Page 24 - Perfected Faith

22
PERFECTED FAITH

And glorify Him during part of the night and at both ends of the
day, so that hopefully you will be pleased. (Surah Ta Ha, 130)
Our Prophet (saas), who best understood and interpreted the
Qur'an, thanks to the revelation and inspiration of Allah, described to
believers the beginning and ending times of the five performances of
salat during the course of a day. The following hadith narrated by
Abdullah b. Amr b. Al- As is one of the most well-known of these ha-
diths:
Our Prophet (saas) said:
The time for the morning prayer (lasts) as long as the first visible
part of the rising sun does not appear, an the time of the noon
prayer is when the sun declines from the zenith and there is not a
time for the afternoon prayer and the time for the afternoon prayer
is as long as the sun does not become pale and its first visible part
does not set, and the time for the evening prayer is that when the sun
disappears and (it lasts) till the twilight is no more and the time for
the night prayer is up to the midnight. (Muslim)
Both the verses of the Qur'an and the hadiths of our Prophet (saas)
and the explanations of Islamic scholars make it certain that the oblig-
atory salat is to be performed five times a day.
The total number of rakats for the five obligatory prayers is 40. The
allocation of these rakats according to the times is as follows:
- Morning prayer: 2 rakats sunnat, 2 rakats fard
- Noon prayer: 4 rakats initial sunnat, 4 rakats fard, 2 rakats last
sunnat
- Midafternoon prayer: 4 rakats sunnat, 4 rakats fard
- Evening prayers: 3 rakats fard, 2 rakats sunnat
- Night prayers: 4 rakats initial sunnat, 4 rakats fard, 2 rakats last
sunnat, 3 rakats witr.

A Person of Perfected Faith Prays in Awe
Awe is a kind of fear mixed with respect. Feeling awe while pray-