Muslim Prayer 101

The "Trivalley Herald" which I assume resides somewhere "inside the bay area" had a piece summarizing what Muslim Prayer is like in a basic sense. This is a good thing. Whenever I travel I am nervous about where and when to pray. It's not something most people are familiar with, and people seem to freak out at the sight of it. I am in the habit of finding the airport chapel, meditation room, or reflection area and praying there. Usually I will find the direction toward Mecca marked, some copies of the Quran, and a prayer rug for the weary traveler. Detroit has one of the finer areas for prayer in the US that I've seen.

In summary, this is how we do what we do:

Major steps of prayers include recitation of phrases and verses, holding hands at one's chest, reciting the opening chapter of the Quran, which translates:

"Praise be to [God], Lord of the worlds.

"The most gracious, the most merciful, master of the day of judgment.

"You (alone) we worship. You alone we ask for help. Show us the straight path, the path of those whom you have favored, not (the path) of those who earn your anger nor of those who stray. Amen."

This is followed by other verses from the Quran.

Putting hands on knees, in bowing posture, and praising more.

Bowing down all the way to the ground, with the forehead, nose, hands and knees touching the ground, the worshiper continues with more praises. At the end of the last unit of prayer, sitting down, resting hands on the thighs, the worshiper recites:

"All glorifications are for [God]. All acts of good deeds and worship are for him. Peace and the mercy and blessings of [God] be upon you, O prophet. Peace be upon us and all of [God]'s righteous servants. I bear witness that there is no god but [God], and I bear witness that Muhammad is his servant and messenger."

The second part of recitation in this position means:

"O' [God], exalt Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as you exalted Abraham and the family of Abraham. Verily, you are full of praise and majesty. O [God], bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as you blessed Abraham and the family of Abraham. Verily, you are full of praise and majesty."

[ Inside Bay Area - Understanding Muslim prayers will ease fear ]

I've taken the liberty of replacing the word Allah with God in the above piece. If you don't know what Muslim prayer looks like, you couldn't possibly have a good grasp of the word Allah. For those concerned about this crazy other god that Muslims worship, you should know that God has many, many names across the languages and faiths of the followers of Abraham, and that in Arabic bibles they use the word "Allah" for "God", so it's clearly the exact same concept.