The Pillars Of Prayer
The pillars of the prayer are 14:
1- Standing if able.
2 – First Takbeer.
3 – Reciting Al Faatihah.
4 – Bowing.
5 – Standing Straight after Bowing.
6 – Prostrating upon 7 body parts.
7 – Getting up from prostration.
8 – Sitting between the two prostrations.
9 – Tranqulity in all of the positions.
10- The order of the pillars.
11 – The Final Tashahud.
12 – The Sitting for the Final Tashahud.
13 – Making Du’a for the Prophet ﷺ .
14- Giving Salam on both sides.
Pillar 1: Standing if able In the Obligatory Prayer: Standing is a pillar. A person is excused if not able to stand at all or is able to stand but unable to focus. If one is able to stand even for a part of the prayer, then s/he does so.
Recommended Prayers: The prayer is valid if one prays sitting; however, the reward is half of the one who prays standing. If one prays laying down, gets half the reward of the one who prays sitting.
Pillar 2: First Takbeer No other words are acceptable except “Allahu Akbar ” Allah is the Greatest.
Pillar 3: Reciting Al Faatihah It is a must to recite it full y with all its verses, phonetics, words, and letters whether silently or out loud in every unit of prayer in order. The only instance one is not required to recite it is if s/he joins the Imam while he is bowing.
Pillar 4: Tranqulity in all of the positions Tranquility is achieved by reciting each statement at least once.
Important Point to Remember The pillars are within an act of worship. The prayer is not valid if any of the pillars is not performed intentionally, out of ignorance, or forgetfully. Neither does the prostration of forgetfulness make up for it; one should repeat a recent prayer in which a pillar was left out. As for the previous prayers that one prayed without performing all of the pillars, then one is excused for them since the Prophet ﷺ did not ask his companion to repeat all the previous prayers; rather, he asked him to repeat the prayer he had just prayed even though he left off tranquility which is a pillar. Allah knows best.