How to Pray Salah: A Step-by-Step Guide from Authentic Hadith

Every Muslim wants to pray the way the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ prayed. That wish is not left to guesswork, because the Prophet ﷺ himself made his own prayer the standard for everyone who came after him. Malik reported that after staying with the Prophet ﷺ for twenty days and nights, he and his companions were told:

“Pray as you have seen me praying and when it is the time for the prayer one of you should pronounce the Adhan and the oldest of you should lead the prayer.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 631 — Sahih)

So the question “how do I pray?” has a documented answer: the Companions watched him, described what they saw, and taught it. This guide simply walks through those descriptions in order — the very sequence the Prophet ﷺ taught a man in his mosque, word for word, supported by the detailed descriptions of his own prayer. Nothing is added from anywhere else. Prayer is not an optional extra in a believer’s day; Allah ties it to its appointed times:

“Surely, Salāh is an obligation on the believers that is tied up with time.” (Quran 4:103)

“And be steadfast in Salāh (prayer), and pay Zakāh, and bow down with those who bow down.” (Quran 2:43)

If you want to know why this prayer matters so much before learning how it is performed, see our article on the importance of Salah. Here, we go straight to the prayer itself, step by step.

1. Before You Begin: Ablution and Facing the Qibla

The fullest version of the Prophet’s ﷺ teaching to the man who prayed badly includes what happens before the first takbir. Abu Huraira reported the same story with this addition to the Prophet’s ﷺ words:

“When you get up to pray, perform the ablution completely, and then turn towards the Qibla and recite takbir (Allah o Akbar =Allah is the Most Great).” (Sahih Muslim 397b — Sahih)

Two preparations come first in his instruction: the ablution (wudu) performed completely, and turning to face the Qibla, the direction of prayer. Only then does the prayer begin. Hold on to that order — preparation, direction, then the opening words — because the rest of this guide follows the exact sequence the Prophet ﷺ laid out for that one man, in the order he laid it out.

2. Step One: Stand and Say the Takbir

The prayer opens with the takbir — saying “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is the Most Great). This is where the famous story begins. Abu Huraira reported that a man entered the mosque, prayed, and came to greet the Prophet ﷺ, who told him three times to go back and pray again, “for you have not offered the prayer.” The man finally admitted he could do no better and begged to be taught. The Prophet ﷺ then taught him the whole prayer in a few sentences:

“When you get up to pray, recite takbir, and then recite whatever you conveniently can from the Qur’an, then bow down and remain quietly in that position, then raise yourself and stand erect; then prostrate yourself and remain quietly in that attitude; then raise yourself and sit quietly; and do that throughout all your prayers.” (Sahih Muslim 397a — Sahih)

The same teaching is recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari, in nearly the same words:

“When you stand for Prayer say Takbir and then recite from the Holy Qur’an (of what you know by heart) and then bow till you feel at ease. Then raise your head and stand up straight, then prostrate till you feel at ease during your prostration, then sit with calmness till you feel at ease (do not hurry) and do the same in all your prayers.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 757 — Sahih)

Aisha’s description of the Prophet’s ﷺ own prayer opens at exactly the same point:

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to begin prayer with takbir (saying Allahu Akbar)” (Sahih Muslim 498 — Sahih)

Everything in the prayer flows from this standing. You stand, you say the takbir, and the prayer has begun.

3. Step Two: Recite from the Quran

After the takbir comes recitation. Notice the mercy in the Prophet’s ﷺ instruction: he did not name a long passage or demand what the man did not know. In Muslim’s narration he says, “recite whatever you conveniently can from the Qur’an,” and in Bukhari’s, “recite from the Holy Qur’an (of what you know by heart).” The door is open to whatever portion of the Quran a person has — the requirement is that the standing is filled with the words of Allah.

Aisha described how the Prophet’s ﷺ own recitation began:

“used to begin prayer with takbir (saying Allahu Akbar) and the recitation: “Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Universe.”” (Sahih Muslim 498 — Sahih)

“Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Universe” is the opening of Surah al-Fatihah, the first chapter of the Quran. So in the Prophet’s ﷺ own prayer, the recitation began with al-Fatihah. It is fitting that the Quran itself joins these two acts — reciting the Book and establishing the prayer — in a single command:

“Recite (O Prophet) what is revealed to you of the Book, and establish Salāh . Surely Salāh restrains one from shameful and evil acts. Indeed remembrance of Allah is the greatest of all things. Allah knows what you do.” (Quran 29:45)

4. Step Three: Bow, and Remain Quietly in the Bowing

When the recitation is complete, you bow. The spine narration’s words are brief but loaded: “then bow down and remain quietly in that position.” Bukhari’s wording adds the feeling to aim for: “bow till you feel at ease.” Stillness is not a decoration on the bowing; in this teaching, it is part of what makes it a bowing at all — the man had been sent back precisely because his prayer lacked it.

What did the Prophet’s ﷺ bowing look like to those who watched him? Abu Humayd al-Sa’idi described it to a gathering of ten Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, among them Abu Qatadah, saying, “I am one among you who is more informed of the way the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prayed,” and the ten confirmed his description when he finished, saying: “You have spoken the truth. This is how he(peace be upon him) used to pray.” In Abu Humayd’s description, when the Prophet ﷺ bowed, he was:

“placing the palms of his hands on his knees and keeping himself straight, neither raising nor lowering his head” (Sunan Abu Dawud 730 — Sahih)

Aisha’s shorter description agrees on the head’s position:

“When he bowed he neither kept his head up nor bent it down, but kept it between these extremes” (Sahih Muslim 498 — Sahih)

So the bowing of the Prophet ﷺ, as these two descriptions give it, is a settled, level posture: palms resting on the knees, the body straight, the head neither lifted up nor dropped down, and — from the spine narration — held quietly until the one praying feels at ease in it.

5. Step Four: Rise and Stand Erect

From the bowing, you rise back to a full standing. The Prophet’s ﷺ instruction to the man was: “then raise yourself and stand erect,” and Bukhari’s version says, “Then raise your head and stand up straight.” This standing is a real posture of the prayer, not a passing movement on the way down to prostration.

Abu Humayd’s description records the words the Prophet ﷺ said as he rose:

“then raised his head saying: “Allah listens to him who praise Him”” (Sunan Abu Dawud 730 — Sahih)

Aisha’s description underlines that the standing must be completed before anything else happens:

“when he raised his head after bowing he did not prostrate himself till he had stood erect” (Sahih Muslim 498 — Sahih)

Read the two together and the picture is consistent: rise fully, stand erect, settle — then move on. The prayer the Prophet ﷺ taught is a prayer of distinct, completed postures, each given its moment.

6. Step Five: Prostrate, and Remain Quietly in the Prostration

After standing erect, you go down into prostration. The instruction continues: “then prostrate yourself and remain quietly in that attitude,” and in Bukhari’s words, “then prostrate till you feel at ease during your prostration.” Once again the command is not merely to touch the ground and bounce back up, but to remain — quietly, at ease — in the prostration.

Abu Humayd’s description adds how the Prophet ﷺ lowered himself:

“then lowered himself to the ground (in prostration), keeping his arms away from his sides” (Sunan Abu Dawud 730 — Sahih)

Aisha’s description carries the same point from the other side — what he forbade in this posture:

“he forbade people to spread out their arms like a wild beast” (Sahih Muslim 498 — Sahih)

And this lowest posture of the prayer carries the highest promise of nearness. Abu Huraira reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“The nearest a servant comes to his Lord is when he is prostrating himself, so make supplication (in this state).” (Sahih Muslim 482 — Sahih)

So do not rush the prostration. It is the moment of closest nearness to Allah in the whole prayer, and the Prophet ﷺ directed the believer to fill it with supplication.

7. Step Six: Sit Quietly Between the Two Prostrations

From the first prostration, you rise and sit. The teaching says: “then raise yourself and sit quietly,” and Bukhari’s version spells out the manner: “then sit with calmness till you feel at ease (do not hurry).” The sitting between the two prostrations is itself a posture to be completed, not a pause to be skipped.

Aisha described the same discipline in the Prophet’s ﷺ own prayer:

“when he raised his head after prostration he did not prostrate himself again till he sat up” (Sahih Muslim 498 — Sahih)

Abu Humayd’s description pictures the sitting itself:

“then raised his head, bent his left foot and sat on it” (Sunan Abu Dawud 730 — Sahih)

And in the longer passage of his description, Abu Humayd returns to the theme of the whole teaching — that the worshipper settles fully before moving on:

“so that every bone returned to its place properly” (Sunan Abu Dawud 730 — Sahih)

8. Step Seven: The Second Prostration, and Every Rak’ah the Same

After sitting quietly, you prostrate a second time, with the same stillness as the first. Then comes the sentence that turns one rak’ah’s teaching into the pattern of the entire prayer:

“and do that throughout all your prayers.” (Sahih Muslim 397a — Sahih)

“and do the same in all your prayers.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 757 — Sahih)

Abu Humayd’s description says exactly this about the Prophet’s ﷺ own practice:

“then he did the same in the second (rak’ah)” (Sunan Abu Dawud 730 — Sahih)

Takbir, recitation, bowing with stillness, standing erect, prostration with stillness, sitting with calmness, a second prostration — the same sequence, in the same unhurried manner, rak’ah after rak’ah. Whoever learns this one pattern from the Prophet’s ﷺ own teaching has the shape of every prayer he will ever offer.

9. Step Eight: Sit for the Tashahhud

At the end of every two rak’ahs, the prayer pauses in a sitting for the tashahhud. Aisha’s description records it in one line:

“At the end of every two rak’ahs he recited the tahiyya” (Sahih Muslim 498 — Sahih)

What exactly is said in this sitting was taught by the Prophet ﷺ himself, after the Companions had been greeting Gabriel, Michael and others by name in their sitting. Abdullah ibn Mas’ud reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ turned to them and said:

“‘Allah Himself is As-Salam (Peace), and if anyone of you prays then he should say” (Sahih al-Bukhari 831 — Sahih)

The words he taught, in Arabic, are these:

التَّحِيَّاتُ لِلَّهِ، وَالصَّلَوَاتُ وَالطَّيِّبَاتُ، السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ، السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى عِبَادِ اللَّهِ الصَّالِحِينَ

أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

Transliteration, as the narration itself gives it: at-Tahiyatu li l-lahi wa s-salawatu wa t-taiyibat. As-salamu ‘alaika aiyuha n-Nabiyu wa rahmatu l-lahi wa barakatuh. As-salamu ‘alaina wa ‘ala ‘ibadi l-lahi s-salihin. Ash-hadu al-la ilaha illa l-lah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan ‘Abduhu wa Rasuluh.

Its meaning, in the narration’s own explanation:

“All the compliments, prayers and good things are due to Allah; peace be on you, O Prophet, and Allah’s mercy and blessings [be on you].” (Sahih al-Bukhari 831 — Sahih)

“I testify that there is no Deity [worthy of worship] but Allah, and I testify that Muhammad is His slave and His Apostle” (Sahih al-Bukhari 831 — Sahih)

And the narration adds something beautiful about the greeting of peace inside the tashahhud:

“(If you say that, it will reach all the subjects in the heaven and the earth).” (Sahih al-Bukhari 831 — Sahih)

Every time you sit and say “peace be on us and on the pious subjects of Allah,” that peace, by the Prophet’s ﷺ own words, reaches every righteous servant of Allah in the heavens and the earth.

10. Step Nine: Finish the Prayer with the Taslim

The prayer closes the way Aisha’s description closes:

“And he used to finish the prayer with the taslim.” (Sahih Muslim 498 — Sahih)

The taslim — the salutation of peace — is the final act of the prayer, just as the takbir was its first. Between those two markers lies everything this guide has walked through: a complete, settled, unhurried prayer, performed the way the one who was sent to teach it performed it. What a believer does in remembrance after the taslim is a subject of its own; see the adhkar after Salah for the words reported for that moment.

Step back and look at what the prayer taught in these narrations actually produces in a life. Allah promises that the prayer He prescribed restrains a person from shameful and evil acts, and He points the believer to the prayer’s hours across the whole day and night:

“Establish Salāh at both ends of the day, and in the early hours of the night. Surely, good deeds erase bad deeds. That is a reminder for the mindful.” (Quran 11:114)

The rewards attached to this prayer are gathered in our article on the virtues of Salah, and the prayer of the night — the same steps, offered while the world sleeps — is covered in the Tahajjud prayer guide, which also leads to the Witr prayer that closes the night. Learn the pattern once, from its source, and every one of these prayers is yours.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What was actually wrong with the prayer of the man in the narration? A: He was sent back three times with the words “you have not offered the prayer,” and the correction he was given centred on stillness: bow “till you feel at ease,” prostrate “till you feel at ease during your prostration,” and sit “with calmness till you feel at ease (do not hurry).” His postures were being rushed; the Prophet ﷺ taught him to complete each one quietly (Sahih al-Bukhari 757 — Sahih).

Q: What should I recite after the opening takbir? A: The Prophet ﷺ told the man: “recite whatever you conveniently can from the Qur’an” — in Bukhari’s wording, “of what you know by heart” (Sahih Muslim 397a — Sahih). And Aisha reported that the Prophet’s ﷺ own recitation began with “Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Universe,” the opening of Surah al-Fatihah (Sahih Muslim 498 — Sahih).

Q: What should I do while I am in prostration? A: Remain quietly in it until you feel at ease, as the teaching commands — and supplicate. The Prophet ﷺ said: “The nearest a servant comes to his Lord is when he is prostrating himself, so make supplication (in this state)” (Sahih Muslim 482 — Sahih).

Q: What is said when sitting in the prayer? A: At the end of every two rak’ahs, the tahiyya (tashahhud) is recited (Sahih Muslim 498 — Sahih). Its words are the ones the Prophet ﷺ taught in the narration of Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, beginning “at-Tahiyatu li l-lahi wa s-salawatu wa t-taiyibat” and ending with the two testimonies (Sahih al-Bukhari 831 — Sahih).

Q: Do these steps apply to every rak’ah and every prayer? A: Yes — that is how the teaching itself ends. After listing the steps, the Prophet ﷺ said: “and do that throughout all your prayers” (Sahih Muslim 397a — Sahih), and Abu Humayd’s description of the Prophet’s ﷺ own prayer says of the second rak’ah: “then he did the same in the second (rak’ah)” (Sunan Abu Dawud 730 — Sahih).