ṢALĀT. The ṣalāt is a ritually prescribed prayer in the Islamic faith. Although the Qurʾān mentions ṣalāt many times, the specific details of how, when, where, and under what conditions to perform the ritual prayer are not minutely described in the Qurʾān. Rather, the early Muslim community formalized the ritual on the basis of the Prophet Muḥammad's example, or sunnah. Such matters as the exact postures, times, conditions, and recitations of the ṣalāt were arrived at thanks to the early community's recollections of the prophet's practice. Inspired by the Qurʾanic decree to emulate Muḥammad as their most beautiful model (uswa al-ḥasana), oral reports called ḥadīth recalling what Muḥammad said or did began to circulate soon after his death. As many spurious ḥadīth also proliferated, eventually they had...