Practices

Salah, the formal prayer performed five times a day, is the second pillar of Islam. Muslims pray at appointed times facing the Kaaba in Mecca, after a ritual washing (wudu), as a direct link with God.

Zakat, the third pillar of Islam, is an obligatory annual payment of a fixed portion of one's accumulated wealth (commonly 2.5%) to people in need — an act of worship that purifies wealth and supports the community.

Sawm, fasting during the month of Ramadan, is the fourth pillar of Islam. From dawn to sunset Muslims abstain from food, drink, and marital relations to grow in God-consciousness, with exemptions for those unable to fast.

Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam, is the pilgrimage to the Kaaba in Mecca that every able Muslim must perform once in a lifetime. Held annually, it traces its rites to the Prophet Abraham and draws millions of pilgrims from around the world.

Dua (personal supplication) and dhikr (the remembrance of God) are central forms of devotion in Islam. Beyond the formal prayer, a Muslim can call on God directly at any time, and keep the heart at rest through the constant remembrance of Him.

Wudu is the ritual washing a Muslim performs to be in a state of purity for prayer. It is required before the formal prayer (salah), washes specific parts of the body, and remains valid until broken by certain natural occurrences.

The five daily prayers are the core, but they are not the whole of Muslim prayer. A map of every other prayer — the Friday and funeral prayers, Witr and the Eids, the sunnah and night prayers, and the prayers for special moments — what each is, how binding it is, and when it is prayed.

Around the five obligatory prayers, the Prophet ﷺ kept further voluntary prayers — the sunnah rak'ahs before and after the fard, the forenoon prayer (Duha), the greeting of the mosque, and two rak'ahs after wudu. What they are, when they are prayed, and how much weight each carries.

After Isha and before dawn lies the time the Prophet ﷺ called the best for voluntary prayer. What the night prayer (tahajjud or qiyam al-layl) is, how it is prayed, how Witr closes it, and how Ramadan's Tarawih grew out of it.

Every Friday, the midday prayer is replaced by Jumu'ah — a sermon followed by two rak'ahs, prayed together in the mosque. Who it is obligatory on, how it unfolds, the etiquette of the day, and what to do if you miss it.

On a journey the prayer does not stop — it becomes lighter. The traveller may shorten the four-rak'ah prayers to two and, in the view of most scholars, combine them in pairs. What the Quran and Sunnah say, and where the schools draw the lines on distance, duration, and combining.

Some prayers are tied not to the clock but to an event: an eclipse, a drought, a sin you regret, or danger. How the Prophet ﷺ prayed the eclipse prayer, the prayer for rain, the prayer of repentance, and the prayer of fear.