Short answer: Muslims pray five times a day because Allah made five daily prayers obligatory. The Prophet ﷺ received this command on the Night Journey (Isra and Miraj): it began as fifty prayers a day and was reduced to five, with the reward of fifty. Prayer (salah) is the second pillar of Islam, and the Quran calls it "a decree of specified times". Each prayer takes about five to ten minutes.
The five are Fajr before sunrise, Dhuhr just after midday, Asr in the afternoon, Maghrib just after sunset, and Isha at night. Their times move with the sun, so they change every day and in every city.
What the Quran says
فَإِذَا قَضَيْتُمُ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ فَٱذْكُرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ قِيَٰمًۭا وَقُعُودًۭا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِكُمْ ۚ فَإِذَا ٱطْمَأْنَنتُمْ فَأَقِيمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ كَانَتْ عَلَى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ كِتَٰبًۭا مَّوْقُوتًۭا ﴿١٠٣﴾
Fa izaa qadaitumus Salaata fazkurul laaha qiyaamanw wa qu'oodanw wa 'alaa junoobikum; fa izat maanantum fa aqeemus Salaah; innas Salaata kaanat 'alal mu'mineena kitaabam mawqootaa
And when you have completed the prayer, remember Allah standing, sitting, or [lying] on your sides. But when you become secure, re-establish [regular] prayer. Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a decree of specified times.
Quran 4:103 · Sahih International · Read Surah An-Nisa
The Quran points to the times in outline: prayer "at the two ends of the day and at the approach of the night" (11:114), "at the decline of the sun until the darkness of the night, and the Quran of dawn" (17:78), and glorifying Allah at evening, morning, afternoon and noon (30:17-18). It tells believers to guard the prayers, "and [in particular] the middle prayer" (2:238).
What the Prophet ﷺ taught
On the Night Journey, Allah first ordered fifty prayers a day. Prophet Musa (Moses) told the Prophet ﷺ to go back and ask for less, until they became five. Then Allah said:
هِيَ خَمْسٌ وَهْىَ خَمْسُونَ، لاَ يُبَدَّلُ الْقَوْلُ لَدَىَّ
They are five, and they are fifty. My word does not change.
Sahih al-Bukhari 349; Sahih Muslim 163 · narrated by Anas ibn Malik, from Abu Dharr · sahih
The exact start and end of each time come from the hadith in which the angel Jibril led the Prophet ﷺ in prayer at the Kaaba on two days, once at the start of each time and once at its end (Jami at-Tirmidhi 149, graded hasan sahih). And he described what the prayers do:
أَرَأَيْتُمْ لَوْ أَنَّ نَهَرًا بِبَابِ أَحَدِكُمْ، يَغْتَسِلُ فِيهِ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ خَمْسًا، مَا تَقُولُ ذَلِكَ يُبْقِي مِنْ دَرَنِهِ ... فَذَلِكَ مِثْلُ الصَّلَوَاتِ الْخَمْسِ، يَمْحُو اللَّهُ بِهَا الْخَطَايَا
If there were a river at the door of one of you, and he bathed in it five times every day, would any dirt be left on him? ... That is the likeness of the five prayers: by them Allah wipes away sins.
Sahih al-Bukhari 528; Sahih Muslim 667 · narrated by Abu Hurayrah · sahih
The wisdom scholars mention
- Remembering Allah all day. Allah says "establish prayer for My remembrance" (20:14). Spread across the day, the prayers stop a person from going long without thinking of Him.
- A brake on wrongdoing. The Quran says prayer "prohibits immorality and wrongdoing" (29:45).
- Discipline and calm. A fixed rhythm of five short pauses gives the day an order.
- Community. Praying in congregation brings neighbours together at the mosque five times a day.
Wisdom, not the reason. These are benefits scholars have reflected on. Muslims follow this because Allah and His Messenger ﷺ commanded it, and would follow it even if none of these benefits were known.
The ruling, Hanafi first
The five prayers are fard on every Muslim who is sane and has reached puberty. A missed prayer must be made up (qada). Witr, prayed after Isha, is wajib in the Hanafi school, one step below fard. Two prayers may not be combined into one time, except at Arafah and Muzdalifah during Hajj; a traveller shortens instead. Women do not pray during menses or post-natal bleeding and do not make those prayers up.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i, Maliki, Hanbali
- The five prayers are fard in the same way, and Witr is a confirmed sunnah, not wajib. A traveller may combine Dhuhr with Asr and Maghrib with Isha, and the schools allow combining in some other cases, such as heavy rain.
Learn how to pray
Every position and every word of the prayer, with Arabic, transliteration and meaning, Hanafi first.
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FAQ
What are the names of the five prayers?
Fajr (dawn), Dhuhr (midday), Asr (afternoon), Maghrib (sunset) and Isha (night). See today's times in your city on our prayer times page.
How long does each prayer take?
Usually five to ten minutes. The obligatory part is 2 units at Fajr, 4 at Dhuhr, 4 at Asr, 3 at Maghrib and 4 at Isha, plus the sunnah prayers around them.
What happens if a Muslim misses a prayer?
They should make it up as soon as they can, and turn to Allah in repentance if it was missed without an excuse. Our qada calculator helps count missed prayers.
At what age do Muslim children start praying?
The Prophet ﷺ said to teach children to pray at seven (Sunan Abi Dawud 495, graded hasan sahih by al-Albani). It becomes obligatory at puberty.
Can Muslims pray at work or school?
Yes. Any clean place will do, facing the qibla. Most prayers have a window of a few hours, so they can fit around a working day.
The rulings on this page are pending review by the scholars on our team.
Sources
- Quran 2:238, 4:103, 11:114, 17:78, 20:14, 29:45 and 30:17-18, translation by Sahih International.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 349 and Sahih Muslim 163, from Anas, from Abu Dharr: the Night Journey.
- Jami at-Tirmidhi 149 and Sunan Abi Dawud 393, from Ibn Abbas: Jibril leading the prayer at the two ends of each time.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 528 and Sahih Muslim 667, from Abu Hurayrah.
- Sunan Abi Dawud 495, from Abdullah ibn Amr.
- Al-Marghinani, al-Hidayah (Kitab al-Salah, on Witr and on combining prayers), for the Hanafi position.
Quran: Arabic from the Tanzil Uthmani text, English translation by Sahih International. Hadith gradings are those of the hadith scholars named. AmalKit cites the scholars; it does not issue fatwas.