Lecture 10 March 30, 2014 Fundamentals of Purity and Prayer

Pre-conditions of Prayer

Pre-conditions of the Prayer It is not valid to begin the prayer without having fulfilled its pre- conditions (shara’it), which are: 1.Being in a state of ritual purity, from both minor and major ritual impurity 2.Being free from physical impurity on one’s body, garments and place of prayer Recall discussion of impurity from previous chapter, as to what is and is not allowed All areas of the place one is praying that the body touches (both feet, knees, hands and the forehead) must be pure

Pre-conditions of the Prayer 3.Covering one’s nakedness (‘awrah) Men: from right below the navel until right below the knees Women: entire body except face, hands and feet If ¼ or more of any limb of the ‘awrah is exposed before beginning prayer, or becomes exposed during prayer for longer than duration of 3 “subhanAllah”, prayer will become invalid Less than ¼ is excused Clothing cannot be tight-fitting nor see-through

Pre-conditions of the Prayer 4.Facing the Qibla (the Ka’ba) One who can see Ka’ba must stand directly facing it One who cannot see Ka’ba must face its direction 45-degree leeway on each side Must make best educated guess North America: north-east If made best guess toward Qibla but discovered direction was incorrect, prayer will remain valid If discover direction is incorrect during prayer, must change direction immediately and continue Facing Qibla while traveling in car, plane, etc.

Pre-conditions of the Prayer 5.Entrance of the prayer time Necessary to have personal conviction that prayer time has entered 6.Intention for the prayer Intention is in the heart For fard or wajib prayer, should specify intention for which prayer (i.e. Asr) For sunnah or nafl, intention of “prayer’ is adequate When praying behind imam, must make intention of such

Pre-conditions of the Prayer 7.Takbir Tahrima The opening “Allahu Akbar” of the prayer Must be recited on the tongue, audibly enough that one can hear oneself Must be done in standing position Must be tied to the intention, without any “non-prayer” action coming in-between i.e. Making the intention, then answering a phone-call, then saying takbir without remaking intention – prayer would be invalid Dhikr, wudu, walking to the prayer, etc. are not considered “non- prayer” actions

Pre-conditions of the Prayer 7.Takbir Tahrima This is the only takbir for which the hands are raised Except Witr and Eid prayers For men: Sunnah to raise hands until thumbs are level with earlobes, with fingers spread normally, and palms facing Qibla Hands should be outside of one’s garment For women: Sunnah to raise hands until chest/shoulders, with fingers close together, and palms facing Qibla Hands should be under the outer garment

Pre-conditions of the Prayer Some of the conditions may be overlooked if valid excuse is present Examples: Not enough water to purify impurities Fear of an enemy, illness, etc. which prevents one from facing the Qibla Lack of a garment to cover oneself

Integrals of Prayer

Integrals of the Prayer The following 5 components are the integrals (arkan) of the prayer itself, all of which are fard 1.Standing (Qiyam) Standing is defined as: if one were to extend one’s arms toward knees, they would not reach them Standing is fard for all fard and wajib prayers If valid excuse, may sit For sunnah/nafl prayers: may sit, but will earn ½ reward (unless valid excuse) Emphasized Sunnah for men to stand with feet spaced at normal distance, no less than width of 4 fingers Women with feet close together

Integrals of the Prayer 2.Recitation of Qur’an (Qira’ah) Of at least a single verse consisting of at least 2 words Fard in at least 2 rak’at of a fard prayer Fard in every rak’at of wajib, sunnah and nafl prayers Must be performed in standing position Must be in Arabic If person does not know Qur’an, recite tasbih until one learns Must be audible to the reciter Recitation of Qur’an behind an Imam is makruh tahrim

Integrals of the Prayer 3.Bowing (ruku’) Bowing is defined as: bending of back to extent if one were to extend arms towards knees they would reach them Emphasized Sunnah for men to bend at 90-degree angle, such that head is level with hips Hands gripping knees with fingers spread apart Elbows away from body For women, bend only slightly with knees slightly bent, place palms on knees without gripping them, fingers close together, and keep elbows close to body

Integrals of the Prayer 4.Prostration (sujud) Fard in every rak’at of every prayer (except Janazah) Both sujud are fard Must touch forehead, hands, knees, and bottom of toes to the ground Wajib to place most of forehead, hard part of nose, both hands, both knees, and toes of both feet on ground Emphasized Sunnah for toes to face Qibla Prostration is not valid until the place bears the weight of the head – should press down nose and forehead Place of forehead cannot be elevated above place of feet by more than 25 cm

Integrals of the Prayer 4.Prostration (sujud) When going into sujud, recommended for first the knees, then hands, then nose, then forehead to touch ground When rising, order reversed Fingers should be together, facing Qibla Face between both hands For men: arms held apart from sides of body and raised off ground, with hips raised (so stomach away from thighs) For women: body contracted in (arms drawn in, thighs touching stomach), with forearms resting on ground

Integrals of the Prayer 5.Final Sitting (Qa’dah akhirah) For at least length of the tashahhud Must be after all other integrals of prayer are performed For men: sunnah to put left foot down flat on its side and sit upon it, while keeping right foot upright with toes facing Qibla Hands placed upon thighs, not past the knees Fingers pointing toward Qibla, spread normally For women: sit on left hip, taking both feet out to the right, with right lower-leg resting upon left foot Feet lay flat on ground Hands rest on thighs with fingers close together

Integrals of the Prayer Maintaining order of 5 integrals is fard i.e. if one performed sujud before ruku, sujud will need to be performed again If any integral is left out without a valid excuse, prayer is invalid and must be repeated

Questions?