Salah (Prayer)

Salam alaikum sisters, Today’s topic is Salah (Prayer) We have made it very detailed, stating each salat time cos of our busy sisters, we hope after reading this article you will find a way to say your prayers within its time frame. May Alllah make it easy for us all. Ameen.

Prayer (Salah)

The prayer is a type of worship consisting of specific statement and action, it is begun by pronouncing the greatness of Allah and it is concluded with salutation of peace.
Salah is a very important pillar of Islam, it was the first act of worship that was made obligatory by Allah which was revealed directly to the prophet (SAW) the night of his ascension to heaven. It is the first act the person will be held accountable for on the day of judgement.
Allah has commanded us to observe it while travelling or not, while in safe or in fear, while sick or in good health, when there is peace or war therefore one who ignores the Salah is seen as a disbeliever.

Who must pray?

Salah is obligatory upon every sane adult muslim, The prophet(SAW) said the pen is raised for three, one who is sleeping until he wakes, the child until he becomes an adult, and one who is insane until he becomes sane.
Although it is not obligatory for children to pray, but must be ordered to do so once they are seven years of age and be punished once they attain 10 years of age and do not say the Salah.

Prerequisite of Salah.

A person must fulfil several requirements for his Salah to be valid, these are:

• Purity from major or minor impurities
• Purity of the body clothes and place to perform the prayer
• Covering of the body i.e  wearing proper clothes
• Facing the Kiblah
• Knowledge the time of prayer has begun

Categories of Salat

We have the obligatory prayers (Fard) and Supererogatory prayers (Nawafil)

 The Obligatory Prayers

The number of prayers prescribed by Allah is five with each of them having its own particular time when it should be performed. They are as follows:

1. Fajr : The morning prayer
2. Dhuhr: The noon prayer
3. Asr: The Afternoon prayer
4. Maghrib: The sunset prayer
5. Isha: The night prayer

The supererogatory prayers have been legislated to make up for deficiencies left in the performance of the obligatory prayers.
We would discuss the nawafil relating to each obligatory prayer, for easy understanding

Fajr Prayer

Fard: The Fajr prayer consist of two rak’ah,
Nawafil:  The nawafil is two rakah before the fajr. Note that though these two rakah are nawafil, it is well cherished by the prophet(SAW) and has encourage us to say it, no matter the circumstances.
Time: The time for the fajr prayer begins with the true dawn and lasts until sunrise. It is preferred to pray it early in its permissible time. It is also preferred that one should make the recital so long that one is in prayers till the dawn becomes shiny. It is prohibited to say a prayer at sunrise.

Dhuhr Prayer

Fard : The noon prayers contain four ra’kah,
Nawafil : There are different narrations as regards the no of nawafil prayers to be said with the dhuhr. Therefore one can say:

•  2 ra’kah before the prayer and 2 after it
• 4 ra’kah before it and 2 after it
• 4 ra’kah before it and 4 ra’kah after it.

Time: The noon prayer begins when the sun passes its meridian and it continues until the object’s shadow is approximately the same length as the object itself. If it is extremely hot it is preferred to delay the noon prayer until it is cooler. This is done to retain the humility and awe of the prayer.

 Asr prayer

Fard: This consist of four ra’kah
Nawafil: one can say two or four rakah before the Asr prayers, though these nawafil were not really stressed like the others. However it is discouraged to say any prayer after the Asr prayer.
Time: This prayer begins in the afternoon when the shadow of an object is the same length as the object itself and continues until the sun sets. The preferred time to say the asr prayer ends when the sun becomes yellowish.
The Asr prayer time can be divided into five categories

1. The most virtuous time which is at the beginning of the permissible time
2. The preferred time is until the shadow of an object is twice the length of the object itself
3. The allowable time which there is no dislike aspects is from the time the sun becomes yellowish
4. The allowable time that contains some dislike aspects is from the time the sun becomes yellowish until the setting of the sun
5. The time that is due to some excuse or necessity is for one who is to combine the Dhuhr and Asr prayer due to travelling or rain.

It is prohibited to say a prayer at sunset.

Maghrib Prayer

Fard: This consist of 3 rakah
Nawafil: it is Sunnah to pray 2 rakat after maghrib prayer
Time: The time for the sunset prayers begins with the disappearance of the sun and lasts until the red twilight ends or when the stars are about to appear.

Ishaa Prayer

Fard: This contains four rakat
Nawafil: it is Sunnah to pray two rakat after the ishaa prayer.
Time: The prayer begins when the red twilight disappears and continues up to half of the night. As for Ishaa prayer delay is preferred and one can make it the last act before going to bed. One should not sleep before the night prayer or have discussions after it, except if one has someone to wake him up or he is discussing a beneficial matter, then it is not disliked.
The prophet (SAW) said there is no negligence in sleeping but negligence lies in not saying a prayer until the next prayer has come.(Related by Muslim). This hadith shows that the time of every prayer continues until the beginning of the time for the next one except for the Morning Prayer.

Other Tips

• Whoever catches a rakah of prayer before its time expired has caught the entire prayer in its time, however the prayer should be completed, though it is not allowed to intentionally delay prayers until such times.
• Whoever sleep through or has forgotten to pray a certain prayer should pray it when he wakes up or remembers the prayer.
• It is prohibited to pray at sunrise, sunset and when the while the sun is at its meridian. The sun rises and sets between the horn of the satan and the hell is fed with fuel while the sun is at its merdian. Subhanallah.

Conclusion 

We still have a lot to cover on salah ranging from the act of praying, the other types of nawafil such as the witr prayer tahajjud , tarawih, istikharah and so on.
 If you have any question, suggestion or contribution, kindly feel free to use the comment section.
Thank you so much for your time. Ma salam