How to perform salah

Before you start

• Make sure the time for that salah has begun
• Make wudu
• Make sure your body, clothes and place are clean, and that you are properly covered
• Face the Qibla
• Make the intention in your heart for the salah you are about to perform

How many rak'ahs?

A rak'ah is one full unit of salah: standing, bowing, rising, and two prostrations with a sitting between them. The obligatory (fard) rak'ahs of each salah are:

Witr is performed after Isha as the closing salah of the night, commonly as 1 or 3 rak'ahs (3 in the Hanafi school).

Salah, step by step

Move calmly and let each position settle before the next. Some details, such as where the hands rest and how you sit, differ between the schools of fiqh; follow the way you were taught, or ask your local imam.

1. The opening takbir

   Raise both hands and say Allahu Akbar to begin the salah.

   الله أكبر

   Allāhu Akbar

   Allah is the Greatest.

   • Raise both hands together, palms facing the Qibla
   • Keep the fingers relaxed, neither pressed together nor spread wide
   • Raise the hands to shoulder level or ear level, calmly
   • Then lower the hands and fold them, the right hand over the left. Hanafi: men place them below the navel, women on the chest. Shafi'i: below the chest, just above the navel
   • Lower your gaze to the place of sujood

   Source: Bukhari 735 · Muslim 390

2. Standing (qiyam)

   Stand upright, still and calm, and recite.

   • Keep the hands folded as in step 1
   • Keep your gaze on the place of sujood; calmness matters more than speed

   In the first rak'ah, you may begin with the opening supplication:

   سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ، وَتَبَارَكَ اسْمُكَ، وَتَعَالَى جَدُّكَ، وَلَا إِلَهَ غَيْرُكَ

   Subḥānaka Allāhumma wa biḥamdik, wa tabārakasmuk, wa taʿālā jadduk, wa lā ilāha ghayruk.

   Glory be to You, O Allah, and all praise. Blessed is Your name and exalted is Your majesty, and there is no god but You.

   Then seek refuge in Allah:

   أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ

   Aʿūdhu billāhi min ash-shayṭāni r-rajīm

   I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan.

   • Say Bismillāh, then recite Surah Al-Fatihah, and say Āmīn at its end
   • In the first two rak'ahs, then recite another surah or some verses of the Qur'an

   Source: Bukhari 756 · Muslim 394

3. Bowing (ruku)

   Say Allahu Akbar and bow until your back is level.

   • Place both hands firmly on the knees, fingers spread
   • Keep the head in line with the back

   Say three times:

   سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الْعَظِيمِ

   Subḥāna rabbiyal-ʿaẓīm

   Glory be to my Lord, the Magnificent.

   Source: Bukhari 828 · Muslim 772

4. Rising from ruku

   Rise until you are fully upright, and praise Allah.

   While rising:

   سَمِعَ اللَّهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ

   Samiʿallāhu liman ḥamidah

   Allah hears the one who praises Him.

   Once upright:

   رَبَّنَا وَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ

   Rabbanā wa lakal-ḥamd

   Our Lord, and to You is all praise.

   Pause and settle before going down into sujood.

   Source: Bukhari 795 · Bukhari 796

5. The first sujood

   Say Allahu Akbar and go down into prostration.

   • Seven parts touch the ground: the forehead with the nose, both palms, both knees and the toes of both feet
   • Place the hands beside the shoulders, fingers facing the Qibla
   • Men keep the elbows raised off the floor; in the Hanafi school, women keep the arms close to the body

   Say three times:

   سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الأَعْلَى

   Subḥāna rabbiyal-aʿlā

   Glory be to my Lord, the Most High.

   Source: Bukhari 812 · Muslim 490

6. Sitting between the two sujoods

   Rise saying Allahu Akbar and sit briefly.

   • Sit calmly, resting the hands on the thighs
   • Pause properly; this is not a rushed movement

   رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي

   Rabbighfir lī

   My Lord, forgive me.

   Source: Abu Dawud 850 · Tirmidhi 284

7. The second sujood

   Say Allahu Akbar and make the second prostration, just like the first.

   Say three times:

   سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الأَعْلَى

   Subḥāna rabbiyal-aʿlā

   Glory be to my Lord, the Most High.

   This completes one rak'ah.

   Source: Bukhari 812 · Muslim 490

8. The next rak'ah

   Rise saying Allahu Akbar and stand for the next rak'ah, repeating the same steps.

   • In a salah of three or four rak'ahs (Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha), after the second rak'ah sit and recite the first part of the tashahhud below (up to ‘His servant and Messenger’), then stand for the third
   • In the third and fourth rak'ahs, recite Al-Fatihah only

   Source: Bukhari 823

9. The final sitting (tashahhud)

   In the last rak'ah, stay seated after the second sujood and recite the tashahhud.

   التَّحِيَّاتُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَوَاتُ وَالطَّيِّبَاتُ، السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ، السَّلَامُ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى عِبَادِ اللَّهِ الصَّالِحِينَ، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

   At-taḥiyyātu lillāhi waṣ-ṣalawātu waṭ-ṭayyibāt. As-salāmu ʿalayka ayyuhan-nabiyyu wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh. As-salāmu ʿalaynā wa ʿalā ʿibādillāhi ṣ-ṣāliḥīn. Ashhadu an lā ilāha illā Allāh. Wa ashhadu anna Muḥammadan ʿabduhū wa rasūluh.

   All greetings, prayers and pure words are for Allah. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of Allah. I bear witness that there is no deity except Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

   Then send blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ:

   اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ، كَمَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَعَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ. اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ، كَمَا بَارَكْتَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَعَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ

   Allāhumma ṣalli ʿalā Muḥammadin wa ʿalā āli Muḥammad, kamā ṣallayta ʿalā Ibrāhīma wa ʿalā āli Ibrāhīm, innaka Ḥamīdun Majīd. Allāhumma bārik ʿalā Muḥammadin wa ʿalā āli Muḥammad, kamā bārakta ʿalā Ibrāhīma wa ʿalā āli Ibrāhīm, innaka Ḥamīdun Majīd.

   O Allah, send prayers upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as You sent prayers upon Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim; You are Most Praiseworthy, Most Glorious. O Allah, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as You blessed Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim; You are Most Praiseworthy, Most Glorious.

   Source: Bukhari 831 · Muslim 402 · Bukhari 3370

10. Taslim

    End the salah by turning the head to the right, then to the left.

    السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ

    As-salāmu ʿalaykum wa raḥmatullāh

    Peace and mercy of Allah be upon you.

    Say it once to the right and once to the left. The salah is then complete.

    Source: Muslim 582 · Abu Dawud 996

Before you begin: How to make wudu, step by step