How to perform salah? Help needed please.

[Seeker_17]

Assalamu Alaikum everyone. I have just recently joined this website, hoping to widen my knowledge and understanding of Islam Insha'Allah. Anyway, I feel quite embarrassed saying this but I do not know how to properly pray salah and wanted to ask for help on this topic. What, in your opinions, would be the best way for me to learn how to perform salah? I know the basics but what I am struggling to grasp is the actions (what to do and when to do it) and exact times of when I need to pray. I would be very grateful for any help, advice and tips anybody can give me.
Insha'Allah Allah will forgive me for my sins and be happy that I am seeking help in order to become a better muslim and also reward those who help me in doing so. Thanks in advance for any help :)

[Salafi1407]

Sheikh Al Albani's book is very beneficial and renowned worldwide. It is called The Prophet's Prayer Described

I have a very good DVD that goes into every little detail and proves every little point, not only will you improve your salaat but you will master it inshallah using that DVD. I can give you a youtube link for that dvd it goes through the above mentioned book. But I cannot post links yet :(

[Little_Lion]

If you do a Youtube search on "How to pray salat women" you will find many useful videos, insha'Allah; I don't want to post a link as I don't know if you prefer animations to video, if avoiding filming the face would be distracting, etc, but there is a wide variety.

I use an iGoogle addon for prayer times, so it is right on my home page.

[Ali Mujahidin]

As salaam mualaikum.

By all means, read up all you can and watch all the videos you can find to learn about how to perform salah. In the meantime, keep on performing salah any old how you can. It is better to perform salah haphazardly than not to perform salah at all. Learn to recite the al-Fatihah. Don't worry if you cannot pronounce it correctly yet. Allah measures your piety by your sincerity not by how many surahs you have memorized. Actually, a person who reads the Quran haltingly gets twice as much reward from Allah than one who reads it fluently. One, he gets rewarded for reading the Quran. Two, he gets rewarded again for making the effort to read the Quran even though he has to struggle just to pronounce each word.

I pray that Allah will open the way for you to meet a Muslim who can help you learn how to perform the salah. Just don't forget to keep on performing the salah, no matter what. Myself, it was after six years of performing salah before I found out what the tahayyat is. I pray that you will find out sooner than I did. Insha Allah.

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[elina]

Salaam sister...... i understand where you are coming from...... as a new muslim i dont know any sisters in real life to ask for help, my husbands english isnt fluent so it was difficult for him to explain as i didnt understand arabic and he couldnt tell me what to say in english. I watched him a few times but it was like a whirlwind in my head.

This is what helped me ..... my husband picked me up some info/books from the local Mosque..... one 'Three Letters on Ghusl, Wudu and Prayer' was a real help..... simply written and easy to understand..... i also spent a lot of time reading on here in the prayer section which was a fantastic help. I watched youtube videos ( which were actually confusing as there were slight differences in them) I wrote everything down in english and slowly and i mean slowly learnt to do prayer speaking english. I will be truthful and say it was really hard..... i missed bits out, i said the wrong thing at the wrong time, i lost count of rakats i had done..... but eventually it all came together and i could do salat in english. All this time i had been listening to vids on youtube.... 'how to perform salat in arabic' sorry cant post a link as i cant get on youtube :( Again I wrote it down and learned the little bits first.... what to say in ruku and sujood.... then i learnt a couple of surahs...... then Al Fatiha ( i thought i would never be able to do this but now i can recite it ok) this is over the space of maybe 3 months. Except for Tashahud i can now do salat in Arabic..... i still have to pause and think sometimes which is why im not going to learn Tashahud until im more confident but i think in a month or so i should be able to do all of it.

This sounds silly but my husband had never seen me do salat..... i felt so embarassed and also knew that if he was around I would feel panicky and make mistakes, but a couple of weeks ago i asked him to watch me and see if i was doing it correctly..... When i finished the look on his face told me all i needed to know...... yayyyyy i had done it properly..... i felt so happy :)

I use this for prayer times http://www.salahtimes.com/Web/Pages/...?PlaceId=16410 but after reading little lions comment about the add on i think i will have a look at that (thanks little lion) :)

During the time i have been learning I have felt upset, confused, worn out and at times felt like banging my head on the wall as i thought i would never be able to do it properly but I eventually got where i am..... have patience .....its well worth it when it all comes together ..... Inshallah you will grasp it soon..... if i can do it ...anyone can ;)

[questions123]

Salam,

When i wanted to learn i used a program called CyberSalat. Its animation is for males, but learning the words are very easy with this. You can go through each step, listening to each part, and even change the writing text from text to English to make reading the words easier if needed.
It also tells you what you pray in each of the 5 prayers.

If you want to use it, just google CyberSalat and go to the website StudyIslam.

InshaAllah you will find it useful. :)

[Ubeyde]

Are you from the Hannafi school of thought? If so, I can teach you the male version of salah... it is similar I believe.

First Step.
Raise your hands and close the fingers (not tightly) and raise them to your ears, and say Allahuakbar (Allah is Great). Drop your hands to your stomach, left hand touching the stomach and right hand resting on top. Thumb rests on top of the wrist and pinky rests next to the arm.

Second.
Recite the Surahs. Subhanaka Allahuma... and then Surah Al Fatiha and then any Surah you know.. After completion of the Surah, say Allahuakbar and procede immediately to Rukoo.

Third.
Move to Rukoo. Your fingers spread, you hold your knees with your hands, bent over, back completely straight. Then begin to recite Subhanarabilyeatheem thrice.

Fourth.
Say Semiallahuwalhamidah (it's hard to write the transliteration).. and stand perfectly straight, hands by your waist.

Fifth
Say Allahuakbar, and fall prostrate to the ground. As you approach the floor, you shouldn't let yourself fall, so you hold your hands on your knees and when your knee first touches the floor, you then put out your hands and gently put your head to the floor. Your forehead and nose should only be touching from your face. You look down your nose, and don't let your arms touch the floor, i.e. your elbows,etc. Recite Subhannarabilyeallah.

Sixth
Say allahuakbar, and sit, and stay sat for aslong as it takes for you to recite 3 times subhannarabilyeallah.

seventh
Say Alluhuakbar, and then approach prostration in the same mannerism as before but from a sitting position.

Eighth
Say Allahuakbar, then stand as you did in step one, recite Surah Al Fatiha and proceed to any surahs you may know

Ninth
Depending on the number of Rakaat you wish to perform, i.e. 2,3 or 4. On the second Rakaat after your second prostration you you recite Itihayatoo... and depending on how many Rakat you proceed to all the necessary Duas and finish or you go back to Step one.

Tenth
When you have finished your Rakaats, you recite when you are finished with your dua, you finish with Salaam, you start by moving your head to the right, without moving your shoulders or any other part, then to the left.

Eleventh
You recite the relevent Tasbeehs and make Dua for whatever you wish


I hope this basic guide provides you with some insight and may be the means in you attaining the ultimate prize, Jannah. Ameen.

[Sunnie Ameena]

Is there a program or a website for females like the one listed above? Sunnie

[Sunnie Ameena]

Sorry I posted that question. My page did not fully load, and then when it did, I realized that my question was answered before I even asked it. LOL.

[Seeker_17]

Thank you so much for your help brothers and sisters. I actually posted this quite a while ago but it has only just been approved for some reason. Since then I have done lots of research and have pretty much grasped the main aspects. I am having trouble with a few details but Insha'Allah with practice and help I will overcome these difficulties and perfect my Salah.
If anybody is interested there are some very helpful Youtube videos which helped me a lot and Insha'Allah they can help you too. I can't post links so go onto the Youtube website and after the forward slash copy and paste these two links:

1) watch?v=WKblG-Zoagk&feature=relmfu

2) watch?v=W9kTd7q1zjE

[Seeker_17]

Oh, sorry my mistake- I thought that my original post had been posted in the last few days but it hasn't, I have only just seen the replies :)

[Seeker_17]

As salaam mualaikum.

By all means, read up all you can and watch all the videos you can find to learn about how to perform salah. In the meantime, keep on performing salah any old how you can. It is better to perform salah haphazardly than not to perform salah at all. Learn to recite the al-Fatihah. Don't worry if you cannot pronounce it correctly yet. Allah measures your piety by your sincerity not by how many surahs you have memorized. Actually, a person who reads the Quran haltingly gets twice as much reward from Allah than one who reads it fluently. One, he gets rewarded for reading the Quran. Two, he gets rewarded again for making the effort to read the Quran even though he has to struggle just to pronounce each word.

I pray that Allah will open the way for you to meet a Muslim who can help you learn how to perform the salah. Just don't forget to keep on performing the salah, no matter what. Myself, it was after six years of performing salah before I found out what the tahayyat is. I pray that you will find out sooner than I did. Insha Allah.

Really?? So if I perform salah but make mistakes will my salah be accepted the same as everybody elses?

[Perseveranze]

Really?? So if I perform salah but make mistakes will my salah be accepted the same as everybody elses?

It is the intention what counts sister. So if you make a mistake unintentionally then your Prayer will still be accepted.

[Seeker_17]

It is the intention what counts sister. So if you make a mistake unintentionally then your Prayer will still be accepted.

Ahh okay I understand, thank you for your help :)