Salah, the duty to pray five times a day.
We could do it anywhere as long as we've done a wudu and
the place we're in is clean and we've got the space to do the movements
I'm about to show you.
In the prayer hall of a mosque.
The carpet is often marked with rectangles for people to stand in
or lines across a floor, so everyone has enough space to pray
and do the movements without bumping into the people around them.
At home I just use a prayer mat.
When we pray, we must face the direction of the Ka'bah,
which is a cube shaped holy building in the center Makkah in Saudi Arabia.
This direction is called the qibla and
in a mosque you could tell the qibla
by facing the mihrab, which is an archway in the wall
at the front of the prayer hall.
We pray five times a day.
And as well as saying the words in Arabic,
we also show our devotion to Allah.
First, I should have the intention to pray, which is called the niyyah.
So I focus and get myself into the right frame of mind.
Then I say Bismillah and the prayer begins.
I raise my hands and then lower them while I say Allahu Akbar.
This is called takbir.
I'll stand and this is called qiyam.
Then I bow from the waist.
This is called ruku.
Then comes sujud or sajdah,
when I kneel down and put my forehead on the floor.
This is called prostration in English.
I return to the kneeling position called jalsa.
Then I prostrate again.
And finish in the kneeling position.
And that series of movements is called a rak'ah.
I'll stand and do more rak'ah's
and the number depends on which prayer I'm saying.
Each of the positions goes a bit further in showing total submission to Allah.
When the prayer is finished
and I'm kneeling at the end of the final rak'ah
I turn to my right and then my left to say, salam.
Peace be with you.
After the prayer in Arabic.
I can also say my personal prayers in English.
And this is called du'a.