Isha

Isha is the night prayer. It is the fifth and last prayer of the day. We pray it after the sky has turned dark and the red light at the edge of the sky from sunset has gone away.

Isha has 4 rakat, the same structure as Dhuhr and Asr. But Isha is different in one important way: the first two rakat are recited aloud, and the last two are silent. This is the same pattern as Maghrib and Fajr (which are loud prayers), mixed with the silent pattern of Dhuhr and Asr.

Isha is a lovely prayer to end the day with. Many families pray Isha together right before bedtime, then read a short dua and go to sleep. When you pray Isha, you are closing the day by talking to Allah, just like you started the day with Fajr.

Every rakat begins with Al-Fatiha (the opening of the Quran). In Isha, you only add a short surah after Al-Fatiha in the first two rakat. In rakats three and four, you say Al-Fatiha by itself. The first two rakat are said aloud; the last two are said quietly to yourself.

You get to choose which surah comes after Al-Fatiha in the first two rakat. When you tap practice, you'll pick from the surahs you have learned. Here's what each rakat looks like:

Short surahs like Al-Ikhlas, An-Nas, and Al-Falaq are great choices, and it's nice to pick a different one for the second rakat.

After the second rakat, you sit for a short moment to say the tashahhud, then stand back up for the third rakat. The full sitting with tashahhud, durood, and salaam happens at the very end, after the fourth rakat.

If you don't know how to pray one rakat yet, that's okay! Start with the Start Here lesson first. Layth and Sofia will teach you each posture and recitation, one step at a time.

Once you've learned one rakat, you'll be ready to practice any of the five daily prayers.