Rakats Of Prayer

RAKATS OF PRAYER


A RAKAT is a unit or section of the prayer.

1.
The OBLIGATORY prayer (Fard):


Name of Salat Number of Rakats Method of reading

Fajr 2 Said loud
Zuhr 4 Said silent
Asr 4 Said silent
Maghrib 3 First 2 loud, last rakat silent
Isha 4 First 2 loud, last 2 silent



2.
The NON-OBLIGATORY prayer (Sunnah):

Name of Salat Number of Rakats Number of Rakats
before Fard after Fard
Fajr 2 -
Zuhr 4 2
Asr (4)* -
Maghrib - 2
Isha - 2



The Prophet (pbuh) used to pray a certain number of rakats, before and/or after every obligatory prayer. These prayers are highly recommended by the Prophet, yet they are not obligatory, they are termed (as-soonan ar-rawatib) which means "regular Sunnah prayers".

* Most ahadith confirm atotal of 10-12 rakats, while these four before Asr, are not as strongly confirmed.

3.
WITR prayer
It is the last prayer of the night and can be performed any time after the Isha prayer.It was strongly recommended by the Prophet (pbuh).
Witr literally means an odd number and is commonly prayed as three rakats, but can also be done in one, five, seven or nine rakats.