RAHIBA R. PARVEEN

As the Muslim prayer is under attack again, with Noida police banning religious congregations at parks in Sector 58, ThePrint brings you a lowdown on namaz and its importance.

New Delhi: The Muslim prayer, namaz, is under scrutiny once again after the Noida police caused a furore by issuing an order that directed multinational companies in the city’s Sector-58 region to ensure that their Muslim employees do not offer Friday prayers in a community park.

The notice also warns the companies that they will be held liable for any violation by their employees. This follows an earlier row, in May this year, when Hindutva groups in Haryana’s Gurgaon stopped Muslims from offering Friday prayers in several open spaces.

What is the namaz?

Salaah or namaz is an obligatory prayer performed by a practising Muslim five times a day. The namaz is performed early in the morning, afternoon, evening, near sunset and late evening. Each namaz lasts for between five to 10 minutes, and so cumulatively the prayers take up around 30 minutes in a day.

Muslims face towards the city of Mecca and specifically to the Ka’abah while offering namaz and this direction is called the qibla.

The namaz is one of the five obligatory pillars of Islam, with the other four being faith in the oneness of God, performing charity, fasting in the Islamic month of Ramzan and undertaking a pilgrimage to Haj (Mecca) once in a lifetime.

“Through namaz, a Muslim is standing before the sight of Allah and in attendance, submitting to Allah’s will,” noted historian Rana Safvi told ThePrint. “Islam is all about submission to Allah’s will and namaz is a way when a Muslim considers herself closest to the lord.”

According to the Quran, namaz can be performed at any clean place except bathrooms and graves. The primary purpose of the mosque is to serve as a place where Muslims can come together for prayer, as praying together holds great importance in Islam.

Women can’t offer namaz in a Mosque is a myth, Islam allows both men and women to offer namaz at the same place. However, the condition is that women should pray in separate safs or lines formed during praying.

“The biggest example of women praying in a mosque is when they go for Haj which is one of our five pillars. Men and Women pray in Masjid Nabuwi, the mosque of Prophet Mohammad,” said Mohammad Irfan, a Delhi-based Maulvi. “There is no segregation between them in Masjid Nabuwi while in other masjids across the world, women pray in separate enclosures.”