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Salah

Salah (صَلاة) means prayer in Arabic.

Prayer.

Surah al-Fatihah (سورة ٱلْفَاتِحَة) consists of 7 Ayah (آية) (verses) which are to do with prayer, guidance and mercy.

Surah 1:1-7
1:1 In the name of God, the Almighty, the Merciful.
1:2 Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds.
1:3 The Almighty, the Merciful.
1:4 Sovereign of the Day of Judgment.
1:5 You alone we serve, and You alone we seek for help.
1:6 Guide us to the straight path.
1:7 The path of those You have graced, not of those who have incurred the wrath, nor the misguided.

Direction of salah.

Direction of salah must face towards the Kaaba (الكعبة). Qibla (قبلة) is a word which means 'direction' and we use the phrase 'the qibla' (القبلة) to mean 'the direction of the Kaaba'.

Surah 2:144
We see the shifting of your face in the heaven; We will set for you a focal point that will be pleasing to you: "You shall set your face towards the Restricted Temple; and wherever you may be, you shall all set your faces towards it." Those who have been given the Book know it is the truth from their Lord. And God is not unaware of what you do.

Washing (ablution).

  1. Do not be intoxicated ('while you are drunk').
  2. You must perform ghusl (a full bath or full shower) after sexual intercourse ('intercourse with women').
  3. You must perform wudu before your pray (wash your face, wash your hands and arms to your elbows, rub your heads with water and wipe your feet with water to your ankles) or if you wudu is broken (you are feeling un-well ('you are sick'), you are travelling ('traveling'), been to the toilet ('one of you comes from the toilet') or had sexual intercourse with someone ('intercourse with women').
Surah 4:43
O you who believe, do not come near the Connection while you are intoxicated, until you know what you are saying. Nor if you have had intercourse, unless a wayfarer, until you wash. And if you are ill, or traveling, or one of you has excreted feces, or you had sexual contact with the women, and could not find water, then you shall select from the clean soil; you shall wipe your faces and hands. God is Pardoning, Forgiving.
Surah 5:6
O you who believe, when you attend to the Connection, then wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, and wipe your heads and your feet to the ankles; and if you have had intercourse, then you shall purify. And if you are ill, or traveling, or you have excreted feces, or you have had sexual contact with the women, and you cannot find water, then you shall select from the clean soil; you shall wipe your faces and your hands with it. God does not want to place any hardship on you, but He wants to purify you and to complete His blessings upon you that you may be thankful.

Examples of recommended additional/optional verses to say in salah.

  1. Surah al-Ikhlas (112)
  2. Surah al-Falaq (113)
  3. Surah an-Nas (114)
Surah 112
112:0 In the name of God, the Almighty, the Merciful. 
112:1 Say: "He is God, the One," 
112:2 "God, the Indivisible," 
112:3 "He does not beget, nor was He begotten," 
112:4 "And there is none who is His equal."
      
Surah 113
113:0 In the name of God, the Almighty, the Merciful. 
113:1 Say: "I seek refuge with the Lord of the rising dawn," 
113:2 "From the evil among His creation," 
113:3 "And from the evil of darkness as it falls," 
113:4 "And from the evil of those who blow on knots," 
113:5 "And from the evil of an envier when he envies."
      
Surah 114
114:0 In the name of God, the Almighty, the Merciful. 
114:1 Say: "I seek refuge with the Lord of the people," 
114:2 "The King of the people," 
114:3 "The god of the people," 
114:4 "From the evil of the sneaking whisperer," 
114:5 "Who whispers into the chests of the people." 
114:6 "From the Jinn and the people."

Quran translation: The Monotheist Group (www.free-minds.org)