How to pray Salah: a step-by-step guide

Salah is the second pillar of Islam and the first act a person is asked about on the Day of Judgement. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Pray as you have seen me praying." (Sahih al-Bukhari 631)

What do I need before I pray?

Purity of body, clothing and place; wudu; covering the awrah; facing the qiblah; and the time of the prayer having entered. The intention is in the heart — it is not spoken aloud.

Step by step

1. Standing (qiyam). Face the qiblah and stand upright.
2. Takbiratul-Ihram. Raise your hands to shoulder or ear level and say *Allahu akbar*. From this moment ordinary speech and movement are left.
3. Opening supplication. For example: *Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika, wa tabaraka ismuka, wa ta'ala jadduka, wa la ilaha ghayruk.*
4. Al-Fatihah. Recite it in every rak'ah. "There is no prayer for the one who does not recite the Opening of the Book." (Sahih al-Bukhari 756)
5. A portion of the Qur'an. In the first two rak'ahs, add any surah or passage you know.
6. Ruku (bowing). Say *Allahu akbar*, bow with a straight back, hands on knees, and say *Subhana Rabbiyal-'Adhim* three times.
7. Rising. *Sami'a Allahu liman hamidah*, then standing: *Rabbana wa lakal-hamd*.
8. Sujud (prostration). *Allahu akbar*, prostrate on seven bones — forehead with nose, two palms, two knees, two feet — and say *Subhana Rabbiyal-A'la* three times.
9. Sitting between the two prostrations. Say *Rabbighfir li*.
10. Second prostration, then stand for the next rak'ah.
11. Tashahhud. After every two rak'ahs and at the end, sit and recite the tashahhud, and in the final sitting add the salutations upon the Prophet ﷺ.
12. Tasleem. Turn the face right saying *As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah*, then left.

How many rak'ahs is each prayer?

Fajr 2, Dhuhr 4, Asr 4, Maghrib 3, Isha 4. On journeys the four-rak'ah prayers may be shortened to two.

What if I make a mistake in salah?

If you add, omit or doubt, complete the prayer and perform two prostrations of forgetfulness (sujud as-sahw) before or after the tasleem. (Sahih al-Bukhari 1224)

What makes a prayer accepted?

Tranquillity. The Prophet ﷺ told a man who prayed hastily, three times, "Go back and pray, for you have not prayed." (Sahih al-Bukhari 757) A prayer performed slowly, with the limbs settling in each position, is the prayer he taught.

Where does the night prayer fit?

Once the five are established, the night prayer is the best voluntary prayer: "The best prayer after the obligatory prayers is the night prayer." (Sahih Muslim 1163)