Elucidating other conditions among the conditions of prayer, facing Ka^bah and setting in of the prayer time.
(Among the conditions) of the validity (of prayer are: 1. To direct one’s chest towards the) structure of the (Qiblah;) i.e. the Ka^bah and that which is vertically parallel to its structure in a line to the seventh sky or to the seventh earth, by facing it with the chest while standing and sitting, and with most of the body while in bowing (ruku^) and prostration (sujud).
It is also a condition to know: (2. The setting in of the prayer time;) either for certain by observation or supposition like the one who has taken a habitual rewardable practice (wird), for example he says a certain amount of supplication, and he knows that he usually does not finish his wird until after the time of the prayer per se has began.
It is also a condition to (3. To be Muslim;) Prayer is not valid from a blasphemer. Also, it is a condition (4. To be at the age of mental discrimination (mumayyiz),) so prayer is not valid from someone who has not reached the age of mental discrimination, (i.e. the age of which the child understands when addressed and answers when asked;)
It is also a condition (5. To deem the obligatory prayer an obligation;) i.e. for the one who is praying to know about the obligatory status of the prayer he is praying, otherwise, if he believed that the obligatory prayer was an optional prayer, his prayer is not valid.
It is also a condition for the one who is praying (6. Not to deem any of the integrals of the prayer) i.e. any specific integral, i.e. any of the obligatory matters of the prayer, which the Shafi^iyy scholars agreed is one of the obligatory matters of the prayer, like reciting Surat alFatiha or bowing (ruku^), as (recommended (sunnah);)
It is also a condition (7. To cover) even if one was alone or in the dark, (the whole body of the free woman with the exception of her face and hands,) because they are not part of the unlawful nakedness (^awrah) of the body of the woman, (i.e.) the covering happens by way of that which is used (to conceal the skin and hair and their colors;) such that one cannot distinguish their color when being addressed by another who is in his immediate session. So it does not suffice to use material which brown and white skin can be distinguished between when covered by it. Furthermore, the covering must be (to cover the area between the navel and the knees of the male and of the female slave) because this is what is considered their unlawful nakedness. And the covering must be (from all sides except from underneath.) i.e. not by covering from below the unlawful nakedness.