SALAH · TOPIC 3 OF 12
Mandatory Requisites (Wājibāt)
Hanafi reference · This page does not change with the studio’s school selector.
- To say the words “Allāhu Akbar” specifically to begin every prayer [for the takbīr taḥrīmah]
- To recite the Fātiḥah (opening chapter of the Qur’ān) as well as a sūrah or three verses after it, in any two rak’āt of the obligatory prayer and in all rak’āt of voluntary prayers, including the Witr prayer
- Making this recitation of the Fātiḥah and sūrah or verses in the first two rak’āt of the obligatory prayer
- Making two successive prostrations (sujūd) in each rak’ah, with [most of] the forehead and [the hard part of] the nose
- Remaining motionless, for at least a moment, in every integral of the prayer (i.e., in bowing and prostration, as well as in the standing after bowing and in the sitting between prostrations)
- Sitting after two rak’āt in a three or four rak’ah prayer long enough to be able to recite the tashahhud
- Reciting the tashahhud in the first sitting (for prayers with two rak’āt) and in both sittings (for all prayers more than two rak’āt)
- Saying “as-Salām” twice at the end of the prayer (adding “Alaykum waRahmatullah” is a confirmed sunnah, as is turned the head to the right for the first salām, and to the left for the second)
- To recite the Qunūt in the Witr prayer
- To recite the extra takbīrs of the two Eid prayers (three in each rak’ah)
- For the imām, to recite Qur’ān out loud in [the first two rak’āt of] the loud obligatory prayers
- For both the imām and the one praying alone, to recite Qur’ān silently in the other rak’āt of the obligatory prayers. The minimal valid silent recitation requires that one pronounce the words, such that one can hear oneself. The follower does not recite Qur’ān in group prayers, regardless of whether the imām is reciting aloud or not, though he does say all the invocations and supplications of the prayer.