How To Pray

Prayer and worship, better known as Salat, are very important in Islam.

Before anyone can pray, you must first make wudu or ablution. Salat is NOT accepted without making wudu. Here is link explaining what breaks wudu and how to perform it.

After wudu, it's time to pray. We must pray facing the Kaba in Saudi Arabia. In order to find the correct direction, see this. Salat is to be performed 5 times a day at prescribed times. You can download the athan program to your computer from the link above which will give the call to prayer according to where you live at the correct times.

Salat must be recited in Arabic. If you are a non-Arabic-speaking person, this can be overwhelming. Remember Allah is most merciful and sees what's in our hearts. Don't put too much pressure on yourself to get everything correct at light-speed. Some suggestions are to find a Quran with transliteration. This is where the Arabic language is written out as it sounds and as it should be pronounced. Here is a link to the Quran where transliteration is available. Click on the surrah or chapter, then be sure to check the 'transliteration' box. It's also important to listen repeatedly to surrahs being recited. Listening while reading along with the transliteration can be most helpful, God willing. Remember not to get caught up in memorizing and pronouncing in a foreign language that you don't know what you are saying. Salat is something special between Allah and His servants. If you don't know what you are saying, then it won't be very meaningful or beneficial to you. So memorize the meaning of the words, not just their pronunciations.

That being said, this is the best link I've found so far for learning salat for beginners. PLEASE be careful about learning salat. We must pray as the Prophet, pbuh, prayed insha'Allah. This is a good link for the background and an in-depth explaination of salat. Very educational and a must-see for newly reverted muslims as well as a good reminder for those who have been practicing for years.

May Allah bless you for dedicating your life to obeying and serving the one and only Creator. May Allah grant you success in your pursuit of knowledge. May Allah keep you guided on the straight path and protect you from misguidance.