What are the main corners (foundations) of Muslim prayer ?  I?ll add a
$10 tip if your answer is good.

Dear stewy01-ga;

Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting question. 

You will find the answer to your question here, courtesy of The World
Religions Index. The answer is lengthy and complex and not something
that can simply be condensed any more than this fine example of an
explanation already is. I considered trying to condense the answer
even more-so but I thought it best to leave it as is and simply point
you to it rather than risk a potential copyright infringement or,
worse perhaps, confusing the issue even more by attempting to
summarize the information instead of merely leading you directly to
it.

At any rate, here are the basic tenets of Islam as you requested. They
are divided into two categories, ?The Five Pillars? and ?The Five
Articles?:


?THE FIVE PILLARS?

1. SHAHADAH - THE PROFESSION OF FAITH IN ALLAH

2. SALAT - ESTABLISHING OF THE FIVE DAILY PRAYERS. 

3. ZAKAT - THE PAYING OF ALMS. 

4. SAWM ? FASTING (REFRAINING FROM EATING, DRINKING OR SATISFYING
SEXUAL NEEDS FROM DAWN TO DUSK IN THE MONTH OF RAMADAN, THE NINTH
MONTH IN THE ISLAMIC LUNAR CALENDAR.

5. HAJJ - THE PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA

THE FIVE PILLARS OF FAITH (THE CENTRAL DUTIES OF ISLAM)
http://wri.leaderu.com/articles/islam-singh.html#II



?THE FIVE ARTICLES?

1. BELIEF IN ONE GOD WHO HAS ABSOLUTELY NO ASSOCIATE WITH HIM IN HIS DIVINITY; 

2. BELIEF IN GOD'S ANGELS; 

3. BELIEF IN GOD'S BOOKS, AND IN THE HOLY QUR'AN AS HIS LAST BOOK. 

4. BELIEF IN GOD'S PROPHETS, AND IN MUHAMMAD (BLESSINGS OF ALLAH AND
PEACE BE UPON HIM) AS HIS LAST AND FINAL MESSENGER; AND

5. BELIEF IN LIFE AFTER DEATH. 

THE FIVE ARTICLES OF FAITH (THE CENTRAL DOCTRINES OF ISLAM)
http://wri.leaderu.com/articles/islam-singh.html#III

I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad ? Google Answers Researcher


OTHER INFORMATION SOURCES

WORLD RELIGIONS INDEX
http://wri.leaderu.com/articles/islam-singh.html

ISLAM GUIDE
http://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm

THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM
http://www.carm.org/islam/faith_five_pillars.htm

BASIC BELIEFS OF ISLAM
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/religion/islam/beliefs.html

AL ISLAM
http://www.al-islam.com/articles/articles-e.asp?fname=tui%20ch5


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINES USED:

Google ://www.google.com




SEARCH TERMS USED:

ISLAM

FIVE PILLARS

FIVE ARTICLES

Tutuzdad, thank you very much. Your answer is very complete and you
deserve the tip. Also, thank you all for the other comments on the
question.

hi stewy01-ga 
about the foundations of muslim prayer 
1- one should have intension to pray 
2- one should go to wash his hands and legs and face (wash your face 3
times then your right hand three times then your left hand till your
elbow then wash your right leg and left leg till your ankel )<thats in
general>
3-one should go to the place where he will pray in (if a female will
pray she should be in veil)and one should stand in the direction
<kablah>"it is directed to meccka - saudi arabia"
4- one should start praying in that way ::
  a- move your hands up and say "Allaho Akbar" and start by reading
Qur'an "El fatha" then another small part from "Qur'an"
  b- then one bents down <its to stand but your body is making angle
90 where you are standing and your top body is bented> and you say
"sobhan rabyah el a'zeem" 3 times
  c- then one stands up again and then go kneel down and says "sobhan
rabyah el a'alah " 3 times then goes down again and repeat it 3 times
more.
 d- one stands up again and repeats from step (a) to step (c).
you do this according to the pray you are praying !!
there are 5 prays in islam "1- morning/dawn"el sobh /el fagr" 2- noon
pray"el zohr"3-"el asr"<its time is about 3 or 4 pm>4- "el
maghrab"<its time is about 5 or 6 pm> 5- evening"el ashah" "
and everyone of them has its own number of repeating from step <a to c>
like :: 
 1- morining is done twice
 2- noon is done 4 times
 3- "el asr" done 4 times
 4- "el maghrab" done 3 times
 5- evening is done 4 times

this is nearly how praying in islam . iam sorry that there are many
words that i didn't transalate into english but i am not sure about
there right transalation .
and i am quite sure of these steps because i do them daily and they are easy !!

Islam has six articles of belief:

   1. Belief in God, the one and only one worthy of all worship.
   2. Belief in all the Prophets (nabi) and Messengers (rusul) sent by God.
   3. Belief in the Books (kutub) sent by God (including the Qur'an).
   4. Belief in the Angels (mala'ika).
   5. Belief in the Day of Judgement (qiyama) and in the Resurrection
(life after death).
   6. Belief in Destiny (Fate) (qadar). (Note that this does not mean
one is pre-determined to act or live a certain life. God has given the
free will to do and make decisions).

And there are five tenets of Islam (some of this can be a little
different between the different major factions - similar to the
differences in Catholocism and various Protestant sects).

    1. The Testimony that there is none worthy of worship except God
and that Muhammad is his messenger.
    2. Establishing of the five daily Prayers.
    3. Zakat: The Giving of Zakaah (charity), which is one fortieth of
the net worth of savings kept for more than a year.
    4. Fasting from dawn to dusk in the month of Ramadan.
    5. The Pilgrimage to Mecca during the month of Dhul Hijjah, which
is compulsory once in a lifetime for one who has the ability to do it.

There are 12 main points (farz)
six of them are before the prayer(A) and six of them are during the prayer(B).

A)
1. you and your clothes must be clean.
2. Place that are going to pray must be Clean.
3. you must wear something to cover between your knees and belly
(womens must close evrywhere except face hands and feet)
4. Time (time should be suitable for pray that you are going to intend).
5. you must stay direct to the Kabe in city of Meccah.
6. you must intend the prayer

B
1. Tekbir. (Saying "Allahu Ekber" when you are moving your tumbs up to
ypur ears and palms twords to the forward)
2. Kiyam. (Standing up on the prayer)
3. Kiyrat. (Reading some amount of  verses from Quran)
4. Ruku. ( putting your hands to your knees)
5. Secde. (Prostrating)(put your forehead and nose to ground, hands
comes each side of the head while you are sitting on your knee)
6. Sitting for a while at the end of prayer

I will be glad to hear your comments.
hope to be clear and helpfull

Here is a website on the subject:
http://www.islam101.com/dawah/prayer.html

(Not posted as any contradiction to the above comments.)

you might want to check out www.beconvinced.com and look at this video
at www.islamway.com

Another website you can go and check in addition to the above is www.alislam.org

Perhaps Computer Girl or another Muslim could explain if it is
acceptable or common to express individual prayers  - as in the
Christian religions.
These are prayers for God's guidance or help on behalf of oneself or
others, some are standard texts that are part of the service or others
suggested for special situations, or they can be individual expresed:
e.g., for recovering from illness or success/survival in a coming
endeavor; for God's guidance of political and religious leaders, etc.

Perhaps Computer Girl or another Muslim could explain if it is
acceptable or common to express individual prayers  - as in the
Christian religions.
These are prayers for God's guidance or help on behalf of oneself or
others, some are standard texts that are part of the service or others
suggested for special situations, or they can be individual expresed:
e.g., for recovering from illness or success/survival in a coming
endeavor; for God's guidance of political and religious leaders, etc.

-------------------------------------
Prayers in Islam are called "Du'a". There are standardized "du'a"
which are taken from verses in the Quran. Some are recited during the
ritual prayers. Others are recited any other time you wish to recite
them. There are many specific du'a for specific purposes: i.e.
illness, travel, before meals, breaking fasts, etc. etc. etc.

There are also "Du'a" that the prophets used to recite, and those are
also set down in prayer books for us to read and follow if we wish.
They are known as "Prophet Ibrahim's Prayer" or "Prayer of the Angels"
or "Prayer for Illness" and so on and so forth.

Finally there is individual "du'a" that can be made by any supplicant
and can be of words in your own choice.

Muslims are encouraged to make all types of "du'a" and for any and
every good purpose.

I hope I have not made a mistake here explaining these simple concepts
and generally after writing something like this we say "And Allah
Knows Best" in case we were erroneous!

binashah06-ga,

Many thanks.  That is just what I wanted to learn.

Regards, Myoarin