| The Manner of Performing Prayers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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INTRODUCTION This prayer guide is a step by step guide to learning to pray. This pray page also includes articles on common mistakes done whilst performing the pray so that brothers and sisters can beware of them. And common questions regarding prayer. The five time prayers become obligatory from the moment a person
embraces Islam. This is an extremely important tenet of Islam and
has been enjoined with great emphasis both in the Holy Quran and the
sayings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). According to one of
his (peace be upon him) sayings, it is the borderline between a
Muslim and a non-believer. A Muslim turns toward Makkah (Mecca in Saudi Arabia) when performing these prayers, facing the first house built for the worship of The One God. This house is called the Ka`bah. It was erected by Abraham and his son Ishmael for the worship of The One and Only True God. We are not worshipping the Ka`bah; we simply worship God while facing the Ka`bah. Prayer timings vary throughout the globe and slight variations from day to day due to changes in daylight hours. There are five obligatory prayers which are performed at five different times of the day.
It starts when the sun begins to decline from its zenith and ends when the the size of an object's shadow is equal to the objects size. It starts when an object's shadow is equal to the objects size and ends when just before sunset. It is better to pray Asr before the sky becomes
yellow (even though it is allowed to pray at such a time) because the
Prophet ( peace be upon him) disliked Muslims praying at such as
time and. He remarked that the the Munafiq (Hypocrite ) offers his
pray at this time.
Before starting the prayer, a person should perform Wudhu (ablution).
However if a person has had a wet dream or sex then they should perform Ghusl. Ghusl should also be performed at the end of a women period of menstruation has ended and at the end of 40 days after childbirth (unless the bleeding stops before completing the 40 days period, then she must make the Ghusl as soon as the bleeding stops). Ghusl in Islam means the bathing of the entire body with water. Proof of its legitimacy is embodied in the Holy Qur'an as follows:“ And if ye are in a state of ceremonial impurity, bathe your whole body” (Qur'an 5:6). Tahaarah (purity and cleanliness) Paint or dirt on hands when making wudoo’ Bleeding after miscarriage – nifaas or not?
Stage1 Learning to pray when your language is not Arabic can seem to be a very difficult task. However it is not as difficult as it may appear to you. A certain amount of text is memorized and the same text can be recited in all the 5 daily prayers. Since a Muslim should pray right away after converting to Islam, it would be reasonable to say that he or she would be unable to memorize the whole text of the prayer in the same day. Allah does not put a burden on anyone that they cannot bare. Therefore the Prophet peace be upon him instructed new Muslims to learn a short supplication (Subhaan-Allaah wa’l-hamdu Lillaah wa laa ilaaha ill-Allaah wa Allaahu akbar wa laa hawla wa la quwwata illa Billaah) which they can recite in all their 5 daily prayers. So for a new Muslim or a Muslim who does not know how to prayer. The following will be sufficient for him to memorize and incorporate in all the 5 daily prayers. As shown in the New diagrammatic New Muslim prayer guides that I have prepared for you below.
So memorize the above and incorporate into the prayers as shown in the diagrams below. Now lets look at how to pray each of the five daily prayers 1 FAJR PRAYER (The Morning Prayer) Each prayer consists of a number of Units called rakah's. The best way to possibly explain this is by using the Track event in Athletics. If the track is 400 metres. Then to run 800 metres you Start form point A and then walk round the track and when you reach point A again you have completed your first lap but not finished and as soon as you cross point A. You begin your secound Lap and when you go round the track once again and you reach point A, you complete the secound Lap and with it the race. So if you think of each Rakah being similar to a lap on a running track. Then you will grasp the idea easier The Fajr Prayer consists of 2 rakahs, The Dhuhr , Asr and Isha prayers consist of 4 rakahs each The Maghrib prayer consist of 3 rakahs. The diagram below will help illustrate the starring and end points of each rakah and the leangth of each rakah a 4 rakah prayer
In each block a portion of text is recited and certain movements are made. Let us not worry about what exactly is recited and which movements are made in each block at this stage. Notice how block A is skipped in all 2nd, 3rd and final rakah. Therefore Text from block A will not be recited in the 2nd, 3rd and final rakah's. The Ending of each rakah is not all the same. Accept for the first and 3rd rakah. However for a 3 rakah (i.e Maghrib) Prayer. The 3rd rakah is now the Final rakah so it will not stop at end of block C but will rather finish at the end of block E. Whilst the 1st and 2nd rakah's will remain the same as in the diagram. For a 2 rakah (i.e. Fajr) prayer. The 2nd rakah is now the Final rakah so it will not stop at the end of D but will rather finish at the end of block E. The prayers start with intention in the heart and Takbir (Saying "Allahu Akbar") and end by turning the head to right and saying "Assalamu alaikum wa rahma-tullah " and then turning head to left and saying again "Assalamu alaikum wa rahma-tullah " The Dhuhr and Asr prayers are recited silently. However the text in block B for the first 2 rakah's for Fajr, Magrib and isha prayers is recited loudly.
Stage 2 After being able to recite the above in your 5 daily prayers you should try to memorize Surah Fathiha (see stage 1 diagrams) and incorporate that as shown in the above diagrams for stage 1. Please do not skip stages 1 and 2 as you will end up making learning to prayer difficult for you and end up missing some of your prayers as the full text takes quite a while to memorize especially for non-Arabic speakers. But do watch the video and flash movie below to get a further idea of how the movements are preformed and eventual progress to the third stage. If you have any questions please email.
Stage 3 (final stage) This is the final and complete stage on how to perform the 5 daily Prayers.
How to perform the prayer (Full guide for Fajr Prayer)
The flash movie Prayer program will Allah willing aid also you in learning how to pray.
1. If you are a beginner who needs to learn the basic steps of Prayer in
Islam ( with sound ) 2. If you want to learn prayers from A to Z including Sunnah actions (with sound )
For those Muslims who already know how to pray please read the above prayer guide, watch the video and read the above online book to make sure you are doing your prayer correctly according to the way of our beloved Prophet peace be upon him) and as He ( peace be upon him) showed his companions how to pray. |
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| ARTICLES AND ONLINE BOOKS ON PRAYER | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Waswaas (insinuating thoughts from Shaytaan) What if something happens during prayer? Call of nature when the iqaamah is given If adhaan for fajr is given whilst one is praying witr Missed ‘asr and reaches masjid after maghrib prayer has started Traveller joining congregation without knowing if imam is also a traveller Being unable to stand for the rest of the prayer A knock on the door when one is praying, or a mother seeing her child do something dangerous Responding to salaam when praying Not hastening unduly to join a prayer in progress Breaking wind during Friday prayer When one has already prayed and comes to another mosque to find the people there praying Still praying sunnah when the iqaamah is given Being informed of the correct direction of the qiblah whilst praying Falling behind when praying in congregation When the imam nullifies his wudoo’ When the imam’s ‘awrah becomes uncovered When the imam forgets the ending of an aayah Intending to pray for rain, then it rains before the people start the prayer Feeling sleepy when listening to Friday sermon Rulings about forgetfulness during prayer Doubt about number of rak’ahs prayed Imam remembers that he forgot to recite al-Faatihah during a silent rak’ah Raising one's head from rukoo’, then realizing that one forgot to say the tasbeeh Forgetting the first tashahhud
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