I say with God's guidance: Prayer in language: Prayer is derived from 'salla', and its derivation is from 'as-sala', which is the bone on which the buttocks rest; because the one praying moves his 'salawain' in bowing and prostration. It also comes to mean supplication; as in His Almighty's saying: (And pray for them) [At-Tawbah: 103], meaning supplicate for them, and supplication is called prayer because it is part of it. It also comes to mean mercy and blessing, as in the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him): ((O Allah, bless the family of Abu Awfa)), in Sahih Muslim 2: 756, and Sahih Bukhari 2: 544: meaning bless them, or have mercy on them. Prayer in terminology: It is a set of specific pillars and known remembrances with confined conditions at specified times. See: Al-Maghrib p.272, Al-Misbah Al-Munir p.347, Al-Ikhtiyar 1: 51, Maraqi Al-Falah p.172, and Fath Bab Al-Inayah 1: 175, and God knows best.