Muslims pray five times a day because prayer is considered an essential part of their spiritual diet. Just as a person needs to eat several times a day, their souls need to pray five times per day, according to Islamic beliefs. Spaced at strategic intervals throughout the day, these five prayers are also a good reminder for Muslims to take a break from regular life and think about their faith.
In the past, many Muslims used the sun to tell them when to pray, but contemporary Muslims can just use a wrist watch or a cell phone. In communities with mosques, Muslims are called to prayer by a muezzin. The muezzin's call to prayer is called the adhan, and it is usually broadcast over the loudspeakers of the mosque so that all of the Muslim people in the vicinity can hear the call.
Traditionally, the daily prayers take place at sunrise, noon, afternoon, sunset and evening. Each has its own name: fajr, dhuhr, asr, maghrib and isha. However, it is not necessarily important to pray at the same time every day. Rather, the prayers can be scheduled around an individual's time frame. For instance, if someone sleeps past sunrise, they can simply do the fajr prayers when they wake up.