How to do namaz correctly?

In Islam, namaz means obligatory prayer, which is one of the five foundations on which this religion rests. Before each newcomer the question arises, how to do namaz? The order of the ritual is an imitation of certain poses and movements that the Prophet Muhammad performed. A single pattern of prayer has been developed by practice for almost 150 years and was recorded by jurists in the 8th century. How to learn to do prayer from scratch will be described in the article.

How the Prophet Muhammad Prayed

Namaz is carried out by performing a complex of poses and body movements that accompany the recitation of prayers. Such a cycle is called rak'ah, and prayer consists of specific formulas. Moreover, each position, movement and formula follow each other in strict sequence.

One who wants to learn how to do salah prayers needs to remember the following. Violation of the procedure for prayer leads to its invalidity. That is, requests addressed to the Almighty in this way will not be fulfilled.

Recall that the Sunnah is the complement to the Qur'an, which tells the story of the life of the Prophet Muhammad. Prayers should be pronounced only in Arabic. Variants in a set of formulas are sometimes possible, which depends on the interpretation of a particular theological school.

How many times do you need to pray

The system of pronouncing prayers in Islam is quite complex, so you need to thoroughly understand how many times and how much to pray.

The complex that a Muslim must carry out every day consists of prayers, the number of which is five. But at the same time, each of them is read several times.

1. In the morning - 2 times.
2. 4 noon at noon.
3. Before evening - 4 times.
4. In the evening - 3 times.
5. At night - 4 times.

In one of the most common Sunni law schools - Hanafi (by the name of its founder Abu Hanif) - another prayer is provided, which is nightly, which includes an odd number of cycles (rak'ats).

Are there any options?

Is it possible to do prayer by combining these prayers? Yes you can. In some cases, prayers are read together: midday and evening, as well as evening and night. Each of the prayers has a strictly set time for its performance. We will talk more about this below.

In the Sunnahs there is a rule that, in addition to the obligatory, it is possible to do prayers, which are among the voluntary. In addition to the prayers performed according to strict regulations, Islam allows the possibility of turning to God directly, simply by saying words expressing a prayer in any language and at any convenient time interval.

Prayer time

Is it possible to do the prayer, which is obligatory, at any convenient time? No, this is strictly prohibited. Here are a few rules regarding this prohibition.

1. Each of the prayers is assigned a time period in which it should be performed. It has a strictly designated beginning and end.
2. If the prayer is completed before the set time (even when this advance is insignificant), then the prayer will not be “counted” in heaven. It must be carried out again - at the appointed time.
3. If the time of the ritual is missed without valid reasons, this is a great sin. Therefore, it is necessary to try to “catch up” and make a compensatory prayer.

How to learn to do prayer on time? According to Islamic tradition, the exact time for each ritual prayer was reported by Allah to the Prophet Muhammad through the archangel Jabrail. It is determined in three ways: by the movement of the sun, by the call of the muezzin, uttered by him from the minaret, by the special schedule of namaz (ruznam).

How to pray without falling into sin

In order not to commit sin, you need to know not only the time when you need to perform prayer, but also the time when it is forbidden to do it. It includes:

1. The moment at which the solar disk passes through the highest point in the sky. An exception to this rule is Friday time.
2. For 15 minutes before the sun rises, after the morning prayer is completed.
3. After the obligatory afternoon ritual, before the sun sets completely beyond the horizon.

However, the Sunnahs recount the words of the Prophet Muhammad, removing the above restrictions for several cases. Consider them.

Permission of the prophet

To learn how to pray to a novice without sin, you can learn from the instructions of the prophet. He permits not to observe the rules indicated in the previous section when:

1. A faithful Muslim is praying at the Sanctuary Mosque, the main and largest in the world, which is located in Saudi Arabia, in Mecca. In its courtyard is the main Islamic shrine - the Kaaba. It symbolizes the "sacred house" and is a building in the form of a cube. Pilgrims flock to the Kaaba during the Hajj period.
2. Compensatory prayers are performed.
3. Ritual prayers are performed additionally, for certain reasons.
4. Namaz is performed during a lunar or solar eclipse.
5. A person prays immediately after bathing.

Conditions for Prayer

How to learn to do namaz, observing all the requirements dictated by the Sunnah? To do this, you need to familiarize yourself with the conditions necessary for the implementation of prayer. These include the following:

1. Human purity (internal and external). Internal purity is characterized by a prayer mood, the absence of sinful thoughts, sincerity in addressing the Almighty. To maintain external purity, one needs to get rid of desecration. It includes, for example, the state of the body following the departure of natural necessities, intimacy, monthly secretions of the female body, childbirth. At the same time, ritual ablution must be performed ( how to do ablution before prayer will be described in more detail below). It may be partial or complete, depending on the degree to which a person has been desecrated.
2. The cleanliness of the place. Prayer should be performed only in a clean place, there should not be animals, dirty people, things and objects nearby.
3. Compliance with the rule about which way to pray. Prayer is performed only in a position in which the person's face is turned in the direction of Qibla. The fact is that Muslims have established a direction determined for any point on the Earth - towards Mecca, where the Kaaba is located. It is observed during prayers, the construction of mosques, and is also of great importance in the everyday life of believers, being a symbol of spiritual unity, regardless of their location.
4. The freshness of the garment and its compliance with the rules of Sharia. Prayer clothes should be neat, clean, dry - not soiled with sewage, without greasy stains, without holes. Places prohibited for public viewing shall not be exposed.
5. Complete sobriety. In everyday life (and even more so during prayer), Muslims are forbidden to be in any form of intoxication, whether it is alcohol or drugs. All this relates to haram - a total ban.
6. Intention - it is necessary to have a clear intention to communicate with Allah by saying prayers.

How to do namaz: complete ablution - ghusl

The ablution process raises many questions, especially among women. Since it is very important, we will study it. There are two types of bathing - full and small.

Full ablution is called a ghusl. Except for the cases mentioned above, it is performed before Friday prayers and prayers during the holidays. It must be done as follows:

1. Wash hands three times.
2. Thoroughly treat the genitals.
3. Take a short bath.
4. Fully pour water over the body in the following order: head, shoulders (right, left behind it), trunk, legs.
5. The hair picked up in the hairstyle does not open. The main thing during the dousing is to wet the roots.

Small ablution - voodoo

As you can see, a small bath is an integral part of the full. It must be done like this:

1. Wash hands to the line of the wrist.
2. Rinse your mouth twice.
3. Scrub the nasal cavity three times.
4. Rinse your face three times.
5. Wash hands again - now to the elbow, three times.
6. Clean out the auricles - each one at a time.

As a rule, a small bath is done before prayer on ordinary days, but there are other cases when it is necessary. So, for example, after a complete ablution, a situation may arise in which a person went to the toilet, lost consciousness, vomited or blew his nose, touched the genitals. How to pray in such situations? - It is in them that a small ablution will be required.

Conducting a ritual

Having familiarized ourselves with the basic conditions and rules that state how to do namaz, let us move on to a direct description of the way it is performed. Here are the stages of prayer during which the person praying:

1. Does a bath.
2. Becomes facing the Kaaba, observing the Qibla, with arms extended along the body.
3. Expresses intention to perform namaz.
4. Raises his hands to face with palms in accordance with the Qibla and pronounces a formula that exalts the Most High, which is called "Takbir."
5. The thumb and little finger of the right hand grabs the left wrist and holds it.
6. The remaining three fingers on the right hand leads over the left hand, directing them towards the elbow. In this case, the hands are located just below the navel.
7. He pronounces the first Sura from the Qur'an - Al-Fatihu (Opening), and after it some other, brief Sura, of his choice.
8. He bows to the belt, saying praise to Allah.
9. Having straightened up, he asks the Almighty to hear his praise.
10. Kneeling down, bowing to the ground.
11. Again he straightens up and sits on his heels, asking God for forgiveness.
12. He again bows and returns to a sitting position on his heels.

This is the first raccoon. Usually there are several of them, for beginners at the first stage it is recommended to perform two rak'ahs. In the second and last, you need to read such a prayer formula as Tashahhud (Testimony). After their completion, a greeting is read in the final rak'ah, in which they wish everyone peace and God's mercy. In this case, you need to turn - then right, then left.

Istihara Namaz

In Islam, there is such a thing as ishihara, which is translated from Arabic as “seeking good.” This is a type of prayer in which a person who finds himself in a difficult situation turns to Allah for advice on how to find the right solution to the problem.

How to do ishihara namaz? - The beginning of its fulfillment, as in the general case, is ablution, and then two rak'ahs are uttered, which are voluntary prayers. After this, you need to read a special prayer, which is called "dua."

Its general meaning boils down to the fact that the believer asks the Almighty to help him with his power, showing great mercy. After all, he himself does not know what to do, but God knows everything about what is hidden for a mere mortal. When starting an important business, Istiharu needs to be read once. If Allah did not give a sign the first time, then you need to repeat the prayer until the heart feels that the answer has been received.

"Female" and "male" prayer - what is the difference?

By and large, there are few differences in how to pray to a man, but as a woman. But still they are. What do they consist of? So, for example, there is a special Friday prayer, which is carried out by believers together in the mosque. According to Muslim canons, the obligation to commit it rests only with the male person. Ancient rules state that four categories of believers should not commit it, they include: the sick, children, women and slaves.

The time for the Friday prayer is considered the time of the end of the noon prayer before the evening. This prayer consists of two parts: the hutba - the sermon of the imam and two rak'ahs. If a Muslim, for good reason, had time only for the last rak'ah, then it is believed that he visited the Friday prayer in full. Moreover, after the prayer has ended, you need to supplement the missed cycle.

How to pray a woman on Friday

Based on the fact that Friday prayer is not necessary for the fairer sex, the question arises, how to pray to a woman on Friday? This category of believers jurists are invited to do four rak'ahs of midday prayer. But if there is a desire, on Friday, ladies can attend universal prayer in the mosque.

In this case, from them, as well as from other categories of believers who have performed universal prayer, the obligation to perform four-time midday prayer (zuhr) is removed. This conclusion is drawn from the fact that nowhere in the Muslim canons it is said that the burden falls on the believer to perform two prayers on the same day - noon and Friday.

From all that has been said about how to pray to a woman and a man, we can conclude that its performance is a very responsible matter, requiring a serious approach and careful study of the relevant rules. However, to date, verification of the thoroughness of their implementation in the Muslim tradition is not controlled by anyone, this lies with the conscience of the person praying.