Salah or salat,(صَلَاة ) also known as namāz ( نماز), are prayers performed by Muslims. Facing the qibla, the direction of the Kaaba with respect to those praying, many to most Muslims pray first standing and later kneeling or sitting on the ground, reciting prescribed prayers and phrases from the Quran as they bow and prostrate themselves in between.
Salah is composed of prescribed repetitive cycles of bows and prostrations, called rakat. The number of rak’ahs, varies from prayer to prayer. Ritual purity and wudu are prerequisites for performing the prayers. Salah can be performed either in solitude, or collectively (jama’ah). When performed in jama’ah, worshippers line up in parallel rows behind a leader, known as the imam (“leader”). Special prayers are exclusively performed in congregation, such as the Friday prayer and the Eid prayers, and may be coupled with two sermons each, delivered by the imam.
The daily obligatory prayers collectively form the second of the five pillars in Islam, observed three or five times (the latter being the majority) every day at prescribed times. These are usually
