format_quote Originally Posted by
Sunnie
For instance, during the 5 daily prayers, is it the exact same thing said each time
The clear things up first, the faive daily prayers are "shalah" ("contact prayers", make differentiation with "prayers" or "supplications", because there's a lot of misunderstandings among non-muslim that think muslims pray to God only 5 times a day).
shalah are commanded by Allah and obligatory which must not be neglected, and shalah was also commanded to the previous prophets, including Jesus (pbuh). Evidence: current orthodox jews still perform their three time daily prayers.
Now, what to say in each shalah: the first two rakaah (units) of each and any shalah are the same (including the naafl or voluntary shalah), which include reciting Al Fatihah in the standing position. Al Fatiha is always recited during standing position in each rakaah in any shalah, that's the only obligatory recital in shalah. during other movements, supplications and praises to Allah SWT are said. The supplications and praises may vary between muslims, as prophet Muhammad SAW gave several examples where he sometimes recited different set of supplications and praises. Whichever you follow is good ONLY if you can ascertain that they were contained in shahih ahadeeth (authentic ahadeeth - the sayings and actions of prophet Muhammad SAW), however, for common folks and beginners, we also can follow one of the four majority mahdhabs as the scholars have done all the hard work for us and ensure that we follow qur'an and authentic sunnah.
Also remember that shalah fajr (pre-morning shalah) consists of 2 rakaat (units), shalah dhuhur (noon ) 4 rakaats, asr (afternoon) 4 rakaats, maghrib (sunset) 3 rakaats and isya' (after sunset) 4 rakaats.
Here's some basic info on how to perform shalah, you may see the differences in some supplications and praises, but never in the major movements and al fatiha:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salah
http://islam1.org/how_to_pray/salah.htm
please also remember that there's one difference in movement between men and women: when in prostration, women should place all their hands on the ground up to elbow.
Here's some youtube: