In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Chapter: Prayer. Prayer (ṣalāt) in the language means supplication. God Almighty said: {And pray for them; indeed, your prayer is a comfort for them} (1), meaning: supplicate for them. The Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, said: "If one of you is invited, let him answer; if he is not fasting, let him eat, and if he is fasting, let him pray" (2). The poet said: (3) My daughter says, when I have prepared for departure: O Lord, keep my father away from ailments and pain. Upon you is the like of what you have prayed, so close your eyes in sleep, for the side of a person has a place to lie down (4). In the Sacred Law (sharʿ), it is an expression for the known actions. Thus, when an order for prayer or a ruling contingent upon it occurs in the Sacred Law, it refers in its literal sense to the ritual prayer (ṣalāt). It is obligatory by the Book, the Sunnah, and consensus (ijmāʿ). As for the Book, it is the saying of God Almighty: {And they were not commanded except to worship God, [being] sincere to Him in religion, inclining to truth, and to establish prayer and to give Zakat, and that is the correct religion} (5). As for the Sunnah, it is what Ibn ʿUmar narrated from the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, that he said: "Islam is built upon five: the testimony that there is no god but God and that Muḥammad is the Messenger of God, the establishment of prayer, the giving of Zakat, the fasting of Ramadan, and the Hajj to the House for whoever is able to find a way to it." It is agreed upon (6).