Principles of Contact Prayers (Salat)

(The text in this transcript has been edited to reflect updates and corrections made later after the recorded video, such as; reference to “the Morning Contact Prayer” in the video has been replaced with “the Dawn Contact Prayer” in this transcript. Other edits include the removal of repetitive words, such as: “”la”, means “no”, “la”, means “no””. – Ahmad Wehbe).

Video Intro:

Islamic Productions Presents

Principles of Muslim Prayer

Your host Rashad Khalifa

Director – Kathleen Clarke

Rashad Khalifa:

Bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem

My dear lucky viewers, al-salaamu ‘alaykum

This tape will present to you how to observe the Contact Prayer; the Salat.

And you are very lucky because you are trying to learn how to make contact with your creator, which is the greatest of all worships.

In this tape I will explain to you the meaning of the word Salat. You already heard me call it contact. The word Salat (‏صلاة) is an Arabic word derived from the root Silah (صلة), which means connection or contact, so when you observe the Salat prayers, you make contact with your creator. It is wrong to translate it as pray. As a Muslim when you tell somebody “I pray five times a day”, that is the wrong expression, because other people can tell you “I pray all day”. The correct expression for the Muslim is “I make contact with my creator five times a day”. This is the meaning of Salat.

In this program I will present to you where the Salat commandment comes from. The Contact Prayer is mention in the Quran more than seventy times. And I will show you the crucial verses, like where the times of Contact Prayers are mentioned in the Quran. Then I will go on to explain to you the source of the Contact Prayers. When was the first time the contact commandment came to us from God, and how did it come to our generation. I will explain this to you.

Then I will move on to explain why does God want us to establish contact with Him. Why did God command us to observe the Contact Prayers five times a day? What is the reason? Does God need the Contact Prayers, or do we need the Contact Prayers?

After this I will go on to explain every aspect of the Contact Prayer. I’m going to start with the call for the Contact Prayer; the Azaan (أَذَان). I will go through the details, even the historical development of it. I will show you how the words are written in English, the English transliteration. Then I will go on to the preparation for the Contact Prayers, which is called Wuḍū (وضوء‎); or ablution. And of course, my sources are always the Quran. There is only one source, and it is this book right here; the Quran. God’s message to you, to me and to the whole world. This is God’s final message to the world. And this is our source, the only source.

I will show you where the Wuḍū is mentioned in the Quran and what the details are. Then I will demonstrate for you how to do the Wuḍū. And I will move on from there to demonstrate for you and describe in detail how to do the five daily Contact Prayers. The Dawn Contact Prayer, the Noon Contact Prayer, the afternoon; the sunset; and the night Contact Prayer. I will explain also some of the fine details of a; for example what happens if you miss part of the Contact Prayer in a group. You go to the Mosque and you see a group of people praying; you come in late; what to do? And some other fine details. So I hope this will cover everything you need to know about the Contact Prayer. The most important worship in Islam.

You heard me say that the Contact Prayers must be observed five times every day. Okay, where in the Quran do you find these five times? They are specifically defined in the Quran. For example: in sura number eleven (11); ayah or verse number hundred and fourteen (114), we see three times of Contact Prayers. This is what the verse says: “You shall observe the Contact Prayers at both ends of the day, and at night”. So here you have three prayer. At both ends of the day, this is the Dawn Prayer (See animation below) and the Sunset Prayer (See animation below). The Dawn Prayer is before sunrise and the Sunset Prayer is immediately after sunset. And of course; the Night prayer is the last prayer of the day. So here in this verse we have three prayers, we are commanded to do these three prayers. The Dawn, the Sunset and the Night.

Now, the Noon Prayer is mentioned in sura number seventeen (17); verse number seventy-eight (78), where it says: “You shall observe the Contact Prayer when the sun begins to decline from the highest point at noon”. So this is a very specific description of the time of the Contact Prayer at noon. As soon as the sun begins to decline from its highest spot of the day at noon, you observe the Noon Contact Prayer. This is sura seventeen (17); verse seventy-eight (78), it says exactly the time of the Contact Prayer at noon.

So now we see, the Dawn Contact Prayer (see animation below), the Noon Contact Prayer, the Sunset Contact Prayer, and the Night Contact Prayer. Well this accounts for four (4) of the prayers, where is the fifth (5) one? We find the fifth (5) prayer mentioned in sura number two (2); ayah or verse number two-hundred and thirty-eight (238), two-three-eight (238), where it says: “You shall observe all the Contact Prayers, especially the middle prayer”. The middle contact prayer has to be the Afternoon Contact Prayer, because we have the Dawn Contact Prayer (see animation below), the Noon Contact Prayer, the Sunset Contact Prayer, and the Night Contact Prayer. There is two prayers here and two prayers here, so the middle contact prayer will be the Afternoon Contact Prayer. So there you have it, all five (5) Contact Prayers mentioned in the Quran.

By the way, the Dawn Contact Prayer and the Night Contact Prayer are mentioned by name in verse fifty-eight (58) of sura twenty-four (24). Sura twenty-four (24), the verse is fifty-eight (58). It talks about Salat al-fajr (صلاة الفجر‎); this is the Dawn Contact Prayer, and Salat al-isha (صلاة العشاء); this is the Night Contact Prayer. So all five times of the Contact Prayers are decreed in the Quran.

And now I would like to discuss with you the source; the original source, of the Contact Prayers.

When you look in the Quran, you will notice that before Abraham there is no mention of the Contact Prayers; the Salat. You notice that Noah was telling his people to just believe in God; and ask for His forgiveness, but there is no mention of the Contact Prayers before Abraham. So the original source of the Contact Prayers is the prophet Abraham, who is the father; the founder of Islam. And we see this very clearly in sura number twenty-two (22); verse number seventy-eight (78), the last verse of sura number twenty-two (22). We also see it in sura twenty-one (21); verse seventy-three (73). Where we learn that the Contact Prayers were given to Abraham, as the original founder of Islam. And we see in sura sixteen (16); verse number hundred twenty-three (123), that the prophet Muhammad followed the ways of Abraham. And then we see in sura number eight (8); verses thirty-three (33) to thirty-five (35), and in sura nine (9); verse fifty-four (54), we see that the Salat; the Contact Prayers, were practiced before the prophet Muhammad.

So all these – you know, a lot of people are under the erroneous impression that the prophet Muhammad brought these practices, but they came through prophet Abraham, and this is why we don’t see the details of how many units per prayer and these kind of details, we don’t find it in the Quran. Although the Quran is complete; perfect; and fully detailed. So the reason the details of the Contact Prayers are not in the Quran is because they were already in existence when the Quran was revealed. I can tell you to go and buy Crest toothpaste (Crest is a brand), and you will – I don’t have to explain to you what Crest toothpaste is, because Crest is already in existence, all you need to do is go out in the market and buy it. And when the Quran came down; the Contact Prayers; the Salat, were already in existence. And this is exactly why in one of the very early suras; sura number seventy-three (73); al-muzzammil (third sura to be revealed), we see the commandment to observe the Contact Prayers and the Zakat (the Obligatory Charity), because they were already in existence.

Abraham being the founder of Islam – what did he contribute to the religion? He contributed all the practices of the religion. #1: The Contact Prayer, #2: The Zakat charity, #3: The fasting of Ramadan; in fact we see that the fasting of Ramadan was slightly modified in the Quran; in sura number two (2); verse one eighty-seven (187), #4: Also Hajj, Hajj in sura number twenty-two (22); we see that it is directly decreed through the prophet Abraham. So Abraham contributed all practices in Islam, you must correct that impression. The prophet Muhammad contributed the Quran, that’s it. But all the practices existed before the prophet Muhammad, they were in existence when the Quran came down.

Now we get to the question; why should we pray? Why should we make contact with our creator every day; five times? Repeating the same thing; five times a day? Well the answer is – the obvious answer is first that we do it because our creator commanded us to do so, in the Quran, as I showed you. But what is the mechanism; why does God ask us to contact Him five times a day? Does God benefit from it? Do we benefit from it? And the answer immediately is; God does not need our Contact Prayers, we need the Contact Prayers. And we fully understand the reason for decreeing the Contact Prayers if we know who we are.

You see; most people do not even know who they are. You ask a person; “who are you?”, and they will look in the mirror, they will say “this is me”, do you know something? they are wrong. This is not me (Rashad points at his face and touches his facial skin); this is my body. And the body is like a garment that we are wearing temporarily. The real person is invisible to us, the real person; the soul, is in another dimension that is not visible to our eyes (senses). So what does the real person look like? This will lead us to understanding why should we observe the Contact Prayers. You see, you can consider the Contact Prayers the meals for the real person; the food; the nutrition.

When we are born our mother feeds us milk and we grow. Then we eat all kinds of food; rice; meat; and potato and so on, and our body grows, until it becomes five feet, six feet, whatever. And that is the limit of the body’s growth. Okay, meanwhile; what is happening to the real person; the soul? The body grows to five or six feet, but what happens to the real person? Is the real person nourished just like the body? And this is where most people do not realize the importance of making contact with their creator. Making contact with our creator is the most important nutrient for the soul. We need it to grow and develop, and I am talking about the real person. The real person grows and develops by contacting our creator; daily. Five times every day constitutes five meals for the soul. So every time you make a Contact Prayer your soul grows and develops. And this is why we are commanded to do the Contact Prayers.

You can imagine the person who does not feed his or her soul, at the end of living in this world; they are still babies, because they never feed their soul. But the Muslim – the person who observes the duties and practices of worship; this person feeds the soul, and the soul grows and develops immensely. And we end up our mission in this world; grown; and developed; and healthy; and fit for the real life, the eternal life that comes after this life. The Contact Prayers therefore are very important, think of them as the meal for the soul; for the real person. The Dawn Prayer is breakfast for the soul; for you; the real you, just like how you give your body breakfast; lunch; and dinner, you need – for yourself; the real person, you need meals also. The Noon Prayer is lunch for the soul. And the Afternoon Prayer is another meal. And the Sunset Prayer is another meal; nutrition for the real person. And the Night Contact Prayer is the dinner for the soul. So nourishing; developing; and growing the soul is the reason for observing the Contact Prayers, and we are the ones who need it – God does not need it.

All practices of worship in Islam, without exception, are designed to cause the soul; the real person; the real you, to grow and develop. They are all designed to make you the boss over your body. A lot of people – in fact; the majority of people are enslaved to their body; their outer garment, that is temporary. Some day this garment is going to vanish, and you; the real person, will remain forever; for eternity. So most people, unfortunately, are unaware of nourishing; and strengthening; and developing their soul; the real person. But all practices of worship in Islam are designed to cause the soul to grow and develop, nourish the soul.

For example the Dawn Prayer, let’s take the Dawn Contact Prayer. Before sunrise; what does the body – what does your body want? Your body wants to sleep, right? But your soul; you; the real you; the real person, needs to get up, do the ablution, and observe the Contact Prayers; make contact – the first contact of the day with your creator. So immediately you can see there is a fight, the body wants to sleep, and the soul needs to get up and nourish itself; and have breakfast. Now who is going to win? If your body wins, you continue to sleep. And the body is the temporary garment, it is not very smart to let the body win, right? If you win, you; the real person, wins; your body will obey and will say “yes sir”; will listen to you; obey you, get up out of bed, do the ablution, and observe the Contact Prayer. So you can see that the first Contact Prayer is a struggle between you and your body.

By the way, this struggle becomes less and less, as your body becomes more and more obedient to you, as you become the boss; as you develop and become stronger, your body becomes more obedient, and with time – your body, when you say “my body get up and do the Dawn Prayer”, your body will say “yes sir”; obediently. As a matter of fact, eventually you will actually enjoy getting up (at Dawn) and doing the Contact Prayer. And this is because the soul has grown and developed, and became the boss, and enjoys observing the contact with our creator.

You look at the fasting for example, one of the important practices is fasting; fasting the month of Ramadan; during the month of Ramadan. And, in the month of Ramadan. Your body wants to eat and drink, but you tell your body, when you fast; “you are not going to eat or drink until sunset”. So you can see that you are practicing; exercising your soul, and this cause your soul to grow; and to develop, and this is exactly the whole idea of being here in this world. We want to grow and develop as much as possible, in order to enter the real life; the eternal life; the hereafter, in a state of fitness; strength; growth; and development. Because in the hereafter, you cannot hold a responsible position in the eternal real life if you are weak; undernourished; and still a baby. Will you hire a baby as a pilot, or an engineer? of course not.

So God wants you to develop yourself and to be strong enough to hold a responsible position; a high rank, in the hereafter; the eternal real life. And all practices of worship in Islam are designed towards this end. For example the Zakat charity; what is it? The Zakat charity is simply taking money away from your body and giving it to the poor. So you can see you are being the boss, because the body loves money, and you take something the body loves and give it away. So, all practices of worship in Islam are designed to make your soul grow; and develop – make you the boss over your body. And the Contact Prayers are the most important tool to do so. You are going to notice it the first time you do the Dawn Contact Prayer before sunrise.

Let us now get to the details of the Contact Prayers and how to observe them. There are a billion Muslims in the world today; one thousand millions (1000000000) throughout the world, in every country of the world. But in the area that is recognized as the Muslim world, you hear the call for the prayer five times every day; the Dawn, Noon, Afternoon, Sunset and Night. You hear the muezzin (مؤذن); this is the name of the person that delivers the Azaan (أَذَان); or the call to Contact Prayer. And before I get into explaining the Azaan, I wish to remind you that in the last fourteen-hundred (1400) years, lots of customs; innovations; prejudices; superstitions, were added into the Azaan. And what I am going to present to you now is the Azaan of the prophet Muhammad, that he approved. And I am going to remove all the additions, and the superstitions, and nonsense from the Azaan, and I will give you the pure Azaan. I am going to write it for you on the board, so you can see how it is pronounced. And I will have professional Azaans that you are going to hear, recordings of professional muezzins.

Now, at the beginning of Islam, the people went to the prophet Muhammad and they said; “how can we call the people to come to the prayer? you know, the Jews have the horn, and the Christians use bells, what are we going to use?”. And with time, the prophet’s companions started the matter and finally it was suggested that somebody stands on top of the mosque, and make the announcement; Allahu akbar; which means God is great, four (4) times. Allahu akbar; Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar; Allahu akbar, la elaha ella Allah, there is no god except the one God; which is the message of all God’s messengers to the world. There is really one message that all the messengers that God sent to us, and this message is; la elaha ella Allah; there is no god except the God; allah. So the Azaan consists of: Allahu akbar four (4) times, followed by: la elaha ella Allah.

This Azaan that has been approved by the prophet consisting of Allahu akbar four (4) times, then la elaha ella Allah – with time it got so long that in my lifetime; 1953; the Minister of Religious Affairs in Egypt; issued a law to reduce the Azaan – it got so long and so ridiculous it took ten (10) to fifteen (15) minutes to deliver the Azaan. And it had foolish things; praising the prophet; and his red cheeks and these silly things – the Azaan got really ridiculous.

After a few years, some people added to the Azaan; “ash-hadu alla la elaha ella Allah wa ash-hadu alla muḥammadun rasūlu allah” (I bear witness that there is no god except God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God), this was added to the original Azaan. Some years later they added the expression; “ḥayya ʿalā ṣ-ṣalāh”; which supposedly means “come to the prayer”, but it really does not mean that – apparently some new foreign Muslims; that is non Arab Muslims; added that expression; “ḥayya ʿalā ṣ-ṣalāh”; which is not a typical – the Arabic should have been “ḥayya ʿilā ṣalāt”, but they said; “ḥayya ʿalā ṣ-ṣalā”. Then many years later; somebody added; “ḥayya ʿala l-falāḥ”, which supposedly means; “come to the success”. And some other people added the; “ash-hadu alla alīyyun walīyyu-llāh” (I bear witness that Ali is the wall of God), in some parts of the Muslim world. And until now they use these – all these additions are being used in different parts of the Muslim world. Later on some people added the; ” ash-hadu alla ahlul bayt hodat-llāh”, and so on.

So the Azaan kept getting longer and longer, as I told you, until the Minister of Religious Affairs in Egypt issued a law reducing the Azaan to its present form in the Muslim world. But here at Masjid Tuscon, and hopefully you will go back to the original Azaan, that the prophet Muhammad approved: Allahu akbar; Allahu akbar; Allahu akbar; Allahu akbar; la elaha ella Allah. This is the Azaan that we use here in Masjid Tuscon, and hopefully it will spread all over the world. We have it done like this in many Mosques around the world. That have seen the light and decided to take the Azaan and the prayers – to the original Azaan and prayer of the prophet Muhammad.

You know the same thing is true with the Wuḍū. Wuḍū is the ablution; or the preparation for Salat. When people hear the Azaan; or the call to the Contact Prayer, they prepare for the prayer; the Contact Prayer. And they do this by observing ablution, and ablution is decreed in the Quran in sura number five (5); verse number six (6). And it is very specific; it gives you four (4) steps, remember that; four (4) steps of ablution. The average Muslim today has eight (8); or nine (9); or ten (10) steps. Which constitutes actually in reality some other god that added these steps, because they do it religiously, and it constitutes idolatry. So please be careful, and observe what the Quran says; the Quran; the whole Quran; and nothing but the Quran. And the Quran gives us four (4) steps. The first step is washing your face, the second step is washing your arms to the elbows, the third step is to wipe your hair (top of head), and the fourth step is to wash your feet. These are the four (4) steps decreed in the Quran, and it is actually a gross transgression to add anything to the four (4) steps, or reduce anything.

Some people will say; “what is wrong with washing my nose; and my mouth; and my neck” and all the – “my ears” and so on. Of course there is nothing wrong with extra cleanliness; go take a bath or a shower if you want to, but when it comes to religious practices; we must adhere to what our creator dictated exactly. We cannot increase it – reduce it; or increase it by anything. So it is very crucial that we follow what our creator said in the Quran. These are the words that came out of prophet Muhammad’s mouth. Ironically, those people think that they are following the prophet Muhammad by increasing the number of steps in ablution – and you and I know that the prophet Muhammad could never disobey God. So if God said four (4) steps; this is it, the ablution is four (4) steps. So now let us go to show you – demonstrate for you the four (4) steps of ablution; the Wuḍū.

We find this commandment in sura number five (5); verse number six (6). And I will quote the verse for you; it says: “Oh you who believe, when you get up for the Salat prayer; you shall wash your face; your arms to the elbows; wipe your hair (top of head); and wash your feet.” Four (4) steps, and these are the words that came out of prophet Muhammad’s mouth, these are the words of God. And God is saying; you shall observe the ablution four (4) steps. Washing the face, arms to the elbows, wipe your head, and wash your feet. These are the four (4) steps as dictated in Quran.

However, like everything else innovations; superstitions; traditions, crept into God’s commandment, and Satan distorted the commandment. Now the vast majority of Muslims observe something like nine (9) or ten (10) steps of ablution. And this is a very serious because it simply means there is some other god who told them to do the ablution nine (9) steps, they wash their hands, their mouth, their nose, their face, their ears, their neck, they have all kinds of innovations and additions. And I would like to warn you, that you must never increase the steps or decrease them – the steps of ablution, you must obey exactly what God told you; in Quran. If you want to wash more, might as well take a shower or do whatever you want, but outside the ablution. If you are taking a shower or a bath, you can do the ablution after the shower or the bath, while you are still in the shower. But you have to go through the motions of ablution as I will show you now.

So let me show you – demonstrate to you how to do the ablution. First of all you roll your sleeves so you can wash your arms to the elbows (Rashad rolls up his shirt’s sleeves), there we go, we are now demonstrating the ablution. You go to the faucet, and the first step in Quran is wash your face, so you wash your face; here we go (washes face) – bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem – okay let me stop right here, and remind you of something. You should make an intention, that is you say “I intend to observe the Wuḍū, or the ablution”. Before you do that, you say “bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem”, you commemorate God in any way you want, you say: “al hamdu Lillah”; “subḥānallāh”; “Allahu akbar”, anything you want to commemorate God. But if you want to say it in Arabic, the intention should be; “nawayatu al-wuḍū, bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem”.

So here we go; “bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem, nawayatu al-Wuḍū”.

This is the first step; you wash your face (washes face). Okay, I washed my face twice, and I feel like I did a good job, so this is good enough. There is no set number of washing your face.

The second step; the arms to the elbows, so here we go, washing the arm to the elbow (washes right arm up to the elbow), that is the right arm, now the left arm; same thing (washes left arm up to the elbow). And this takes care of the second step.

The third step is you wipe your hair (wipe top of head), so what I will do is I will wet my hands and then I wipe my hair – my head, like this (wipes top of head), and this is the third step.

The final step (fourth step) is wash your feet to the ankles, so you put your foot there (washes right foot), wash it thoroughly, this takes care of the right foot. And then the left foot (washes left foot).

That is it; there you have it. The four (4) steps of Wuḍū. Very simple. Don’t add any more steps, and don’t reduce the steps.

Now that you have finished the four (4) steps of Wuḍū; wash your face, your arms to the elbows, wipe your head and wash your feet – you are ready for the Salat Prayer. So now let us go back to the masjid and show you how to observe the Salat Prayers, all five (5) of them.

The innovations; superstitions; prejudices; customs; and traditions, did not hit the Azaan and the Wuḍū only brothers and sisters, it also hit the Salat itself; the Contact Prayer. There is so much garbage that we have to remove from the Contact Prayers to make it pure, and make it exactly the Contact Prayers the prophet Muhammad preached and practiced. So, what I am going to present to you is the pure Contact Prayers, without any innovations or additions that happened in the last fourteen hundred (1400) years.

We are trying to take the Salat; the Contact Prayers, all the way to the prophet Muhammad, the way he preached it, and the way he practiced it. And the most important point, please pay attention, the most important point, is to never mention any name other than the name of Allah; the name of God, in your Contact Prayer. This is dictated upon us in the Quran. But you probably know that the average Muslim today adds the name of Muhammad and his family, Abraham and his family, and so on, in their Contact Prayers. And this nullifies the Contact Prayers; makes it absolutely useless, if not harmful. So you must be very careful, and this is my responsibility to tell you that. You must be very careful to never mention any name other than the name of Allah; the name of God, in your Contact Prayers. We see this in the Quran in sura seventy-two (72); ayah or verse number eighteen (18), where it says: “the places of worship belong to God, do not mention any other name besides the name of God”, this is a Quranic commandment. And in sura twenty (20); verse thirteen (13), we see the commandment: “akim bi salateeka li zikri”, “observe the Contact Prayers to commemorate me” – singular – God is telling us that we must commemorate him alone in the Salat; in the Contact Prayer.

So I will give you the details, of the Contact Prayers, and we will go the mosque now and give you a demonstration. But before I do this, I want to clarify that the ta-chahud; or the recitation while sitting down, should be only: “ash-hadu alla elaha ella allah wahdahuu la shareeka lah”, or just: “ash-hadu alla elaha ella allah”, or just: “la elaha ella allah”, this is enough; “there is no god except the one God”. And forget about all these names; Muhammad and his family; Abraham and his family. Muhammad and Abraham were the first people to denounce this use of their name in the Contact Prayer.

And you know something, all the Imams of Sunni and Shia, all of them, unanimously agree that this mentioning of Muhammad and his family; Abraham and his family, while sitting down in the Contact Prayer, is not an obligatory part of the prayer. You heard me right, unanimously, they agreed that this is just a desirable – they think – a desirable part, but it is not, it actually kills your Contact Prayers; makes it useless; and does harm to you, God will be offended to have other names mentioned besides Him. In the daily worship, you are worshiping God alone, so be careful. And this by the way lead to the conclusion that you must recite only al-fateha, the opening sura of the Quran while standing up in the Contact Prayer.

Do not recite any other Quran after the al-fateha, and on the surface this might look like abandoning the Quran, it is not, it is the exact opposite, because in the Contact Prayers a lot of people end up memorizing the ???soud??? suras: “qul huwa allahu ahad”, and “qul a’zuu…”, and that’s it, and they think they know Quran. But I must tell you to read Quran every day, you must read the Quran every day, this is a commandment from our creator, to read His message; the Quran, every day, the whole Quran. Not just the ???soud??? suras.

But in the Contact Prayers, please you only need recite al-fateha. And this is a unifying force of all the Muslims in the world. I was praying in Mecca one time and the Imam read al-fateha and then he read the whole sura number thirty-two (32), surat al-sajdah after al-fateha. And i was thinking you know there are a few thousands people in there around the Ka’abah praying behind this Imam, and the vast majority of them didn’t know any Arabic. What is the point of standing through all this recitation in Arabic if they don’t understand. What is required is only to recite the al-fateha. And this will unify all the Muslims of the world, they will do the same thing in all their prayer, in Japan they know the al-fateha; they read it in the Contact Prayer, in Sweden; in America; in Canada; in Australia; in Mecca; in Pakistan; all the Muslims of the world will do the same thing.

But this business of reciting long portions of the Quran is wrong, it actually ruins the Contact Prayers, God wants things to be easy for us, but Satan wants to make things difficult for us; so he adds all things – besides, when you recite the Quran you mention; Moses; Jesus; and Muhammad; and Pharaoh; and the devil; and all these things. You mention other names besides the name of God in the prayer, and this is forbidden by commandment from God. We are not to mention any names.

When you recite the Quran in the mosque and you mention other names is because God says so in the Quran; “fa zakir fi al kitab Mariam” for example, this is God’s commandment, you can mention the name of Mary in the Quran in order to learn from the lessons of previous prophets; messengers; and so on. And it is a commandment from God to mention, so when we read the Quran we mention these names only because God commanded us to do so. But in the Contact Prayers; in the Salat, we are commanded never to mention any other name but the name of Allah, the name of God.

After you have done the Wuḍū and you are ready for the prayer, you go to a nice clean place – you don’t necessarily need the prayer rug, this is one of those innovations, you can pray in any clean place, even bare ground; as long as it is dry and clean. So you go to a nice clean place and you find the direction of Mecca, the direction of the Sacred Mosque (Ka’abah), because this is a commandment in Quran, that you must face – this is an organisational point, there is no other significance to it, except organisational. You can imagine people going in a mosque and facing different directions, it would be a mess. So, this organisational point dictates on us that we must face the direction of Mecca, wherever you might be. So, in the United States the direction generally is slightly south of east, slightly south of east; southeast.

So find the direction of Mecca, you face that direction and then you make your intention – this is the first step. You must say: “I intend to do the Dawn Prayer”, in any language you like. If you want it in Arabic you can say: “nawaytu Salat al-fajr”, this will be the niyya or intention for the Dawn Prayer. Or if it is for the Noon Prayer you say; in your heart or in an audible voice: “I intend to do the Noon Prayer”, “nawaytu Salat al-zuhr”; in Arabic. If it is the Afternoon Prayer, it is: “nawaytu Salat al-asr”. And for the Sunset Prayer, the niyya; or intention is: “nawaytu Salat al-maghrib”. For the Night Prayer, the intention; or niyya is: “nawaytu Salat al-isha”. So, but you can do it in any language you wish, secretly or loudly.

Now after you do the niyya – you are facing in the direction of Mecca, you make your intention; or niyya, then you open the Salat by raising your hands to the sides of your face and say “Allahu akbar”; like this (Rashad raises his hands to the side of his face), “Allahu akbar”. There is your opening of the Salat.

Once you say “Allahu akbar” in this manner; you have started your contact; or Salat; your contact with your creator.

Now after you make the opening takbir; Allahu akbar, you can either put your hands on the side, or you can choose to hold them like this (resting hands on stomach), with your left hand on your stomach, and your right hand on top of your left hand, it doesn’t make any difference, some people make a big deal out of it, but there is no difference, either way is correct. So this is the opening of the Salat; the Contact Prayer. (Rashad raises hands to the side of his face) Allahu akbar (Rashad lowers hands towards his stomach). Now you are ready to recite al-fateha; the opening sura of Quran.

The easiest way for you is to have me write down the words in English transliteration; in English letters. So before you do the Wuḍū; the ablution, you can say your intention: “I intend to make the ablution” or Wuḍū, either in English or in Arabic. So, “I intend to do the ablution” in English, the Arabic would be: “Nawaytu al-Wuḍū”.

And you write it like this “nawaytu”, “nawaytu”, which means: “I intend”.

Nawaytu al-Wuḍū. “Al” means “the”.

Ablution; “Wuḍū”, “al-Wuḍū”.

“Nawaytu al-Wuḍū”.

Let me write the words of Azaan for you: “Allahu akbar; Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar; Allahu akbar, la elaha ella Allah”. So in the Azaan we say “Allahu akbar” four (4) times.

“Allahu akbar“, meaning “God is the greatest”.

“Allahu”; “God”.

“Akbar” (greater).

Allahu akbar four (4) times.

Then “la elaha ellalah”.

“La”, means no.

“Elaha”, meaning god with a small g.

“Ella”, means except. “Ella”; except.

“Allah”, means God.

“La elaha ella Allah“.

So this is the complete Azaan, the original Azaan without any innovations; or additions; or traditions. A lot of people think that Allah is the name of God, but it is not – “Allah”, simply means “God”. The English word for it is God. The non-Muslims in the Arabic world say “Allah”, because this is the Arabic word for God. Even though they are not Muslims. They will say “inshallah”, “allah”, simply because that is the language. It is not the name of God, this is why I use the word – the English word: “God” for “Allah”.

(Rashad recites the Azaan) Allahu akbar; Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar; Allahu akbar, la elaha ella allah.

I am going to write the niyya; or intention for every prayer for you, so you can see how it is spelled. Here is the niyya; or intention for the Dawn Prayer:

“Nawaytu” – “nawaytu” which means “I intend.

“Salat” – “Salat al-fajr” – “al” – “fajr” – “al-fajr”. “I intend to do the Dawn Prayer” – “nawajtu Salat al-fajr”.

Now, to make it the Noon Prayer, you just – you say the same thing except you change “al-fajr” to “zuhr” which means “noon”. “nawaytu” – “nawaytu Salat al-zuhr”. This will make it the Noon Prayer – “al-zuhr”.

For the Afternoon Prayer you just make it “al-asr”. “Salat al-asr”, you write AYN like this ‘  -. “nawaytu Salat al-asr”.

The Sunset, you make it “al-maghrib”. “nawaytu Salat al-maghrib” – it is written like this: “al-maghrib”. “nawaytu Salat al-maghrib”, this is the Sunset Prayer.

And the Night Prayer is: “al-isha”. “nawaytu Salat al-isha” – “al-isha”. “nawaytu Salat al-isha”.

By now you know how Allahu akbar is written, the opening of the Contact Prayer “Allahu akbar” – this is followed by surat al-fateha and it is written like this:

The first verse is “bism allah”. “Arrahman”. “Arraheem”. “bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem”.

“Al hamdu”. “Lillahi”. “rabbil ‘alamin”.

Okay, “bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem”, means “in the name of God most Gracious most Merciful”.

“Al hamdu Lillahi”, means “praise be to God.

“Rabbil ‘alameen”, means “Lord of the universe”.

“Bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem, al hamdu Lillahi rabbil ‘alameen”; “in the name of God most Gracious most Merciful, praise be to God, Lord of the universe”.

And the next statement is familiar to you: “Arrahman Arraheem”; “most gracious most merciful”.

And the next statement is: “maliki”; means “master” or “king”.

“Yawm”, means “day”.

“Addeen”; “recompense”.

So “arrahman arraheem”; “most gracious most merciful”, “maliki yawm addeen”; “master of the day of recompense”.

“Eyyaka na’abudu”, means “only you we worship”.

“Wa eyyaka” means “and only you”.

“Wa” means “and”.

“Eyyaka nasta’aeen” means “we ask for help, only you we ask for help”.

“Wa eyyaka nasta’aeen”; “and only you we ask for help”.

The next statement, now of course you can always go back – reverse the tape and watch all these words until you learn them very well by heart.

The next statement is “ehdina al-serata al-mustaqeem”; “guide us in the right path”.

“Ehdina” means “guide us”.

“Al-serata” means “the path”.

“Al-mustaqeem”; “the straight” or “the right path”.

“Ehdina al-serata al-mustaqeem”; “guide us in the right path”.

“Serata” means “the path of”.

“Al-lazeena” means those; “the path of those”.

“An’amta”, means “those whom you blessed”.

“An’amta ‘alayhim”; “you shower your blessings on them”.

“Ehdina al-serata al-mustaqeem”; “guide us in the right path”.

“Serata al-lazeena an’amta ‘alayhim”; “the path of those whom you blessed”.

Then we go to the last statement in the al-fateha, “ghoyri al-maghdoobi ‘alayhim”.

“Ghoyri” means “other than, or not”.

“Al-maghdoobi ‘alayhim”, means “not the path of those who incur wrath, or anger”.

“Ghoyri al-maghdoobi ‘alayhim”.

“Wa laddalleen” (not the strayers).

“Wa” means “and”.

“La” means “no” – “nor” “wa la”.

“Wa laddalleen”, and this is the end of it – “and not the strayers”.

“Ghoyri al-maghdoobi ‘alayhim”; “not the path of those who incur wrath, or anger” – “wa laddalleen”; “nor the strayers”.

After you recite al-fateha, then you make ruku; bowing. And as you bow you say: “Allahu akbar”, and you know how that looks like, I wrote it for you. Then during the ruku you say “subhaana rabbiya al-‘azeem”, about three times, it doesn’t matter, two or three or four times.

“Subhaana” means “glory be to”.

“Subhaana rabbiya”, means “glory be to my Lord”.

“Al-‘azeem”, means “the great”.

“Subhaana rabbiya al-‘azeem”; “glory be to my Lord the great”.

Then you stand up and in this position only you say: “sami’a allahu leman hamidah”, means “God hears anyone who praises Him”. And it is written like this:

“Sami’a allahu” (God hears).

“Leman”; “anyone”.

“Hamidah”; “who praises him”.

“Sami’a allahu leman hamidah”, as you stand up.

Then you make the first prostration; sujud. And when you do that, you say: “Allahu akbar” as you go down in prostration.

And during prostration you say:

“Subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa”, about three or four times, means “glory be to my lord the most high”.

“Al-‘alaa”; “the most high”.

And this takes care of all the words of the Contact Prayers.

Now you know how to say all the words and if you play the tape over and over you can see how exactly they are written down and how they are pronounced.

In the sitting position you say: “ash-hadu alla elaha ella allah, wahdahuu la shareeka lah”, which means; “I bear witness that there is no god except allah, the one God, he is one. “la sharika lah”; “He has no partners”. And this is how I write it:

“Ash-hadu”, means “I bear witness”.

“Ash-hadu alla”, (I bear witness that there is no (alla is actually two words, “al” and “la”, the word combination here means al = that there, and la = is no)).

“Elaha” means “god with a small g”.

“I bear witness that there is no god”.

“Ella”; “except”.

“Ella allah”; “the one God”.

“Wahdahuu”; “He is one”.

“Wahdahuu la shareeka lah”; “he has no partner”.

“La”, means “no”.

“Shareek”, means “partner”.

“La shareeka lah”, (he has no partner).

And this takes care of the ta-shahud in the sitting position, “ash-hadu alla elaha ella allah, wahdahuu la shareeka lah”.

And then of course to end the prayer you look at the right side and say: “al-salaamu ‘alaykum”, and then on the left side saying: “al-salaamu ‘alaykum”, and this ends the Contact Prayer. So let me write “al-salaamu ‘alaykum” for you:

“al-salaamu ‘alaykum”.

There you have it, the complete words of the Contact Prayers.

Now let me explain a few fine details about the Salat; the Contact Prayers. One of the most important points, is that there is a myth among average Muslims that a woman who has her period; or menstruation cannot pray. Now this has to be from Satan, because Satan is the one who does not want you; the Muslim woman to pray. God did not say in the Quran at all: “do not pray during menstruation”, there is nothing in the Quran that say that. Even the hadith – we learn from hadith that the prophet’s wives used to pray during their menstruation. One hadith even says that they put a bucket under one of his wives as she prayed – as ridiculous as this may be – but it demonstrates that the Muslim woman should pray during her menstruation. If a Muslim does not pray, during menstruation, this means one week of the month without prayer, and this is like four (4) years every ten (10) years – four (4) years without any prayer, imagine that. So this could be a satanic innovation to stop the women from praying during menstruation.

So, please, menstruation or not, the Contact Prayer; the Salat prayer is the only worship that must go on, there is absolutely no excuse for not doing the Contact Prayer. Even God provides that you can pray; walking, or riding in a car, or riding in a plane, or in a bus, or even if a person is very sick; very ill; cannot move, that person can pray with his or her heart, or eyelids, or just mentally. If you are working in crowded place and you cannot find a place to pray, you can pray at your desk, sitting down just mentally going through the motions and the words. So there is absolutely no excuse for missing any Contact prayer.

So, whether the person is ill; unable to move, or riding; trapped in a car; or a bus; or a plane, or in a working place where there is no place available for prayer, or during menstruation, or the after birth bleeding, any of these conditions cannot – nothing stops your from performing – observing the Contact Prayers.

Another point that I wish to mention is the group prayer; or the jama’a. In the jama’a, one person leads the prayer and the rest of the group stand behind him, behind the imam, and do exactly what he does, you do not have to recite al-fateha or the Quran after the imam. Remember, all that is required in the Contact Prayer is the al-fateha, the first sura of Quran. so you just mentally follow the imam as he recites al-fateha during the Contact Prayer. And then of course in ruku; the bowing position, you say “subhaana rabbiya al-‘azeem” as usual. And in the sujud or prostration you say “subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa”, as usual. So, you only listen to the imam when he recites al-fateha in the standing positions. If a person comes late, and finds the jama’a the group already did one for two or three rak’as; units, you just – if you come late, you just join the group in whatever position they are in, and then after they finish, when they say “al-salaamu ‘alaykum”, the first one, you stand up and you complete the part that you missed. So this is how you make up for missing units, or missing rak’as when you join a group.

What happens if you miss one of the prayers; one of the Contact Prayers? You are supposed to do all five Contact Prayers during each one of the five periods, the Dawn Contact before sunrise, the Noon between twelve (12:00) and four (16:00), and the Afternoon between fourteen (14:00) and sunset, the Sunset Contact immediately after sunset, and the Night Prayer after all the twilight disappears from the horizon; about two hours after sunset. Now what happens if you miss one of these prayers. There is a myth that you can make it up or combine prayers and it is just an innovation, you cannot make up missed prayers. If you miss the Noon Prayer in any day, you just cannot bring  yesterday back, you missed it and it is too bad. So you just ask God for forgiveness; repent and promise god that you will never, to the best of your ability, miss anymore prayers, and you just go on doing the prayers. The idea of the Contact Prayers is to contact our creator within a certain period of every day, and when you miss that; it is gone, you cannot bring it back, and you cannot make it up, but you can ask forgives and repent.

And now the best way to describe the Contact Prayer to you, is to demonstrate exactly how it is done. So now I will demonstrate for you the Dawn Contact Prayer.

Do you remember the first thing you have to do in order to observe the Contact Prayers? That’s right, the intention, you declare your intention, in Arabic “niyya”. So since this is the dawn prayer, I will make the intention for the Dawn Contact Prayer, in English; then in Arabic. Then I will proceed with the prayer and you just watch everything I am doing and this is – this should be the correct way for observing the Contact Prayer.

So here i am facing the direction of mecca, and I am going to make my intention.

I intend to do the Dawn Contact Prayer; nawaytu Salat al-fajr.

• (While raising hands to the side of the head) – Allahu akbar
• (verse 1) – bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem,
• (verse 2) – al hamdu Lillahi rabbil ‘alameen,
• (verse 3) – Arrahman Arraheem,
• (verse 4) – Maliki yawm addeen,
• (verse 5) – Eyyaka na’abudu wa Eyyaka nasta’aeen,
• (verse 6) – ehdina al-serata al-mustaqeem,
• (verse 7) – serata al-lazeena an’amta ‘alayhim, ghoyri al-maghdoobi ‘alayhim, wa laddalleen.
• (While bending down to bow) – Allahu akbar
• (During bowing) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘azeem, x3
• (While returning upright from bowing) – sami’a allahu leman hamidah
• (While going down to prostrate) – Allahu akbar
• (During prostration) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa, x3
• (While sitting upright from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (While going down again to prostrate) – Allahu akbar
• (During prostration) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa, x3
• (While standing up from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (verse 1) – bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem,
• (verse 2) – al hamdu Lillahi rabbil ‘alameen,
• (verse 3) – Arrahman Arraheem,
• (verse 4) – Maliki yawm addeen,
• (verse 5) – Eyyaka na’abudu wa Eyyaka nasta’aeen,
• (verse 6) – ehdina al-serata al-mustaqeem,
• (verse 7) – serata al-lazeena an’amta ‘alayhim, ghoyri al-maghdoobi ‘alayhim, wa laddalleen.
• (While bending down to bow) – Allahu akbar
• (During bowing) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘azeem, x3
• (While returning upright from bowing) – sami’a allahu leman hamidah
• (While going down to prostrate) – Allahu akbar
• (During prostration) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa, x3
• (While sitting upright from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (While going down again to prostrate) – Allahu akbar
• (During prostration) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa, x3
• (While sitting upright from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (During sitting position) – ash-hadu alla elaha ella allah wahdahuu la shareeka lah
• (During sitting position while looking right) – al-salaamu ‘alaykum
• (During sitting position while looking left) – al-salaamu ‘alaykum
• And this completes the Dawn Prayer, this is the original contact Salat prayer, as observed by the prophet Muhammad, and it came to us all the way from Abraham exactly this way. And you notice in my prayer, I didn’t look around; I didn’t laugh; I was not distracted, I concentrated on communicating with my creator.

And now I will do the Noon Prayer. Now, the Noon Prayer, the Afternoon Prayer, and the Night Contact Prayer are all identical; exactly the same. So the intention for the Noon Prayer is: “nawaytu Salat al-zuhr”. For the asr; for the afternoon prayer: “Nawaytu Salat al-asr”. And for the night prayer: “Nawaytu Salat al-isha”. So what I’m going to demonstrate for you is four (4) rak’as. Which is suitable for the Noon; Afternoon; and the Night Prayer. So here we go.

I face the direction of Mecca, and I make my intention according to whichever Contact Prayer it is, and I start my prayer by opening with takbir.

• (While raising hands to the side of the head) – Allahu akbar
• (verse 1) – bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem,
• (verse 2) – al hamdu Lillahi rabbil ‘alameen,
• (verse 3) – Arrahman Arraheem,,
• (verse 4) – Maliki yawm addeen,
• (verse 5) – Eyyaka na’abudu wa Eyyaka nasta’aeen,
• (verse 6) – ehdina al-serata al-mustaqeem,
• (verse 7) – serata al-lazeena an’amta ‘alayhim, ghoyri al-maghdoobi ‘alayhim, wa laddalleen.
• (While bending down to bow) – Allahu akbar
• (During bowing) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘azeem, x3
• (While returning upright from bowing) – sami’a allahu leman hamidah
• (While going down to prostrate) – Allahu akbar
• (During prostration) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa, x3
• (While sitting upright from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (While going down again to prostrate) – Allahu akbar
• (During prostration) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa, x3
• (While standing up from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (verse 1) – bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem,
• (verse 2) – al hamdu Lillahi rabbil ‘alameen,
• (verse 3) – Arrahman Arraheem,
• (verse 4) – Maliki yawm addeen,
• (verse 5) – Eyyaka na’abudu wa Eyyaka nasta’aeen,
• (verse 6) – ehdina al-serata al-mustaqeem,
• (verse 7) – serata al-lazeena an’amta ‘alayhim, ghoyri al-maghdoobi ‘alayhim, wa laddalleen.
• (While bending down to bow) – Allahu akbar
• (During bowing) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘azeem, x3
• (While returning upright from bowing) – sami’a allahu leman hamidah
• (While going down to prostrate) – Allahu akbar
• (During prostration) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa, x3
• (While sitting upright from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (While going down again to prostrate) – Allahu akbar
• (During prostration) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa, x3
• (While sitting upright from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (During sitting position) – ash-hadu alla elaha ella allah wahdahuu la shareeka lah
• (While standing up from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (verse 1) – bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem,
• (verse 2) – al hamdu Lillahi rabbil ‘alameen,
• (verse 3) – Arrahman Arraheem,
• (verse 4) – Maliki yawm addeen,
• (verse 5) – Eyyaka na’abudu wa Eyyaka nasta’aeen,
• (verse 6) – ehdina al-serata al-mustaqeem,
• (verse 7) – serata al-lazeena an’amta ‘alayhim, ghoyri al-maghdoobi ‘alayhim, wa laddalleen.
• (While bending down to bow) – Allahu akbar
• (During bowing) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘azeem, x3
• (While returning upright from bowing) – sami’a allahu leman hamidah
• (While going down to prostrate) – Allahu akbar
• (During prostration) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa, x3
• (While sitting upright from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (While going down again to prostrate) – Allahu akbar
• (During prostration) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa, x3
• (While standing up from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (verse 1) – bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem,
• (verse 2) – al hamdu Lillahi rabbil ‘alameen,
• (verse 3) – Arrahman Arraheem,
• (verse 4) – Maliki yawm addeen,
• (verse 5) – Eyyaka na’abudu wa Eyyaka nasta’aeen,
• (verse 6) – ehdina al-serata al-mustaqeem,
• (verse 7) – serata al-lazeena an’amta ‘alayhim, ghoyri al-maghdoobi ‘alayhim, wa laddalleen.
• (While bending down to bow) – Allahu akbar
• (During bowing) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘azeem, x3
• (While returning upright from bowing) – sami’a allahu leman hamidah
• (While going down to prostrate) – Allahu akbar
• (During prostration) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa, x3
• (While sitting upright from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (While going down again to prostrate) – Allahu akbar
• (During prostration) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa, x3
• (While sitting upright from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (During sitting position) – ash-hadu alla elaha ella allah wahdahuu la shareeka lah
• (During sitting position while looking right) – al-salaamu ‘alaykum
• (During sitting position while looking left) – al-salaamu ‘alaykum
• And this takes care of the four (4) rak’a prayers, the Noon, the Afternoon or the Night Prayers.

And now I will demonstrate for you the three (3) rak’as of Salat al mahgrib, the sunset prayer. It is of course the same except you do only three (3) rak’as, three (3) units, and here we go.

I intend to do the sunset Contact Prayer, nwajatu Salat al mahgrib.

• (While raising hands to the side of the head) – Allahu akbar
• (verse 1) – bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem,
• (verse 2) – al hamdu Lillahi rabbil ‘alameen,
• (verse 3) – Arrahman Arraheem,
• (verse 4) – Maliki yawm addeen,
• (verse 5) – Eyyaka na’abudu wa Eyyaka nasta’aeen,
• (verse 6) – ehdina al-serata al-mustaqeem,
• (verse 7) – serata al-lazeena an’amta ‘alayhim, ghoyri al-maghdoobi ‘alayhim, wa laddalleen.
• (While bending down to bow) – Allahu akbar
• (During bowing) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘azeem, x3
• (While returning upright from bowing) – sami’a allahu leman hamidah
• (While going down to prostrate) – Allahu akbar
• (During prostration) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa, x3
• (While sitting upright from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (While going down again to prostrate) – Allahu akbar
• (During prostration) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa, x3
• (While standing up from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (verse 1) – bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem,
• (verse 2) – al hamdu Lillahi rabbil ‘alameen,
• (verse 3) – Arrahman Arraheem,
• (verse 4) – Maliki yawm addeen,
• (verse 5) – Eyyaka na’abudu wa Eyyaka nasta’aeen,
• (verse 6) – ehdina al-serata al-mustaqeem,
• (verse 7) – serata al-lazeena an’amta ‘alayhim, ghoyri al-maghdoobi ‘alayhim, wa laddalleen.
• (While bending down to bow) – Allahu akbar
• (During bowing) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘azeem, x3
• (While returning upright from bowing) – sami’a allahu leman hamidah
• (While going down to prostrate) – Allahu akbar
• (During prostration) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa, x3
• (While sitting upright from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (While going down again to prostrate) – Allahu akbar
• (During prostration) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa, x3
• (While sitting upright from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (During sitting position) – ash-hadu alla elaha ella allah wahdahuu la shareeka lah
• (While standing up from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (verse 1) – bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem,
• (verse 2) – al hamdu Lillahi rabbil ‘alameen,
• (verse 3) – Arrahman Arraheem,
• (verse 4) – Maliki yawm addeen,
• (verse 5) – Eyyaka na’abudu wa Eyyaka nasta’aeen,
• (verse 6) – ehdina al-serata al-mustaqeem,
• (verse 7) – serata al-lazeena an’amta ‘alayhim, ghoyri al-maghdoobi ‘alayhim, wa laddalleen.
• (While bending down to bow) – Allahu akbar
• (During bowing) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘azeem, x3
• (While returning upright from bowing) – sami’a allahu leman hamidah
• (While going down to prostrate) – Allahu akbar
• (During prostration) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa, x3
• (While sitting upright from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (While going down again to prostrate) – Allahu akbar
• (During prostration) – subhaana rabbiya al-‘alaa, x3
• (While sitting upright from prostration) – Allahu akbar
• (During sitting position) – ash-hadu alla elaha ella allah wahdahuu la shareeka lah
• (During sitting position while looking right) – al-salaamu ‘alaykum
• (During sitting position while looking left) – al-salaamu ‘alaykum

Video Outro:

Please review the tape over and over until you know all the prayers. CONGRATULATIONS

Copyright 1987 Islamic Productions Tuscon, Arizona.

All thanks and all praise to Allah; the one God.

End of Video

(Message from Ahmad Wehbe)

Peace,

I hope this has been useful for you and that you have now learned how to perform the Contact Prayers. I decided to write the whole video into a text format for those of us who prefer to read instead of watching a two hour long video. It makes it easier to understand what is being said without having to go back and forth whenever the video goes too fast. This is especially true if English isn’t your first language, or if your English skill is low. So I really do hope this has been useful to you.

Another benefit is that I can include links to other material for further research, so that the reader doesn’t have to spend a lot of time searching the Internet and all kinds of websites just to find specific information. Instead it will be available at the click of a button.

I have cut parts of the video into short clips and added text to make it easier for the reader to see how the Wuḍū and the Contact Prayers are performed. I did this because it will make it easier and more clear to watch, instead of having to scroll through a two hour long video to find the specific part you want to watch. This way you only have to click play and the exact part you want will be played. And it is also easily repeatable, which will speed up the learning process.

None of the images, videos or audio is owned by me unless stated otherwise, such as being signed with my name like in the animation (GIF) that shows the timeline of the five Contact Prayers. All copyrighted materials are being used under fair use for educational purposes.

Please contact me if you find any errors, or if you have ideas for how this presentation can be improved.

Thank you and GOD bless.