The number of rakat per prayer differs according to the legislated time of the latter. What does the word rakat mean? How is prayer, an act of worship that is one of the five pillars of Islam, practiced? That is what we are going to see.
What does rakat mean?
We find in the definition of the complete Quranic lexicon that the word raka3a, from which the term rakat is derived, means: to bow (the body for prayer, for example), to fall face down to the ground, to humble oneself, to lower oneself, to bow down, to be bent.
A rakat is in Arabic a feminine common noun meaning a unit of prayer.
Each unit of prayer comprises:
- a standing position
- a bowing, also called genuflection,
- and two prostrations, with a seated position between each prostration
- as well as the final salutations.
A single prayer is made up of several units according to the moment at which it is practiced. There are 5 obligatory times of prayer in the day, but the Muslim is encouraged to multiply the supererogatory prayers to draw closer to his Lord.
Salat is the Arabic term for speaking of prayer. It is an important pillar among the five pillars of Islam, and conditions must be respected for the prayer to be valid and accepted:
- Having the intention of performing the prayer
- That the time of the prayer has entered
- That the ablutions have been done (with their criteria respected)
- Respecting the modalities of the prayer in question (one neither removes nor adds elements to the legislated way of praying)
- One does not speak, one does not laugh
- One stands in the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca
Translation of the vocabulary of prayer
Salat: prayer
Allaho Akbar: Allah is the Greatest
Al Fatiha: First chapter of the Holy Quran that one recites at the beginning of each unit of prayer
Surah: Chapter of the Quran. The Quran contains 114 surahs (chapters)
Raka'a: unit of prayer
Sajda, soujoud: prostration, the act of prostrating oneself
Tachahoud: the testimony of faith that one recites at the end of prayer just before the final salutations
Taslim: final salutations that mark the end of the prayer
Jahran: (prayer) aloud
Siran: (prayer) silently
Adhan: the first call to prayer
Iqama: the second call to prayer
Chourouq: daybreak and the limit not to be exceeded for performing the dawn prayer
Douha: the morning. It is also the name of a voluntary (supererogatory) prayer composed of 2 rakat that the believer can perform from daybreak. The best being to perform it when the heat of the sun is intense, with as many units of prayer as one wishes: for example, 4, 6, 8 up to 12
Chaf': This means even. It is the name of the supererogatory prayer that the believer performs just after the evening salat (Icha), followed by that of el witr. It is a sunna said to be obligatory
Witr: This word means odd. It is the name of the last prayer that the believer performs after ach chaf'. The evening prayer is therefore composed of 4 rakat which one completes with 2 rakat of Chaf' + 1 rakat of witr
Nawafil: This is the word to designate any supererogatory (non-obligatory) prayer
Rawatib: This is the name of the supererogatory prayers linked to the obligatory prayers recommended by the prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him
Tarawih: this is the name of the nocturnal prayers during Ramadan
Janaza: This word means funeral. Salat janaza is the name of the prayer that one performs for a deceased person
Joumou'a: this word means Friday and salat jumua also means the prayer in common performed at the mosque on Friday by Muslims. They go there to pray in a group and listen to the imam's sermon on this occasion
Istikhara: this is the term used for the so-called prayer of consultation, performed to ask the Lord for advice on a personal matter requiring a decision to be made.
How to perform the prayer?
Prayer is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is one of the most important acts of worship of our religion, Islam, and its accomplishment also has pillars upon which its validity rests.
To perform the prayer, in addition to respecting the conditions cited above, the Muslim must proceed as follows, taking into account the number of rakat of the prayer he is going to perform:
Step 1 Takbir and standing position
After having done his ablutions and made the intention to perform the prescribed prayer in its time, the faithful stands in the direction of the Qibla (direction of Mecca) and pronounces the Takbir, that is to say he says « Allaho Akbar! ». Then, he places his hands above his navel.
Next, he proceeds to the recitation of the opening chapter of the Holy Quran (Al Fatiha) as well as a few verses of a surah, or a surah among those he knows, taking care to recite in Arabic.
Step 2 The bowing (roukou3)
After his recitation, the faithful bows and holds this position of ruku3 for a few seconds or minutes, taking care to keep his back well perpendicular to the ground. Then, he recites during this genuflection this evocation:
« Subhana Rabbi l'adhim » 3 times.
Translation: Glory to my Lord, the Magnificent!
He then returns to his initial position, standing, while saying:
« Sami'a Allaho liman hamidah, Rabbana laka al hamd »
Its translation is: Allah hears those who praise Him. Lord, all praises belong to You!
Step 3 The prostration, also called the prostration (Soujoud, sajda)
After having made the previous invocation, the faithful says Allaho Akbar (God is the Greatest!) and prostrates himself.
For this, he places his forehead on the ground while keeping the following position:
- The arms must be open at the level of his shoulders
- Palms of the hands placed on the ground
- Knees on the ground
- The back of the feet, including the heel, is raised. Only the toes are well flat on the ground (one does not leave the top of the foot on the ground but rests on the pads of the toes).
In summary, in this position of prostration, these parts of the body must touch the ground while the faithful makes his invocations:
- Forehead
- Palms of the hands
- Knees
- Toes
The invocation to say is the following:
« Subhana Rabbi Al A3la! » 3 times, which means: Glory to Allah, the Most High!
Step 4 Seated position between two soujoud
While saying Allaho Akbar (God is the Greatest) the faithful rises to resume the seated position and invoke Allah. He then performs a second prostration without forgetting to say « Subhana Allaho rabbi Al A3la » 3 times during this second soujoud.
Note: during the prostrations, the faithful may invoke Allah as he wishes.
After these two prostrations, he has performed a whole rakat. He can rise while proclaiming the greatness of Allah and renew steps 1 to 4 as many times as necessary to perform the other units of prayer.
Step 5 The Tachahoud or the salutations
The tashahud, or tachahod, is the testimony of faith that is recited at the end of prayer, with the finger (the right index) slightly raised, which one moves up and down while reciting.
During a prayer of more than 2 rakat, there are two tachahoud to perform. One after the first two units of prayer. Here one will only do the testimony of faith. The other at the end of prayer, during which one will recite the testimony of faith along with the prayers upon the prophets Muhammad and Ibrahim.
During a prayer of only two rakat, there will therefore be only a single tachahoud to perform, comprising the two parts (testimony of faith plus the prayers upon the prophets).
Case no.1 how many rakat for the Fajr prayer
Example with the dawn prayer (Fajr):
To know when to do the tachahud, one must know how many rakat the prayer I am about to perform comprises. In the case of the Fajr prayer (sunrise), there are two rakat. The faithful will therefore do a single final tachahud.
The faithful follows steps 1 to 4, then rises to renew the steps once more, because there are 2 rakat in the Fajr.
Then, he recites the first part of the tachahoud formula, which is the formula of testimony of faith specific to prayer, which is transcribed phonetically as follows:
« At-tahiyyatou lillah, az-zakiyyatou lillah, at-tayyibatou lillah, assalamou 'alayka ayyouha nabiyyou wa rahmatoullahi wa barakatouh, assalamou 'alayna wa 'ala 'ibadillahi assalihin, ashhadou an la ilaha illallah wa ashhadou anna mouhammadan 'abdouhou wa rasoulouh. »
The English version of the tashahud:
« The salutations are to Allah and the pure salutations are for Allah, as well as the good (salutations) are to Allah. May peace be upon the prophet, as well as the mercy of Allah and His blessing. May peace be upon us and upon the pious servants of Allah. I testify that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger ».
As this prayer has only 2 units of prayer, he also recites the second part of the tachahud which is called the Ibrahimiyya, just before proceeding to the final salutations:
« Allahoumma salli 'alâ saidina Mohammad wa 'alâ 'ali saidina Mohammad, kamâ salayta 'alâ saidina Ibrahîm wa 'alâ 'ali saidina Ibrahîm, wa barik 'alâ saidina Mohammad wa 'alâ 'ali saidna Mohammad kamâ barakta 'alâ saidina Ibrahîm wa 'alâ 'ali saidina Ibrahîm, fi al alamin inaka hamidoun majîd «
Translation:
« O Allah, send prayers upon Muhammad and upon the family (or the disciples) of Muhammad, just as You sent prayers upon Ibrahim and the family (or the disciples) of Ibrahim; verily, You are full of Praise and Majesty. O Allah, bless Muhammad and the family (or the disciples) of Muhammad as You blessed Ibrahim and the family (or the disciples) of Ibrahim; verily, You are full of Praise and Majesty. »
The final salutations
To finalize his prayer, the faithful, when he has finished reciting the tachahoud, proceeds lastly to the salutations as follows:
He turns his head to the right while saying the Islamic salutation formula « assalam alaikoum » which means « may peace be upon you », and turns his head again to the left while saying the same thing (assalam alaikoum).
The prayer is thus finished.
Case no.2 for a prayer of 3 rakat or more
Example for the maghrib prayer:
In the example of the sunset prayer, there are three rakat, or units of prayer.
There will therefore be 2 tachahud to perform:
The first tachahud will be done following the first 2 units of prayer, but only the first part of it! Then the servant of Allah rises to pray a third rakat, following steps 1 to 4.
He finishes his prayer by reciting, once seated, the tachahud which comprises the testimony of faith as well as the prayers upon the prophets Muhammad and Ibrahim.
He recites the salutations by turning his head to each side (right first then left).
His prayer is finished.
To remember:
A prayer of 2 rakat = one complete tachahoud
A prayer of 3 rakat OR MORE = 2 tachahoud (after 2 units of prayer the testimony of faith AND at the last rakat the complete tachahoud with the prayers upon the prophets, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon them)