Foundations
Start where you are
Salah is the daily ritual prayer: a meeting with Allah through intention, words, and movement. The five obligatory prayers give the day a rhythm. You do not need to understand every technical term before you begin learning.
Your first milestones
- Learn when the five prayers happen.
- Learn purification and the preparations for prayer.
- Practice one unit, called a rak‘ah.
- Learn the recitations a little at a time.
- Put the units together and ask a knowledgeable teacher to observe your practice.
This walkthrough teaches a person praying alone. Congregational prayer has additional rules. Transliteration is a bridge to learning Arabic pronunciation, not a replacement for listening to a qualified teacher.
If you do not know the words yet
Begin learning now, and ask a local teacher for the temporary guidance that applies in your school while you learn. Rules about reading from a screen or book during prayer differ. Use this experience to practice outside the prayer.