First let us distinguish between two types of prayers in Islam. The first one is called “Du’a”. It means to request help from God or ask God to accomplish your wishes or fulfil your needs, protect you and so on. This type of prayer could be done anywhere any time by anyone without any mediator between the worshiper and God. Everybody can raise his/her hand and ask directly anything he/she wants from God.
The second type of prayer is called “Salat”. This later is divided into two types; Optional (nawafil) and obligatory (fard). The optional one can be performed voluntarily anytime in the day. It is preferred to be performed individually at home. The best time of Nawafil payer is at night .
The (fard) prayer on the other hand has certain times that Muslims must do their best to not miss. They are performed five times a day as follows:
“Alfajr” is performed before the sun rises and it’s the first prayer that Muslims start their days with.
“A Dohr“ is performed at the noon
“Al Asr” is performed around three hours after “A Dohr“ prayer.
“Al Maghrib” is performed at the sunset.
“AL Ichae” is performed around an hour after “Al Maghrib” prayer.
All these five prayers should be performed collectively in the mosques after the hearing of Athan call.