Salah or salat (Arabic: ٱلصَّلَاة‎ aṣ-ṣalāh, Arabic: ٱلصَّلَوَات‎ aṣ-ṣalawāt, meaning "prayer", "supplication", "blessing" and "commendation";[1] also known as namāz (from Persian: نماز‎))[2], is the second of the five pillars in the Islamic faith as daily obligatory standardized prayers. It is a physical, mental, and spiritual act of worship that is observed five times every day at prescribed times. While facing towards the Kaaba in Mecca,[3] Muslims pray first standing and later kneeling or sitting on the ground, reciting from the Qur'an and glorifying and praising Allah as they bow and prostrate themselves in between. Ritual purity is a precondition.

Salah is composed of repetitive cycles of bows and prostrations, divided into prescribed units called a rakʿah. The number of rakaʿahs varies according to the time of day.

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