Fixed prayer times

Muslims pray five times a day, with their prayers being known as Fajr (dawn), Dhuhr (after midday), Asr (afternoon), Maghrib (sunset), Isha (nighttime), facing towards Mecca.

[6] In the past, some mosques employed astronomers called the muwaqqits who were responsible for regulating the prayer time using mathematical astronomy.

[8][9] In the Hebrew Bible, it is written that when the prophet Daniel was in Babylon, he "went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open to Jerusalem; and he got down upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously" (cf.

[9] After its destruction, Jews continue to pray facing Jerusalem in hope for the coming of the Messiah whom they await.

[20][21][19][22] This practice of seven fixed prayer times was done in the bodily positions of prostration and standing, which continues today in some denominations, especially those of Oriental Christianity.

[17] Oriental Orthodox Christians (such as Copts, Armenians and Syriacs, as well certain Oriental Protestant denominations (such as the Mar Thoma Syrian Church), use a breviary such as the Agpeya and Shehimo to pray the canonical hours seven times a day while facing ad orientem, in anticipation of the Second Coming of Jesus; this Christian practice has its roots in Psalm 119:164, in which the King David prays to God seven times a day.

[29] At the very minimum, Orthodox Christians are to pray before meals and thrice daily — in the morning, at noon, and in the evening (cf.

[30][31] Those who are unable to pray the canonical hour of a certain fixed prayer time may recite the Qauma, in the Indian Orthodox tradition.

[note 2][12] In Western Christianity and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the practice of praying the canonical hours at fixed prayer times became mainly observed by monastics and clergy,[32] though today, the Catholic Church encourages the laity to pray the Liturgy of the Hours and in the Lutheran Churches and Anglican Communion, breviaries such as The Brotherhood Prayer Book and the Anglican Breviary, respectively, are used to pray the Daily Office;[33][34][35] the Methodist tradition has emphasized the praying of the canonical hours as an "essential practice" in being a disciple of Jesus, with the Order of Saint Luke, a Methodist religious order, printing The Book of Offices and Services to serve this end.