Salat

Ṣalāt (Arabic: صلاة, ṣalāẗ) also known as namāz (Persian: نماز) and also spelled salah, is the practice of prayer in Islam. It is one of the five most important duties for Sunni Muslims. To perform Salat, a person's mind must be ritually pure, which comes from ritual ablution, wuḍūʾ, or the washing and cleansing of his or her body. The salat is observed three^[1][2][3] or (most commonly) five times every day at prescribed times, depending on the sect. Salawat is plural, and Salat is singular.

Islamic prayers in Nishapur, Iran

Name

Ṣalāh ([sˤaˈlaː(h)] صلاة) is an Arabic word that means to pray. Outside the Arab world, the most widespread and common term is the Persian word namāz (Persian: نماز).

Sunni

For Sunni Muslims, salat must be performed at five periods each day. These periods are measured according to the Sun’s movement. The call to prayer is essential before every obligatory prayers. Muhammad said: "The one who responds to Azan out of faith and seeking Allah's pleasure will be admitted to paradise."^[source?]

In the ritual prayers each Muslim is in direct contact with Allah. There is no need of a priest as a middleman (While there is a prayer leader in the mosque - the imam - they are not a priest, but simply a person who knows a great deal about Islam.) Muslims can pray anywhere, but it is especially good to pray with others in a mosque. Praying together in a congregation helps Muslims to realise that all humanity is one, and all are equal in the sight of Allah. The prayer ritual, which is over 1400 years old, is repeated five times a day by hundreds of millions of people all round the world.^[4]

Quranist

Quranist prayer is set three times a day. This is similar to the combined prayer into 3 by Shias. In Islamic countries, the public call to prayer from the mosques sets the rhythm of the day for the entire population, including non-Muslims. Carrying it out is not only highly spiritual, but connects each Muslim to all others around the world, and to all those who have uttered the same words and made the same movements at different times in Islamic history.

Prayer for a Quranist involves uniting mind, soul, and body in worship; so a Muslim carrying out these prayers will perform a whole series of set movements that go with the prayers’ words. Quranists make sure that they are in the right frame of mind before they pray; they put aside all everyday cares and thoughts so that they can focus only on God. If a Quranist prays without the right attitude of mind, it is as if they had not bothered to pray at all.^[5]

Shia

There are different subsets of Shia Islam. Some of them pray 3 times combined, others 5 times. Allah does not need human prayers because he has no needs at all. Muslims pray because God has told them that they are to do this, and because they believe that they obtain great benefit in doing so.

Ritual washing

Muslims must be clean before they pray. They make sure of this by performing ritual washing, called wudhu. Mosques have washing facilities for Muslims to clean their body before they begin prayer.

References

1. Na, Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im; Naʻīm, ʻabd Allāh Aḥmad (30 June 2009). Islam and the Secular State. ISBN 9780674033764.
2. Edward E. Curtis IV (2009-10-01). Muslims in America: A Short History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-974567-8.
3. Jafarli, Durdana. "The historical conditions for the emergence of the Quranist movement in Egypt in the 19th-20th centuries." МОВА І КУЛЬТУРА (2017): 91.
4. Gruber, Christiane. "The Ilkhanid Mi‛ rājnāma as an illustrated Sunni prayer manual." The Prophet's Ascension. Cross-Cultural Encounters with the Islamic Mirāj Tales, hrsg. v. ders. u. Frederick Colby, Bloomington/Indianapolis 2010b (2010): 27-49.
5. Jafarli, Durdana. "The historical conditions for the emergence of the Quranist movement in Egypt in the 19th-20th centuries." МОВА І КУЛЬТУРА (2017): 91.