A complete guide to the five daily prayers, the rulings behind them, and what to do when things go wrong.
Each prayer has a dedicated page with every rakat explained - full Arabic text, transliteration, translation, and audio. Tap a prayer to begin.
"Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of Allah is greater."
Sūrah al-ʿAnkabūt · 29:45 · Sahih InternationalSalat is the second pillar of Islam - five daily prayers that anchor a Muslim's day in the remembrance of Allah. Choose a prayer above to see every rakat explained with full Arabic text and audio, or explore the reference sections below for rulings, corrections, and common questions.
How many rakʿahs to pray in each of the five daily prayers — farḍ (obligatory), sunnah (recommended), nafl (voluntary), and witr (wājib / necessary).
| Prayer | Sunnah before | Farḍ | Sunnah after | Witr | Nafl | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fajr الفجر | 2 ✦ | 2 | — | — | — | 4 |
| Ẓuhr الظهر | 4 ✦ | 4 | 2 ✦ | — | 2 | 12 |
| ʿAṣr العصر | 4 | 4 | — | — | — | 8 |
| Maghrib المغرب | — | 3 | 2 ✦ | — | 2 | 7 |
| ʿIshāʾ العشاء | 4 | 4 | 2 ✦ | 3 | 2 + 2 | 17 |
✦ = Sunnah Muakkadah — strongly recommended. The Prophet ﷺ rarely omitted these. Habitually omitting them is blameworthy. Unmarked sunnah = sunnah ghayr muakkadah — recommended but not blameworthy to miss.
Farḍ = obligatory. Missing a farḍ prayer is a serious sin. Nafl = voluntary extra credit.
Witr (in the ʿIshāʾ row) = wājib in the Hanafi school — necessary, stronger than sunnah but not quite farḍ. You should not habitually omit it. It is technically a separate prayer with its own niyyah and a unique structure (including Duʿā al-Qunūt), but it is prayed during the ʿIshāʾ time window, after the sunnah and nafl. The ʿIshāʾ nafl are split: 2 before Witr, 2 after.
The Hanafi school uniquely divides religious actions into five categories. Understanding these helps you know what must never be missed, what can be corrected, and what is recommended.
Obligatory. Established by definitive evidence. Omitting it invalidates the prayer. Denying its obligation is disbelief. Examples: the five daily prayers, rukūʿ, sujūd.
Necessary. Established by strong but not definitive evidence. Omitting it requires sajdah sahw but does not invalidate the prayer. Examples: reciting al-Fātiḥah, the first sitting, qunūt in witr.
Confirmed sunnah. The Prophet ﷺ consistently did this. Habitually neglecting it is blameworthy. Examples: the 2 sunnah before Fajr, saying tasbīḥ 3 times in rukūʿ.
Recommended. Also called sunnah ghayr muakkadah. Rewarded if done, not blameworthy if omitted. Examples: the 4 sunnah before ʿAṣr, making duʿā before taslīm.
Permissible. Neither rewarded nor blameworthy. A neutral act. This fifth category is unique to the Hanafi school.
The farāʾiḍ (pillars) cannot be corrected — if missed, the prayer is invalid. The wājibāt can be corrected with sajdah sahw.
1. Takbīr Tahrīma — the opening Allāhu Akbar.
2. Qiyām — standing upright (for those physically able).
3. Qirāʾa — reciting at least one short verse from the Quran while standing.
4. Rukūʿ — bowing, with the head reaching at least the level of the knees.
5. Sujūd — two prostrations per rakʿah, forehead touching the ground.
6. Qaʿda Akhīra — the final sitting, for at least the duration of the Tashahhud.
1. Reciting Sūrah al-Fātiḥah specifically (the farḍ is any recitation; al-Fātiḥah specifically is wājib).
2. Adding a sūrah or 3 short verses after al-Fātiḥah in the first two rakʿahs.
3. Reciting al-Fātiḥah before the additional sūrah (sequence matters).
4. Taʿdīl al-arkān — maintaining stillness in each position (not rushing).
5. The first sitting (qaʿda ūlā) after the 2nd rakʿah of a 3 or 4 rakʿah prayer.
6. Reciting the Tashahhud in both sittings.
7. Not reciting an additional sūrah in the 3rd and 4th rakʿahs of farḍ prayers.
8. Sajdah tilāwa when reciting a verse containing a prostration mark.
9. The qunūt duʿā in witr prayer.
10. The extra takbīrs in Eid prayers.
The prostration of forgetfulness — a built-in mechanism to correct mistakes. If you unintentionally miss or delay a wājib act, sajdah sahw repairs the prayer.
Required when a wājib act is missed or delayed unintentionally. Common triggers: forgetting the first sitting, forgetting al-Fātiḥah, reciting a sūrah in the 3rd/4th rakʿah of farḍ, or delaying a position change.
Sajdah sahw does not fix a missed farḍ. If you omit a farḍ (like missing sujūd entirely), the prayer must be repeated.
When you recite or hear a verse with a sajdah mark (۩), it is wājib in Hanafi to prostrate. During salat: say Allāhu Akbar, prostrate once, recite Subḥāna Rabbi-ya l-Aʿlā three times, rise and continue. Outside salat: face qibla, say Allāhu Akbar, prostrate, and rise. There are 14 verses of sajdah in the Hanafi count.
If any of the following occur during prayer, the prayer is invalidated and must be started again.
Even a single word of ordinary speech breaks salat immediately.
Any consumption breaks the prayer. A tiny particle stuck between teeth, swallowed inadvertently, does not if smaller than a chickpea.
Three or more consecutive voluntary movements (not part of the prayer) break salat.
Turning your chest away from the Kaʿbah invalidates the prayer. Slight head turns do not.
In Hanafi, laughing aloud breaks both the prayer and your wudu. A silent smile does not.
Skipping any of the six farāʾiḍ (pillars) invalidates the entire prayer.
If wudu breaks, you may leave quietly, redo wudu, and resume from where you stopped (Hanafi) — provided you don't speak or turn from qibla.
If the parts that must be covered become exposed for ~3–4 seconds without being corrected, the prayer is invalidated.
Common situations during prayer and the Hanafi ruling for each. When unsure, act on the lower (more certain) number.
Act on the lower number (certainty). Complete the prayer from there, then perform sajdah sahw.
If you've stood fully upright, do not sit back down. Continue normally and do sajdah sahw at the end. If still partway up, sit back down.
Stop, recite al-Fātiḥah, then restart the sūrah. Perform sajdah sahw at the end.
Prayer is valid but it's a wājib violation. Perform sajdah sahw at the end.
Leave quietly (without speaking), perform wudu, return and resume from where you stopped. If you spoke, the prayer is invalidated.
Join wherever the imam is. After imam's taslīm, stand and complete your remaining rakʿahs. If you caught the imam in or before rukūʿ, that rakʿah counts. If after rukūʿ, it doesn't.
You must make it up — there is no expiry. Perform it as it would have been at its time. If you owe 5 or fewer, pray them in order before the current prayer. More than 5: the ordering drops — make them up whenever you can.
If this doubt is habitual, ignore it. Obsessive doubt is from Shayṭān and should not be acted upon. Only act on doubt if it is the first time and you genuinely cannot recall. In that case, act on certainty (the lower number) and do sajdah sahw.
Tarāwīḥ, making up missed prayers, praying while travelling or sick.
Prayed after ʿIshāʾ and before Witr during Ramadan. In the Hanafi school, it is 20 rakʿahs, prayed in sets of 2 (10 salāms). A brief rest (tarwīḥa) every 4 rakʿahs. Sunnah muakkadah for men and women.
Any missed farḍ prayer must be made up. Perform it exactly as at its original time. If you owe 5 or fewer, pray them in order before the current prayer. More than 5: the ordering drops — make them up whenever you can.
When travelling ~77–78 km (48 miles) or more, shorten 4-rakʿah farḍ prayers (Ẓuhr, ʿAṣr, ʿIshāʾ) to 2 rakʿahs. Fajr and Maghrib are not shortened. Applies if staying fewer than 15 days. The sunnah of Fajr and Witr should still be prayed while travelling.
Important Hanafi distinction: unlike other schools, the Hanafi school does not permit combining (jamʿ) two prayers together — for example, praying Ẓuhr and ʿAṣr at the same time. You may shorten prayers while travelling, but each prayer must still be performed in its own time window. The only exception is at ʿArafat and Muzdalifah during Hajj.
The obligation never drops. The form adapts: standing → sitting (bow from seated) → lying on right side (head nods) → lying on back (feet toward qibla, head nods) → eye gestures. Each level is only permitted when the one above is genuinely impossible.
The communal dimensions of salat — daily congregation, Friday, Eid, and funeral prayers.
— Do not precede the imam in any action. Wait until the imam completes a position before you move.
— Do not recite al-Fātiḥah behind the imam in the Hanafi school. The imam's recitation suffices. Stand silently and listen. This is one of the most important Hanafi-specific rulings.
— When the imam says Samiʿa Allāhu liman ḥamidah, followers say only Rabbanā laka l-ḥamd.
2 rakʿahs of farḍ, preceded by the khuṭba (sermon). The khuṭba is a condition of validity. Obligatory for adult, free, healthy, resident Muslim men. Sunnah prayers: 4 before and 4 + 2 after. It is also sunnah to recite Sūrah al-Kahf on Fridays.
Rakʿah 1: After the opening takbīr and thanāʾ, say Allāhu Akbar 3 extra times (raising hands each time). Then al-Fātiḥah + sūrah, and complete normally.
Rakʿah 2: al-Fātiḥah + sūrah first. Then 3 extra takbīrs (raising hands), then a 4th Allāhu Akbar going into rukūʿ. Complete normally.
The khuṭba is delivered after the prayer (unlike Jumuʿa). No adhān or iqāma.
Takbīrāt at-Tashrīq: From Fajr of 9th Dhul Ḥijjah to ʿAṣr of 13th Dhul Ḥijjah, it is wājib in the Hanafi school to recite the takbīr aloud once after every farḍ prayer: Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar, lā ilāha illa llāh, wallāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar, wa lillāhi l-ḥamd.
A communal obligation — if enough Muslims perform it, the rest are absolved. Prayed standing.
After 1st takbīr: Thanāʾ (opening praise), silently.
After 2nd takbīr: Durood Ibrāhīm, silently.
After 3rd takbīr: Duʿā for the deceased: Allāhumma ghfir liḥayyinā wa mayyitinā, wa shāhidinā wa ghā'ibinā, wa ṣaghīrinā wa kabīrinā, wa dhakarinā wa unthānā — "O Allah, forgive our living and our dead, those present and absent, young and old, male and female." (Abu Dawud 3201)
After 4th takbīr: Taslīm to both sides. Complete.
Errors many people make without realising — from cross-school confusion, unfamiliarity, or simply rushing.
In Hanafi, do not recite when behind the imam. Stand silently. The imam's recitation covers you. This is the biggest cross-school confusion.
In Hanafi, Āmīn is said silently — both when alone and behind the imam.
In Hanafi, hands are raised only for the opening takbīr (plus qunūt in Witr and Eid takbīrs). Not at every rukūʿ.
Tumānīna (stillness in each position) is wājib. Rushing may require sajdah sahw or invalidate the prayer.
Hanafi men: hands below the navel, right grasping left wrist. Hands on chest is another school's position. Women: hands on the chest.
Gaze should be at the place of sujūd during standing, at feet during rukūʿ, at the nose during sujūd, at the lap during sitting.
In sujūd, toes must point toward the Qibla. Many let feet splay outward.
The qaʿda ūlā after rakʿah 2 in 3/4-rakʿah prayers is wājib. Forgetting it requires sajdah sahw.
The content on this page has been compiled and cross-referenced against the following authoritative Hanafi sources, classical fiqh manuals, and authentic ḥadīth collections.
A note on accuracy: This guide has been prepared with careful research and cross-referencing, but we are not scholars of Islamic jurisprudence. It is intended as a learning aid, not as a substitute for formal study or scholarly guidance.
If you have personal questions about your prayer, please consult a qualified local imam or trusted scholar. If you find any error on this page, please contact us — we take this responsibility seriously and will correct it immediately.
May Allah accept the effort and forgive any shortcomings.