Scholars
the prayer
Prayer five times a day pauses a Muslim's daylight and ties it to God: dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset and night. Before it comes purification with water, so body, clothes and ground are clean; then the worshipper turns to the qibla — the Kaaba in Mecca. It opens with the takbir, 'God is greatest', moving through standings, bowings and prostrations in units called raka'at. In congregation the rows stand shoulder to shoulder behind the imam, and the town learns its equality — rich and poor on one carpet. On Friday the whole quarter gathers in one mosque for a sermon; in Ramadan tarawih stretches the night. Thus prayer became both a daily habit and the community's bond. Hence the hadith makes it the first thing a servant is asked about on Judgment Day — if it is sound, his whole work is sound; it is the measure of the Muslim day.