Why do Muslims pray five times a day?
The Qurʾan does not itself specify five. The five come from the Prophet's ﷺ Night Journey, when Allah originally prescribed fifty. Mūsā urged him to ask for less. Five remained, but the scholars say the reward of fifty was kept.
10 passages from 5 books in the library
Muslims pray five times daily as a divinely prescribed obligation that the classical scholars tied to mercy and purification. In his Book of Repentance, al-Ghazali teaches that the five daily prayers expiate the minor sins between them, while major sins remain unexpiated by them and require sincere repentance; he relates the saying that the prayers from Friday to Friday cover what falls between them. In the Book of Prayer he recalls the hadith comparing the five prayers to a cleansing river, underscoring their role as a recurring spiritual washing.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 5 books by Imam al-Ghazali and Ibn Battuta — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"cautious, avoiding even minor sins relying solely on the five daily prayers, and similarly avoiding"
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"The conclusion is that by major sins, we mean those sins not expiated by the five daily prayers"
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"The rule of major sins is that the five daily prayers do not expiate them, which is an affair"
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"The five daily prayers Friday to Friday expiate what is between them as long as major sins"
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
· Provenance →
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"Conditions include attending the five prayers, spending the night in the zawiyah, and congregating"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Yazid al-Rukashi would say, The hadith regarding the five prayers being like a river is recorded"
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"five prayers while Ibn Masud sat by his head saying, This, by Allah, is true fear. Al-Rabbi"
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"He further said, Whoever consistently performs the five prayers with full purification and"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"said that a prayer following the use of Siwak is superior to seventy-five prayers without it."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"The Hadith, If a woman prays her five prayers, fasts her month, is narrated by Ibn Hibban"
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