How to Perform Salah?

The visible acts of prayer, such as standing, bowing and prostrating, are like the physical structure of human.  Worship, which resembles a human being made up of soul and body, is like an inanimate body and loses its meaning to a great extent when it is performed without its true meaning and spirit. (Ghazali, Kimiya-yi Sa’adat, 111-113) Here, the true meaning and essence of salah is achieved by heartfelt respect for Allah (swt), submission to Him, turning to Him with humility and reverence, and glorifying Him. (Ghazali, Kimiya-yi Sa’adat, 113)Hudu is to show humbleness and submit one’s body, actions and behavior to Allah (swt); khushu’ is the state of humility which is experienced in the heart and manifests itself in various ways. Khushu' is a trait a Muslim should always have in his heart, it is his duty as a servant during salah and other rituals. (Mehmet Şener, “Huşu”, DİA, XVIII, 423) For this reason, the Prophet Muhammad (saw) sought refuge in Allah from a heart without khushu'. (Sunan Abu Davud, Witr 32)

Salah, which is the most beautiful indicator of servitude to Allah (swt), consists of bodily postures, actions and words expressing the sincere devotion of man to Allah (swt), his helplessness in the face of His greatness, the turning of the servant towards Allah, the glorification of Allah (swt). (Dehlawi, Hujjatullah al-Baligah, I, 152) Therefore, as well as internal and spiritual requirements such as khushu', which we have just mentioned, salah also has some concrete rules that must be followed before and during the performance.,

There are 12 rules that we must follow before and during this worship. These obligatory rules for this worship to be sahih and valid are called the fardhs (obligations) of the salah. What is done as a preparation before the opening takbir is called the shart (prerequisite) of salah. The actions and words that are obligatory to be fulfilled while performing salah are called rukn (pillar) of salah.