Converse with Allah! [buidling Khushoo in Prayers]
Asalaam Wa Alykum Wa Rahmat Allah Hi Wa Barakat
There’s your favourite show coming up on TV and damn its Maghreb time. You have to pray or else the TV closes (if you have parents like mine ). You rush through the wudo process, pray your 3 fardz like a rocket, don’t care to make du’a, just wrap up everything and rush in front of the TV. This whole process took about MAX 5 mins.
Lets consider another situation. Praying Zuhr and random worldly thoughts are circling your mind. Thoughts about what you have to do after done praying, studies, chores etc. These thoughts sometimes make you forget which raka’t you were at.
Why do we face such situations in prayers? That’s because there is no KHUSHU in our prayer.
Khushu is a serious major issue, one can pray without it and have no sins taken away from them. Hence our Prophet (pbuh) used to say in his dua "O Allah i seek refuge with you from the heart that has no khushu"
But what is khushu???
It is the presence of the heart during an act of ‘ibadah. Khushu is the heart of your worship and your relationship with Allah. Satan being the bad guy, tries to deprive us of our Khushu while worship. He whispers to us during our Salah diverting our attention, depriving us of the joy, love, and sweetness of this worship, and diminishing our reward for it.
However, its easy to blame the satan for it and not look at ourselves. Yes satan is the core reason, but Allah has given us humans the brain to think. There is a reason why we are given the status of “Ashrafull Makhlooqaat” (highest honour in all of Allah’s creation)
According to the Prophet (pbuh), with the passage of time, "The first thing to be lifted up from this Ummah will be khushu', until you will see no one from among you who has it." [al-Haythami, al-Tabarani]
Why is Khushu necessary???
The simple and obvious answer is to get more reward in our worship.
Ibn Kathir says: Khushu' in prayer is achieved when a person empties their heart for it (prayer), focuses on it and prefers it over everything else. Only then do they find comfort and joy in it
What is the consequence of not having khushu (while praying)???
If there is no khushu in the salah then it will not be counted, except for [the parts] where one is focused and has the correct attitude of khushu towards one’s Lord.
In the Musnad it is reported that the Prophet (pbuh) said: A person may offer a prayer, and nothing will be recorded of it for him except half of it, or a third, or a quarter, or a tenth.
Concerning the virtues of khushu and as a warning to the one who neglects it, the Prophet (pbuh) said: Five prayers which Allah has made obligatory. Whoever does wudoo properly for them, prays them on time, does rukoo properly and has perfect khushu, it is a promise from Allaah that he will be forgiven, but whoever does not do this, has no such promise. If Allah wishes, He will forgive him, and if He wishes, He will punish him.(Reported by Abu Dawood, no. 425; Saheeh al-Jaami�, 3242).
The most scary is the khushu of hypocrisy. Read below:
Hudhayfah (may Allaah be pleased with him) used to say: “Beware of the khushu of hypocrisy“. He was asked, “What is the khushu of hypocrisy?” He said, “When the body shows khushu but there is no khushu in the heart”
Okay enough trying to scare you with the consequences, lets talk about the sawabs (my favourite part)
What are the rewards of having khushu while worship???
The Prophet (pbuh) said: There is no Muslim man who, when the time for a prescribed prayer comes, he does wudoo properly, has the proper attitude of khushu, and bows properly, but it will be an expiation for all his previous sins, so long as they were not major sins (kabeerah). And this is the case for life(Reported by Muslim, 1/206, no. 7/4/2) Sins will be forgiven if you concentrate properly and have full khushu, as the Prophet (pbuh) said: When a slave stands and prays, all his sins are brought and placed on his head and shoulders. Every time he bows or prostrates, some of them fall from him.(Reported by al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-Kubraa, 3/10; see also Saheeh al-Jaami).
The one who prays with khushu will feel lighter when s/he finishes his/her prayer, as if his/her burdens have been lifted from him/her. S/He will feel at ease and refreshed, so that s/he will wish s/he had not stopped praying. S/He will keep feeling that s/he is in a constricting prison until s/he starts to pray again. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said “O Bilaal, let us find comfort in prayer.” He did not say “Let us get it over and done with.”
The Prophet (pbuh) said, “My joy has been made in prayer. So whoever finds his joy in prayer, how can he bear to look for joy anywhere else, or to keep away from it?” (Al-Waabil al-Sayib, 37).
How to obtain khushu???
Aha! Here is a tricky question. How do we get that khushu, about which I’m blabbering about, in our prayers?
Remember that khushu' comes from the heart, and only its effects are manifested in the physical body. The various faculties follow the heart. So if one's heart is corrupted by negligence or whispers from Satan, the worship of his body will also be corrupt.
To improve khushu’, we need hudur, that is presence of mind, body and soul in the salah. We should know in our heart that we are about to embark on a momentous task in our life. We should feel that we are standing before Allah, the Glorified and the Exalted. The wudoo we have done should have washed away our minor sins as well as all the wordly thoughts from our mind. Now we are only concentrating on our prayer. We have to look at our place of sajda. We should try to remember the surahs we are reciting in salah. We should know the meaning of what we pray in salah, and if we don’t know it, then we should learn it. We should know the Power and the Might of Allah and of how insignificant we are in front of Him, as well as about His Mercy and Compassion on us, and all His Creation.
People think that khushu’ is something to be attained in salah, but if your aim is to try to focus when you get in your salah, by the time you have reached that state of khushu', the imaam would have finished the prayer. So aim on getting into that state of khushu' before your prayer.
Before starting your prayers, Know your Lord very well. Knowing whom one worships makes that person a better worshipper. Having clear and authentic knowledge about Allah increases His love in our hearts. Consequently, faith also increases. (Similar to if you know your subject well, you enjoy doing the exam for it. I would enjoy giving my grade 5 papers again caus I know it tooo well ;) )
Avoiding major and minor sins is very helpful in gaining Khushu’, as the heart becomes more receptive to the words of Allah during and after Salah. (You feel more clean and pure)
Stop working as soon as you hear the Adhaan. When you listen attentively to the call of Salat repeat after the muˆz-zin then offer the relevant supplication. After the Adhaan is done, say this du’aa: Allaahummah Rabba haadhihil-dawatil-taammah wa-salaatil-qaaimah, aati Muhammadan il-waseelata wal-fadeelah, wabath-hul-maqaam al-mahmood alladhi waadtah (O Allah, Lord of this perfect call and the prayer to be offered, grant Muhammad the privilege (of interceding) and also the eminence, and resurrect him to the praised position that You have promised). This prepares you for a smooth transition from the business with worldly matters to the business with Salat.
Doing wudoo properly, saying Bismillaah before it and making dhikr and saying the du‘aa after it, Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha ill-Allah wahdahu laa shareeka lah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasooluhu (I bear witness that there is no god except Allah alone, with no partner or associate, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and messenger) & Allaahummajalni min al-tawwaabeena wajalni min al-mutatahhireen (O Allah, make me of those who repent and make me of those who purify themselves). Wudoo also works as a buffer zone before engaging in Salah.
During prayers,
1>When you stand facing the Qiblah remember the following:
a. It might be the last Salaat in your life. There is no guarantee to live longer to catch the next Salah.
b. You are standing between the hands of Allah, the Lord of the worlds. How can you be busy with something else?
c. The angel of death is chasing you.
The Prophet (pbuh) said “Remember death in your prayer, for the man who remembers death during his prayer is bound to pray properly, and pray the prayer of a man who does not think that he will pray any other prayer.” (al-Silsilat al-Saheehah by al-Albaani, 1421. It was reported from al-Suyooti that al-Haafiz ibn Hajar classed this hadeeth as hasan).
2>When reciting the Fatiha, try to recall the response of Allah to you after every ayah you say. (When you say: ”al-hamdu lillahi rab-bil ‘alamin) Allah responds: “My servant praised me.” etc. This feeling of speaking to Allah puts you in the right mood of khushu’.
3>Recite the Qur’an slowly and reflect upon its meaning deeply.
4>It is recommended to change the surahs that your recite from time to time to avoid the mechanic-like state of repetition.
5>Undoubtedly, understanding Arabic helps you focus on the intended meaning.
6>When you prostrate, remember that this position brings you closer to Allah. Seize the opportunity to make sincere du’aa. Invest these moments in making sincere supplications.
7>Keep your eyes focused on the place of sujuud. This helps you gain more concentration.It was reported from Aaishah that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) used to pray with his head tilted forward and his gaze lowered, looking at the ground. (Reported by al-Haakim, 1/479. He said it is saheeh according to the condition of the two Shaykhs [al-Bukhaari and Muslim], and al-Albaani agreed with him in Sifat al-Salaah, p. 89).
There is a question in the minds of some people who pray, which is>> What is the ruling on closing the eyes during prayer, especially when a person feels that this increases his khushu? The answer is that this goes against the Sunnah that was reported from the Prophet (pbuh). Closing the eyes means that a person misses out on the Sunnah of looking at the place of prostration and at his finger. But there is more to the matter than this, so we should listen to the opinion of an expert. I’ll spare you the long explanations and jump directly to the conclusion. For those interested in the explanation, go to http://islamworld.net/docs/khushoo.htm and read under “Looking at the place of prostration”
So the experts came to a conclusion that it is clear that the Sunnah is not to close one‘s eyes, unless it is necessary to do so in order to avoid something that may adversely affect one‘s khushu.
8>Moving the index finger
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said “It is more powerful against the Satan than iron” (reported by Imaam Ahmad, 2/119, as stated in Sifat al-Salah, p. 159), i.e., pointing with the forefinger during the Tashahhud is more painful to the Satan than being beaten with a rod of iron, because it reminds the slave of the oneness of Allah and to be sincere in his/her worship of Him alone, and this is what the Satan hates most (al-Fath al-Rabbani by al-Saaidi, 4/15).
To sum it all up, waswaas (insinuating thoughts from Satan) is a problem that befalls everyone who turns to Allah with dhikr and other kinds of worship. It is inevitable, so one has to stand firm and be patient, and persist in the dhikr or salah, and not give up. His sticking to it will ward off the Satan‘s plots from himself.
“Ever feeble indeed is the plot of Shaytaan.” [al-Nisaa 4:76 interpretation of the meaning]
When the slave stands up to pray, the Satan feels jealous of him, because he is standing in the greatest position, one that is closest [to Allah] and most annoying and grievous to the Satan.
The Prophet (pbuh) taught us the following methods of combating the wiles of Satan and getting rid of his waswaas:
Abul-Aas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that he said, “O Messenger of Allah, the Satan interrupts me when I pray, and I get confused in my recitation.” The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, “That is a satan whose name is Khanzab. If you sense his presence, seek refuge with Allah from him, and spit [dry spitting] towards your left three times.” Abul-Aas said: “I did that and Allah took him away from me.” (Reported by Muslim, no. 2203)
Remember, one perfection leads to another perfection. If someone perfects his Salah once, he would be self-motivated to continue on the same level.
May Allah fill our hearts with khushuu’ - Aameen.
I'm not a scholar, just an ordinary guy. There maybe some errors in interpreting a hadith so please forgive me and reply so that i can rectify it. I read the hadith and english translation of the Quran and try to get points on relevant topic of interest.
Suggestions welcomed. If you'd like me to talk about a particular topic of interest, i'll be glad to do so.
Hope it really helps you all and try to remember me in your prayers :D
Lets consider another situation. Praying Zuhr and random worldly thoughts are circling your mind. Thoughts about what you have to do after done praying, studies, chores etc. These thoughts sometimes make you forget which raka’t you were at.
Why do we face such situations in prayers? That’s because there is no KHUSHU in our prayer.
Khushu is a serious major issue, one can pray without it and have no sins taken away from them. Hence our Prophet (pbuh) used to say in his dua "O Allah i seek refuge with you from the heart that has no khushu"
But what is khushu???
It is the presence of the heart during an act of ‘ibadah. Khushu is the heart of your worship and your relationship with Allah. Satan being the bad guy, tries to deprive us of our Khushu while worship. He whispers to us during our Salah diverting our attention, depriving us of the joy, love, and sweetness of this worship, and diminishing our reward for it.
However, its easy to blame the satan for it and not look at ourselves. Yes satan is the core reason, but Allah has given us humans the brain to think. There is a reason why we are given the status of “Ashrafull Makhlooqaat” (highest honour in all of Allah’s creation)
According to the Prophet (pbuh), with the passage of time, "The first thing to be lifted up from this Ummah will be khushu', until you will see no one from among you who has it." [al-Haythami, al-Tabarani]
Why is Khushu necessary???
The simple and obvious answer is to get more reward in our worship.
Ibn Kathir says: Khushu' in prayer is achieved when a person empties their heart for it (prayer), focuses on it and prefers it over everything else. Only then do they find comfort and joy in it
What is the consequence of not having khushu (while praying)???
If there is no khushu in the salah then it will not be counted, except for [the parts] where one is focused and has the correct attitude of khushu towards one’s Lord.
In the Musnad it is reported that the Prophet (pbuh) said: A person may offer a prayer, and nothing will be recorded of it for him except half of it, or a third, or a quarter, or a tenth.
Concerning the virtues of khushu and as a warning to the one who neglects it, the Prophet (pbuh) said: Five prayers which Allah has made obligatory. Whoever does wudoo properly for them, prays them on time, does rukoo properly and has perfect khushu, it is a promise from Allaah that he will be forgiven, but whoever does not do this, has no such promise. If Allah wishes, He will forgive him, and if He wishes, He will punish him.(Reported by Abu Dawood, no. 425; Saheeh al-Jaami�, 3242).
The most scary is the khushu of hypocrisy. Read below:
Hudhayfah (may Allaah be pleased with him) used to say: “Beware of the khushu of hypocrisy“. He was asked, “What is the khushu of hypocrisy?” He said, “When the body shows khushu but there is no khushu in the heart”
Okay enough trying to scare you with the consequences, lets talk about the sawabs (my favourite part)
What are the rewards of having khushu while worship???
The Prophet (pbuh) said: There is no Muslim man who, when the time for a prescribed prayer comes, he does wudoo properly, has the proper attitude of khushu, and bows properly, but it will be an expiation for all his previous sins, so long as they were not major sins (kabeerah). And this is the case for life(Reported by Muslim, 1/206, no. 7/4/2) Sins will be forgiven if you concentrate properly and have full khushu, as the Prophet (pbuh) said: When a slave stands and prays, all his sins are brought and placed on his head and shoulders. Every time he bows or prostrates, some of them fall from him.(Reported by al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-Kubraa, 3/10; see also Saheeh al-Jaami).
The one who prays with khushu will feel lighter when s/he finishes his/her prayer, as if his/her burdens have been lifted from him/her. S/He will feel at ease and refreshed, so that s/he will wish s/he had not stopped praying. S/He will keep feeling that s/he is in a constricting prison until s/he starts to pray again. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said “O Bilaal, let us find comfort in prayer.” He did not say “Let us get it over and done with.”
The Prophet (pbuh) said, “My joy has been made in prayer. So whoever finds his joy in prayer, how can he bear to look for joy anywhere else, or to keep away from it?” (Al-Waabil al-Sayib, 37).
How to obtain khushu???
Aha! Here is a tricky question. How do we get that khushu, about which I’m blabbering about, in our prayers?
Remember that khushu' comes from the heart, and only its effects are manifested in the physical body. The various faculties follow the heart. So if one's heart is corrupted by negligence or whispers from Satan, the worship of his body will also be corrupt.
To improve khushu’, we need hudur, that is presence of mind, body and soul in the salah. We should know in our heart that we are about to embark on a momentous task in our life. We should feel that we are standing before Allah, the Glorified and the Exalted. The wudoo we have done should have washed away our minor sins as well as all the wordly thoughts from our mind. Now we are only concentrating on our prayer. We have to look at our place of sajda. We should try to remember the surahs we are reciting in salah. We should know the meaning of what we pray in salah, and if we don’t know it, then we should learn it. We should know the Power and the Might of Allah and of how insignificant we are in front of Him, as well as about His Mercy and Compassion on us, and all His Creation.
People think that khushu’ is something to be attained in salah, but if your aim is to try to focus when you get in your salah, by the time you have reached that state of khushu', the imaam would have finished the prayer. So aim on getting into that state of khushu' before your prayer.
Before starting your prayers, Know your Lord very well. Knowing whom one worships makes that person a better worshipper. Having clear and authentic knowledge about Allah increases His love in our hearts. Consequently, faith also increases. (Similar to if you know your subject well, you enjoy doing the exam for it. I would enjoy giving my grade 5 papers again caus I know it tooo well ;) )
Avoiding major and minor sins is very helpful in gaining Khushu’, as the heart becomes more receptive to the words of Allah during and after Salah. (You feel more clean and pure)
Stop working as soon as you hear the Adhaan. When you listen attentively to the call of Salat repeat after the muˆz-zin then offer the relevant supplication. After the Adhaan is done, say this du’aa: Allaahummah Rabba haadhihil-dawatil-taammah wa-salaatil-qaaimah, aati Muhammadan il-waseelata wal-fadeelah, wabath-hul-maqaam al-mahmood alladhi waadtah (O Allah, Lord of this perfect call and the prayer to be offered, grant Muhammad the privilege (of interceding) and also the eminence, and resurrect him to the praised position that You have promised). This prepares you for a smooth transition from the business with worldly matters to the business with Salat.
Doing wudoo properly, saying Bismillaah before it and making dhikr and saying the du‘aa after it, Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha ill-Allah wahdahu laa shareeka lah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasooluhu (I bear witness that there is no god except Allah alone, with no partner or associate, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and messenger) & Allaahummajalni min al-tawwaabeena wajalni min al-mutatahhireen (O Allah, make me of those who repent and make me of those who purify themselves). Wudoo also works as a buffer zone before engaging in Salah.
During prayers,
1>When you stand facing the Qiblah remember the following:
a. It might be the last Salaat in your life. There is no guarantee to live longer to catch the next Salah.
b. You are standing between the hands of Allah, the Lord of the worlds. How can you be busy with something else?
c. The angel of death is chasing you.
The Prophet (pbuh) said “Remember death in your prayer, for the man who remembers death during his prayer is bound to pray properly, and pray the prayer of a man who does not think that he will pray any other prayer.” (al-Silsilat al-Saheehah by al-Albaani, 1421. It was reported from al-Suyooti that al-Haafiz ibn Hajar classed this hadeeth as hasan).
2>When reciting the Fatiha, try to recall the response of Allah to you after every ayah you say. (When you say: ”al-hamdu lillahi rab-bil ‘alamin) Allah responds: “My servant praised me.” etc. This feeling of speaking to Allah puts you in the right mood of khushu’.
3>Recite the Qur’an slowly and reflect upon its meaning deeply.
4>It is recommended to change the surahs that your recite from time to time to avoid the mechanic-like state of repetition.
5>Undoubtedly, understanding Arabic helps you focus on the intended meaning.
6>When you prostrate, remember that this position brings you closer to Allah. Seize the opportunity to make sincere du’aa. Invest these moments in making sincere supplications.
7>Keep your eyes focused on the place of sujuud. This helps you gain more concentration.It was reported from Aaishah that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) used to pray with his head tilted forward and his gaze lowered, looking at the ground. (Reported by al-Haakim, 1/479. He said it is saheeh according to the condition of the two Shaykhs [al-Bukhaari and Muslim], and al-Albaani agreed with him in Sifat al-Salaah, p. 89).
There is a question in the minds of some people who pray, which is>> What is the ruling on closing the eyes during prayer, especially when a person feels that this increases his khushu? The answer is that this goes against the Sunnah that was reported from the Prophet (pbuh). Closing the eyes means that a person misses out on the Sunnah of looking at the place of prostration and at his finger. But there is more to the matter than this, so we should listen to the opinion of an expert. I’ll spare you the long explanations and jump directly to the conclusion. For those interested in the explanation, go to http://islamworld.net/docs/khushoo.htm and read under “Looking at the place of prostration”
So the experts came to a conclusion that it is clear that the Sunnah is not to close one‘s eyes, unless it is necessary to do so in order to avoid something that may adversely affect one‘s khushu.
8>Moving the index finger
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said “It is more powerful against the Satan than iron” (reported by Imaam Ahmad, 2/119, as stated in Sifat al-Salah, p. 159), i.e., pointing with the forefinger during the Tashahhud is more painful to the Satan than being beaten with a rod of iron, because it reminds the slave of the oneness of Allah and to be sincere in his/her worship of Him alone, and this is what the Satan hates most (al-Fath al-Rabbani by al-Saaidi, 4/15).
To sum it all up, waswaas (insinuating thoughts from Satan) is a problem that befalls everyone who turns to Allah with dhikr and other kinds of worship. It is inevitable, so one has to stand firm and be patient, and persist in the dhikr or salah, and not give up. His sticking to it will ward off the Satan‘s plots from himself.
“Ever feeble indeed is the plot of Shaytaan.” [al-Nisaa 4:76 interpretation of the meaning]
When the slave stands up to pray, the Satan feels jealous of him, because he is standing in the greatest position, one that is closest [to Allah] and most annoying and grievous to the Satan.
The Prophet (pbuh) taught us the following methods of combating the wiles of Satan and getting rid of his waswaas:
Abul-Aas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that he said, “O Messenger of Allah, the Satan interrupts me when I pray, and I get confused in my recitation.” The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, “That is a satan whose name is Khanzab. If you sense his presence, seek refuge with Allah from him, and spit [dry spitting] towards your left three times.” Abul-Aas said: “I did that and Allah took him away from me.” (Reported by Muslim, no. 2203)
Remember, one perfection leads to another perfection. If someone perfects his Salah once, he would be self-motivated to continue on the same level.
May Allah fill our hearts with khushuu’ - Aameen.
I'm not a scholar, just an ordinary guy. There maybe some errors in interpreting a hadith so please forgive me and reply so that i can rectify it. I read the hadith and english translation of the Quran and try to get points on relevant topic of interest.
Suggestions welcomed. If you'd like me to talk about a particular topic of interest, i'll be glad to do so.
Hope it really helps you all and try to remember me in your prayers :D
Reference:
http://www.ummah.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-95840.htmlhttp://forums.almaghrib.org/showthread.php?t=20540&page=3http://islamworld.net/docs/khushoo.htm
http://www.myiwc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1307
http://www.muslimhiphop.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3088
http://www.ummah.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-95840.htmlhttp://forums.almaghrib.org/showthread.php?t=20540&page=3http://islamworld.net/docs/khushoo.htm
http://www.myiwc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1307
http://www.muslimhiphop.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3088
