Pray as you have seen me pray

This chapter walks you through the whole prayer, from start to finish. It is the most important chapter in this guide, because you will use it five times every day.

Nabi ﷺ did not only tell people to pray. He showed them. He said: pray as you have seen me praying¹. The Companions watched him closely and passed on every detail. That is how we know what to do today.

Before you start, make sure you are ready:

• You have wudu (the washing before prayer). See our wudu guide.
• Your body, clothes and place are clean.
• Your body is covered properly.
• You are facing the qiblah (the direction of the Kabah in Makkah).
• The time for the prayer has started. See the prayer times.

These are explained in full in Before you pray: the conditions.

How many rakat in each prayer

A rakah is one unit of prayer: standing, bowing, and two prostrations. The plural is rakat.

Aisha said that at first every prayer was two rakat. Later, for people at home, some prayers were made longer. For travelers they stayed short².

• Fard means required. These are the rakat you must pray.
• "Aloud" means the imam recites so people can hear. If you pray alone, you may recite aloud or quietly in these prayers. Most scholars say aloud is better for a man.
• There are also extra sunnah prayers before and after most of these, and the Witr prayer at night. See Witr and sunnah prayers.

Step by step: a 2-rakah prayer (like Fajr)

Here is the whole prayer. Under each step you will find the words to say, in Arabic letters written in English, with what they mean.

1. The intention (niyyah)

Stand facing the qiblah. In your heart, know which prayer you are about to pray, for example "the fard of Fajr". Nabi ﷺ said: deeds are judged by their intentions³.

• The intention is in the heart. There are no fixed words you must say.
• Shafi'i and Hanbali scholars, and many later Hanafis, say it is good to say it quietly, to help the heart focus. Malikis say it is better not to. Both are fine.

2. The opening takbir

Raise your hands and say: Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest).

This takbir is what starts the prayer. Nabi ﷺ said: the key to prayer is purity, it starts with the takbir and it ends with the salam⁴. From this moment, you do not talk, eat or turn away until the prayer ends.

Where do the hands go?

• Nabi ﷺ raised his hands up to his shoulders⁵. In another report, up to his ears⁶. Both are Sunnah.
• Hanafi: men raise the thumbs to the earlobes. Women raise to the shoulders.
• Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali: palms at shoulder height. Shafi'is say the thumbs come near the earlobes.
• Palms face the qiblah, with fingers pointing up.

3. Placing the hands

Put your right hand over your left. Sahl ibn Sa'd said: people were told to put the right hand on the left forearm in prayer⁷. Where exactly?

• Hanafi: men below the navel. Women on the chest.
• Shafi'i: below the chest, above the navel.
• Hanbali: below the navel.
• Maliki: the well-known view is to let the hands hang by your sides in fard prayers. Many Malikis also fold them. Both are done.

Look down at the place where your head will touch the ground. Most scholars recommend this, because it helps you focus.

4. The opening dua (thana)

Say quietly:

Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika, wa tabarakasmuka, wa ta'ala jadduka, wa la ilaha ghairuk.

Meaning: Glory be to You, O Allah, and all praise. Blessed is Your name, and high is Your majesty. There is no god but You⁸⁹.

• Nabi ﷺ used other opening duas too. One starts Allahumma ba'id baini wa baina khatayaya: O Allah, keep my sins as far from me as the east is from the west¹⁰. Another starts Wajjahtu wajhiya: I have turned my face to the One who made the heavens and the earth¹¹. Any of them is good.
• Hanafi and Hanbali scholars usually teach Subhanaka. Shafi'is usually teach Wajjahtu.
• Malikis do not say an opening dua in fard prayers. They go straight to Al-Fatiha.

5. Seeking refuge and Bismillah

Say quietly: A'udhu billahi minash-shaitanir-rajim: I seek refuge with Allah from Shaitan, the outcast. Allah says: when you recite the Quran, seek refuge with Allah from Shaitan¹².

Then: Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim: In the name of Allah, the Most Kind, the Most Merciful.

• Hanafi and Hanbali: say Bismillah quietly, even when the imam recites aloud. Anas said he prayed behind Nabi ﷺ, Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman, and never heard any of them say Bismillah aloud¹³.
• Shafi'i: Bismillah is the first ayah of Al-Fatiha, so it must be said. In the loud prayers, the imam says it aloud.
• Maliki: they do not say the seeking of refuge or Bismillah in fard prayers.

6. Al-Fatiha

Recite Surah Al-Fatiha, the opening chapter of the Quran. Nabi ﷺ said: there is no prayer for the one who does not recite Al-Fatiha¹⁴.

Then say Amin (O Allah, accept). When you pray behind an imam, say Amin when he says it. Nabi ﷺ said: whoever's Amin matches the Amin of the angels, his past sins are forgiven¹⁵. Shafi'is and Hanbalis say Amin aloud in the loud prayers. Hanafis and Malikis say it quietly.

Allah answers you as you recite it. In a hadith qudsi, Allah says: I have divided the prayer between Me and My servant into two halves, and My servant will have what he asks for¹⁶. So recite it slowly, and mean it.

How important is Al-Fatiha?

• Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali: it is a pillar. A rakah without it does not count.
• Hanafi: reciting some Quran is required (fard). Al-Fatiha itself is wajib, a strong duty. If you leave it out by mistake, you fix it with the forgetfulness prostration, sujud as-sahw. If you leave it out on purpose, you must pray again.

Behind an imam:

• Shafi'i: you must recite it yourself, quietly, in every rakah, even when the imam recites aloud.
• Hanafi: you stay silent. The imam's recitation counts for you. Allah says: when the Quran is recited, listen to it and be silent¹⁷.
• Maliki and Hanbali: stay silent and listen when the imam recites aloud. In the quiet prayers and quiet rakat, it is good to recite it yourself.

7. A surah after Al-Fatiha

In the first two rakat, recite some more Quran after Al-Fatiha. It can be a short surah or a few ayat. Nabi ﷺ recited Al-Fatiha and another surah in the first two rakat of Dhuhr, and only Al-Fatiha in the last two¹⁸.

A short surah many people learn first is Al-Ikhlas:

• Qul huwallahu ahad: Say, He is Allah, the One.
• Allahus-samad: Allah, whom all depend on.
• Lam yalid wa lam yulad: He has no child, and He was not born.
• Wa lam yakun lahu kufuwan ahad: And there is nothing like Him.

Hanafis say adding a surah is wajib. The other schools say it is sunnah.

8. Ruku (bowing)

Say Allahu Akbar and bow. Put your hands on your knees. Keep your back flat, with your head level with it, not raised and not hanging down¹⁹²⁰.

Say: Subhana Rabbiyal Azim: Glory be to my Lord, the Most Great²¹. Most scholars recommend saying it at least three times. Nabi ﷺ said: in ruku, praise the greatness of your Lord²². Do not recite Quran in ruku or sujud.

9. Rising from ruku

Stand up straight and say: Sami Allahu liman hamidah: Allah hears the one who praises Him.

Then, standing still, say: Rabbana wa lakal hamd: Our Lord, all praise is Yours. Nabi ﷺ said: when the imam says Sami Allahu liman hamidah, say Allahumma Rabbana lakal hamd²³.

You can add: hamdan kathiran tayyiban mubarakan fih: a lot of praise, good and blessed. A man said this behind Nabi ﷺ, and Nabi ﷺ said he saw over thirty angels racing to write it down first²⁴.

• Praying alone, you say both parts.
• Behind an imam: Hanafis, Malikis and Hanbalis say the follower only says Rabbana wa lakal hamd. Shafi'is say the follower says both.

10. Sujud (prostration)

Say Allahu Akbar and go down to the ground. Nabi ﷺ said: I have been told to prostrate on seven bones: the forehead with the nose, both hands, both knees, and the toes of both feet²⁵.

• Keep your forearms off the ground, and your elbows away from your sides²⁶. Do not lay your arms flat like a dog does²⁷.
• Point your toes toward the qiblah²⁸.
• Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis put the knees down first, then the hands. Malikis put the hands down first.

Say: Subhana Rabbiyal A'la: Glory be to my Lord, the Most High²⁹, at least three times.

Sujud is the closest you come to Allah. Nabi ﷺ said: the closest a servant is to his Lord is when he is in sujud, so make a lot of dua³⁰. After the tasbih, you may ask Allah for anything you need. Most scholars say keep to Arabic duas in fard prayers. Hanafis say only use duas in the words of the Quran and Sunnah.

11. Sitting between the two sujud

Say Allahu Akbar and sit up. Sit on your left foot, with your right foot upright and its toes pointing to the qiblah³¹. Sit still for a moment.

Say: Rabbighfir li, Rabbighfir li: My Lord, forgive me. My Lord, forgive me³².

You can also say: Allahummaghfir li, warhamni, wajburni, wahdini, warzuqni: O Allah, forgive me, have mercy on me, help me, guide me, and provide for me³³.

12. The second sujud

Say Allahu Akbar and go down again, exactly like the first sujud. Say Subhana Rabbiyal A'la again.

That is the end of the first rakah.

13. Standing for the second rakah

Say Allahu Akbar and stand up. Shafi'is sit for a very short moment before standing, because Nabi ﷺ did this³⁴. The other schools stand straight up. Both are fine.

Now do the second rakah just like the first: Al-Fatiha, a surah, ruku, rising, two sujud. You do not repeat the opening takbir or the opening dua.

14. The sitting and the tashahhud

After the second sujud of the second rakah, sit. Put your hands on your thighs or knees. Say the tashahhud:

Nabi ﷺ taught these words to Ibn Mas'ud³⁵. Hanafis and Hanbalis use this version. Ibn Abbas reported a very similar version, which Shafi'is use³⁶. Malikis use a version that Umar taught. All are correct.

Raise your right index finger during the tashahhud, pointing toward the qiblah³⁷. The schools differ a little on when to raise it and whether to move it. Follow what you were taught.

15. Salawat on Nabi ﷺ (Salat Ibrahimiyyah)

In the last sitting of the prayer, after the tashahhud, send blessings on Nabi ﷺ. He taught these words himself³⁸:

Allahumma salli ala Muhammadin wa ala ali Muhammad, kama sallaita ala Ibrahima wa ala ali Ibrahim, innaka Hamidun Majid.

O Allah, send Your mercy on Muhammad and his family, as You sent it on Ibrahim and his family. You are Praised and Glorious.

Allahumma barik ala Muhammadin wa ala ali Muhammad, kama barakta ala Ibrahima wa ala ali Ibrahim, innaka Hamidun Majid.

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family, as You blessed Ibrahim and his family. You are Praised and Glorious.

16. A dua before the salam

Then make a short dua. Nabi ﷺ often asked Allah for protection from four things: the punishment of the grave, the trial of the Dajjal, the trials of life and death, and from sin and debt³⁹.

Abu Bakr asked Nabi ﷺ for a dua to say in his prayer. He taught him⁴⁰:

Allahumma inni zalamtu nafsi zulman kathiran, wa la yaghfirudh-dhunuba illa anta, faghfir li maghfiratan min indik, warhamni, innaka antal-Ghafurur-Rahim.

O Allah, I have wronged myself a lot, and no one forgives sins except You. So forgive me with forgiveness from You, and have mercy on me. You are the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.

17. The salam

Turn your face to the right and say: As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullah (Peace be on you, and the mercy of Allah). Then turn to the left and say it again⁴¹. Nabi ﷺ turned so far that people behind him could see his cheek⁴².

Your prayer is now finished.

Step by step: a 3 or 4-rakah prayer

For Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha, the prayer is the same, with these changes:

• After the second rakah, sit for the first tashahhud. Say only the tashahhud, up to "abduhu wa rasuluh". Then say Allahu Akbar and stand for the third rakah. Shafi'is raise their hands as they stand. Most scholars say stop at the end of the tashahhud here. Shafi'is say it is good to add the first part of the salawat.
• In the third and fourth rakat, recite only Al-Fatiha, quietly. No extra surah⁴³.
• Maghrib has three rakat. After the third rakah, sit for the last sitting.
• Dhuhr, Asr and Isha have four. After the fourth rakah, sit for the last sitting.
• The last sitting is the same as in a 2-rakah prayer: tashahhud, salawat, dua, salam.

How to sit

Abu Humayd described the prayer of Nabi ﷺ. In the middle sitting, he sat on his left foot with his right foot upright. In the last sitting, he pushed his left foot forward, under his right leg, and sat on the ground⁴⁴. This second way is called tawarruk.

• Hanafi: men sit on the left foot in every sitting.
• Shafi'i and Hanbali: sit on the left foot in the middle sitting, and use tawarruk in the last sitting of a prayer that has two sittings. Shafi'is also use tawarruk in the last sitting of Fajr.
• Maliki: tawarruk in every sitting.

The takbirs

Say Allahu Akbar every time you go down or come up, except when rising from ruku, where you say Sami Allahu liman hamidah⁴⁵. Raising the hands is different:

• Shafi'i and Hanbali: raise the hands at the opening takbir, when going into ruku, and when rising from it⁴⁶. Shafi'is also raise them when standing up after the first tashahhud.
• Hanafi and Maliki: raise the hands only at the opening takbir.

Pillars, wajib and sunnah

Not every part of the prayer carries the same weight. Scholars sort them into groups:

• Fard or rukn (pillar): the prayer is built on it. If you miss it, that rakah does not count, even by mistake. You must go back and do it, or make up the rakah.
• Wajib (strong duty): a level between fard and sunnah. It is used mostly by Hanafis, and Hanbalis have a similar group. Leaving one by mistake is fixed with sujud as-sahw. Leaving one on purpose means you should pray again.
• Sunnah: the way Nabi ﷺ prayed. It makes your prayer more complete and brings more reward. If you miss one, the prayer is still valid.

Every school agrees on the main pillars: the opening takbir, standing (if you can), recitation, ruku, sujud, and the last sitting. They group some of the other parts differently:

Stillness: do not rush your prayer

Tuma'ninah means being still and calm in each position, long enough for your body to settle. At the least, long enough to say Subhanallah once.

One day a man prayed quickly in the masjid. Nabi ﷺ told him: go back and pray, for you have not prayed. This happened three times⁴⁷. Then he taught the man to stay calm in every position.

In practice:

• In ruku, let your back settle flat before you say the tasbih.
• After ruku, stand fully straight before going down. Aisha said Nabi ﷺ did not go into sujud until he had stood straight⁵³.
• Between the two sujud, sit fully up before going down again.
• A slow, calm prayer of five minutes is far better than a rushed one of two.

Women's prayer

A woman's prayer is the same as a man's in almost everything: the same rakat, the same words, the same pillars, the same positions. Nabi ﷺ said "pray as you have seen me praying" to everyone.

What is different for everyone

• Covering: a woman covers her whole body except her face and hands. Hanafis also allow the feet to show. Nabi ﷺ said Allah does not accept the prayer of a grown woman without a head covering⁵⁴. See the conditions chapter.
• Alerting the imam: if the imam makes a mistake, men say Subhanallah, and women clap lightly, the back of one hand on the palm of the other⁵⁵.
• Reciting aloud: when a woman prays alone or with other women, she may recite aloud in the loud prayers. If men who are not her close family can hear, she recites quietly.

Small differences some schools describe

The four schools teach that a woman keeps her body more gathered and covered in some positions:

• Hanafi: she raises her hands to her shoulders, places them on her chest, bends a little less in ruku, keeps her arms close to her sides, rests her forearms on the ground in sujud with her stomach close to her thighs, and sits with both feet out to her right side.
• Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali: she keeps her arms close to her body in ruku and sujud, and her stomach close to her thighs, instead of spreading out like a man.
• Some other scholars say there is no difference at all, because no clear hadith makes one.

Both ways are accepted by scholars. Follow what your family, school or local masjid teaches. Either way, your prayer is valid.

Khushu: keeping your heart in the prayer

Khushu means humble focus: your heart is present and calm before Allah. Allah says: the believers have truly succeeded, those who are humble in their prayers⁵⁶.

Nabi ﷺ said: when a Muslim does wudu well and prays with focus, it wipes away his past sins, as long as he stays away from the big sins⁵⁷. He also said: whoever prays two rakat without his mind wandering to other things, his past sins are forgiven⁵⁸.

Your mind will wander sometimes. Shaitan tries to remind you of things during prayer, even things you had forgotten⁵⁹. A wandering mind does not break your prayer. Just bring your attention back. Some tips:

• Learn the meanings. When you know what you are saying, it is much easier to mean it. Start with Al-Fatiha.
• Pray like it is your last prayer. Nabi ﷺ said: when you stand to pray, pray like someone saying goodbye⁶⁰.
• Clear distractions first. Go to the toilet, and eat first if food is already served⁶¹. Put your phone on silent.
• Pick a plain place. Nabi ﷺ gave away a patterned cloth because its pattern caught his eye in prayer⁶².
• Slow down. Pause briefly at the end of each ayah of Al-Fatiha.
• Look at your place of sujud. Do not look around.
• Change your surahs. Learn new short surahs, so the words stay fresh.
• Make dua in sujud about what is really in your heart. That is where you are closest to Allah⁶³.

Common questions

I forgot Al-Fatiha in one rakah. What do I do?

If you remember before going into ruku, recite it then. If you remember later, Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis say that rakah does not count, so add one more rakah at the end and do sujud as-sahw. Hanafis say do sujud as-sahw at the end and the prayer is fine. See sujud as-sahw.

I am a new Muslim and I do not know any Arabic yet. Can I pray?

Yes, and you should. Start learning Al-Fatiha now, a line at a time. Until you know it, Nabi ﷺ told a man who could not memorize Quran to say: Subhanallah, wal-hamdu lillah, wa la ilaha illallah, wallahu akbar, wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah⁶⁴. You can also pray next to a Muslim friend and follow them. Allah does not ask a soul for more than it can do⁶⁵.

Can I recite in English?

The four schools agree that the Quran in prayer must be recited in Arabic, because a translation is not the Quran. While you are learning, use the words in the answer above, and learn a little more Arabic each day. Your duas outside the prayer can be in any language.

Can I read from my phone or a mushaf while praying?

Scholars differ. Abu Hanifa said reading from a page breaks the prayer. Shafi'is allow it. Malikis and Hanbalis allow it in voluntary prayers, like long night prayers, and dislike it in fard prayers. In fard prayers, it is best to recite what you know by heart. If you use a phone, put it in flight mode first.

I am at work and only have a few minutes. Can I shorten it?

Yes. Pray only the fard rakat, recite short surahs, and keep each position calm. A short, calm prayer is complete. What you cannot cut is the stillness in each position.

I joined the prayer late. What do I do?

Say Allahu Akbar and join the imam in whatever position he is in. If you reach the imam in ruku and are still with him there, you have caught that rakah. After the imam's salam, stand and make up the rakat you missed. Do not rush to bow before reaching the row⁶⁶. See Praying in congregation.

I cannot stand or bend because of pain. Can I sit?

Yes. Nabi ﷺ said: pray standing. If you cannot, pray sitting. If you cannot, pray lying on your side⁶⁷. See Praying when sick.

My child is learning to pray. Must every detail be right?

No. Let them pray next to you and copy you. Teach the meaning and the love of prayer first. Details come with time. Our guided walk-through is a good way to practice together.