BOB ABERNETHY: Now, our Belief & Practice segment. This week, the prayers of Muslims five times a day. Daily prayers are one of the five pillars of Islam, along with worshiping only Allah and accepting Muhammad as his prophet, charity, fasting during the month of Ramadan, and making a pilgrimage to Mecca. We spoke with Shakir el-Saed in Alexandria, Virginia, about his daily prayer practice and its meaning.Mr. SHAKIR EL-SAED: A Muslim will pray five times a day: at dawn-time, before sunrise; at noontime; in the mid-afternoon; right after sunset; and in the beginning of the night. Before we pray, everyone has to make an ablution; that is, a way of cleansing. It is the tradition of the prophet. This is how he did.
The prayer rug is not necessary for prayer. It's only something that you feel is cleaner than other pieces that you can pray on.
Mr. EL-SAED: So, as you enter the prayer, you say, 'Allahu Akbar, God is greater,' which tells you and reminds you that everything else is smaller and almost vanishes in value in comparison to the Lord. When we say 'Allahu Akbar' and we wave our hands to the back like this, it is symbolically kind of like saying, 'I am leaving the whole world behind, and I'm coming to you, oh, God, in submission.' 
For a Muslim, the whole Earth is a prayer place, but the direction of the prayer -- that is, determined by where the person is toward Mecca -- will be of their families. When I am at the airport or even on the roadway, I just determine where the sun is, and then I know the East and West.
