Except for the following rituals and utterances of the Salah, everything else is optional:

Following are the rituals of the prayer which are laid down in the shariah:

– The prayer should begin with raf al-yadayn (raising high both hands);

– qiyam (standing upright) should ensue;

– it should be followed by the ruku (kneeling down);

– qawmah (standing up after the ruku) should then be done;

– two consecutive prostrations should then follow;

– in the second and last rakat of each prayer, a person should do qadah (to sit with legs folded backwards);

– when a person intends to end the prayer, he can do so by turning his face during this qadah.

These rituals are substantiated by the consensus of the Companions (rta) and the perpetual adherence (tawatur) of the ummah to these rituals.

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Following are the various utterances of the prayer:

– The prayer shall begin by saying اللهُ أكْبَر (God is the greatest);

– Then Surah Fatihah shall be recited during the qiyam, after which, according to one’s convenience, a portion from the rest of the Quran shall be recited;

– While going into the ruku, اللهُ أكْبَر shall be pronounced;

– While rising from the ruku, سَمِعَ اللهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ (God heard him who expressed his gratitude to Him) shall be uttered;

– While going for the prostrations and rising from them, اللهُ أكْبَر shall be pronounced;

– While rising from the qadah for the qiyam, اللهُ أكْبَر shall once again be pronounced;

– At the end of the prayer, السَّلاُمُ عَلَيكُمْ وَ رَحْمَتُ اللهِ (peace and blessings of God be on you) shall be said;

The prayer-leader will always loudly pronounce اللهُ أكْبَر, سَمِعَ اللهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ and السَّلاُمُ عَلَيكُمْ وَ رَحْمَتُ اللهِ. In the first two rakat of the maghrib and isha prayers, and in both rakat of the fajr, Friday and id prayers, the recital shall be loud. The recital shall always be silent in the third rakat of maghrib and in the third and fourth of the isha prayer. In the zuhr and asr prayers, the recital shall be silent in all the rakat.

These are the utterances prescribed by the shariah for the prayer. They are in Arabic, and, like the practices of the prayer, are validated by the consensus and tawatur (perpetual adherence) of the Muslim ummah. Besides these, a person can say any utterance in his own language which expresses the sovereignty of the Almighty, gratitude towards Him or is a supplication.

Yes it is.