the members of the Holy Family).

the members of the Holy Family). Should you be attached to these Two, never, never shall you be misled after me, for verily these Two will never be separated from each other until they meet me at the Spring of Kawthar.” The offering of the five daily prayers in Islam is of the greatest importance and it is the first and the foremost prescribed daily duty of every Muslim.

The Holy Prophet (S) said “that the likeness of the prescribed five daily prayers is that of a river flowing at every door and he who bathes five times in it (i.e. offers prayers regularly five times every day) no dirt of any sin will remain on him.” According to Imam Ali (a) this verse is the most hope-giving verse in the Holy Qur’an for sinners. While the Shia acknowledge the Five Daily Prayers , they believe that it is acceptable to pray them in Three distinct Times , and not five.

The Fajr (morning) prayers is at the same time as their Sunni brothers do, however, the Shia usually wait 10 minutes before they consider it to be time for Fajr. They pray the noon and the afternoon prayer one after the another. And similarly they pray the sunset and the night prayer too, one after the other (without a lot of delay between the two). No doubt, it is better to pray in their own specific time (close to what Sunnis do), but it is not necessary.

The prayers in all cases are Distinct and separate, and it is not (as commonly misunderstood) that the Shia pray eight rakat of Zuhr and Asr straight or seven rakat of Maghrib and Isha straight, as part of one prayer. It is the same regular form of prayer, but combines into one Time and Not one Prayer . It should also be noted that the Sunni brothers agree to the combining of prayers in the case of Rain, Travel, Fear or other emergencies.

The exception among them are the Hanifites (followers of Imam Abu Hanifa) who contend that you cannot combine the prayers at any time, not even if you are travelling. This clearly violated the other Sunni schools of thought. The Maliki’s, Shafeei’s, and the Hanbali’s all agree to the combining of prayers when one is travelling, but are in conflict on other times. The Shia believe that one can combine the prayers anytime without any cause of fear, rain or whatever.

Nonetheless, the Shia also contend that they can be prayed separately too. Furthermore, Allah (swt) continually reminds us in the Qur’an that Islam was revealed to make your life easier, not more difficult.