The Opening Readings When Commencing Salah (prayer)

“Abu Ja’far (a.s.), has said, ‘When you stand up for Salah (prayer) say Takbir (Allah is great beyond description) and raise your hands. Do not allow your palms (hands) to rise higher than your ears. Keep them on the sides of your face.’”

“He (the Imam) (a.s.), has said, ‘The least for Takbir (Allah is great beyond description) facing (al-Qiblah (al-Ka‘bah)) is to say it once. Three times is good and seven times is better.”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If you are leading others in Salah (prayer) one Takbir (Allah is great beyond description) is sufficient; with you there can be people who need to go after their needs, weak people and the old ones.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘The number of Takbir (Allah is great beyond description) in all five obligatory Salah (prayer) is ninety-five of which are Takbir (Allah is great beyond description) during five Qunut.’”

6. He (Ali ibn Ibrahim) has narrated it also from his father from ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Mughirah. In explaining he has said that in al-Dhuhr there are twenty-one, in al-‘Asr twenty-one, in al-Maghrib sixteen, in al-‘Isha’ al-Akhirah twenty-one and in the morning Salah (prayer) there are eleven and in the five Qunut there are five Takbir (Allah is great beyond description).

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that as introduction for prayer raise your hands and open them, then say three times, ‘Allah is great and then say, ‘O Lord, You are the true owner. No one other than You deserves to be worshipped. You are free of all defects. I have wronged myself so forgive my sins; no one other than You is able to forgive sins.’ Then say two times, ‘Allah is great.’ Then say, ‘(O Lord), here I am to obey Your command and asking help from You (to accomplish my duty); all good is in Your hands and evil has no way toward You. Guided are those whom You have granted guidance. There is no place of refuge from You (Your anger) except in Your presence. You are free of all defects and compassionate, the most Blessed, the most High. You are free of all defects and You are the Lord of the House.’ Then say two times, ‘Allah is great.’ Then say. ‘I have turned my face toward the One who has created the skies and the earth. He has knowledge of the unseen and seen. I am humble before and submitted to the will of Allah and I am not one of the pagans. My Salah (prayer), my practices, my life and my death are all for the sake of Allah, Cherisher of the worlds. He has no partner. I am commanded to speak as such and I am the first Muslim.’ Then seek refuge with Allah against Satan, who is subject to stoning and then read al-Fatihah.”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), one day asked me, ‘Do you know how to perform Salah (prayer) properly?’ I said, ‘I keep the book of Hariz with me in Salah (prayer).’ The Imam said, ‘Nevermind, O Hammad. Stand up and perform Salah (prayer).’ The narrator has said, ‘I then stood up in his presence, facing the direction of Qiblah (Makkah). I began performing Salah (prayer), with Ruku‘ and Sajdah.’ He then said, “O Hammad, you do not know how to perform Salah (prayer) properly. It is a shame for a man of your people who at the age of sixty or seventy cannot even perform one Salah (prayer) according to its complete rules and manners.’ Hammad has said, ‘I belittled myself very much at this point. I then asked him saying, “I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause teach me how to perform Salah (prayer) properly.’” Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), stood up straight facing the direction of Qiblah. He allowed his hands to rest on his thighs, with his fingers close side by side, kept his feet near each other, only leaving between them a distance of three fingers opened up, with his toes facing the direction of Qiblah without allowing them to deviate from this direction and with humbleness said, ‘Allah is great.’ He then recited al-Hamd (the first Chapter of the Holy Quran) with clarity and fluency and Chapter 112 of the Holy Quran. He then paused for a breath while still standing and raised his hands up to the sides of his face and said, ‘Allah is great,’ while still standing. He then bent down for Ruku‘ (kneeling). He then placed his palms over his knees allowing them to be filled up with his knees that were separate from each other, and pressed them backward until his back became so straightly level that even if there had been a drop of water or oil it would not flow to any side. He stretched his neck forward, lowered his eyes and then said with clarity and fluency three times, ‘I praise my Lord, the Great, Who is free of all defects.’ He then stood up straight. While standing straight he said, ‘Allah hears all those who praise Him.’ He then while standing raised his hands up to the sides of his face and said, ‘Allah is great.’ Then he bowed down for sajdah. He opened his palms with his fingers close side by side, placed them near his knees on the sides next to his face and said, ‘I praise my Lord, the most High who is free of all defects,’ three times. He did not place any other part of his body on any other part thereof. He performed sajdah on eight parts of his bones: his palms, knees, big toes of his feet, his forehead and his nose. He (the Imam) said, ‘Placing seven parts of these bones on the ground is obligatory during sajdah but one of them (the nose) is not obligatory. This is what Allah has spoken of in the Quran, “The parts of the body to be placed on the ground during sajdah belong to Allah, you then must not worship anyone other than Allah.” (72:17) Such parts are forehead, palms, knees and big toes of feet. Placing one’s nose on the ground is optional.’ He then raised his head from sajdah. When he sat up straight, he then said, ‘Allah is great.’ He then sat on his left thigh placing the back of his right foot over the sole of his left foot and then said, ‘I seek forgiveness from Allah, my Lord and turn to Him in repentance.’ He then said, ‘Allah is great.’ Then he bowed down for second sajdah, saying therein what he said in the first sajdah. He did not place any other part of his body on any other part during Ruku‘ or sajdah. He spread his elbows and did not place his arms on the ground. In this way, he performed two Rak‘ats of Salah (prayer). He (the Imam) kept the fingers of his hands close side by side when saying the two testimonies in a sitting position. When he finished saying the testimonies, he then read Sal am and said, ‘O Hammad, you must perform Salah (prayer) like this.’” (Ahadith 2-7 are best explained by fatwa.)