Common questions, answered with sources

Five: Fajr, Ẓuhr, ʿAṣr, Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ. The Prophet ﷺ named them as the second pillar of Islam, and the Quran ties them to fixed times of day.

Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 8 · Quran 17:78

Fajr two, Ẓuhr four, ʿAṣr four, Maghrib three and ʿIshāʾ four. When travelling, the four-rakʿa prayers may be shortened to two.

Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 1090 · Sahih Muslim 685

Pray it as soon as you remember. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever forgets a prayer should pray it when he remembers it; there is no expiation for it other than that."

Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 597 · Sahih Muslim 684

Yes, for adult Muslim men who are able to attend; it replaces Ẓuhr on Friday and consists of a sermon plus two rakʿas. The Quran commands hastening to it when the call is made.

Source: Quran 62:9 · Sahih Muslim 865

The Prophet ﷺ said the prayer in congregation is twenty-seven degrees better than praying alone. Beyond the reward, it keeps the community connected to the mosque.

Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 645 · Sahih Muslim 650

Witr is an odd-numbered night prayer — one, three or more rakʿas — prayed after ʿIshāʾ up to dawn. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Make Witr the last of your prayers at night."

Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 998 · Sahih Muslim 751

Every adult Muslim who is able to. The Quran exempts the sick and the traveller, who make up the days later, and speaks of a substitute feeding for those who cannot fast at all.

Source: Quran 2:183–185

No — the fast means abstaining from all food and drink from dawn until sunset, so coffee and water break it. Both are permitted again after the fast is broken at sunset.

Source: Quran 2:187

No. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever forgets while fasting and eats or drinks should complete his fast, for Allah has fed him." Stop as soon as you remember and continue the fast.

Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 1933 · Sahih Muslim 1155

Mondays and Thursdays, the white days of each lunar month, six days of Shawwāl, ʿArafah for non-pilgrims and ʿĀshūrāʾ are all reported in authentic narrations. They are recommended, not obligatory.

Source: Sahih Muslim 1162 · Sahih Muslim 1164 · Jamiʿ at-Tirmidhi 749

Fast the same number of days later, individually or consecutively — the Quran says "then an equal number of days". Aim to complete them before the next Ramadan.

Source: Quran 2:184

In the last ten nights of Ramadan, especially the odd-numbered ones. The Prophet ﷺ instructed: "Seek it in the odd nights of the last ten of Ramadan."

Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 2017

Wash the face, then the arms up to the elbows, wipe the head, then wash the feet up to the ankles — the order named in the Quran. The Sunnah adds rinsing the mouth and nose and doing each washing three times.

Source: Quran 5:6 · Sahih al-Bukhari 159

Relieving oneself, passing wind and deep sleep are agreed upon. The Prophet ﷺ told a man in doubt not to leave the prayer "until he hears a sound or smells an odour" — certainty, not doubt, ends purity.

Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 137 · Sahih Muslim 361

When no water is available or using it would harm you, e.g. through illness. The Quran instructs striking clean earth and wiping the face and hands.

Source: Quran 4:43 · Quran 5:6

After sexual discharge or intercourse, and for women after menstruation and postnatal bleeding. The Quran links it to the state of major impurity before prayer.

Source: Quran 5:6 · Sahih al-Bukhari 248

One fortieth — 2.5 % — of wealth that has reached the niṣāb and been held for a lunar year. The Prophet ﷺ set the rate on silver and gold, from which the classical schools derived the modern calculation.

Source: Sunan Abi Dawud 1572 · Sahih al-Bukhari 1454

The Quran names eight categories: the poor, the needy, those who collect it, those whose hearts are to be reconciled, captives, the indebted, the cause of Allah, and the wayfarer.

Source: Quran 9:60

A measure of staple food given for every member of the household at the end of Ramadan, before the ʿĪd prayer. The Prophet ﷺ prescribed it as a purification for the fasting person and food for the poor.

Source: Sunan Abi Dawud 1609 · Sahih al-Bukhari 1503

Zakāt is an obligatory, calculated duty with fixed rates and recipients; ṣadaqa is voluntary giving of any amount to anyone in need. The Prophet ﷺ counted even a kind word and a smile as ṣadaqa.

Source: Jamiʿ at-Tirmidhi 1956 · Quran 9:60

Yes — reading a reliable translation with tafsīr conveys the meaning, while the Arabic remains the recited text of revelation. Reading word-by-word alongside a translation is the usual path from meaning to the original.

Source: Quran 12:2 · Quran 47:24

114 surahs and 6,236 verses in the widely used Kufan numbering, arranged in 30 ajzāʾ for reading. Other early counting traditions differ only in how certain verse endings are marked.

Source: Quran (Kufan verse count) · Quran 15:9

Tafsīr is scholarly explanation of the Quran using narrations, language and legal reasoning. Comparing works such as aṭ-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr and al-Qurṭubī shows which readings are agreed upon and where scholars differ.

Source: Tafsīr aṭ-Ṭabarī · Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr · Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī

Recite calmly and clearly — the Quran says "recite it with measured recitation" — and seek refuge in Allah before beginning. Cleanliness and attentiveness are emphasised, and understanding what you read is the goal.

Source: Quran 73:4 · Quran 16:98

They are the four early legal traditions — Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shāfiʿī and Ḥanbalī — whose methods of deriving rulings from Quran and Sunnah were preserved and taught in an unbroken chain. Their differences concern method and evidence weighting, not the foundations of belief.

Source: Classical fiqh tradition · al-Muwaṭṭaʾ · Kitāb al-Umm

Following one school consistently is the traditional advice, because it gives a coherent, verified method instead of picking rulings at random. It is a means of learning, not an article of faith — the aim is acting on sound evidence.

Source: Classical fiqh tradition

They grade a narration's chain and wording: ṣaḥīḥ is rigorously authentic, ḥasan is sound but slightly weaker in transmitter precision, ḍaʿīf has a defect in the chain or text. Rulings are built on the first two.

Source: Muqaddimat Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ · Hadith sciences

A general ruling states the established law; a fatwa applies it to one person's concrete circumstances after questioning them. That is why answers here explain the general position and refer personal cases to a qualified scholar.

Source: Uṣūl al-fiqh tradition