This lesson looks at some common mistakes in Salah. New and experienced worshippers alike can fall into a few habits that reduce the quality of the prayer, and in some cases its validity. None of them should discourage anyone from praying.

The first is rushing the positions: moving through bowing and prostration too quickly, without a moment of stillness in each one. That stillness is called tuma'ninah.

The second is reciting without understanding: saying the words correctly, but not reflecting on what they mean. Learning the meaning of Al-Fatihah and the other recitations can help, and the Tafsir tool on this site is one place to start.

The third is losing focus, or khushu': letting the mind wander to unrelated thoughts. This is extremely common. Even experienced worshippers work on it for life, and it does not invalidate the prayer. Gently bringing your attention back each time you notice it wander is itself part of building focus.

The fourth is incomplete prostration: not placing all seven points firmly on the ground. Those seven points are the forehead with the nose, both palms, both knees, and the toes.

The fifth is praying outside the time window: starting a prayer before its time has begun, or delaying it without a valid reason until it is close to ending.

And the sixth is skipping the wudu check: assuming your wudu is still valid without considering whether anything has broken it since. The earlier lesson on what breaks wudu covers this.

What if you forget a step during the prayer? There are recognised ways to correct mistakes. In some cases this is an extra pair of prostrations at the end, known as sujud as-sahw, which is the subject of the next lesson. Simply repeating a unit of prayer in the middle is usually not the answer. The right correction depends on exactly what was missed, so ask a knowledgeable local teacher about your own case.

You do not need to understand Arabic for your prayer to be valid. The recitations must be said correctly in Arabic, but understanding their meaning is a matter of reflection that deepens the prayer, not a condition for it.

Salah is meant to be learned and improved gradually. Even a prayer with room for improvement is far better than no prayer at all.