Voluntary Prayers
Their Definition, Types, and Virtue

(1-1) Definition of Voluntary Prayers

The expression “voluntary prayers” is a genitive construction. Compound expressions are defined by first defining their individual components and then defining the construction as a whole.

The word salawāt (prayers) is plural; its singular is salāh (prayer).

Linguistically, it means supplication.(1)

In Islamic law, prayer consists of words and actions. Purification is its key; it begins with the takbīr, which renders other actions impermissible, and ends with the taslīm, which renders them permissible again.

Linguistically, tatawwu (voluntary devotion) means undertaking an act of obedience, voluntarily performing a good deed that is not required, or making an addition that is not obligatory.

The term tatawwu is used only in the context of goodness and righteousness.(2)

In Islamic law, it means anything additional to what is obligatory by virtue of Islam, whether that addition is itself obligatory or not.