The Book of Prayer

Introduction

Linguistically, salah means “supplication for good.” This was the prevalent sense in pre-Islamic Arabic usage. The Almighty says, “and pray for them” (Qur’an 9:103), that is, invoke blessings and seek forgiveness for them.

Technically, it is a set of prescribed words and motions that open with the takbir (saying “Allāhu akbar”) and conclude with the salutation (taslīm). It is called salah because it comprises the original linguistic meaning—supplication for good.

Al-Mardāwī states in Al-Insāf: “This is the sound position upheld by the majority of scholars, both jurists and linguists.”

Prayer was made obligatory on the Night of the Ascension, roughly three years before the Hijrah.

It was first prescribed as two rakʿahs. For the traveller it remained at two, whereas for the resident it was completed to four. The exceptions are Maghrib, for it is the day’s witr, and Fajr, whose recitation is intentionally lengthy; these two remained as originally ordained.

Compared to the other obligatory rites, prayer possesses several distinctive features, among them:

1. It was decreed in heaven, whereas the others were decreed on earth.
2. It was imposed directly by Allah upon His Messenger ﷺ without any intermediary, whereas the others were conveyed through an angel.
3. It was originally mandated as fifty prayers, then reduced to five while the reward of fifty remained attached to the five.