Salaah

Q: How can I stop stray thoughts from coming into my mind while performing salaah? What is the best way to concentrate in salaah?

Q: A person arrives late to the masjid and misses a number of rakats with the imam. When the imam says salam, he thus has a number of extra rakaat to make up. But he doesn't remember how many. In order to find out, may he pray slowly and see how many extra rakaats the people around him do, since they joined the prayer at the same time as him?

Q: Tell me things in order to make myself become alright in prayers.

Q: If I reach the musjid at a time when the jamaat of Fajr has already commenced, should I immediately join the jamaat or should I first offer the sunnah of Fajr?

Q: It is permissible to offer Qadha salaah after 'Fajar' and 'Asar' prayer?

Q: We are university students in Canada who have final exams coming up. Some of which are from 2pm to 5pm. However, Asr Mithl to Maghrib is from 2:10 to 4:30. How should we pray our Asr Salah assuming we cannot pray during the exam?

Q: In the UK the weather is often cold and wet and I am a young teenager. Sometimes I want to go to pray salah with the jamaat but due to the weather my mother stops me fearing that I will become ill. Shall I disobey her and fulfil Allah Ta'ala's command or obey her and read at home? Would I get a sin for not obeying my mother or missing salah with jamat?

Q: If a person does not have a topee but he has an American cap, should he perform the Salaah wearing the American cap or should he perform the Salaah without a topee?

Q: My question is if a person misses his or her salah does he or she become a kafir? Some scholars say that it is kufr.

Q: I usually pray two rakaats sitting after witr since this was the practise of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alyhi Wasallam). However, I now came across a Hadith saying that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) didn't do these rakats 100% sitting, rather he stood up before ruku and made the ruku from a standing position. Can you please advice how to perform the two rakats. The hadith is: “He observed thirteen rak'ahs (in the night prayer). He observed eight rak'ahs and would then observe Witr and then observe two rak'ahs sitting, and when he wanted to bow he stood up and then bowed down, and then observed two rak'ahs in between the Adhaan and lqama of the dawn prayer.” (Sahih Muslim)