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.
Short answer
A Muslim washes, faces Mecca, says 'Allahu Akbar' (God is the Greatest), recites the opening chapter of the Quran, bows, stands, and then prostrates with forehead, nose, hands, knees and toes on the ground, then sits and ends with a greeting of peace to the right and left.
The fuller answer
One full cycle of standing, bowing and two prostrations is called a rak'ah. The dawn prayer has two, midday four, afternoon four, sunset three and night four. Prayer is mostly silent and personal, and is said in Arabic, though a person may add their own words of supplication in any language during the prostration.
Men and women pray in the same way, standing in rows shoulder to shoulder in a mosque, with the imam in front. The prayer can be done anywhere clean: at home, at work, in a park or on a prayer mat.
From the Quran
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱرْكَعُوا۟ وَٱسْجُدُوا۟ وَٱعْبُدُوا۟ رَبَّكُمْ وَٱفْعَلُوا۟ ٱلْخَيْرَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ۩ ﴿٧٧﴾
O you who have believed, bow and prostrate and worship your Lord and do good - that you may succeed.
Please note
This answer follows the mainstream Sunni understanding and is general learning, not a fatwa. Where Muslims differ, the answer says so. Have a question of your own? Write to us.