they say the Arabic phrase "" (), followed by the phrase "" ()