Introduction to Salat

What is Salat?

Salat, as we learned in the "Pillars of Islam" course, is the prayer that all Muslims perform. In general, salat refers to the required prayers that Muslims must do 5 times a day. The salat is mentioned in the Quran many times and was taught to us by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). We still pray just like he did!

During the salat, we do different actions and say specific things, which we will learn in this course. We all pray facing the Ka'ba in Mecca. We stand, bow, sit, and prostrate. We thank Allah and ask Him for the things that we want or need and Allah rewards us for that!

It's important to remember that we were created to worship Allah... that is our purpose! We should also remember that doing good deeds, like praying, makes us do more good deeds because they direct our hearts to Allah. When you love someone, it is easy to do things for them, easy to talk to them, easy to ask them for things, and their company becomes enjoyable. Try to remember this when you are getting ready to pray to Allah.

WUDU

We clean ourselves before we pray. This is called making wudu. You must make wudu before you pray if you have used the restroom, passed gas, or slept since the last time you made wudu.

Bismillah - 1 time

Start by saying Bismillah

Hands - 3 times

Rinse your hands 3 times

Mouth - 3 times

Rinse your mouth 3 times

Nose - 3 times

Rinse your nose 3 times

Face - 3 times

Rinse your face 3 times

Forearm - 3 times

Rinse your forearms to the elbow 3 times

Hair

Wipe over your hair 1 time

Ears - 1 time

Wash your ears 1 time

Feet - 3 times

Rinse your feet up to the ankle 3 times

Here you can watch a short video that shows the steps in order.

Ready for a quiz?

Intention

Now that you have made wudu, it's time to make sure you understand which prayer you are going to perform.

Is this one of the 5 daily prayers? If so, which one?
How many rakaat are you going to pray?
Will you be reading the Quran out loud or silently?

The names of the 5 daily prayers are shown own the poster to the right, which you can print. The prayer times for today for your city are shown on the left.

Pre-Prayer Checklist

Clean

Make sure your body, clothes, and place to pray are clean. Take a moment to clean them up, if needed.

Qiblah

We pray facing the Qiblah, which is the Kaaba in Mecca. Ask an adult for help if you are not sure where that is.

Focus

Make sure that you don't need to go to the bathroom and have nothing around you that will distract you, like TV or music.

Dressed

Dress appropriately. Boys should dress modestly and girls should cover everything except your face and hands.

TIME TO PRAY

Now that you have made wudu and have decided which prayer you will pray, it's time to start your salat! It's easier to learn to pray by watching someone else pray, so there are 3 videos below that show a 2 rakat prayer like Fajr, a 3 rakat prayer like Maghrib and a 4 rakat prayer like Dhuhr and Asr in which we read Quran Silently and Isha where we read Quran out loud for the first 2 rakat.

There are 4 positions for the prayer. They are standing, bowing, prostrating, and sitting. In Arabic, they are called qiyyam, ruku, sujud, and julus.

To perform 1 rakat:

We start the prayer with Takbir, saying Allahu Akbar.
Next we recite Quran while standing, sometimes aloud and sometimes quietly.
Then we say takbir again and bow, which is called ruku and say 3 times quietly Subhana Rabbiyal Adhim which means how perfect is my Lord!
Next we stand back up while saying Sami Allahu liman hamidah and Rabbana wa lakal hamd.
Again, we say takbir and we prostrate. While we prostrate we say Subhana Rabbiyal A la 3 times.
Then we say takbir and sit. While we are sitting, we say Rabbighfir li, which means Lord forgive me.
Now we say takbir again and prostrate, again saying Subhana Rabbiyal A la 3 times.