How do Muslims pray?
Five times each day, hundreds of millions of Muslims face Makkah to pray—at daybreak, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and evening. These five obligatory prayers are performed in Arabic, regardless of the native tongue of the worshiper. Each part of the prayer has its function within this daily ritual; the whole is designed to combine meditation, devotion, moral elevation and physical exercise. Prayers can be performed individually or in congregation. Preparing to pray, Muslims perform a ritual ablution, or cleansing, to ensure that they are in a state of spiritual and physical purity. First, they cleanse their minds and hearts of worldly thoughts and concerns, concentrating on God and the blessings he has given them; second, they wash hands, face and feet and their arms up to the elbow, and then say, “I bear witness that there is no god but God; He has no partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.” This purification process is as spiritual as it is physical, as
