1. Fajr, or morning prayer … | 2 rak‘ahs |
2. Ẓuhr, or early afternoon prayer … | 4 rak‘ahs. |
3. ‘Aṣr, or late afternoon prayer … | 4 rak‘ahs. |
4. Maghrib, or sunset prayer … | 3 rak‘ahs. |
5. ‘Ishā’ or night prayer … | 4 rak‘ahs. |
The individual parts which are called sunnah (Holy Prophet’s practice) contain the following number of rak‘ahs:
1. Fajr, 2 rak‘ahs before the congregational prayer.
2. Ẓuhr, 4 rak‘ahs before the congregational prayer and 2 after it.
3. Maghrib, 2 rak‘ahs after the congregational prayer.
4. ‘Ishā’, 2 rak‘ahs after the congregational prayer, followed by three rak‘ahs called witr (lit., odd number). The latter are really a part of the voluntary prayer (Tahajjud) which consists of two rak‘ahs said successively four times, followed by three rak‘ahs.
Every rak‘ah consists of four parts. The first of these is the standing position (qiyām), with which the prayer is started. The worshipper, turning his face towards the Ka‘bah, the Central Mosque of the world, raises both hands to his ears and utters the takbīr.34 As a sign of reverence for the Holy Presence, before Whom the worshipper stands, the hands are thereafter folded on the breast, the wrist of the right hand being just over the wrist of the left. That is the preferable position, but they may as well be folded lower below the navel, the palm of the right hand being over the left. Or they may be left quite free in the natural position.35 These are small matters in which people may differ according to their tastes. The essential factor is that the worshipper should stand in a reverential position, having the feeling that he is standing before the Holy and Majestic Presence. In this standing position (qiyām), the Divine Being is praised and prayers are addressed to Him and certain portions of the Holy Qur’ān are recited, as will be explained later on.
34 The utterance of the same words at the opening of prayers is called takbīr taḥrīma or takbīrat aliḥrām, the words tahrīm and iḥrām meaning prohibition. This particular name is given to this takbīr because with its utterance, attention to everything but prayer is prohibited.
35 According to Imām Abū Hanīfah the hands are folded below the navel, and according to Shāfi‘ī over the breast, while Imām Mālik is reported as leaving the hands free (H. Kitāb al-ṣalāt), the Shi‘ahs doing the same. But there is a report from Imām Mālik that the hands must be folded (Ma. 8:3).