Time, Place, Dress and Types of Salat

The following were taken from the book of M. Abdul Karim Saqib. A Guide to Prayer in Islam.

TIME OF ṢALAT

Each ṣalat must be offered at or during its proper time. No ṣalat can be offered before its time. There are five obligatory ṣalat in a day.

Fajr Prayer

The time for the Fajr or the morning prayer starts at dawn and ends at sunrise.

Zuhr Prayer

The time for Zuhr or the early afternoon prayer starts when the sun begins to decline from its zenith and ends when the size of an object's shadow is equal to the size of the object.

        Jabir bin Abdullah (R.A.) narrated, "The angel Jibreel came to Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) and said to him, 'Stand up and pray Zuhr'. So the messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) prayed Zuhr when the sun had declined from its zenith. Then the Angel Jibreel came again at the time of Asr and said, 'Stand up and Pray Asr'. Then Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) prayed Asr when the shadow of everything was equal to itself. Then Jibreel came the next day to Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) and said, 'Stand up and pray Zuhr'. Then Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) prayed Zuhr when the shadow of everything was equal to itself. Then Jibreel came again at Asr time and said, 'Stand up and pray Asr'. Then he prayed Asr when the shadow of everything was twice its length. Then Jibreel said, (after praying 10 prayers with Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) in two consecutive days) that the time of prayer is in between these two times."

Prayer: Ablution

If someone needs to go to the toilet, he should use the toilet and do istanja before doing wudu.

Siwak (Tooth-Stick)

It is a good practice to clean the teeth with a tooth-stick, or a toothbrush before performing wudu. In this way you can avoid many diseases which are caused by unclean teeth.

As mentioned in the hadith Aisha (R.A.) reported Allah's messenger as saying:

The use of a toot-stick is a means of purifying the mouth and is pleasing to the Lord as well. (Ahmad, Darmi, and Nisai)

Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) also said:

If I wouldn't have felt that it is difficult for my people I would have ordered them to use a tooth-stick with every prayer, that is, before doing each wudu. 

So, Muslims should always try to fulfil this wish of our Prophet (S.A.W.).