- Islam
A person must be a Muslim for his/her Salah to be accepted by Allah ﷻ. Prophet Muhammad said,
Islam is built upon five (pillars): Testifying that there’s none worthy of worship except Allah ﷻ , and that Muhammad ﷺ is the Messenger of Allah ﷻ , establishing Salah, giving Zakah,Hajj and fasting Ramadaan. [Bukhaari and Muslim].
This hadeeth shows that a person must first accept Islam before Allah accepts his prayers. - Sanity
Salah is obligatory on every sane person. It is not obligatory on one whose unaware of his/her actions. Ibn ‘Abbaas narrated that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said,
Three persons’ actions are not recorded: a person whose mind is deranged till he regains sanity and knows what he is doing, a person who is asleep till waking up and a boy till he reaches puberty [Aboo Daawood] - Knowing right from wrong
A person must be of the age where he/she knows the difference between right and wrong. - Being in a state of purity (a bath from head to toe) or wudoo.
- Removing impurities
A Muslim’s body, clothes and place of prayer must be free from any impurities. - Covering the body properly
A Muslim must be properly covered for Salah. This means that he/she must cover his/her ‘awrah. The ‘awrah for women is everything except the face and hands. Men must cover themselves from the shoulders to below their knees. - Praying on time Muslims must pray the compulsory prayers within the fixed times of Salah.
- Facing the Qiblah Muslims face the direction of the Ka’bah in Makkah in Salah. It was the first place built for the worship of Allah ﷻ .
- Intention
A Muslim must have the correct niyyah (intention) for Salah. He/She must pray on time and the Salah must be performed sincerely for the sake of Allah ﷻ .
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Pillars of Salah
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There are some acts of Salah that must be done, not doing them nullifies Salah, These actions are called arkaan (pillars) of Salah. There are fourteen pilars of Salah:
- Standing.
Allah ﷻ says: “Maintain with care [the obligatory] and [in particular] the middle [i.c. ‘asr] prayer and stand before Allah, devoutly obedient” [Soorat al-Baqarah: 238] - Takbeerat ul- ihraam (the opening takbeer To say (Allaahu Akbar) at the begining of Salah
- Recitation of Soorat al Faatihah The Prophet ﷺ said:
There is no prayer for the one who does not recite Al- Faatihah of the book [Bukhaari] - Rukoo (Bowing)
- Standing up straight after rukoo
- Sujood (Prostration)
- Rising from sujood
- Sitting between the two prostrations
- Tranquility in all of the actions of Salah
- The final tashahhud
- The two tasleems To say as-Salaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaah, turning the head to the right, and then sating the same to the left.
- Sitting down for the tashahhud.
- Sending peace and blessings upon the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
- Perforing this in its proper order- The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said:
“Pray as you have seen me praying.” [Bukhaari]
Discussion questions for comment
What are the Pillars of Salah?
