Sitting in salah

Sitting or kneeling is an integral step in the cycle or unit of the Islamic salah called a raka'ah.

Types of sitting

There are three methods of sitting according to the sunnah, the example of Muhammad. One is sitting on the left foot along the ground with the right foot upright. Another is resting on both the heels. A third way is sitting with the left thigh on the ground and both feet protruding from the right side with the right foot either upright or along the ground. In this method, the left palm leans on the left knee. This third method is implemented in the third or fourth raka'ah.

Overview

There can be two occasions of sitting in a regular raka'ah. One is after the first prostration and the other is after the second prostration, sometimes referred to as the tashahhud.

The first two methods of kneeling is used alternatively by Muslims after the first prostration and the during the first tashahhud. In the second tashahhud, the third method of sitting is used and the index finger is pointed towards the qibla, which is the direction of Mecca.

Salah

Salah ("Muslim prayer", Arabic: صلاة‎ ṣalāh or gen: ṣalāt; pl. صلوات ṣalawāt, Persian: نماز‎‎, Turkish: Namaz) is one of the Five Pillars of the faith of Islam and an obligatory religious duty for every Muslim. It is a physical, mental and spiritual act of worship that is observed five times every day at prescribed times. In this ritual, the worshiper starts standing, bows, prostrates, and concludes while sitting on the ground. During each posture, the worshiper recites or reads certain verses, phrases and prayers. The word salah is commonly translated to prayer but this definition might be confusing. Muslims use the words "Dua" or "Supplication" when referring to the common definition of prayers which is "reverent petitions made to God."

Salah is preceded by ritual ablution. Salah consists of the repetition of a unit called a rakʿah (pl. rakaʿāt) consisting of prescribed actions and words. The number of obligatory (fard) rakaʿāt varies from two to four according to the time of day or other circumstances (such as Friday congregational worship, which has two rakats). Prayer is obligatory for all Muslims except those who are prepubescent, menstruating, or are experiencing bleeding in the 40 days after childbirth. Every movement in the salah is accompanied by the takbir except the standing between the ruku and sujud, and the ending which has a derivation of the Muslim greeting As-salamu alaykum.

Salat (disambiguation)

Salat or Salaat may refer to:

Salah, Iran

Salah (Persian: صلاح‎‎, also Romanized as Şalāḩ; also known as Şalāt and Şelāt) is a village in Garmab Rural District, Chahardangeh District, Sari County, Mazandaran Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 122, in 24 families.

References