The Pillars and Sunnahs of Prayer

Most people asking about the pillars and sunnahs of prayer are not looking for a list to memorise. They want to know what happens if they left something out. So this begins with the consequence rather than the name.

The three levels, and what omission means

Level	Left by mistake	Left deliberately
Pillar	Not repaired — it must be performed, or the rakat repeated	The prayer is invalid
Obligation	Repaired by the prostration of forgetfulness	Invalid, in the view of many scholars
Sunnah	Nothing	Nothing, but the reward is lost

The question that actually worries people — do I repeat it? — is answered in the first column. Only a pillar cannot be compensated for by a prostration.

The pillars

These are the acts without which a prayer does not hold together. The most widely agreed among them:

• The opening takbir, which is what you enter the prayer with — nothing before it is part of it.
• Standing in an obligatory prayer, for whoever is able.
• Reciting al-Fatihah, with detail among the schools regarding someone praying behind an imam.
• Bowing, and then rising upright from it.
• Prostrating on the seven limbs, and sitting between the two prostrations.
• Stillness in each of these — that every limb settles in place before moving on.
• The final tashahhud and sitting for it.
• The taslim.
• Keeping them in order.

The obligations

These are the acts whose omission by mistake is repaired by the prostration of forgetfulness. Among them, in the view of those who use this classification:

• The first tashahhud and sitting for it.
• The takbirs of transition — every one except the opening takbir.
• Saying “Allah hears the one who praises Him” for the imam and the one praying alone, and “our Lord, to You belongs praise”.
• The tasbih in bowing and prostration, at least once.
• Saying “my Lord, forgive me” between the two prostrations.

Whoever leaves one of these forgetfully completes the prayer, prostrates for forgetfulness, and does not repeat it.

The sunnahs

These carry no consequence if left. They are completeness that is sought:

• The opening supplication after the first takbir.
• Seeking refuge and the basmalah before reciting.
• Reciting a surah after al-Fatihah in the first two rakats.
• Raising the hands at the takbir, at bowing, and on rising from it.
• Placing the right hand over the left, and looking at the place of prostration.
• Repeating the tasbih more than once in bowing and prostration.
• The Ibrahimi salawat and supplication after the final tashahhud, before the taslim.

Why the lists differ from one book to another

The prostration of forgetfulness: when?

In brief, three situations:

• Addition — such as adding a rakat or a bowing by mistake. Most scholars hold this is prostrated for after the salam.
• Omission — such as leaving an obligation like the first tashahhud. Prostrated for before the salam.
• Doubt — if nothing is clearer to you, build on certainty, which is the lower number, and prostrate before the salam. If one possibility is clearly stronger, act on it and prostrate after the salam.

For the number of rakats in each prayer, with the regular sunnah prayers alongside them, there is a full table in how many rakats in each prayer. After the salam comes the place of the adhkar after prayer, and the times for your own city are here.

What removes the need to memorise any of this

Praying as you saw the Prophet ﷺ pray — which is what he himself said: “Pray as you have seen me praying” (al-Bukhari). The lists were drawn up to identify where things go wrong; they were never meant to be the starting point. Whoever has learned the description of the prayer as it was reported does not need to count pillars on his fingers.