Note 1.—A fresh ablution is necessary only when a man has answered a call of nature or has been asleep.
Note 2.—In cases of intercourse between husband and wife, a total ablution or washing of the whole body is necessary.
Note 3.—When a person is sick, or when access cannot be had to water, what is called tayammum is performed in place of ablution or total ablution. Tayammum is performed by touching pure earth with both hands and then wiping over the face with this only once, and the backs of the two hands.
Service.
The service consists ordinarily of two parts, one part, called the farḍ, to be said in congregation, preferably in a mosque, with an imam leading the service; the second part, called sunnat, to be said alone, preferably in one’s house. But when a man is unable to say his prayers in congregation, the farḍ may be said like the sunnat, alone.
Each part consists of a certain number of rak'ats, as explained below:—
The Fajr, or morning prayer, consists of two rak’ats (sunnat) said alone, followed by two rak’ats (farḍ) said in congregation.
The Ẓuhr, or early afternoon prayer, is a longer service consisting of four, or two, rak'ats (sunnat) said alone, followed by four rak'ats (farḍ) said in congregation, and followed again by two rak'ats (sunnat) said alone.
In the Friday service held at the time of ẓuhr, which takes the place of the sabbath of some other religions, the four rak’ats (farḍ) said in congregation are reduced to two, but these two rak’ats are preceded by a sermon (Khuṭbah), exhorting the Muslims to goodness and showing them the means of their moral elevation and dwelling upon their national and communal welfare.
The ’Aṣr, or the late afternoon prayer, consists of four rak’ats (farḍ) said in congregation.
The Maghrib, or the sunset prayer, consists of three rak'ats (farḍ) said in congregation, followed by two rak’ats (sunnat) said alone.
The ’Ishá, or early night prayer, consists of four rak’ats (farḍ) said in congregation, followed by two rak'ats (sunnat) said alone, again followed by three rak'ats (witr) said alone, the last of these rak’ats containing the well-known prayer known as qunút.
The Tahajjud, or late night prayer, consists of eight rak’ats (sunnat) said in twos.
The Ḍuḥá, or the before-noon prayer, may consist of two rak’ats or four rak’ats.
The ’Íd prayer consists of two rak’ats (sunnat) said in congregation, being followed by a sermon or khuṭbah, the object of which is the same as the object of the sermon in the Friday service.
Note 1.—When a person is journeying, the sunnat is dropped in every one of the prayers except the morning prayer, and the four rak’ats farḍ in each of the Ẓuhr and the ’Aṣr and the ’Ishá prayers are reduced to two. When one is aware that his stay at a particular place in his journey will be four days or more, the complete service should be performed there.
Note 2.—When there are two or more persons, they may form a congregation, one of them acting as the imam, or the leader; but when a person is alone, he may say the farḍ alone, as he does the sunnat.
Two chief features of the Muslim congregational service are that the service may be led by any one, the only condition being that he should know the Qur-án better than the others, and that he should excel the others in
