How to Pray?
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perform al Salat.
Prayer is one of the five pillars of Islam, it is compulsory to pray a minimum of the five a day (morning, dawn, afternoon, sunset and night), it is one of the most important tenets in Islam, for it brings us closer to Allah and reminds us of Him. Muslims usually begin praying around an early age, the prophet* said that we should begin praying (both boy and girl) at 7 and that it becomes mandatory after puberty, obviously that depends on the individual on when to start. We will learn together now, step by step.
Preparations before prayer
Before al salat it is necessary that one performs wudhu (ablution), which is the cleaning of certain of our body parts with water. Wudhu must be done in order so make sure you note down these steps and remember them.
1. Have the intention and say Bismillah
2. Wash your right hand from your fingers to your wrist, wash in between fingers three times, then do the same with left hand
3. Put water in your mouth with your right hand or both hands then spit it out (x3)
4. Gently put water into your nose with your right hand, then pinch the top of your nose and blow the water back out (x3)
5. Rinse your face thoroughly from ear to ear and headline to chin (x1)
6. Place water on your lower arms from wrist to elbow starting with right arm then left arm (x3)
7. Put water on your head, usually hair, and run your wet hands back to your neckline and back again to your hairline on your forehead (x1)
8. Wet your hands again, place your two thumbs behind each ear and run your index finger back and forth the inside of your ear (x1)
9. Feet from toes to ankle starting with right foot (x1)
10. Say the Shahadah
During the process of Wudhu do not waste too much water as the prophet* said: "Even if you had a river of water in front of your home, never waste water". You must also make sure your clothes are clean and that you have the intention to pray. So my brother or sister now that you have done Wudhu, you can begin your prayer.
How to Pray?
Now let's learn the body movements and what to say during these movements.
1. Stand facing the Qibla, direction towards Mecca, which usually can be found by using the compass on your carpet and where Mecca is in your part of the world. Once you are standing upright facing Qibla, say "Allahu Akbar" and raise both of your hands to your ears and back down, the prayer has started.
2. You must begin by reciting the first surah (chapter), al Fatihah, which is a very short and easy surah to memorize in the Qur'an.
Then you must follow the reciting of al Fatihah with any other surah (chapter) your choice in the Qur'an. You must recite al Fatihah and another surah while standing up only for the first two ruka'at of every prayer. Then only al Fatihah for the last two ruka'at or more.
3. Then say Allahu Akbar after step 2, and bend over, with your hands on your knee
shown on the bottom right. In this position say: 'subhana rabbiyal 'azim' (Praise be to my great Lord) three times.
4. Then straighten up again and stand with your back straight just as when you were reciting al Fathah and another surah and say: 'Sami allahu liman hamidah' and then 'Rabbanah lakal-hamd'. (Allah hears who praises Him and O our Lord, to You the praise is due) consecutively.
5. Then prostrate yourself and bow to Allah as shown on the diagram on the below.
This position is called sujud and in it you must say: 'Subhana rabbiyal a'la' three times, it means Praise be to my Supreme Lord.
6. Rise up from your sujud onto your knees as shown below, then make another sujud repeating step 5. After the second sujud, from steps 1 to 6 you have completed one rak'a (cycle) of the prayer. Stand up and repeat another rak'a and always after two rak'at yu must continue sitting instead of getting back up after the two sujuds.
The sitting position depicted in the diagram below is if you have completed 2 rak'at at this stage in the prayer, if not, rise again and complete another rak'a then continue sitting on your knees after the two sujuds of the next rak'a.
7. In this sitting position after the two sujuds and two rak'at, you must say the Tashahhud which is:
At-Tahiyyatul-mubarakat, as-salawatut-tayyibatu lillah. As Salamu 'alayka ayyuhan-Nabiyyu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. As-Salamu 'alayna wa 'ala 'ibadillahis-salihin Ashhadu alla ‘ilaha illallah, wa ashhadu anna Muhammadar-Rasulullah.
8. Turn your head to the right and say 'salamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullah' and then to the left and repeat the same thing.