How the Prophet of Islam Prayed?

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Regarding What the Prophet (SWAS) Used to Recite in His Prayers (As Salaat) - Part 1

July 18, 2023

The Prophet ( SWAS ) used to seek refuge with God ( Allah ) before he ( SWAS ) started the recitation in his prayers. He ( SWAS ) did so by saying: أعوذ بآلله من الشيطان الرجيم من همزه و نفخه I seek refuge with God (Allah) from the Satan, the Rejected, from his madness, his arrogance, and his influence. Sometimes, he would modify it thus: أعوذ بآلله السميع العليم من الشيطان الرجيم من همزه و نفخه I seek refuge wiith God (Allah), the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, from Satan, the Rejected, from his madness, his arrogance, and his influence. After seeking protection from God ( Allah ), the Prophet ( SWAS ) started his recitation with: بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful He ( SWAS ) would recite this in a low voice, even in congregational prayers in which the recitations are supposed to be audible. He ( SWAS ) began the recitation of the Quran in his prayers with the recitation of Surah Al Fatiha , and recited it one verse at a time, with pau

The Opening Supplications (Istiftah) of the Islamic Prayers (As Salaat)

July 12, 2023

After commencing the prayer with takbeer (saying Allahu Akbar ), the Prophet ( SWAS ) used to supplicate to praise God (Allah) the Exalted. He instructed the one who prayed improperly, "No person's prayer is complete unlesss he says takbeer, praises Allah the Mighty and Sublime and extols Him, recites of the Quran what is easy for him...". Among the supplications of praise he would recite are the following: اَللّٰهُمَّ بَاعِدْ بَيْنِـيْ وَبَيْنَ خَطَايَاىَ كَمَا بَاعَدْتَ بَيْنَ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ ، اَللّٰهُمَّ نَقِّنِيْ مِنَ الْخَطَايَا كَمَا يُنَقَّى الثَّوْبُ الْأَبْيَضُ مِنَ الدَّنَسِ، اَللّٰهُمَّ اغْسِلْ خَطَايَاىَ بِالْمَاءِ وَالثَّلْجِ وَالْبَرَدِ O Allah , separate me from my sins as You have separated the East from the West. O Allah, cleanse me of my transgressions as the white garment is cleansed of stains . O Allah , wash away my sins with ice and water and frost.

The Prophetic Practice Regarding Commencing the Islamic Prayer (As Salaat)

July 05, 2023

The Prophet ( SWAS ) said "all actions are by intention, and every man shall have what he intended", so when we pray we should bring into our mind what we are about to do, i.e. what prayer they are praying, whether it is obligatory or not, and other characteristics of the prayer before we begin. After intention in the heart and mind, Prophet Muhammad ( SWAS ) would commence the prayer by saying: الله أكبر Allahu Akbar Allah (God) is the Greatest This statement is called the takbeer . He ( SWAS ) has been reported to teach a person who did not pray properly that "Verily, the prayer of a person is not complete until he has made ablution which has included (the washing of ) the necessary parts of the body and he then said: Allahu Akbar i.e. the takbeer ". He ( SWAS ) also said, "The Key to prayer is purification; it is entered by takbeer and exited by tasleem (saying of salaams , i.e. the last actions in the Islamic prayer). The Prophet ( SWAS ) used to raise

The Prophetic Practice Related to the Standing Portion of the Islamic Prayer (As Salaat)

June 29, 2023

The Prophet ( SWAS ) used to stand for prayer whether they were obligatory prayers or voluntary prayers, except duing travelling when he ( SWAS ) used to pray the voluntary prayers sitting while mounted on his ride. In case of praying while susceptible to attack from an enemy he ( SWAS ) taught us to pray standing or mounted according to the situation. The Prophet ( SWAS ) prayed sitting while he ( SWAS ) was ill and when he ( SWAS ) was weak with illness in the last year of his life. When he ( SWAS ) led congregational prayers in a sitting position due to illness he ( SWAS ) instructed his followers to sit when he ( SWAS ) sits during the prayer, as the congregation is supposed to follow the imam (prayer leader). In 1979, in his last year, when Maulana Mawdudi, led prayers in Buffalo, NY where he was being treated for cancer, he did so sitting due to weakness and the congregation prayed behind him in a sitting position as well. The Prophet ( SWAS ) instructed us to pray standing. If

Facing the Kabah During the Islamic Prayer

June 21, 2023

There are some formal Islamic prayer ( salat ) that are obligatory while come are voluntary. Either one can be prayerd dismounted or mounted on an travelling animal or vehicle. There is more flexibility in terms of the injunction to face the Kabah (in Makkah ) during the voluntary prayer while travelling as we see from the practice of the Prophet ( SWAS ). When the Prophet ( SWAS ) prayed dismounted he always faced the Kabah (after the command to do so was revealed), whether he was praying the obligatory or voluntary prayers. He is known to have ordered his companions to improve their prayer by instructing "When you stand for prayer, perform abolution perfectly, then face the Qiblah (the Kabah in Makkah) and say Takbir ( Allahu Akbar -- the proclaimation that God is the Greatest). During the journey, he would pray voluntary prayers and the w itr (last prayer of the day which is characterized by having odd number of prayer units) prayer on his mount wherever it faced carrying him.

Methodology of Learning the Islamic Prayer (As Salat)

June 14, 2023

Typically Muslims born into the faith, learn the Islamic prayer ( salat ) based on one of the four schools of Islamic jurisprudence ( Hanafi , Shafii , Hanbali , Maliki ). The four schools of Islamic law teach the Islamic prayer a little differently based on their differing methodologies. When the founders of these schools of jursiprudence started teaching the Islamic prayer, not all prophetic sayings/practices ( ahadith / sunnah ) were known, collected, and analyzed as it is today. Moreover, the founders of these schools explicitly instructed that their opinions should be discarded in the face of authentic Prophetic evidence they were not aware of concerning anything they teach contradictory to it. Although all four schools of Islamic law are based on the Quran and the Sunnah (Prophetic pratice), their methodology is slightly different. If we consider it simply, Hanafi jurisprudence leans more on following analogical reasoning ( qiyas ) in issues where the Quran and the Prophetic t

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