Salah Terminology

Salah Terminology

*Takbir (تَكْبِير) : The Arabic term for the phrase Allāhu Akbar (الله أكبر). It is usually translated "God is [the] Greatest," or "God is Great". It is a common Islamic Arabic expression. It is used in various contexts by Muslims: in formal prayer, as an informal expression of faith, in times of distress, to express celebration or victory, and to express resolute determination or defiance (especially in politically charged contexts).
The form Allāhu is the nominative of Allah "God". The form akbar is the elative of the adjective kabīr "great", from the root k-b-r. As used in the takbir it is usually translated as "greatest", but some authors prefer "greater". The term takbīr itself is the stem II verbal noun (tafʿīlun) of the triliteral root k-b-r "great".



*Ruku (bowing) (رُكوع‎) : It refers to the bowing down following the recitation of the Qur'an in the standing position while praying according to Islamic ritual (Salah). The position of ruku is established by bending over, putting one's hands on one's knees, and remaining in that position until the individual attains "calmness". In Al-Ghazali's book Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship, he wrote about the ruku' by saying:

Bowing (ruku') and prostration (sujud) are accompanied by a renewed affirmation of the supreme greatness of Allah. In bowing you renew your submissiveness and humility, striving to refine your inner feeling through a fresh awareness of your own impotence and insignificance before the might and grandeur of your Lord. To confirm this, you seek the aid of your tongue, glorifying your Lord and testifying repeatedly to His supreme majesty, both inwardly and outwardly.

Then you rise from bowing, hopeful that He will be merciful towards you. To emphasize this hope within you, you say sami'a-llahu liman hamidah, meaning 'God hears those who give thanks to Him'. Acknowledging the need to express gratitude, you immediately add, Rabbana laka-lhamd - 'Grateful praise to You, our Lord!' To show the abundance of this gratitude, you may also say mil'u-lsamawati wa-mil'ul'ard - 'as much as the heavens and earth contain.



*Sajdah (prostration) (سجدة‎ / سُجود‎) : Prostration to Allah in the direction of the Kaaba at Mecca which is usually done during the daily prayers (Salah). While in Sujud, a Muslim is to praise and glorify Allah. The position involves having the forehead, nose, both hands, knees and all toes touching the ground together.

Sujud is one of the main pillars of daily prayer in Islam. A single act of sujud is called a sajdah (plural sajadāt). Muslims do sujud several times in each prayer, depending on the number of raka'at of prayer: two sajadat are performed every raka'ah, and prayers vary in obligatory length between two and four raka'at. A raka'ah is a unit of set actions that have to be performed in a prayer. The shortest farZ (obligatory) Muslim prayer is that of Fajr, it consists of two raka'ah. The raka'ah can be described as follows:

• Standing and saying Allahu akbar, reciting surah al-Fatiha, and often reciting a short passage of the Qur’an such as Surah al-Ikhlas.
• Performing ruku' (bowing down) with hands resting on knees, while reciting additional phrases to glorify Allah.
• Standing up from bowing, and reciting further.
• Going in prostration (Sajdah) once, while reciting additional specific phrases to glorify Allah.
• Lifting the face up from prostration but sitting on the ground in a special position.
• Performing a second prostration (Sajdah).
• Rising for the second, third, or fourth raka'ah. In the last raka'ah, the Muslim remains sitting and recites the Tashahhud, and then performs the Taslim by turning the head to the right and saying, as-salamu alaikum wa rahmatu Allah wa barakatuh ("may the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you"), and then turning the head to the left and repeating the blessing to conclude the prayer.



*Tashahhud : The Tashahhud (Arabic: تشهد‎) is the portion of Salah (obligatory prayer) where the Muslim kneels are on ground and facing Kabba. Raise your finger between middle & thumb of right hand from where black highlighted words (i.e alla) starts & put your finder down at end of blach highlighted words(i.e hu)

At-taḥiyyātu lillāhi, waṣ-ṣalawātu waṭ-ṭayyibātu. As-salāmu ālaikā ayyuhā n-nabiyyu wa-raḥmatu llāhi wa-barakātuh. As-salāmu 'alaynā wa-'alā 'ibādi llāhi ṣ-ṣāliḥīn. Ashhadu allā ilāha illā llāhu wa-ashhadu anna Muḥammadan 'abduhū wa-rasūluh.
التحيات لله والصلوات والطيبات، السلام عليك أيها النبي ورحمة لله وبركاته، السلام علينا و على عباد الله الصالحين، أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله، وأشهد أن محمدا عبده و رسوله.



*Darood (درود): Durood or Darood Shareef  is an invocation which Muslims make by saying specific phrases to compliment the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The Islamic view is to say Durood whenever a Muslim reads, speaks or hears the name of Muhammad. Durood, which is a kind of prayer and is mentioned in Hadith as well as in Qur'an, are also recited in the form of Wazifa.

Durood has various other names like Durood Sahreef, Salawat, Salat ala Nabi, Salat-un-Nabi.

Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet: O ye that believe! Send ye blessings on him, and salute him with all respect.
—Qur'an, Sura 33 (al-Ahzab, ayah 56

In this verse of the Qur'an, God, the Mala'ikah and the Muslims have been mentioned as sending Durood upon Muhammad. So, Durood Shareef is actually a Dua in praise of Muhammad. When God sends Durood and Salaams upon Muhammad, He is actually blessing him. When the angels and the Muslims send Durood and Salaams to Muhammad, they are actually showing God their respect for Muhammad.

He who reads a single Durood upon me, Almighty Allah blesses him ten times, ten of his sins are forgiven, and he is increased ten times in stages (internally).
—Anas ibn Malik

On the Day of Qiyamah, the closest to me from among the people will be those who have read the most amount of Durood Shareef"
—Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud

*Taslim (تسليم) : The concluding portion of the Muslim prayer (Salah).

Reciting the salam facing the right direction Reciting the salam facing the left direction