A valid prayer rests on three layers: conditions (shurūṭ) that must be met before you begin, pillars (arkān) that make up the prayer itself, and — beneath them — obligations (wājibāt) and recommended sunnahs. Missing a condition or pillar invalidates the prayer; a forgotten wājib is mended by sujūd as-sahw.
Conditions before you begin (shurūṭ)
Farḍ- • Islam, sanity, and discretion (tamyīz).
- • The prayer time has entered.
- • Ritual purity from ḥadath (wudūʾ or ghusl).
- • Purity of body, clothing, and place from najāsah.
- • Covering the ʿawra.
- • Facing the qibla.
- • Intention (niyya).
The pillars (arkān)
FarḍThese make up the prayer; omitting one — even forgetfully — invalidates the rakʿah until corrected. Ḥanafīs class a few as wājib rather than rukn, which changes only the remedy.
Agreed by all schools
- ✓Standing if able
- ✓The opening takbīr
- ✓Reciting al-Fātiḥa
- ✓Rukūʿ
- ✓Rising from rukūʿ
- ✓Two prostrations
- ✓Sitting between them
- ✓Stillness (ṭumaʾnīna)
- ✓Final sitting & tashahhud
- ✓Taslīm
- ✓Order
Also obligatory in Hanafi
This school’s pillars match the agreed core.
Obligations & sunnahs within (a sample)
SunnahThe Ḥanafīs treat several of these as wājib (mended by sujūd as-sahw if forgotten); others treat them as sunnah.
- • The opening supplication (istiftāḥ).
- • Saying “Āmīn” after al-Fātiḥa.
- • The tasbīḥ in rukūʿ and sujūd.
- • “Samiʿa-llāhu liman ḥamidah” and “Rabbanā wa laka-l-ḥamd”.
- • The first tashahhud and sitting for it.
- • Reciting a sūra after al-Fātiḥa in the first two rakʿahs.
Evidence
“Guard the prayers, and the middle prayer, and stand before Allah devoutly.”
Qurʾān 2:238
“Pray as you have seen me pray.”
Bukhārī 631 ṣaḥīḥ
“Allah does not accept a prayer without purification.”
Bukhārī 6954 / Muslim 225 ṣaḥīḥ
Compare the schools
Tap a school to see its ruling first everywhere on this page.
Ṣalāh
A woman’s ʿawra in prayer
Hanafi: Her whole body except the face, the hands, and the feet.
Other schools
Maliki: Her whole body except the face and hands; the feet are covered.
Shāfiʿī: Her whole body except the face and hands.
Hanbali: Her whole body except the face; the hands too are covered in the well-known view (some allow them).
Sitr al-ʿawra fī al-ṣalāt — al-Mawsūʿa al-Fiqhiyya.
Classical references
Hanafi: al-Hidāya · Nūr al-Īḍāḥ
Maliki: al-Risāla · Mukhtaṣar Khalīl
Shāfiʿī: Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn · al-Umm
Hanbali: al-Mughnī · Zād al-Mustaqniʿ
Content is being reviewed for authenticity by a qualified scholar. Follow your local scholars for personal rulings.