Daily Prayers
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Daily prayers (Arabic: الصلوات اليومية) are the five prayers of fajr (early dawn), Zuhr (noon), 'Asr (afternoon), Maghrib (sunset) and 'Isha (night) which need to be performed by a Mukallaf (religiously responsible person) everyday. Daily prayers are among the most important practices of Muslims which need to be performed five times a day in a certain manner and conditions.
Number of Rak'as and Time of Daily Prayers
Fajr prayer (dawn prayer): It has two rak'as (units)[1] and can be performed from early dawn until sunrise.
Zuhr prayer (noon prayer): It has four rak'as and can be performed from noon (zuhr) till sunset (maghrib). On Friday, Friday prayer is performed instead of Zuhr prayer.
'Asr prayer (afternoon prayer): It is a four-rak'a prayer which can be performed after "noon prayer" till sunset (maghrib).
Maghrib prayer: It is a three-rak'a prayer and can be performed from the maghrib (when the redness of eastern sky has passed over one's head after sunset) till the religious midnight.
'Isha prayer: It is a four-rak'a prayer which can be performed after the maghrib prayer till the religious midnight.[2]
Some Rulings
- Prayer of a traveler is shortened (Qasr), so that four-rak'a prayers should be performed as two rak'as.
- Sura al-Fatiha (Qur'an 1) and the other sura should be recited unvoiced (ikhfat) in Zuhr and 'Asr prayers.
- Men should recite Sura al-Fatiha, and the other sura in the prayers of Fajr, Maghrib, and 'Isha in a voiced sound (jahr), and women can recite them either voiced or unvoiced; if a non-mahram hear their voice, they must recite it quietly which is according to compulsory precaution.[3]
- Daily prayers are obligatory for all Mukallafs[4] under all circumstances, except for women in their menstrual period (Ha'id) and in the period in which bleed after giving birth for ten days (Nafsa').
- If a daily prayer has not been performed in its due time, it should be performed later as a missed prayer.
To Combine Daily Prayers
Sunnis maintain that daily prayers must be performed at five separate times.[5] Although Shiites believe that performing daily prayers at five times is superior, they hold that saying 'Asr Prayer immediately after Zuhr prayer and 'Isha Prayer immediately after Maghrib Prayer (technically, combination of prayers) is allowed for which they offer proofs from the Qur'an and Sunna.[6]
The Importance
Daily prayers are among the most important rituals in Islam. In hadiths, daily prayers are referred to as "the foundation of Islam", "the means of transcendence of a true believer", "purifier from daily sins", "the greatest deed" etc.[7]
Notes
- ↑ Prayers consist of a numbers of rak'as (two to four). And a rak'a consists of standing, bending and two prostrations.
- ↑ Khomeini, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, p. 111-113.
- ↑ Khomeini, Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil, Issue 994.
- ↑ An adult who religiously is responsible (i.e., has the power to perform and is not insane
- ↑ Niyshābūrī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, vol. 5, p. 135.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 7, p. 305.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 7, p. 2.
References
- Khomeini, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. Taḥrīr al-wasīla. Tehran: Muʾassisah-yi Tanẓīm wa Nashr-i Āthār-i Imām Khomeini, 1379 Sh.
- Najafī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Jawāhir al-kalām. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1362 Sh.
- Niyshābūrī, Muslim b. Ḥajjāj. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿArabī, 1407 AH.