Chapter: The Description of the Prayer
The description of the prayer means the manner in which it is performed. The jurists—may Allah have mercy on them—have discussed the description of the prayer, the description of Hajj, and other acts of worship, because an act of worship has two conditions:
- Sincerity to Allah, the Exalted.
- Following the Messenger ﷺ.
Sincerity to Allah is discussed by scholars of tawḥīd (monotheism) and creed, whereas following the Messenger ﷺ is discussed by the jurists.
The opposite of sincerity is associating partners with Allah, and the opposite of following the Messenger is religious innovation. Whoever follows the Messenger without sincerity, his worship is not valid, for Allah the Exalted says in the sacred hadith: “I am the One most free of need of any partner. Whoever performs a deed in which he associates another with Me, I abandon him and his association with Me.” (1) Whoever is sincere to Allah but does not follow the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, his worship is rejected, for the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever performs a deed that is not in accordance with this matter of ours, it is rejected.” (2)
For this reason, the scholars found it necessary to explain the description of the prayer, Hajj, and other acts of worship. Yet we do not find them devoting a chapter to the description of fasting or zakah.
Rather, they explained what a person must refrain from by setting out the things that invalidate the fast. They said: Fasting is to abstain from that which invalidates the fast, with the intention of worshipping Allah the Exalted, from the break of dawn until sunset. This is its manner of performance.