حَٰفِظُوا۟ عَلَى ٱلصَّلَوَٰتِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ٱلْوُسْطَىٰ وَقُومُوا۟ لِلَّهِ قَٰنِتِينَ ﴿٢٣٨﴾
Maintain with care the [obligatory] prayers and [in particular] the middle prayer and stand before Allah, devoutly obedient.
Prayer (Salah)
The five daily prayers: why they are obligatory and their place in Islam
The ruling in short
The five daily prayers are a pillar of Islam and the first thing that a person will be asked about on the Day of Judgement. Allah says that prayer is obligatory upon the believers at fixed times (4:103). The Prophet ﷺ said that Islam is built on five, and prayer is one of them.
1The five prayers
- Fajr: 2 rak'ahs. Dhuhr: 4. Asr: 4. Maghrib: 3. Isha: 4.
- Each is an individual obligation on every sane, adult Muslim, man or woman, except a woman who is in her period or postnatal bleeding.
- The obligation applies in illness, travel and fear, in a shortened or adapted form, and it is not dropped.
2Why it matters
- The Prophet ﷺ compared the five prayers to a river at the door of a person who bathes in it five times a day: nothing of the dirt would remain. In the same way the prayers wipe away sins.
- He said that the deed most loved by Allah is the prayer at its fixed time.
- Allah says: establish prayer for My remembrance (20:14).
3Who is not required
- A child below the age of discernment. Children are told to pray from seven years and are corrected at ten, as it is reported.
- A person who has lost their mind, until they recover.
Where the schools differ
The four Sunni schools agree on the main ruling above and differ in these points. No school is preferred here.
- Abandoning the prayer out of laziness while believing it is obligatory: the Maliki and Shafi'i schools say the person is a sinner, and is to be punished by the ruler, while the Hanbali school holds him to be a disbeliever, and the Hanafi school says he is to be imprisoned. All schools agree it is a grave sin.
The evidence
From the Quran
فَإِذَا قَضَيْتُمُ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ فَٱذْكُرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ قِيَٰمًۭا وَقُعُودًۭا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِكُمْ ۚ فَإِذَا ٱطْمَأْنَنتُمْ فَأَقِيمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ كَانَتْ عَلَى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ كِتَٰبًۭا مَّوْقُوتًۭا ﴿١٠٣﴾
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.
إِنَّنِىٓ أَنَا ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّآ أَنَا۠ فَٱعْبُدْنِى وَأَقِمِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ لِذِكْرِىٓ ﴿١٤﴾
Indeed, I am Allah. There is no deity except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance.
From the Sunnah
Sahih al-Bukhari 8 Authentic collection
The point of the hadith: Islam is built on five: the testimony of faith, prayer, zakat, Hajj and fasting Ramadan.
Read the Arabic text
حَدَّثَنَا عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُوسَى، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنَا حَنْظَلَةُ بْنُ أَبِي سُفْيَانَ، عَنْ عِكْرِمَةَ بْنِ خَالِدٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " بُنِيَ الإِسْلاَمُ عَلَى خَمْسٍ شَهَادَةِ أَنْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ، وَإِقَامِ الصَّلاَةِ، وَإِيتَاءِ الزَّكَاةِ، وَالْحَجِّ، وَصَوْمِ رَمَضَانَ ".
Sahih al-Bukhari 528 Authentic collection
The point of the hadith: The five prayers are like a river at a door in which a person bathes five times a day: no dirt would remain on him. In the same way they wipe away sins.
Read the Arabic text
حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ حَمْزَةَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي ابْنُ أَبِي حَازِمٍ، وَالدَّرَاوَرْدِيُّ، عَنْ يَزِيدَ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ " أَرَأَيْتُمْ لَوْ أَنَّ نَهَرًا بِبَابِ أَحَدِكُمْ، يَغْتَسِلُ فِيهِ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ خَمْسًا، مَا تَقُولُ ذَلِكَ يُبْقِي مِنْ دَرَنِهِ ". قَالُوا لاَ يُبْقِي مِنْ دَرَنِهِ شَيْئًا. قَالَ " فَذَلِكَ مِثْلُ الصَّلَوَاتِ الْخَمْسِ، يَمْحُو اللَّهُ بِهَا الْخَطَايَا ".
Sahih al-Bukhari 527 Authentic collection
The point of the hadith: The deed dearest to Allah is the prayer at its early fixed time, then kindness to parents.
Read the Arabic text
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الْوَلِيدِ، هِشَامُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الْمَلِكِ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، قَالَ الْوَلِيدُ بْنُ الْعَيْزَارِ أَخْبَرَنِي قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا عَمْرٍو الشَّيْبَانِيَّ، يَقُولُ حَدَّثَنَا صَاحِبُ، هَذِهِ الدَّارِ وَأَشَارَ إِلَى دَارِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ قَالَ سَأَلْتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَىُّ الْعَمَلِ أَحَبُّ إِلَى اللَّهِ قَالَ " الصَّلاَةُ عَلَى وَقْتِهَا ". قَالَ ثُمَّ أَىُّ قَالَ " ثُمَّ بِرُّ الْوَالِدَيْنِ ". قَالَ ثُمَّ أَىُّ قَالَ " الْجِهَادُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ". قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي بِهِنَّ وَلَوِ اسْتَزَدْتُهُ لَزَادَنِي.
This is general information, not a fatwa. For your own situation, ask a qualified scholar.
Fiqh questions
The five daily prayers: why they are obligatory and their place in Islam
The five daily prayers are a pillar of Islam and the first thing that a person will be asked about on the Day of Judgement. Allah says that prayer is obligatory upon the believers at fixed times (4:103). The Prophet ﷺ said that Islam is built on five, and prayer is one of them.
Is this a fatwa?
No. It is a summary of well-known rulings with their evidence. For your own case, ask a qualified scholar.
What if my school differs from this answer?
Follow the view of the school you follow and the scholar who teaches you. The page lists the differences of the four schools.