Salat - The Muslim Prayer Book — Page 32
32 S al a t —The Muslim Prayer Book Translation: I have turned my full attention towards the Supreme Being, Who has created the heavens and the earth, and I am not one of those who associate partners with Him. Before the commencement of Prayer, Iq a mah , the notice that the Prayer is about to start, is recited. During the Prayer one should concentrate fully on one’s Prayer and remove all other thoughts from one’s mind. The Prayer starts with Takb i r-i-Ta h r i mah , i. e. the Im a m raises both hands to the level of his earlobes and says All a hu Akbar (God is the Greatest). All worshippers do the same. To raise both hands to one’s earlobes when reciting All a hu Akbar is to follow the practice (called the Sunnah ) of the Holy Prophet sa of Islam. All Muslim schools of thought agree on this. However, there are some Muslim sects who raise their hands to their earlobes more than once in one Rak‘at. Thus, in addition to the moment of saying the first All a hu Akbar at the start of Prayer, they also raise their hands while going to Ruk u‘ posture from Standing; when reverting to the standing posture; when going to Sajdah and when getting up from Sajdah. Looking at the history of Islam, we find that the Holy Prophet sa did raise his hands more than once during Prayer on several occasions in the early days of