Rule: At what age should children be taught Namaz ?
When a child reaches the age of seven he should be shown how to pray Namaz. When the child reaches the age of ten. they should be made to pray via use of beatings. Before we show you the way in which Namaz should be prayed, we will first of all show you the six conditions/qualifiers that must be performed, otherwise the Namaz will not begin. These are known as the 'Shara'it-e-Namaz and are as follows;
- Cleanliness
- The covering of the body
- Time
- Facing Qibia
- Intention
- The call to start Namaz (Takbeer-e-Tahrima)
The first qualification is cleanliness. This means that the person praying Namaz (which will now be referred to as Namazee) must have their body, clothing and the place where Namaz is going to be performed, clean from impurities such as urine, stools, blood, alcohol. dung, animal excretion, etc. Also the Namazee must not be without bathing or ablution.
The second qualification is covering of the body. This means that the male's body must be covered from the navel upto and including the knees. The female's body must be completely covered except for the face, the hands below and including the wrists and feet below and including the ankles.
The third qualification is time. This means that whatever time is allocated to a particular Namaz, that Namaz is prayed. For example, the Fajr Namaz is prayed from the break of dawn to before sunrise. Zohar Namaz is prayed after midday to the time when there are two shadows to everything except for the original shadow (mid afternoon). Asr Namaz is prayed from when there are two shadows until sunset. Maghrib Namaz is prayed after sunset to when the natural light disappears. Isha Namaz is prayed after the natural light has disappeared until before the break of dawn.
The fourth qualification is the facing towards Qibla. This means to face towards the Holy Ka'aba (in Makkah).
The fifth qualification is intention. This means that whatever Namaz is being prayed for whatever time i.e. Ada, Qaza. Farz, Sunnat,Nafl etc. to make a firm intention in the heart for that Namaz.
The sixth qualification is Takbeer-e-Tahrima. This means to say Allah-o-Akbar and start the Namaz. This is the last qualification and once said the Namaz begins. If you then say something to someone or eat something or drink something or perform any action which is against Namaz then the Namaz will break. The first five qualifications must remain from when the Takbeer-e-Tahrima is said, to until the Namaz is completed, otherwise the Namaz will not count.
SECOND QUALIFICATION ON NAMAZ - SATRE-AURAT - COVERING OF THE BODY
It is compulsory to cover the body, meaning how much of the body in Namaz should be covered at least.
- Rule: For males, from below the naval to below the knees is compulsory, that it is covered, it is not compulsory to cover the naval, but the knees must be covered.
- Rule: For women who are not slaves nor have any restriction of Shariat on them, it is compulsory for them to cover all their body except the face, hands upto the wrists and feet upto the ankles. It is also compulsory for women to cover the hair hanging from their heads, their necks and their collars (throats).
- Rule: If a woman has worn a very thin veil over her head that the hair's shininess can be seen then the Namaz will not count.
- Rule: For a female servant/slave the whole of the stomach, back, both sides and from the navel to the knees is all aurat (parts that need covering).
- Rule: In all the parts that are compulsory to cover if one part was uncovered and was less than a quarter, then the Namaz will count. If it is a quarter in size and is recovered immediately, then the Namaz will count. If the part was uncovered for one 'Rukun' meaning the time you could say Subhanallah three times or was uncovered deliberately and whether it was covered again immediately, the Namaz will not count.
Parts of Aurat in a Male
Rule: There are nine parts of the body which are aurat for a male.
- The penis
- Both testicles
- Posterior
- The right hip
- The left hip
- The right thigh (upto and including the knee)
- The left thigh (upto and including the knee)
- From below the naval upto the male organ and upto both sides of the body inclusive.
- The area between the testicles upto the posterior is a single aurat.
The aurats that have been counted above are all one part each, meaning if less than a quarter of each part became uncovered, the Namaz would count.
- Rule: If some parts of the aurats became uncovered but were all less than a quarter, however, when added together the size would be more than a quarter of the smallest part that has been uncovered, then the Namaz will not count. For example, if a ninth of a thigh was uncovered, a ninth of hip and a ninth of a penis was uncovered then the size added together is more than a quarter of the penis, the Namaz will not count [Alamgiri, Radd-ul-Mohtar].
- Rule: At the start of the Namaz if one quarter of a part is left uncovered and you say Allah-o-Akbar, the Namaz will not start [Radd-ul-Mohtar].
Aurat parts for a woman
Rule: For women who are not slaves, except for the five parts mentioned above (face, both hands upto the wrists and both feet upto the ankles) all the body is aurat. This is split into thirty parts of the body. The same rule applies in Namaz (as mentioned above) if a quarter became uncovered for each part.
- The head, meaning from the top of the head upto the start of the neck.
- The hair that hangs down
- The right ear
- The left ear
- The neck (and throat)
- The right shoulder
- The left shoulder
- The top right arm including the elbow
- The top left arm including the elbow
- The bottom right arm (below the elbow upto and including the wrist)
- The bottom left arm (below the elbow upto and including the wrist)
- The chest, below the neck/throat to the breasts
- Back of the right hand
- Back of the left hand
- The right breast
- The left breast
- The stomach, meaning from below the breasts upto and including the navel
- The upper back, meaning the other side of the chest
- Both armpits upto the lower back
- The right hip
- The left hip
- The vagina
- The posterior
- The right thigh upto and including the knees, the knee is not a separate part but is included
- The left thigh upto and including the knees, the knee is not a separate part but is included
- Below the naval upto the start of the pubic hair and the lower back, is all one aurat.
- The right shin, from below the knee upto and including the ankle
- The left shin, from below the knee upto and including the ankle.
- The right base of the foot
- The left base of the foot
Many Ulema have not included the back of the hands and the base of the feet as Aurat.
- Rule: Although the woman's face is not an Aurat, it is still forbidden to expose it to non permissible males (those a woman is not restricted to marry). Also it is forbidden for non permissible males to look at their face.
- Rule: If a male does not have clothing that is allowed, i.e. he only has silk to cover his body, then it is obligatory for him to cover his body with the silk cloth and can pray Namaz with it on, however, if a male has other material available then it is Haram for a male to wear silk, and if a Namaz is prayed with silk on, then it will become Makrooh-e-Tahrimi.
- Rule: If a naked person can obtain access to a table or floor cloth, then they must cover themselves with this and pray Namaz, and also if they can use leaves or straw to cover themselves, then they must do this [Alamgiri].
- Rule: If someone has no clothes or material, then they should pray Namaz seated and perform Rukoo and prostration (Sijdah) by actions [Hidaya, Durr-e-Mukhtar, Radd-ul-Mohtar].
- Rule: If another person has material or clothing and the naked person feels sure that the person will lend it to them, then it is necessary to ask for the material [Radd-ul-Mohtar].
- Rule: If you only have impure clothes and there is no way of cleaning them, then pray with the impure clothes, do not pray naked [Hidaya].
- Rule: If there isn't enough clothing to cover the whole of the body but you can only cover some parts, then it is necessary that you do this and cover the private parts (vagina and posterior) first. And if there is only enough to cover one private part, then cover one of the two.
- Rule: If by praying Namaz whilst standing, one quarter of an aurat becomes uncovered, then pray Namaz whilst seated [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Radd-ul-Mohtar].
THIRD QUALIFICATION OF NAMAZ - TIME
Time of Fajr
From the break of dawn upto the first ray of sunrise. The break of dawn (Subah Sadiq) is a light which is seen before sunrise from the east and generally gets more lighter and eventually is spread completely across and then it becomes daylight. As soon as this light of the break of dawn is seen, the time of sehri for fasting finishes and the time of Fajr Namaz begins. Before this light a seam of whiteness is seen in the middle of the sky from east to west, and underneath it the whole is area is black. The break of dawn comes from underneath this and spread across to the north and south and gets lighter. The whiteness disappears when the light of dawn starts spreading. The long whiteness is known as Subah Kazab and the time of Fajr does not begin with this [Qazi Khan, Bahar-e-Shariat].
(The time of Subah Sadiq is dependent upon the town and country you are in. It is advisable to get the time from the observatory).
- Rule: For the time of Fajr Namaz wait until the break of dawn starts spreading and it's light can be seen, and the finishing of Sehri and the end of Isha Namaz time is as soon as the break of dawn starts, meaning pray the Fajr Namaz at least after the light of the break of dawn can be seen and end the Sehri and the time of Isha once the break of dawn occurs [Alamgiri].
Time of Zohr
From Zawal, meaning midday until everything has except for it's original shadow a double shadow. For example, there was a shadow in the afternoon of an item the size of four fingers and the item is actually eight fingers in size, the time of Zohr will not finish until the size of the shadow gets to twenty fingers in length.
The original shadow is the shadow which occurs exactly at midday. This is when the sun reaches exactly middle of the sky and the distance of east and west is exactly the same. When the sun moves from this position slightly to the east, the time of Zohr begins. The recognition of the sun moving is by digging a stick upright into the ground, and then the shadow continues to reduce until it cannot reduce anymore, this is exactly the time of midday and is known as the original shadow, when the shadow starts growing again the time of Zohr has begun because the sun has moved. The time of Jum'a is the same as the time of Zohr.
Time of Asr
As soon as the time of Zohr finishes, the time for Asr begins. Depending upon the city and country, the length of Asr varies. The length of the time of Asr is also dependent on the time of the season, i.e. autumn, summer etc.
Time of Maghrib
As soon as the sun sets until the dusk (Shafaq) disappears. Dusk is the twilight that is seen after the redness of the sun has gone and is spread like the whiteness of dawn from east then from north to south [Hidaya, Alamgiri, Khanya]. In the UK the length of Maghrib is usually approximately a minimum of one hour and fifteen minutes and a maximum of one and a half hours. The length of the time of Maghrib is exactly the same as the time length of Fajr for that day.
Time of isha
As soon as the twilight of dusk disappears the time of Isha begins until the break of dawn. As well as the twilight of dusk, there is also a twilight seen after this from north to south but the time of Isha has begun and the time of Maghrib has ended.
Time of Witr
The time of Witr is the same as the time of Isha. However, Witr cannot be prayed before the Farz Namaz of Isha, as the sequencing is obligatory. If the Namaz of Witr is prayed purposely before the Farz Namaz of Isha, then the Witr will not count and will have to be prayed again after the Farz Namaz of Isha. However, if the Witr Namaz is prayed before Isha by mistake or you have realised that you prayed the Isha Namaz without Wuzu and prayed the Witr Namaz with Wuzu, then it is accepted [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Alamgiri].
- Rule: In those countries where the time of Isha does not come, then the Qaza of Isha and Witr should be prayed [Bahar-e-Shariat].
