Salat (Salah) in Islam
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
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What is Salat? Ṣalāh or Ṣalāt is the practice of formal prayer in Islam. Its supreme importance for Muslims is indicated by its status as one of the Five Pillars of Sunni Islam, of the Ten Practices of the Religion of Twelver Islam and of the 7 pillars of Musta‘lī Ismailis. Salah is a ritual prayer, having prescribed conditions, a prescribed procedure, and prescribed times.
Performing salah is obligatory, with a few dispensations for those for whom it would be difficult. To perform valid salah, Muslims must be in a state of ritual purity, which is mainly achieved by ritual ablution according to prescribed procedures. The place of prayer should be clean. In a few cases where blood is leaving the body, salah is forbidden until a later time.
Salah consists of the repetition of two or more units of a prescribed sequence of actions and words. One complete sequence is known as a raka'ah (pl. raka'āt). The number of obligatory (fard) raka'āt varies according to the time of day or other circumstances (such as Friday congregational prayers). The minimal, obligatory raka'at may be supplemented with acts which are optional but are considered meritorious. There are also dispensations from some or all of the prescribed actions for those who are physically unable to complete them. The prescribed words of the prayer remain obligatory.
For Sunnis and Musta'lids, salah is prescribed at five periods of the day, which are measured according to the movement of the sun. These are: near dawn (fajr), just after noon (dhuhr), in the afternoon (asr), just after sunset (maghrib) and around nightfall (isha'a). Under some circumstances prayers can be shortened or combined (according to prescribed procedures). In case a prayer is skipped, it must be made up later. Twelver fiqh permits two sets of these prayers to be performed in succession. Sufis often perform dhikr after the conclusion of prayers.
Performing salah is obligatory, with a few dispensations for those for whom it would be difficult. To perform valid salah, Muslims must be in a state of ritual purity, which is mainly achieved by ritual ablution according to prescribed procedures. The place of prayer should be clean. In a few cases where blood is leaving the body, salah is forbidden until a later time.
Salah consists of the repetition of two or more units of a prescribed sequence of actions and words. One complete sequence is known as a raka'ah (pl. raka'āt). The number of obligatory (fard) raka'āt varies according to the time of day or other circumstances (such as Friday congregational prayers). The minimal, obligatory raka'at may be supplemented with acts which are optional but are considered meritorious. There are also dispensations from some or all of the prescribed actions for those who are physically unable to complete them. The prescribed words of the prayer remain obligatory.
For Sunnis and Musta'lids, salah is prescribed at five periods of the day, which are measured according to the movement of the sun. These are: near dawn (fajr), just after noon (dhuhr), in the afternoon (asr), just after sunset (maghrib) and around nightfall (isha'a). Under some circumstances prayers can be shortened or combined (according to prescribed procedures). In case a prayer is skipped, it must be made up later. Twelver fiqh permits two sets of these prayers to be performed in succession. Sufis often perform dhikr after the conclusion of prayers.
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Salat
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