How Muslims pray
Islamic Studies · Key Stage 1 · The School
Five times, every day
FAJR before sunrise, DHUHR after midday, ASR in the afternoon, MAGHRIB just after sunset, ISHA at night. The times follow the sun, so they move through the year — in Britain, Fajr in summer is very early and in winter it is late. Muslims all over the world are praying at some point in every hour.
The shape of a prayer
Stand and say Allahu akbar. Recite Al-Fatihah. Bow (ruku) and say subhana rabbiyal-azim. Stand up. Go down into sujood, forehead on the ground, and say subhana rabbiyal-a'la. Sit. Sujood again. That whole set is one RAKAH, and each prayer has a set number of them.
Washing first
Before praying, Muslims wash their hands, mouth, nose, face, arms, head and feet. This is WUDU. It is partly about being clean and partly about getting ready — a few quiet minutes that separate the prayer from whatever you were just doing.
Stand and say Allāhu akbar, hands raised. Recite Al-Fatihah, then another passage. Say Allāhu akbar and bow (rukūʿ), back flat, hands on knees. Stand up again. Say Allāhu akbar and go into sujūd — forehead, nose, both palms, both knees and both sets of toes touching the ground. Sit briefly. A second sujūd. That is ONE rakʿah. Fajr has two of them, Maghrib three, Dhuhr, Asr and Isha four.