Salat - The Muslim Prayer Book — Page 10
10 S al a t —The Muslim Prayer Book 4. CONDITIONS FOR PRAYER Some prerequisites and conditions exist regarding the offering of Prayers. They are as follows: i. Determination of Intention: The intention to perform a Prayer must be made prior to the beginning of the Prayer. ii. The Prayer should be offered within the fixed time allotted for that particular Prayer. However, it should be remembered that if one fails to perform a Prayer in time due to some compelling reasons, that Prayer can be offered whenever one remembers it. However, it should not be offered at forbidden times. The question arises that if the timings for Prayer and fasting, etc. , are associated with the duration of sunlight, with the rotation of the earth and the relative position of the sun and moon, how could one determine the timings of Prayer and fasting in extreme Southern and Northern areas where the duration of days and nights are longer than twenty-four hours? It should be noted that the Holy Prophet sa replying to a question from a Companion, explained that in those areas where the days and nights are of longer duration as compared to the normal 24- hour day, Muslims should offer their Prayers by measuring time in accordance with the normal length of a day. iii. One should be clean in body and, as far as possible, in mind and spirit also. Cleanliness here is a term which means: