6 Essential Prayers For the Devout Muslim

Muslims have two main types of prayers. The first is salah, ritual prayer. Salah involves specific movements and recitations of Quran passages. Salah is to be done five times a day: between first light and sunrise, after the sun has passed the middle of the sky, between mid-afternoon and sunset, between darkness and midnight. Each prayer is done facing Mecca and will take at least five minutes to complete. Muslims can lengthen the time each prayer takes, if they wish.

Individual, private prayer is called du’a and does not require the same specific, ritual movements as salah. The word du’a actually means “calling,” and du’a is meant to be an act of remembering Allah and calling upon Him. Both forms of prayer are central to Muslim life, but they are noticeably different. Salah is performed five times a day, with ritual movements, and is conducted in Arabic. Du’a, however, is not required a certain number of times a day and is often performed in an individual Muslim’s mother tongue.

Practicing Muslims can perform du’a using their own words or using passages from the Sunna or the Quran. There are also pre-written prayers that a Muslim can use before eating, after sneezing, before sleep, to ward of illness and any other everyday task. Here are six essential prayers for the devout Muslim.

Shahada

Shutterstock.com

“There is no god but Allah. Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”

The shahada is the distillation of Islam into a single prayer. The two short sentences sum up the basic beliefs of every Muslim regardless of whether they are Shiites, Sunnis or Sufis. As well as being a statement of faith, recitation of the shahada is a requirement for any Muslim. To convert to Islam, a new Muslim must recite the shahada, and the convert must understand and believe in every word. There is some debate over how many Muslims must witness the convert recite the shahada or if witnesses are required at all. Most Muslims hold that there must be at least two Muslims present for the conversion to be official. Others claim the shahada can be recited privately or silently and that it only matters that Allah hears the convert’s prayer.

Regardless of whether a Muslim is raised in the Islamic faith or converted later in life, it is essential that they recite the shahada at least once because the recitation, acceptance, understanding and belief in the shahada is the first pillar of the Islamic faith. The shahada is also a componet of the second pillar of Islam, salah, or ritual prayer. The shahada makes up an essential part of the famous Islamic call to prayer.

Imaani Mufassal

“I believe in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day, and in Taqdir, that all good and bad is from Allah the Most High and I believe in the resurrection after death.”

This prayer touches on several of Islam’s most important tenets. The belief in Allah is, of course, an echo of the shahada, but in this prayer “Messengers” is plural in order to represent all of Allah’s prophets, not just Muhammad. Islam holds that there were a great many prophets but only some were rasul, the most important prophets who brought sacred texts with them. Moses, Jesus and Muhammad are all considered to be rasul.

The Imaani Mufassal also touches on the Islamic belief of taqdir. Taqdir is normally translated as “predestination,” but this Christian term does not perfectly fit the Islamic belief. Even within Islam, theological definitions of taqdir, and the practical ramifications of those definitions, are debated. One common explanation of taqdir, however, is that “Allah possesses foreknowledge of human actions. But He does not compel any man to act in any particular way.” Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq expands on this: “Suppose you see a man intending to commit a sin; and you forbade him; but he did not listen to you; and you left him; and he did commit that sin. Now when he did not pay heed to you and you left him, it cannot be said that you ordered him or allowed him to sin.”

Before, During and After Making Wudhu

“(I commence Wudhu), in the name of Allah the Great and all praise be to Allah (for keeping me faithful) in the Deen (religion) of Islam.”

“O Allah, forgive my sins and grant me abundance in my home and blessings in my livelihood.”

“O Allah, make me of the repenters and make me of the purified.”

Wudhu is the ritual purification that Muslims undertake before performing salah. The state of ritual purity achieved through wudhu technically lasts all day, but it is recommended that a Muslim perform wudhu before each prayer as the state of ritual purity is lost after a person goes to the bathroom, passes gas, bleeds heavily, falls asleep or takes part in a number of other parts of daily life.

Muslims performing wudhu do not just wash their hands. They also wash the inside of their mouth, the inside of their nose, their face, both arms, their ears, their feet and slide their wet hands over their hair. The traditional order for wudhu is: wash the hands three times, right then left; clean the mouth three times; clean the nose three times, wash the face; wash the arms three times, right then left; wipe the hair; clean the ears; wash the feet three times, right then left. As Islam originated in areas where water is scarce, a Muslim can perform wudhu with dust instead of water, though this option is rarely used today.

Adhaan and Iqaamah

“Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest. I bear witness that there is no God besides Allah. I bear witness that there is no God besides Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. Come to Salaah (prayer). Come to Salaah (prayer). Come to success. Come to success. Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest. There is no God besides Allah.”

“Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest. I bear witness that there is no God besides Allah. I bear witness that there is no God besides Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. Come to Salaah (prayer). Come to Salaah (prayer). Come to success. Come to success. Salaah is indeed about to begin. Salaah is indeed about to begin. Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest. There is no God besides Allah.”

The Adhaan and Iqaamah make up the famous Islamic Call to Prayer. The Call is projected from the minarets on each mosque. Traditionally, the Call was made by a mu’addhin, also called a muezzin, who was a servant of the mosque and chosen for his good character. He would stand on the balcony of the minaret and calls out the Adhaan. Today, the Adhaan heard by Muslims is often an electronic recording, or, at the very least, the mu’addhin’s voice is amplified by speakers and microphones.

The Adhaan is said first and is meant to call faithful Muslims to the mosque. The Iqaamah is said just before the prayer is about to start, telling Muslims who have not reached the mosque to hurry. The Adhaan and Iqaamah are two of the most well known calling cards of Islam. Non-Muslims rarely know what is being said in these two prayers, but most people recognize the haunting sound of the Call to Prayer.

Completing the Quran

“O Allah, divert my restlessness in the grave into peace. O Allah let me receive Your mercy by means of the Holy Quraan Shareef and make it my guide as well as a source of light, guidance and grace for me. O Allah, revive my memory of whatever I have forgotten from the Holy Quraan, grant me understanding of whatever part of it I know not, enable me to recite it during hours of day and night and make it my main argumentative support (in all matters), O Nourisher of the worlds.”

It is highly recommended that a Muslim read the entire Quran in their lifetime as it is the backbone of Islam, especially Islamic law. The most common time to read the Quran is during Ramadan, when many Muslims and Muslims families work to read the whole book by the end of the month.

The Quran is also recited during Ramadan by those who have memorized sections of the book or the entire text. Memorizing the entire Quran is not obligatory for Muslims, but it is seen as a good deed. Some Muslims believe that the highest ranks of Paradise are reserved for those that have memorized the Quran.

Quran memorization and recitation is almost always done with the text’s original Arabic form. Muslims who do not speak Arabic will work to memorize and perfect the sounds of Arabic recitation even though they cannot understand the words they are saying. Quran recitation competitions exist all over the world, and there is an international competition for youth who have memorized the entirety of the text in Arabic.

Filling a Grave With Soil

“From dust did We create you.

And to dust shall We return to you.

And from dust shall We raise you again.”

According to Sharia, Islamic law, a Muslim is to be buried as soon as possible after their death but without skipping burial rites for the deceased. Soon after a Muslim has died, the deceased body must be washed by close members of the family. Then, the body should be wrapped in three large, white sheets of inexpensive material which are secured with ropes. Funeral prayers, also called Salah al-Janazah, are recited at the person’s mosque before the body is taken to the cemetery. The grave is dug perpendicular to the qiblah, the Islamic direction of prayer which faces Mecca. A small layer of wood or stones is placed over the body to prevent the soil of the grave from touching it. Then, each mourner places three handfuls of soil into the grave, or qabar. One line of the prayer is recited for each handful of dirt. Most Muslim graves are marked with a small stone or other marker. Despite the elaborate shrines that have been built up around the graves of important Islamic figures, it is traditionally prohibited to erect large monuments or elaborate decorations over the grave.

From Slave to General

The story of Bilal al-Habashi, the most trusted companion of Muhammad. Read next feature >