Where to pray, and what to wear

One of the simplest things about Islam is that you do not need a dedicated building to pray. The Prophet ﷺ said the whole earth has been made a masjid for him and his community (Sahih al-Bukhari 335). You can pray at home, in an empty meeting room at work, in an airport corner, in a park, on the side of a quiet road.

What the place needs

• Clean. Not dirty with obvious impurity.
• Reasonably private or dignified. You do not need complete silence.
• Not a bathroom, graveyard (with an exception for janazah prayers), or somewhere actively worshipped as not-Allah.

A prayer mat is not required. It is useful because it gives you a clean spot quickly, but a clean towel or patch of floor works. People pray on carpets, on grass, on concrete.

What to wear

Modesty in prayer is about covering what Islamic law calls awrah. For men, this is at minimum from the navel to the knees. A t-shirt and trousers that cover the knees cover the awrah. Traditionally both shoulders are also covered.

For women, the awrah for prayer is everything except the face and hands. Loose clothing, covering the hair and neck, is the standard. Many women keep a long prayer garment (often called jilbab, abaya, or an isdal) near their prayer spot at home for this.

Clothing must also be pure. If something impure (blood, urine, etc.) got on your clothes and you have not cleaned it, the prayer is invalid. Splashes of water from a sink do not count as impure.

Shoes off

Most Muslims pray without shoes, especially indoors. Outside or in circumstances where you cannot take them off, you can pray with them on if they are clean. When you pray without shoes, socks are fine.

Praying at work

This is one of the most common new-Muslim questions. Short version: your employer cannot legally discriminate against you for short prayer breaks in many countries. The prayers are short (three to seven minutes if you are efficient). Dhuhr and Asr are the two usually falling within work hours. You do not need a prayer room; you need a quiet spot and five minutes.

If you work somewhere very public, you can also pray at the start and end of your lunch break in a private corner. Many Muslims do this for years without incident.