Salat al-Tawbah; (Prayer of Repentance, also Namaz-e-Tawbah) is a Muslim prayer consisting of two rak'as (units or cycles of ritual prayer), according to Sunni tradition, or four rak'as, according to Shi'a tradition. The prayer is called for if a Muslim falls into sin—whether the sin is major or minor. Shia method In the Shia Islam tradition, the prayer is performed as follows: Perform Ghusl by way of Irtimasi (submerging the whole body in water, either in stages or at once) or by way of Tartibi (wiping the body with water). Perform wudu Perform a four rakah prayer. It is the same as a regular 4 prayer except the following, which the one offering the prayer says in every rakah: Surah al-Fatiha once Surah al-Ikhlas three times Surah al-Falaq once Surah an-Nas once After the prayer, say Astaghfirullah rabbi wa atubu 'ilayh After saying the above, say: Laa hawla wa laa quwwata illa billaahil a'liyyil a'zeem. Then say: Yaa A'zeezo yaa ghaffooro ighfirli zunoobi wa zunooba Jamee'il mo-mineena wal mo-minaate. Fa innahu laa yaghfiro illa ant. References External links contains the Hadith detailing the method, as described by the Prophet Salah Salah terminology