Lesson 18: Preliminaries of the Prayer (1)

The Obligatory Prayers

1. Prayer is obligatory or recommended. Obligatory prayers are six:
2. The five daily prayers;
   2. The prayer of signs (Ṣalāt al-āyāt);
   3. The Prayer for the dead;
   4. The prayer for the obligatory circumambulation (Tawāf) of the Holy Kaʿbah;
   5. The lapsed (Qaḍāʾ) prayers of one’s father upon the eldest son;
3. Recommended prayers that become obligatory on account of hire (Ijārah), vow (Nadhr), oath (Qasam), or covenant (ʿAhd).
4. There are two types of obligatory prayers:
5. The daily prayers are performed every day and night.
6. Sometimes, the prayers are performed.
7. There are five obligatory daily prayers:
8. Morning prayer (Ṣubḥ), which is two Rak’ats (units);
9. Noon (Ẓuhr) prayer, which is four Rak’ats;
10. Afternoon (ʿAṣr) prayer, which is four Rak’ats;
11. Evening (Maghrib) prayer, which is three Rak’ats;
12. Night (Ishā’) prayer, which is four Rak’ats.

Note: When traveling, one must reduce four Rak’ats prayers to two Rak’ats according to the conditions, which will be discussed later.

Preliminaries of the Five Daily Prayers

Preliminaries of the prayer are things the person must offer before the prayers. They are:

One: The Times of the Daily Prayers

Legal times of the daily prayers are:

1. Dawn )Fajr(: Near the Adhān of Ṣubḥ, whiteness in the sky moves upwards from the east; it is called the first dawn (first fajr). When this whiteness spreads, it is called the second dawn (fajr-Sadiq), and legal morning (sharī Ṣubḥ( occurs (Issue 786).
2. Noon (Ẓuhr): When a stick (Shākhis), or something similar, is inserted vertically in the ground when its shadow reaches its lowest point and increases in the middle of the day, legal noon (Sharī Ẓuhr (occurs (Issue 774).
3. Evening (Maghrib): After sunset (ghurūb), when the redness of the sky in the east disappears, the time for Maghrib prayer will come (Issue 780).

Midnight(ʿIshāʾ): The last time for night prayer is midnight, and the night is from sunset to sunrise (Issue 784).

A- The Common and Special Times for the Prayers

1. The time of morning prayer

The time of the morning prayer begins when the whiteness in the sky spreads. The end of the time for the morning prayer is when the sun rises (Issue 786).

2. The time of noon and afternoon prayers

The noon payer and the afternoon prayer have specific times as well as common times:

1. a) The specific time for noon prayer:

It is from the beginning of legal noon (Ẓuhr-sharʿī) until the passage of time required to offer noon prayer. It is invalid to perform afternoon prayer at this time

(Issue 775).

1. b) The specific time for the afternoon prayer:

The specific time for afternoon (‘Aṣr) prayer is the time that can offer ‘Aṣr prayer before the sun sets. If a person does not offer the noon prayer by this time, his noon prayer becomes Qaḍā, and he must pray the afternoon prayer (Issue 794).

1. c) The common time for noon and afternoon prayers:

Between the specific times for noon and afternoon prayers is the common time for both prayers (Issue 775).

Note: If a person intentionally offers noon or afternoon prayers at the specific time of the other, he must reoffer it.

3. The time of evening and night prayers

The evening prayer and the night prayer have specific times as well as common times:

1. a) The specific time for evening prayer:

 It is from the beginning of the legal evening (Maghrib) prayer until the passage of time that is required for offering three Rak’ats. It is invalid to perform night prayer at this time (Issue 780).

1. b) The specific time for night prayer:

The specific time for afternoon (‘Aṣr) prayer is the time that can offer ‘Aṣr prayer before the sun sets.

The specific time for night (ʿIshāʾ) prayer is the time that can offer night prayer until midnight. If a person has not offered the evening prayer till this moment, he must offer the night prayer and then offer the evening prayer as Qaḍā (Issue 784 & 794).

1. c) Between the specific times for evening and night prayers is the common time for both prayers (Issue 781).

B- Laws relating to the Time of Prayer

1. One can start performing prayer only when he becomes certain that the time has set in or when two just men inform him that the time has set in (Issue 787).
2. A person must pray the afternoon prayer after the noon prayer and the night prayer after the evening prayer. If he intentionally prays the afternoon prayer before the noon prayer and the night prayer before the evening prayer, his prayer is invalid (Issue 800).
3. Before performing the noon prayer, one may unintentionally engage in the afternoon prayer and realize during the prayer that he has made a mistake. In that case, he must change his intention to the noon prayer. If he makes a mistake between the evening and night prayers and has not yet performed the Rukū of the fourth Rak’ats, he must change his intention to the evening prayer and complete it (Issues 776 & 783).

Second: Covering the Body in Prayer

One of the preliminaries of prayer is pure and permissible clothing; if not observed, prayer is invalid.

A- The Extent of Covering in Prayer

1. The Extent of Clothing for Men

A man must cover his private parts while praying, and it is better to cover his body from the navel to the knees as well (issue 833).

2. The Extent of Clothing for Women

A woman must cover her whole body, including her head and hair, while praying. It is not necessary for her to cover that portion of her face that has been washed in the Wuḍūʾ or her hands until the wrists or her feet until the ankles (Issue 834).

B- Conditions of the Clothing of the Person Praying

The clothes of the person offering the prayer must meet the following conditions:

1. It must be pure (Tāhir);
2. It must be permissible (Mubāḥ) [i.e., it must not be usurped];
3. It must not be made of the parts of a dead animal that has gushing blood;
4. It must not be made from parts of an animal whose meat is unlawful (Ḥarām) to eat.
5. If the person offering prayers is a man, his clothes must not be embroidered with gold.
6. If the person offering prayers is a man, his clothes must not be made of pure silk (Issue 843).

C- Purity of Clothes and Body of the Person Praying

1. If a person intentionally prays with impure clothing and body, his prayer is invalid (Issue 844).
2. A person who does not know that his body or clothes are impure, but after praying realizes that they are impure, his prayer is valid (Issue 847).
3. If a person forgets that his body or clothes become impure and realizes it during or after prayers, it is necessary to repeat the prayer (Issue 848).
4. If one’s body or clothes become impure during prayer, washing the body or clothes or changing the clothes will interrupt the prayer, so one must break the prayer and pray again (Issue 849).
5. The person whose clothes become impure between prayers, but the time is limited, must complete his prayer in the same impure clothes (Issue 850).
6. If a person has no other clothing than impure ones, his prayer is valid with impure clothes (Issue 858).
7. If impure objects are present in the prayer, such as sweatpants, socks, handkerchiefs, keys, and knives, there is no problem (Issue 906 & 907).
8. If the body or clothing of someone praying is impure, then his prayers are valid in three cases:
9. The clothing or the body may be stained by blood discharged from wounds, sores, or boils.
10. The body or clothes are stained with blood less than the tip of the forefinger (dirham).
11. When someone is compelled to perform prayers with an impure body or dress (Issue 893).

Question:

If a person realizes after praying that there are obstacles in his members of Wuḍūʾ, does his prayer have Qaḍā?

Answer:

The prayer must be repeated at its time, and outside of that time, he must perform Qaḍā.

Exercises:

1. What are the types of prayers?
2. What are the specific times for prayer?
3. How much cover is required in prayer?

4. What are the conditions of the clothing of the person praying?