Salah as one of the Five Pillars
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain how and why Muslims perform salah, both at home and in the mosque.
Key learning points
- Muslims are instructed to pray five prayers each day.
- Muslims can pray in any place that is clean and may pray alone or together with others.
- There is some diversity in practice between how Sunni and Shi'a Muslims may pray.
- Friday congregational prayers are held at the mosque and known as Jummah prayer.
Keywords
Jummah - Friday prayers in the mosque, where a sermon (khutbah) is heard
Mosque - it is a communal place of worship for a Muslim community, also known as a masjid
Rak'ah - actions and ritual movements made during salah (prayer) consisting of recitations, standing, bowing and prostration
Wudu - ritual washing, or ablution before praying and/or touching the Qur'an
Common misconception
Only Shi'a Muslims may combine prayers so that the five obligatory prayers are said three times.
Sunni Muslims are also permitted to combine prayers when needed, such as when travelling, ill or due to hardship.
Teacher tip
Students may benefit from a visit to a mosque, or from looking at guides to mosques found online to see some key features which support Jumnah and daily prayers, such as the ablution area, the direction of prayer, the stand where sermons are given and the prayer space.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
5 Questions
Q1.What does the term "Shariah" mean in Islam?
Q2.The Five are important acts of worship for Sunni Muslims.
Q3.What does the Shahadah express?
Q4.What concept is reinforced by the phrase “There is no god but Allah”?
Q5.Some Shi’a Muslims add that 'Ali is a friend of in their Shahadah.
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.According to a hadith, Islam is built on how many pillars?
Q2.Muslims are required to pray times each day.
Q3.Can Muslims pray alone, or must they always pray in a group?
Q4.While both Sunni and Shi’a Muslims pray, there are some in how they perform the prayers.
Q5.When are Sunni Muslims permitted to combine prayers?
To help you plan your 11 religious education lesson on: Salah as one of the Five Pillars, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 religious education lesson on: Salah as one of the Five Pillars, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 religious education lessons from the Living the Muslim life unit, dive into the full secondary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.