Essentials of Prayer

This article is about Rukns of Prayer. For other article named Rukn, see Rukn (disambiguation).

Furu' al-Din

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Essentials of prayer or arkān al-ṣalāt (Arabic: أرْکان الصَلاة) refers to a number of obligatory constituents of the prayer the intentional or unintentional skipping or overdoing of which invalidates the prayer. The majority of Shiite jurists consider the essentials or "arkan" of the prayer to consist in intention, takbirat al-ihram, standing (while reciting the takbir and standing before ruku'), ruku', and the two sajdas.

Definition of Rukn

"Rukn" (plural: "arkān") literally means the essence of something. In worship, a rukn is a part thereof the intentional or unintentional skipping or overdoing of which invalidates the worship. Some parts of prayer, hajj and umra are essential to them.

Instances

According to the majority of scholars, essentials of prayer consist in intention, takbirat al-ihram (saying "Allah akbar" in the beginning of the prayer), standing (while saying takbirat al-ihram and before ruku'), ruku', and the two sajdas.

The standing (qiyam) in the prayer is of four types, two of which are essentials, while the other two are non-essential obligations. Standing while reciting takbirat al-ihram and the one before ruku' are essential to the prayer.

Some scholars believe that it is essential to be directed to the qibla, and some early jurists believed that qira'a (recitation) is also essential.

Rulings

The majority of jurists believe that intentional or unintentional skipping or overdoing of the essentials invalidate the prayer, but others believe that unintentional overdoing of the essentials does not invalidate it.

If the person unintentionally skips an essential, he or she should do it before going to another essential. Otherwise, the prayer will be invalidated.