Standing up, Allah’s glorification, reading Alfatiha, bowing, standing up after bowing, prostration, being still in every rukn, tashahud, salam, are among the 14 prayers’ essentials that cannot be omitted. 

The essentials in prayer

Prayer has 14 essentials,[1] i.e. rukn, and these cannot be omitted intentionally, unintentionally or out of ignorance. They are:

1-Standing up: This applies in obligatory prayers for everyone who is able to stand up.

:Allah says

‘Stand up before Allah in devout obedience.’

(2:238)

:The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to 'Imran ibn Husayn

‘Pray standing up; but if you are unable to do so, then sitting down; and if you are unable to do that, then pray reclining.’

Related by al-Bukhari, hadith No. 1,117

2-Allah’s glorification at the beginning of prayer: This is to say Allah-u akbar, which means ‘Allah is supreme’. Nothing other than this glorification is acceptable. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) saw a man praying wrongly,

:he told him

‘When you stand up to pray, say Allah-u akbar.’

Related by al-Bukhari, hadith No. 793; Muslim, hadith No. 397:

 :He also said

‘The consecration of prayer is to say Allah-u akbar and it ends with salam.’

Related by Ahmad, hadith No. 1,006; Abu Dawud, hadith No. 61; al-Tirmidhi, hadith No. 3; Ibn Majah, hadith No. 275

This means that prayer is not entered into without this particular glorification (takbeer). 

3-Reading the first surah, Al-Fatihah, in every rak'ah,

:as the Prophet (peace be upon him) says

‘A person who does not read al-Fatihah has not prayed.’

Related by al-Bukhari, hadith No. 756; Muslim, hadith No. 394

4-Bowing, i.e. ruku', in every rak'ah:

:Allah says

‘Believers! Bow down and prostrate yourselves.’

(22:77)

 :The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to the person who did not pray well

‘Then bow down until you have bowed well.’

Related by al-Bukhari, hadith No. 757; Muslim, hadith No. 397.

5-Standing up after bowing and making sure to stand erect:

:The Prophet (peace be upon him) told the person who did not pray well

‘Then rise until you stand erect.’

Related by al-Bukhari, hadith No. 793; Muslim, hadith No. 397

6-Prostration:

:Allah says

‘Believers! Bow down and prostrate yourselves.’

(22:77)

:The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to the person who did not pray well

‘Then prostrate yourself until you have prostrated well.’ Two prostrations are essential in every rak'ah, and the prostration must be by placing seven parts of the body on the ground, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: ‘I have been commanded to prostrate myself on seven bones: my forehead (including the nose as he pointed to his nose as well), two hands, two knees and my feet.’

Related by al-Bukhari, hadith No. 812; Muslim, hadith No. 490

7-Lifting one’s head after prostration, sitting between the two prostrations and standing up after the second. The Prophet (peace be upon him) taught the one who prayed wrong: ‘You then sit comfortably.

8-Taking a comfortable position in all rukns, which signifies being still. This is equivalent to the time it takes to say what is required in every rukn. We note that the Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered the one who did not pray well to ensure this in every rukn and to repeat his prayer because it was lacking in his first prayer.

9-tashahhud. Ibn Masud said: ‘Before the tashahhud was made obligatory to us we used to say “Salam to Allah from His servants, (i.e Assalamu 'ala Allah min 'ibadih), but the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:


‘Do not say ‘Salam to Allah’, but say ‘Greetings to Allah (i.e. at-tahiyyatu lillah.’

Related by Ahmad, hadith No. 3,920; Abu Dawud, hadith No. 968; al-Nassa’i in Al-Sunan al-Kubra, hadith No. 899; al-Daraqutni, hadith No. 1,327

The fact that Ibn Mas'ud said ‘Before it was made obligatory’ makes clear that it is obligatory.

10-Sitting down for the last tashahhud, because this was consistently done by the Prophet (peace be upon him) , and he said:


‘Pray as you have seen me pray.’

Related by al-Bukhari,hadith No. 631

11-Salam at the end,

:as the Prophet (peace be upon him) says

‘that the prayer ‘ends with salam.’

This means that when a worshipper finishes his prayer, he turns his face to the right and says:


‘Assalamu 'alaikum wa rahmatullah, and turns to the left and says the same.’

12-Doing all the rukns in the right order, because the Prophet did them in this order and

:said

‘Pray as you have seen me pray.’

Furthermore, when he taught the person who did not pray well, he explained every rukn and said ‘then’ before mentioning the next one. This indicates that the rukns should be done in order.

references

  1. Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, Thalathat  wa Shurut al-Salah wal-Qawa'id al-Arba', p. 31.

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