What we just performed was a 2-unit prayer. The five daily prayers you are required to pray have different numbers of units needed to pray. Only the Fajr prayer (from dawn to the right before sunrise) is a two-unit prayer. As for Thur, Asr, and Isha, prayers are four-unit prayers, and Majrib is a three-unit prayer. For these four prayers, after completing the second prostration of your second unit of prayer, you place both your hands on your knees with your back and head lined up straight. It's Sunnah to raise your right foot vertically with your toes pointing to the direction of the Qibla (Mecca). Your left leg will be underneath your thigh with the weight of your body on your left thigh and buttock—so you'll be sitting on the left side of your body, and you say the same first half of the Tashahhud we spoke about earlier.

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

 At-tahiyyatu lillahi was-salawatu wat-tayyibat, as-salamu ‘alaika ayyuhan-Nabiyyu wa rahmatAllahi wa baraktuhu. As-salamu ‘alaina wa ‘ala ‘ibad illahis-salihin, ashahdu an la illaha ill-Allah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhu wa rasuluhu

All compliments, prayers, and beautiful expressions are for God. Peace be on you, O Prophet, and Allah's mercy and blessings are on you. And peace be on us and on the good (pious) worshipers of Allah. I bear that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Apostle.

Then you would get up while saying 'Allah Akhbar' (God is Greater) and perform your 3rd unit of prayer.

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performed:

Before you connect with Allah, you must start by setting an intention in your heart for the prayer you are about to perform. There is no need to verbalize your intention. 

Now you are ready to start the prayer. You start by raising both your hands to shoulder or ear height– do not place your hands together, instead keep them shoulder apart and your feet shoulder apart, and you say 'Allah Akhbar,' which translates to 'Allah is Greater' – in almost every movement of the prayer, you will say 'Allah Akhbar' which will constantly remind you Allah is Greater than what you were doing, saying, thinking, and is Greater than everything. You keep your eyes looking down at the ground in front of you where your head would be placed when you prostrate. It's essential to stay concentrated on your prayer and not look around, which would disturb you from your prayers. You should not close your eyes during prayers.  

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Tayammum (dry ablution) is a gift Allah has given us to make things earlier for us. If you are sick or wounded and cannot use water or traveling and do not have water, you may perform Tayammum instead of wudu or ghusl. Tayammum is a symbolic ritual, and all you must do is strike both your hands lightly into any clean Earth surface, for instance, sand or stone, blow your hands to blow the dust off, and then wipe your face and hands.

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Before the prayer begins, a Muslim is required to perform ablution (wudu in Arabic), which is the act of cleaning and purifying oneself from physical bodily fluids such as blood, urine, or any impurity with water. A Muslim must be clean and free of impurities in his body, clothing, and the area where the Prayer will be performed. One drop of waste matter presents anywhere would void one's Prayer. 

 Wudu was the first ritual legislated in Islam, legislated right after the second Revelation. Wudu is half of our faith. The passing of urine, stool, windbreaks, eating camel meat, losing consciousness, and falling asleep while lying down on one's Wudu. Ghusl, a full body bath is required after sexual intercourse or when sperm is discharged. If one does not break his wudu and the following prayer comes in, they can pray with the same Wudu Ablution performed prior. Our Prophet Muhammad PBUH stated that were it not difficult for my nation, I would have commanded my nation to perform Wudu Ablution every time they stood up to pray. This is to show us the importance of and encourage us to perform a lot of Wudu in our lives. On Judgement Day, those who performed a perfect wudu will be identifiable by the light shining from the areas they washed in wudu. Every time we make Wudu, sins fall with the drops of water from our skin, so the repetition of Wudu cleanses our sins, and we should get into the habit of performing ablution regularly.

O believers! When you rise up for prayer, wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, wipe your heads, and wash your feet to the ankles. And if you are in a state of ˹full˺ impurity, then take a full bath. But if you are ill, on a journey, or have relieved yourselves, or have been intimate with your wives and cannot find water, then purify yourselves with clean Earth by wiping your faces and hands. It is not Allah's Will to burden you, but to purify you and complete His favour upon you, so perhaps you will be grateful. (Quran 5:6)

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Prayers can either be performed individually or in a congregation with others. One can pray individually or in congregation at home, work, Mosque, or anywhere indoors or outdoors except in bathrooms and graveyards. You are also allowed to pray outdoors, as the whole Earth has been permissible as a place of worship, including sand, grass, etc. unless there are signs of impurity. Males are highly recommended to pray in congregation with others in one of God's Houses called Mosques. Friday prayers are required to be prayed in the Mosque for all males and not required for females. While not required, many Muslims use a prayer mat to pray on. 

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Muslims all face the same direction when praying Salah. We pray with our face and body facing the direction of Mecca, in present-day Saudi Arabia, where the Holy House of God—known as the Kaaba—is situated. Muslims from all over the globe face this direction, where the first House was built on Earth to worship the One God. Of course, we do not worship the Kaaba; we only use the Holy House as a direction to face while worshipping the One God as instructed by God Himself. Prayers are only directed to God, our Creator.    

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In Muslim countries, Prayer is publicly announced to the community—not by bells—but by an Islamic chant or call of Prayer known as Adhan in Arabic. Before we start our prayer, we make our Adhan and iqamah, the Islamic chant or call of prayer, which is given to call people if there will be other people joining you. If one is praying alone, there is no need to perform adthan or igama, but it's Sunnah.

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During Prayer, Muslims are directed to disconnect themselves and clear their minds of worldly matters as they converse with God. They pray to a God who is near, All-Loving, All-Hearing, All-Caring, and All-Powerful. Muslims are to concentrate on their words and humble themselves only to the Almighty. A Muslim affirms that God is the Master and that they are the servant and slave of God who needs the Almighty's direction, help, and guidance to the straight path. The Islamic Prayer is so sacred that it is prohibited to eat, drink, or converse as they pray.

"And establish Prayer and give Zakah and bow with those who bow [in worship and obedience]" (Quran 2:43) 

While not mandated, it is highly encouraged for one to awaken in the middle of the night to pray to God, as this is a common practice of righteous people.

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Prophet Muhammad PBUH stated, 'Pray as you have seen me praying' So we should pray the way Prophet Muhammad PBUH instructed us to pray through narrations of Hadith that were passed down to us. Hadith about prayer teaches us the pillars of Prayer, the mandatory movements and sayings, the Sunnah acts, and the acts and sayings that nullify the prayer.

It's also important to note while Muslims agree with each other in almost all aspects of religion, there are a few minor disagreements when it comes to the finer, minor details of our faith; there are differences of opinions among scholars based on their interpretations and evidence they extrapolate from the Sunnah. For example, some scholars or schools of thought might place their hands a little lower or higher than other scholars and schools of thought do in prayer. But at the end of the day, as long as you follow reputable scholars or a school of thought, your prayer is valid. 

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Some acts and sayings in prayers must be done, or your prayer will be invalid. However, there are also Sunnahs in prayer. A Sunnah is an act that Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, performed or encouraged us to perform and is optional, and if enacted, you would get rewarded more by Allah. If not completed, there is no harm, and your prayer will remain valid. 

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