Salah
Salah (Arabic: ٱلصَّلَاةُ, romanized: aṣ-Ṣalāh, also spelled Salat), also known as Namaz (Persian: نماز, romanized: namāz), is the practice of formal worship in Islam, consisting of a series of obligatory ritual prayers performed at prescribed times daily. These prayers, which consist of units known as rak'ah, include a specific set of physical postures, recitation from the Quran, and prayers from the Sunnah, and are performed while facing the direction towards the Kaaba in Mecca (qibla). The number of rak'ah varies depending on the specific prayer. Variations in practice are observed among adherents of different madhahib (schools of Islamic jurisprudence). The term salah may denote worship in general or specifically refer to the obligatory prayers performed by Muslims five times daily.
The obligatory prayers play an integral role in the Islamic faith, and are regarded as the second and most important, after Shahada, of the Five Pillars of Islam for Sunnis, one of the Ancillaries of the Faith for Twelver Shias, and one of the Seven Pillars for Ismailis. In addition, supererogatory salah, such as Sunnah prayer and Nafl prayer, may be performed at any time, subject to certain restrictions. Wudu, an act of ritual purification, is required prior to performing salah. Prayers may be conducted individually or in congregation, with certain prayers, such as the Friday and Eid prayers, requiring a collective setting and a khutbah (sermon). Some concessions are made for Muslims who are physically unable to perform the salah in its original form, or are travelling.
In early Islam, the direction of prayer (qibla) according to tradition was toward the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, before being changed to face the Kaaba; a result of a Quranic verse revelation to Muhammad, the verses 144, 149, and 150 of the al-Baqarah chapter of the Quran, each of which contains a command to "turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque" (fawalli wajhaka shatr al-Masjid il-Haram).
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