Salah
Prayer · the second pillar of Islam
Pillar 2 of IslamFive prayers a day
Salah is the daily prayer: set times, ritual washing, facing a set direction, standing, bowing and prostrating. The Quran says it was enjoined on the earlier prophets, and the earlier scriptures show the same acts: falling on the face, set times of prayer, a set direction and washing before service.
What it is in Islam
The Quran commands prayer at set times, with washing before it, bowing and prostration. It names Jesus and Ishmael among those who were told to pray.
“Indeed, I am Allah. There is no deity except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance.”
“And when you have completed the prayer, remember Allah standing, sitting, or [lying] on your sides. But when you become secure, re-establish [regular] prayer. Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a decree of specified times.”
“O you who have believed, bow and prostrate and worship your Lord and do good - that you may succeed.”
“O you who have believed, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles.”
“And He has made me blessed wherever I am and has enjoined upon me prayer and zakah as long as I remain alive”
Jesus speaking in the Quran.
“And he used to enjoin on his people prayer and zakah and was to his Lord pleasing.”
Ishmael in the Quran.
“You see them bowing and prostrating [in prayer], seeking bounty from Allah and [His] pleasure. Their mark is on their faces from the trace of prostration. That is their description in the Torah.”
The Quran says the Torah already described this posture.
“If there was a river at the door of anyone of you and he took a bath in it five times a day would you notice any dirt on him? … That is the example of the five prayers with which Allah blots out (annuls) evil deeds.”
Narrated by Abu Huraira. English as shown on sunnah.com.
In the earlier scriptures
Passages are the King James Version unless marked otherwise. Each carries a tag: a close parallel, a shared principle, or an interpretation (Muslim or traditional), which is a reading we offer as a reading and not as a proven fact.
“And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,”
Abraham falls on his face before God. Falling on the face to the ground is the posture Muslims call sujud.
“And Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him, saying:”
Translation by Florentin and Tal (Open Book Publishers, 2024). The translation writes the divine name as “Shema”, the Samaritan way of saying “the Name”.
The Samaritan Torah has the same line.
“And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them.”
Moses and Aaron fall on their faces before the Lord.
“And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground.”
A whole congregation bows and puts its faces to the ground, after raising the hands.
“Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.”
Prayer at three set times of the day.
“Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.”
Daniel kneels three times a day, faces a set direction (toward Jerusalem), prays and gives thanks. A set direction is also part of Muslim prayer (Quran 2:144).
Note: the Quran records that the direction for Muslims was turned to the Sacred Mosque (Quran 2:142–144). We show Daniel’s direction only as the practice of facing a set place in prayer.
“For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not;”
Washing hands and feet before service in God’s presence, as Muslims wash before prayer (Quran 5:6).
“And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat: When they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as the LORD commanded Moses.”
The washing is done when they go in to worship, “as the LORD commanded Moses”.
“And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
Jesus falls on his face and prays, in the posture of the earlier prophets above.
Where this page stands: the postures, the three set times, the set direction and the washing are all in the Hebrew Bible and the Gospels. They are shown as parallels. The five daily prayers of Islam are not claimed in these passages.
Sources
Quran (Sahih International, via api.alquran.cloud; links go to quran.com)
Hadith (English from sunnah.com)
Hebrew Bible and New Testament (King James Version, text via bible-api.com; links go to BibleGateway)
Samaritan Pentateuch