Prayer (S̲alaah)
In this blog, we will mention the five greatest matters of Isla̲m, and then we will start discussing prayer, what it is, and how it is performed. Prayer is the most important worship after believing in Alla̲h and His Messenger.
TEACHINGS OF THE PROPHETJURISPRUDENCE (FIQH)
10/27/20253 min read
The Greatest Five Matters of Islam
The Prophet ﷺ said what means: "The greatest five matters of Islam are: testifying that no one is God except Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger, performing prayer, paying zakah, fasting Ramadan, and performing Pilgrimage (Hajj) if able."
The Prophet ﷺ mentioned the greatest and best matter first. Testifying that no one is God except Allah and testifying that Muhammad is His Messenger are the two testifications and the basis of the Islamic belief. It is clearly displayed in this saying of the Prophet and many others that having the correct belief is of utmost importance. A person who does not hold the true Islamic belief is unable to receive any reward, even if they appear to perform prayers or pay Zakah. Islam is a condition for the acceptance and attaining reward (thawab) from Allah.
After having the correct faith, the Prophet mentioned performing prayer, i.e., the obligatory prayers, which is the best obligation after believing in Allah and His Messenger.
Prayer (Salah):
Upon the order of Allah, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ commanded the Muslims to pray five times a day. This order applies from the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ until the Day of Judgment. The prayers have a specific format, with the one praying praising and thanking Allah, asking for His help and guidance, and asking Him to bless the Prophets and the pious Muslims. A Muslim is able at any moment in one's life to ask Allah for help and guidance, and one is encouraged to do so. However, supplicating (making Du^a' to) Allah does not replace the five prescribed prayers, which have a specific format to be observed.
Linguistically, prayer has the meaning of supplication (Du^a'), but religiously, it means a set of sayings and actions initiated by saying (Allahu Akbar) and terminated by saying (As-Salamu ^Alaykum).
It is obligatory on every accountable Muslim to perform each prayer in its prescribed time if unexcused. It is also obligatory on every accountable Muslim to know the prayer times; when the prayer time starts and when it ends.
The Times of Obligatory Prayers (According to the Shafi^i School):
The Early Afternoon Prayer (Dhuhr): Its time starts after the sun declines westwards from the middle of the sky (zenith) and remains until the length of the shadow of an object is equal to the length of the object itself, in addition to the zenithal shadow (if any). The shadow of the object should become = length of the object + zenithal shadow length (if any).
The Zenithal Shadow: It is the shadow of the object when the sun is in the middle of the sky. In some countries, sometimes there won't be any zenithal shadow.
Example: We place a 10 cm object vertically, when the sun is at its zenith, the length of the shadow is 1 cm, when the sun declines westwards and the length of the shadow becomes 11 cm, the time of late afternoon prayer (^Asr) starts.
The Late Afternoon Prayer (^Asr): Its time starts when the Dhuhr time ends and remains until the entire disk of the sun sets.
The Sunset Prayer (Maghrib): Its time starts when the ^Asr time ends, i.e., when the sun sets completely, and remains until the reddish twilight in the western horizon disappears. This redness is seen in the western horizon after the sun sets.
The Nightfall Prayer (^Isha'): Its time starts when the Maghrib time ends and remains until the True Dawn appears.
The True Dawn: The True Dawn is a thin horizontal illumination that appears in the eastern horizon and spreads gradually.
The False Dawn: The False Dawn is a vertical illumination that appears in the eastern horizon, which lasts for a short time, then disappears, and then a while after comes the True Dawn.
Note: The False Dawn may not be visible in all regions every day.
The Dawn Prayer (Fajr/Subh): Its time starts when the True Dawn appears and ends when the first part of the sun rises.
Between the Dawn Prayer and the Dhuhr Prayer, there is no obligatory prayer.
This blog highlighted the importance of prayer and clarified the timing of each prescribed prayer. In the next blog, we will be explaining who is the person obligated to pray these prayers, and some occurrences where a person does not pray or misses a prayer and is not ordered to make it up.