A Primer of Religious Knowledge — Page 70
70 Maghrib: The fourth of the five daily Prayer services, which can be of- fered any time in the period start- ing from immediately after sunset and ending when there is still some light left on the horizon. Mu’adhdhin: The person who says the Adh a n, or Call to Prayer. Nafl: Supererogatory worship/ prayer. Qa‘dah: Sitting position adopted to- wards the end of the second Rak‘at in Prayer. Qiy a m: The standing position in Prayer. Rak‘at: One complete unit within Prayer, consisting of a number of different postures of the body with corresponding prescribed prayers, words of glorification and praise of God. Rak‘ a t: Plural of Rak‘at. Ruk u ‘: The Bowing down position in Prayer. Sajdah: The position of Prostration in prayer. S al a t-ul-Jumu‘ah: Or Friday Prayer is offered in congregation in place of Z uhr Prayer. It contains a Khut- bah (Sermon) and the four regular Far d rak‘ a t are reduced to two. The recitation of the Quranic verses is aloud. There are two Adh a ns, the first is just like that for Z uhr and the second one is just before the Imam stands to deliver the sermon. S al a t: Prayer in the prescribed form; also known as the second pillar of Islam. Sunnah or Sunnat: One of the types or categories of Prayer; less com- pulsory than a Fard (obligatory) Prayer, but more so than a Nafl (su- pererogatory) one. S u rah: Arabic word for ‘chapter’, and used for designating the chapters of the Holy Quran. Ta‘awwudh: Set words for seeking the protection of God against Sa- tan, recited at the beginning of Prayer. Takb i r: A set formula, recited loudly in order to indicate that a congre- gational Prayer is about to start.