Shurut al-Salah wa Arkanuha wa Wajibatuhha (Matbu within Muallafat al-Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, al-Juz al-Thalith)
- Author died
- 1206 AH
- Editions
- Jāmiʿat al-Imām Muḥammad ibn Saʿūd
Shurut al-Salah wa Arkanuha wa Wajibatuhha (The Conditions of Prayer, Its Pillars, and Its Obligatory Elements) is a concise legal treatise on the rules of ritual prayer and ablution by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1206 AH / 1792 CE) . Designed as an introductory educational text, it outlines the essential prerequisites, core components, and obligations of Islamic prayer alongside their scriptural evidences .
Structure and Content
The treatise is organized around three main legal categories of prayer, embedding related rulings on ritual purification and brief textual explications:
- Conditions of Prayer (Shurut al-Salah): The author enumerates nine conditions: Islam, sanity ('aql), discernment (tamyiz), lifting ritual impurity (raf' al-hadath), removing impurities (izalat al-najasah), covering the private parts (satr al-'awrah), the entry of the prayer time (dukhul al-waqt), facing the prayer direction (istiqbal al-qiblah), and intention (niyyah) . Under the fourth condition (raf' al-hadath), the text expands into the jurisprudence of ablution (wudu'), listing ten conditions for purification, six obligatory acts (furud), one required verbal mention (tasmiyah), and eight invalidators (nawaqid) .
- Pillars of Prayer (Arkan al-Salah): The work lists fourteen integral pillars: standing when physically capable, the opening declaration of greatness (takbirat al-ihram), recitation of Surat al-Fatihah, bowing (ruku'), rising from bowing, prostrating on the seven bodily limbs, straightening up from prostration, sitting between the two prostrations, tranquility (tuma'ninah) in all movements, adhering to the proper sequence, the final testimony of faith (al-tashahhud al-akhir), sitting for it, invoking blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ, and the two closing salutations (al-taslimatan) . Within this discussion, the author includes a concise verse-by-verse commentary on Surat al-Fatihah as well as brief explanations of the opening supplication (du'a al-istiftah) and the words of the tashahhud .
- Obligatory Elements (Wajibat al-Salah): The text defines eight obligatory acts: all takbirs other than the opening one, reciting سبحان ربي العظيم (Glory be to my Lord, the Exalted) during bowing, saying سمع الله لمن حمده (Allah hears whoever praises Him) for the prayer leader and individual worshiper, saying ربنا ولك الحمد (Our Lord, to You belongs praise) for all worshipers, reciting سبحان ربي الأعلى (Glory be to my Lord, the Most High) in prostration, supplicating رب اغفر لي (My Lord, forgive me) between prostrations, the initial tashahhud, and sitting for it .
The text concludes by distinguishing pillars from obligatory acts: an omitted pillar invalidates the prayer whether left out deliberately or inadvertently, whereas an omitted obligatory act invalidates the prayer only if abandoned deliberately; if omitted inadvertently, it is compensated for by the prostration of forgetfulness (sujud al-sahw) .
Reception and Editions
The treatise has served as a widely circulated beginner's text in Hanbali jurisprudence and basic ritual law. It was frequently published in thematic anthologies alongside other short writings by the author, such as Thalathat al-Usul and al-Qawa'id al-Arba', appearing in early printings in Damascus (Matba'at al-Taraqqi in 1338 AH) and Cairo (Matba'at al-Manar in 1340 AH, al-Matba'ah al-Salafiyyah in 1345 AH, and Idarat al-Tiba'ah al-Muniriyyah with marginal notes by Muhammad Munir al-Dimashqi) . It is also collected in the author's complete works (Mu'allafat al-Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab) and the compendium Majmu'at al-Tawhid .
Several prominent scholars have authored commentaries on the work, including Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz and Abd al-Muhsin al-Abbad .
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