How many times is prayer mentioned in the Quran?
Counted in the Arabic text and in Pickthall‘s English, with the rule beside each number and every verse below. Then search any other word.
In the Arabic
83
times, in 78 verses, as صلاة
Counted: The noun salah and its forms: as-salah, salatihim (their prayer), salati (my prayer), salawat (prayers). The verb (to pray) is not counted. Salawat can also mean blessings (2:157) and places of worship (22:40); those are in the count.
In Pickthall‘s English
97
times, in 80 verses
Counted: pray, prays, prayed, praying, prayer, prayers, prayeth, prayest. Pickthall most often puts salah as "worship" ("establish worship"), so the English count is lower than the Arabic one. Another translation would give another number.
...
times
114 surahs
6,236 verses
Loading the 6,236 verses...
The first verses with prayer
2:3 Al-Baqarah
الذين يؤمنون بالغيب ويقيمون الصلاة ومما رزقناهم ينفقون
Who believe in the Unseen, and establish worship, and spend of that We have bestowed upon them;
2:43 Al-Baqarah
وأقيموا الصلاة وآتوا الزكاة واركعوا مع الراكعين
Establish worship, pay the poor-due, and bow your heads with those who bow (in worship).
2:45 Al-Baqarah
واستعينوا بالصبر والصلاة وإنها لكبيرة إلا على الخاشعين
Seek help in patience and prayer; and truly it is hard save for the humble-minded,
2:83 Al-Baqarah
وإذ أخذنا ميثاق بني إسرائيل لا تعبدون إلا الله وبالوالدين إحسانا وذي القربى واليتامى والمساكين وقولوا للناس حسنا وأقيموا الصلاة وآتوا الزكاة ثم توليتم إلا قليلا منكم وأنتم معرضون
And (remember) when We made a covenant with the Children of Israel, (saying): Worship none save Allah (only), and be good to parents and to kindred and to orphans and the needy, and speak kindly to mankind; and establish worship and pay the poor-due. Then, after that, ye slid back, save a few of you, being averse.
2:110 Al-Baqarah
وأقيموا الصلاة وآتوا الزكاة وما تقدموا لأنفسكم من خير تجدوه عند الله إن الله بما تعملون بصير
Establish worship, and pay the poor-due; and whatever of good ye send before (you) for your souls, ye will find it with Allah. Lo! Allah is Seer of what ye do.
2:153 Al-Baqarah
يا أيها الذين آمنوا استعينوا بالصبر والصلاة إن الله مع الصابرين
O ye who believe! Seek help in steadfastness and prayer. Lo! Allah is with the steadfast.
2:157 Al-Baqarah
أولئك عليهم صلوات من ربهم ورحمة وأولئك هم المهتدون
Such are they on whom are blessings from their Lord, and mercy. Such are the rightly guided.
2:177 Al-Baqarah
ليس البر أن تولوا وجوهكم قبل المشرق والمغرب ولكن البر من آمن بالله واليوم الآخر والملائكة والكتاب والنبيين وآتى المال على حبه ذوي القربى واليتامى والمساكين وابن السبيل والسائلين وفي الرقاب وأقام الصلاة وآتى الزكاة والموفون بعهدهم إذا عاهدوا والصابرين في البأساء والضراء وحين البأس أولئك الذين صدقوا وأولئك هم المتقون
It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces to the East and the West; but righteous is he who believeth in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Scripture and the prophets; and giveth wealth, for love of Him, to kinsfolk and to orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask, and to set slaves free; and observeth proper worship and payeth the poor-due. And those who keep their treaty when they make one, and the patient in tribulation and adversity and time of stress. Such are they who are sincere. Such are the Allah-fearing.
2:238 Al-Baqarah
حافظوا على الصلوات والصلاة الوسطى وقوموا لله قانتين
Be guardians of your prayers, and of the midmost prayer, and stand up with devotion to Allah.
2:277 Al-Baqarah
إن الذين آمنوا وعملوا الصالحات وأقاموا الصلاة وآتوا الزكاة لهم أجرهم عند ربهم ولا خوف عليهم ولا هم يحزنون
Lo! those who believe and do good works and establish worship and pay the poor-due, their reward is with their Lord and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.
All 78 verses are in the search above, with the count by surah.
How this was counted
The Arabic count goes through all 6,236 verses of the Tanzil text without vowel marks and counts each written word that is one of the forms named above. Wa (and), fa (so), bi (with), li (for), ka (like) and al (the) are written joined to the next word, so they are allowed in front. The basmala at the top of each surah is not counted; the one that is verse 1 of Al-Fatiha is.
The English count looks for whole words in Pickthall‘s translation. Words he put in brackets are his explanations, not the Arabic, so they are left out. A translation count is a count of the translator‘s choices: use the Arabic number when you quote one.
Search any word in the box above, or see how the Quran word search works and how many words the whole Quran has.
Arabic: Tanzil Quran Text (Simple Clean, Hafs), copied verbatim under its terms. English: Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (1930), public domain, from Project Gutenberg eBook #16955.
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Questions about prayer in the Quran
How many times is prayer mentioned in the Quran?
In the Arabic, 83 times, in 78 verses. Counted: The noun salah and its forms: as-salah, salatihim (their prayer), salati (my prayer), salawat (prayers). The verb (to pray) is not counted. Salawat can also mean blessings (2:157) and places of worship (22:40); those are in the count. In Pickthall's English translation the count is 97 times (pray, prays, prayed, praying, prayer, prayers, prayeth, prayest. Pickthall most often puts salah as "worship" ("establish worship"), so the English count is lower than the Arabic one).
Why do other sources give a different number?
Because they count other forms of the word, or count in a translation. Arabic joins words such as "and" and "the" to the next word and adds endings for his, their and plurals, and translators use different English words for the same Arabic word. Every number is right for its own rule; this page tells you its rule and lists every verse, so you can check it.
Where is prayer first mentioned in the Quran?
In mushaf order, the first 10 verses are 2:3, 2:43, 2:45, 2:83, 2:110, 2:153, 2:157, 2:177, 2:238, 2:277. The full list is on this page, each verse in Arabic and in English.