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3.0 THE CONSTITUENTS AND MANNER OF PERFORMING THE SALAH
3.1 The Pre-Requisites of Salah
It is obligatory upon the one who [wishes to] perform salah to precede [it] with:
1. Purity from hadath
One who cannot find [anything] with which to remove filth prays with it and does not repeat the salah.
2. [Purity from] filth, in accordance with what we have mentioned previously. Also:
3. To cover his/her nakedness
The nakedness of a man is that which is beneath the navel upto the knee, and the knee is [part] of the nakedness.
The body of a free woman is all nakedness, except for her face and her hands [and her feet].
One who cannot obtain a garment prays naked, seated, gesturing for ruku` and sujud, but if he prays standing it suffices him, although the former is better.
4. To intend the salah into which one is entering, with an intention not separated from the Forbidding [Takbir] with any action.
5. To face the qiblah, unless one is in fear, for then one prays in whatever direction one can.
If the qiblah is obscure to him, and there is no-one in his presence whom he could ask, he exercises his judgement and prays. Then, if he finds out that he was mistaken, by being informed after he had prayed, there is no repetition [due] upon him. If he finds that out while he is [engaged] in the salah, he turns to the qiblah and continues.
6. [Conviction that the time has entered].
3.2 The Rudiments of Salah
The essentials of salah are six:
1. The Forbidding [Takbir].
If one says, in place of the takbir, Allahu ajall, or [Allahu] a`zam, or Ar-Rahman akbar, it suffices him according to Abu Hanifah and Muhammad. Abu Yusuf said : It does not suffice him except with the wording of takbir.
2. Standing.
3. Recitation.
The minimum recitation which suffices in salah, according to Abu Hanifah, is that which is covered by the word "Qur’an." Abu Yusuf and Muhammad said : No less than three short verses or one long verse is sufficient.
Recitation is obligatory in the first two rak`ah [of fard], but one has the choice in the last two : if one wishes, he can recite, if he wishes he can make tasbih, and if he wishes he can remain silent. Recitation is oblgatory in every rak`ah of nafl, and in all [rak`ahs] of witr.
4. Ruku`.
5. Sujud
If he restricted himself to one of the [nose and forehead] it is permissible according to Abu Hanifah. Abu Yusuf and Muhammad said : it is not permissible to restrict oneself to the nose without a [valid] excuse.
If he prostrated on the winding of his turban or the end of a garment it is permissible [but disliked].
6. The Final Sitting, for the measure of the tashahhud.
3.3 The Obligations (Wajib) of Salah
1. Recitation of al-Fatihah in every rak`ah
2. Adding a surah (or three verses) in the first two rak`ahs of fard, and in every rak`ah of witr and nafl.
3. Standing up after ruku`.
4. Linking the nose with the forehead for sujud.
5. Tranquility in each position (ruku`, standing after it, sujud, sitting between the two sajdah).
6. The middle sitting.
7. Recitation of the tashahhud in the every sitting.
The tashahhud is that one say, At-tahiyyatu lillahi was-salawatu wat-tayyibatu. as-salamu `alayka ayyuhan-nabiyyu wa-rahmatullahi wa-barakatuh. as-salamu `alayna wa-`ala `ibadillahis-salihin. ash-hadu an la ilaha illallahu wa-ash-hadu anna muhammadan `abduhu wa-rasuluh.
8. Standing up for the third [rak`ah] without [any] delay after the tashahhud.
9. The words of salam.
10. Vocalizing the vocal rak`ahs [for the imam], and subduing the subdued ones [for all].
If one is imam, he vocalizes the recitation in fajr, and the first two rak`ah of maghrib and `isha’, and subdues that which is after the first two.
If one is solitary, he has the choice : if he wishes, he may recite aloud [where the imam would], making [his voice] audible to himself, or if he wills, he may subdue [his voice in all the recitation].
The imam subdues [the recitation] in [every rak`ah of ] zuhr and `asr.
11. The qunut of witr.
12. The takbirs of the Two `Ids.
13. Sequence [in case of inattentiveness].
]
Everything beyond this is sunnah.
3.4 The Description of Salah
When a man enters salah, he pronounces takbir, and
1. Raises his hands with the takbir until his thumbs are alongside his earlobes.
2. He rests his right hand on his left, and brings them together under his navel.
3. Then, he says Subhanakallahumma wa-bi-hamndika wa-tabarakasmuka wa-ta`ala jadduka wa-la ilaha ghayruk.
4. Then, he seeks refuge with Allah from Satan, the outcast, and
5. [then he] recites Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim,
6. subduing both of them.
Then, he recites the Opening [Chapter] of the Book, and a surah - or three verses of any surah he wishes - along with it.
7. When the imam says wa-lad-dallin, he says Amin, and the followers also say it, [all of them] subduing it.
8. Then, he pronounces takbir, and bows.
9. [In ruku`] he rests his hands on his knees, spreads his fingers, extends his back and neither raises his head nor droops it.
10. He says in ruku`, Subhana rabbiyal-`azim thrice, and that is its minimum [of perfection]. [Note : saying `azim instead of `azim here breaks the prayer. Learn how to pronounce it correctly from someone who knows it.]
11. Then, he raises his head from ruku` saying Sami`Allahu li-man Hamidah.
12. The followers [and imam] say Rabbana lakal-Hamd.
Then, when he has straightened up [to the] standing [position], he pronounces takbir, and performs sajdah, resting his hands on the ground,
13. putting his face between his palms, and prostrating on his nose and forehead. He reveals his upper arms, separates his belly from his thighs, and turns his toes towards the qiblah.
14. He says in his sujud Subhana rabbiyal-a`la thrice, and that is its minimum [of perfection].
Then, he raises his head, pronouncing takbir, and then when he is calm in sitting, he pronounces takbir and performs sajdah. Then, when he is calm in sujud, he pronounces takbir.
15. [He] straightens up [to the] standing [position] on the fronts of his feet. He does not sit, nor lean on the ground with his hands.
He does in the second rak`ah similar to what he did in the first rak`ah, except that he does not recite the Opening Invocation, nor the Seeking of Refuge.
He does not raise his hands except at the first takbir.
16. When he raises his head from the second sajdah in the second rak`ah, he spreads out his left leg and sits on it, and lays down the right [leg] and directs its toes toward the qiblah. He places his hands on his thighs and stretches out his fingers and pronounces the tashahhud.
He does not add to this in the first sitting.
17. He recites the Opening [Chapter] of the Book, in particular, in the last two rak`ah [of fard].
When he sits at the end of the salah, he sits as he sat in the first and, recites the tashahhud.
18. He invokes blessings on the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).
19. He recites whatever invocations he wills, such as resemble the words of the Qur’an and the transmitted invocations. He should not recite invocations which resemble the speech of mankind [amongst themselves].
20. Then, he makes salam to his right, saying, As-salamu `alaykum wa-rahmatullah, and to his left similarly.
3.5 Those Actions Disliked in Salah
1. It is disliked for the one praying to fidget with his clothes or with his body.
He should not turn about pebbles, unless [they are such that] it is not possible for him to perform sujud, then [in which case] he smooths them once.
He should not crack his knuckles.
2. He should not put his hands on his hips.
3. He should not hang his garment over himself [without wearing it properly].
4. He should not plait his hair.
5. He should gather his clothes.
6. He should not glance about.
7. He should not sit like a dog.
8. He should not return the greeting of salam with his tongue [for that invalidates the prayer], and not [even] with his hand.
9. He should not sit cross-legged except if he has an excuse.
3.6 Disruptors and Nullifiers of the Salah
1. He should not eat or drink [nor commit any other significant, extraneous actions.]
2. If hadath overtakes him, he turns away, and if he was imam, he appoints a replacement. He
[then] makes wudu’ and resumes his salah, but [for him] to re-start it superior.
If hadath overtakes him after the tashahhud, he makes wudu’ and makes salam.
If in this condition [i.e. after the tashahhud], he wilfully effects hadath or speaks, or performed an action which is inconsistent with salah, his salah has been performed.
3. If he slept and had an erotic dream, or became insane, or lost consciousness, or laughed out loud, he re-starts the wudu’ and salah.
4. If he spoke in his salah, intentionally or by mistake, his salah is nullified.
[5. Exposure of the nakedness, or presence of filth greater than the excusable amount, for the duration of three tasbih, nullifies the salah.]
6. If one who had performed tayammum saw water [while] in his salah, his salah is nullfied, and [similarly] if he saw it after he had sat the duration of the tashahhud [according to Abu Hanifah]. Similarly:
7. If he had wiped on his khuffs and the time-limit for his wiping expired, or
8. If he took off his khuffs with a gentle motion, or
9. If he had been illiterate and then learned a surah [while in prayer], or
10. If he had been naked, and then found a garment [while in prayer], or
11. If he had been gesturing, and then became capable or [performing] ruku` and sujud. or
12. He remembered that there is a salah [due] upon him before this salah, or
13. If a literate imam experienced hadath and substituted an illiterate [man], or
14. If the sun rose in salat al-fajr, or the time of `asr entered in [salat al-]jumu`ah, or
15. If he had wiped on a splint, and it fell off due to healing, or
16. If he had been an excused person, and then his excuse ceased.
[If any of these (7-16) occurred after the tashahhud] his salah is invalidated according to the view of Abu Hanifah. Abu Yusuf and Muhammad said : his salah has been performed.
[The Things Which Necessitate or Permit Breaking the Prayer
It is obligatory to break the salah
1. to save life
2. to prevent injury to others.
It is permissible to break it : upon the threat of theft or harm of his own or someone else’s property.]
3.7 Prostration of Inattentiveness
1. The prostration of inattentiveness is wajib, for excess or deficiency, [and it is preferably] after salam. Then, he performs two sajdah, then he [sits,] performs tashahhud and [then] performs salam.
2. [The Prostration of] Inattentiveness is due if one added to the salah an action which is of its manner but not part of it, or by abandoning a [wajib] action [whose obligation is established by the] sunnah, such as in abandoning the recitation of the Opening of the Book, or the qunut, or the tashahhud, or the takbirs of the Two `Ids, or the imam’s raising his voice in that which should be subdued, or subduing it in that which should be audible.
3. The inattentiveness of the imam makes the sujud obligatory on the follower, but if the imam does not make the sajud, the follower does not make the sujud [either]. If the follower commits [an act of] inattentiveness, the sujud [of inattentiveness] is not due on the imam nor on the follower.
4. Someone who inattentively omitted the first sitting, and then remembered while he was [still] closer to the sitting position, should sit down and recite the tashahhud. But, if he was closer to the standing position, he should not go back, but should prostrate for inattentiveness [at the end].
5. Someone who inattentively missed the last sitting and thus stood up for a fifth [rak`ah] should return to the sitting as long as he has not performed sajdah [for the fifth]. He cancels the fifth [rak`ah] and performs the prostrations of inattentiveness.
If he bound the fifth [rak`ah] with a prostration, his fard is invalidated, and his salah turns into nafl, and he must add a sixth rak`ah to it.
6. If he sat in the fourth [rak`ah] for the measure of the tashahhud, and then stood up without performing salam, thinking it to the the first sitting, he goes back to sitting as long as he has not prostrated for the fifth [rak`ah], and [then] he performs salam.
If he bound the fifth with a sajdah, he adds another rak`ah to it, and his salah has been performed. The two [extra] rak`ah are nafl for him. He should perform the Prostrations of Inattentiveness.
7. Someone who is assailed by doubt in his salah, such that he does not know whether he prayed three or four [rak`ah], then:
If this is the first time it has happened to him, he re-starts the salah.
If doubts assail him often, he builds upon his strong inclination if he has an inclination. If he does not have an idea, he builds upon certainty.
3.8 Prostration of Recitation
1. The Prostrations of Recitation in the Qur’an are fourteen:
at the end of al-A`raf [7:206], in al-Ra`d [13:15], al-Nahl [16:50], Bani Isra’il [17:109], Maryam [19:58], the first [prostration] in al-Hajj [22:18], al-Furqan [25:60] , al-Naml [27:26], Alif-Lam-Mim-Tanzeel [32:15], Saad [38:24], Ha-Mim-Sajdah [41:38], al-Najm [53:62], Idhas-Sama-unshaqqat [84:21] and Iqra-bismi-Rabbik [96:19].
2. Prostration is wajib in all these places, upon the reciter and the hearer - whether he intended to listen to the Qur’an or not.
3. Whoever desires to prostrate [for recitation] should pronounce takbir without raising his hands, and prostrate, and then pronounce takbir and raise his head. There is no tashahhud due upon him, nor salam.
4. [Prostration while in salah]
If the imam recites a verse of prostration, he prostrates [for] it, and the follower prostrates with him.
If the follower recites [it], neither the imam nor the follower prostrates [for it].
If while they were in salah, they heard a verse of prostration from a man who was not in salah with them, they should not prostrate it in the salah, but they should prostrate it after the salah. If they did prostrate it in the salah, it does not suffice them, but it does not nullify their salah.
5. [Repetition of recitation]
Someone who recited a verse of prostration, but did not prostrate [for] it by the time he entered salah, and then recited it [in salah] and prostrated it, the prostration suffices him for both of the recitations.
If he recited it outside of salah, and then prostrated it, and then entered the salah, and then recited it [again] he should prostrate, and the first prostration does not suffice him [in this case].
Someone who repeats the recitation of a single sajdah [several times] in one sitting, a single sajdah suffices him.
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