Muhammad F. - Muslim Prayers For Beginners: Complete Guide to Fardh Salah

Muslim Prayers for Beginners

Complete Guide to Fardh Salah

Table of Contents

Fardh Salah is what makes a Muslim, Muslim.

Unfortunately though, for many Muslims around the world, being Muslim is just a religion to them. The religion of Islam is not only confined to the Arabic world but have made its present strong throughout the whole world, making it one of the fastest growing religion ever.

Although it is one of the fastest growing religion in the world, Muslims all over the world, whether they are born into it or new converts have issues with the one core duty that makes them Muslim, the 5 daily prayers.

Islam is now a wide expanding global religion in this modern world and with it comes its challenges. Ultimately there are numerous reasons why Muslims do not perform the 5 obligatory prayers daily, it can be due to the following main causes.

1. Do not read or understand Arabic
2. Lack of time to perform the prayers properly
3. Lack of proper dedicated prayer place
4. Misconceptions on rituals and practices

Thus this guide is developed. Its called a guide for specific reasons, to guide you for now until you have found an Imam or a Muslim scholar who is able to follow up and correct any mistakes in your prayer actions. A one on one lesson with a qualified tutor is always the best, but that doesnt mean that you must wait until you find one. This guide will kick start your progress.

The content you can find within this guide is all based on fundamental principles. The Basics. With the hope that the awareness of these basic principles will help you realise that performing the Muslim prayer is not that complicated and can be easily managed.

Understanding that some have difficulty with the Arabic language or writings, the various Quranic text have been converted to Roman script as transliterations to assist with the enunciations of the Arabic texts. This is critical especially for those compulsory texts that needs to be read out in Arabic Language. However, you still need to have someone to check on the proper pronunciation to prevent reciting the wrong word and changes the meaning of the Quranic text totally.

With that we hope you could use this guide to great use.

Muslimprayersforbeginners.com

Fardh Salah is the daily prayers that must be performed five times a day by those who have fulfilled certain conditions.

The five fardh Salah sessions are the Subuh, Zuhur, Asar, Maghrib and Isyak prayers. Salah, as defined by Islamic laws, is "a few words and actions that begin with takbir (Allahu Akbar) and end with salam (Assalamualaikum), accompanied by certain specific conditions." Fardh Salah is wajib (a must) for Muslims who are free, of sound mind and have reached puberty. Any Muslim who deliberately neglects his Salah has committed a sin against Allah. On the Day of Judgment, he will be punished according to the severity of his sins.

Such is the importance that Islam places on Salah because prayers play a crucial role in the lives of all Muslims. This chapter will explain the importance of Salah and the consequences of failing to perform it.

In the previous sharia, there were not five daily prescribed prayers. However, there was general Salah whose time was unclear. Salah became fardh (obligatory) on the day of Miraj a half and year ago before Hegira. Anas bin Malik reported that event as follows briefly:

"Allah enjoined fifty prayers on my followers on the night of Isra. Then, it was reduced to five prayers. Then, the Prophet was addressed as follows: O Muhammad! These are five prayers for you and they are all (equal to) fifty (in reward) for My Word does not change." (Bukhari, Sala, 76. Anbiya, 5; Muslim, Faith, 263; Ahmad bin Hanbal, V, 122, 143).

That Verse tells us that it will be given tenfold reward for a good deed we do: "He who brings a good deed shall have tenfold of its like," al-Anam 6/160; see. an-Naml, 27/89; al-Qasas, 28/84).

Before the five daily prayers became fardh, the worship of the Prophet was to think on Allah's Glory and what He created. It is also said that the Prophet performed two daily Salahs, one in the morning and one in the evening, each of which contained two rakaahs. The previous ummahs also performed Salah. We can give examples of it; for instance Luqman ordered his son to perform Salah (Luqman, 31/17); Abraham mentioned Salah while praying for the security of Hejaz (Abraham, 14/37), that Allah wanted Moses to perform Salah (Taha, 20/14) during the first revelation in the mount of Tur.

That Salah must be performed is based on the Qur'an, Sunnah, and Ijma (consensus).

Abdullah ibn Umar r.a. related how he once heard Rasulullah, peace be upon him, say:

Islam is based on five principles: A belief in no other God, accept Allah and that Muhammad is His Servant and Prophet, performing the Salah: paying zakat (tithes): performing the haj and fasting during the month of Ramadan."

Rasulullah, peace be upon him, compared Islam to a tent that was supported by five pillars. The pillar at the center is the utterance of the syahadah. The other four are supporting pillars, one for each corner of the tent. Without the central pillar, the tent could not be erected and if any of the remaining four pillars went missing, its corners would collapse. Let us examine ourselves to see how far we have gone in laying the foundations of the Islamic religion. Have we really erected the four pillars in their places firmly?

Abdullah-ibn-Mas'ud said:

I once asked Rasulullah, peace be upon him, Which act of worship is most blessed by Allah, Praise be Upon Him? Rasulullah, peace be upon him, replied: 'Salah.' I then asked: 'What follows after that (in terms of blessing). Rasulullah, peace be upon him, said: 'Respecting your mother and father. I asked again: What is next? He replied: 'Jihad.'

Abu Zar r.a. related an incident that took place during a season when trees shed their leaves. Rasulullah, peace be upon him, took a twig from a tree whose leaves were falling in great numbers and said:

Ya Abu Zar! When a Muslim performs Salah in the name of Allah, he will be shedding his sins the way this tree is shedding its leaves.

During the season when leaves fall to the ground, trees tend to shed their leaves until not even one is left. Such is the impact of Salah that is performed with full concentration and humility. A person who performs Salah will be able to cleanse himself of his sins However, according to religious experts, only smaller sins are forgiven through Salah. Allah does not forgive a person's grave sins unless he totally repents (taubat).

As such, apart from Salah, one should also not forget to continually seek forgiveness from Allah (istighfar). Hopefully, Allah Almighty, with all His generosity, will forgive the grave sins of a person who performs his Salah dutifully in the name of Allah.

Abu Hurairah r.a. related how Rasulullah, peace be upon him, once asked his companions:

Do you believe that the dirt will stick to a person who bathes five times a day in the river that flows in front of his house? His companions replied: No, no dirt will stick onto his body. Rasulullah, peace be upon him, replied: The same applies to those who pray five times a day. With Allahs generosity, all the sins will be forgiven. "Water that flow is generally clean and the deeper it flows, the clearer and cleaner it is. Taking a bath in such clean water will definitely cleanse ones body of all the dirt that has accumulated. Salah that is performed in line with all its rules and with full concentration is similar to bathing in a river - it will cleanse ones sins and soul.