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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Discovering Shi'i Islam Chapter 4: Practices The main mandatory acts of worship accepted by both Sunni and Shi’a Muslims are: The Daily Prayers Every Muslim from the time he or she attains puberty performs five daily prayers (salah). To be able to start the prayer one must first perform the ritual ablution (wudu) in the prescribed form.

Then one stands facing Mecca and makes an intention to perform the specific prayer of the time in order to attain proximity to God. This intention must be kept all the time during the prayer. If someone at the beginning or later on forgets what he is doing, or prays in order to show off, or for any other selfish motive, his prayer becomes void. The actual prayer starts when the person utters: Allah-u Akbar (God is the Greatest).

With this he enters the formal state of prayer in which he remains until the completion of his prayers. Each prayer consists of two to four units (rak’ah).[^1] Each unit consists of: i. The recitation of the opening chapter of the Qur’an followed by another chapter such as Tawhid or Qadr;[^2] ii. bowing down (ruku) and praising and glorifying God in that position; iii. Performing two prostrations (sajdah) and then praising and glorifying God.

The prayers are ended by bearing witness that God is One and has no partners and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger with salutations upon him and his household (tashahhud) and offering peace to the Prophet, all the righteous people and all who are engaged in prayers (taslim). The daily prayer is the most important form of worship and remembrance of the Lord.

The Qur’an says: Surely prayer keeps (one) away from indecency and evil, and certainly the remembrance of God is the greatest, and God knows what you do. (29:45) 2 . Fasting The second act of worship is fasting (sawm) in the month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.

In this month every mature Muslim refrains from eating, drinking and sexual activity from dawn to sunset.[^3] Like any other acts of worship, fasting must be performed with pure intention, that is, to be performed solely for the sake of God and to attain proximity to Him.