An acceptable salah, and Khushoo

Society Religion & Philosophy
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AsSalaam Alaikum,

The question is of a great significance. We may find it (with Allah’s mercy and guidance) that we offer salah. But a salah that lacks Khushoo lacks the sweetness that a believer strives to earn. Salah is, in layman’s terms, every individual’s one-on-one with their Lord. Khushoo is the joy that you feel during that session. Khushoo is the absolute devotion stemming from concentration of such magnitude that a mountain could pass over your head and you would not have noticed it unless you did the Salam to the right and to the left (my own view, and paraphrasing).

So, how do you strengthen the khushoo? There are times when the concentration comes easy. Then there are times when it’s like the flickering of a light. One moment you’re immersed in concentration and your heart is vibrant with the recitation, and the next moment your lips are moving but your mind is involved in things of the surroundings.

What do you find helps your concentration in salah?

JazakAllah khair for any, and all suggestions.

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For me,
First and formeost, when i stand for salah, i feel myself standing infront of my lord and master, its amazing to have that feeling, it really connects you to Him and hence you find yourself in deep connection and concentration, especially during sajdah.
Secondly, knowing and understanding the meaning of what ur uttering. For me, surah fatihah is the key. Its such a beautiful dua and approperiate conversation to have with the One having absolute control.
Then, i often remind myself of death, of being not having this oppertunity to offer salah, and also the fact that i'll be questioned about my salah first.

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Re: An acceptable salah, and Khushoo

Peace teggy,

I think we don't have 'fear of Almighty Allah' in ourselves. That is why there is no "Khushoo and Khudhoo" in our Salah.

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Re: An acceptable salah, and Khushoo

This might sound silly, but I have tried to imagine myself on the Sirat, and I get commanded to offer salah with absolute concentration. One slip of the tongue in wrongful recitation, and I'm going down. One moment of mind wandering, and I'm going down. To further the impact, I have tried to imagine Malak-al-Maut standing above my head ready to strike me off any moment.

It helped. Not as much as I would have liked, but it did help.

Please keep suggesting...

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Re: An acceptable salah, and Khushoo

Fear in the Wrath of Allah (SWT) is the lowest form taqwa ... Surpassing fear leads to love of the bounties of Allah (SWT), surpassing them leads to desire to have the Beatific Vision, surpassing that leads to our recognition as slaves of Allah (SWT) and complete 'rida' in His Will ... The last maqam is one where we are no longer being selfish but doing it out of recognising the Majesty and Lordship that prevails over us and worshipping Him out of a sense of that recognition. Being content with Allah (SWT) and pushing ourselves in that direction is the most focussed we can be by praying Salat with that understanding and condition the khushu inshaAllah will come in leaps and bounds.

I often imagine we are stationed in a heavenly domain and how our attention makes us rise and fall as the platforms we stand on go up or go down based on our own conditions ... Thinking ourselves to be the worst the most needy should see your platform increasing in height.

As the platform rises the level of humility should rise attributing it all to the grace of God.

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Re: An acceptable salah, and Khushoo

Peace teggy

:jazak: will try that :slight_smile: What I heard/read that the Salah of Companions r.a., of Prophet PBUH was like that when they offer Salah, a bird come and sit on theirs head and lay the eggs. Means they even don’t move a bit and so busy in offering salah i.e., communication between a person and his Lord. What I think (as I heard/read) that one who fear from his Lord, he don’t fear of anything else.

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Re: An acceptable salah, and Khushoo

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Re: An acceptable salah, and Khushoo

I am far from perfect when it comes to khushoo. However..what i do and help me is..when i say Allah u Akbar. I actually keep in my mind that..i am conversing with Allah and he is listening to me very carefully. Try that. May Allah make it easier for all of us.

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An acceptable salah, and Khushoo

Its hard. Very hard to maintain concentration throughout. I find focusing on the translation verse by verse helps, and i can only do that by reciting arabic very slow, silent, rhythmic way.. Which helps build khushoo ( also relaxing).. And if i find my mind wandering away, i stop reading until i can regain my focus. Works most of the time.

Focusing whilst performing wudhu and and praying at earliest time also helps with concentration during salah.

The other thing is imagining things def helps, weather its sirat, grave angels, standing before god, etc.. Fear is def. needed, even if it is to just get you back on track/ in the right mood. Its the beginning point, that you work upwards from spiritually. So if it works for you, use it every time.

For me it also helps to imagine the size of the universe and our significance in comparison.., which if you think about it is very minute.. Perhaps in a funny way akin to a community of ants underground going about their daily business. ..each with their own imp roles to carry out...But not much significance in the larger scheme of things, certainly not much noticeable to us humans. If you accidentally stamped on them, you could take out a decent amount of their community in one go, but would you notice much? a little perhaps but nothing to create a fuss over i doubt.

Our significance is similar in the larger scheme of things.. But we like to make out we are the the most important beings/ creations ever, and our egos keep growing and growing. If i were God, id waver between splitting my sides and wiping out the lot. But thankfully i'm not, because God is merciful and forgiving for a reason.

Jokes aside, it does help to realise your insignificance in this world..perhaps realise the true meaning of 'allah hu akber'.. That God is the greatest... Means exactly that. Can you fathom what that means? Can a brain fathom what that entails?

That theres nothing bigger, stronger, more powerful, watchful, Knowing, loving than God, He was there from....always, And will be there forever..He is bigger than the universe and all that it entails, and if He decided to end it all tomorrow, then so it will be, there will be no naam or nishaan of us. Just imagining these things can really put things into perspective how free and independent of Him you really are. Submission then seems like the only option.

Apologies for the long post.. Didnt mean for it to go on.

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Re: An acceptable salah, and Khushoo

JazakAllah everyone. These are certainly beneficial suggestions. InshaAllah I will use them all to stay focused.

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Re: An acceptable salah, and Khushoo

Oh..anotha thing helps me is..when i learn Surah with it's meaning. So when i am reciting surah..i do know what i am saying..it helps greatly. I say that..coz we are all non-Arabic speakers..so it is hard to focus when we don't know what are we saying..

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Re: An acceptable salah, and Khushoo

Learned another thing from a scholar, may Allah reward him.

It becomes easy to concentrate during the salah, if our time outside of salah is also spent in doing things that are not contrary to our deen.

Example: If i spend the time between two salah, taking care of my daily life whether it's working, or other social engagements and I spend most or all of it indulged in useless talk, gossip, talking about things that have no real value or benefit to me, then it is sort of like you are stirring a pot for those 3-4 hours, then comes time for salah. It will be extremely difficult to get my mind to switch that thought train off and becoming wholeheartedly concentrated in my ibadah. It takes time for that "Momentum/stir up" to stop. However, if I have spent a majority of that time between salah in either doing zikr if possible, or abstaining from useless talk then it will be a smooth transition from zikar of Allah to Salah. The flow of thoughts is in sync, and there is no need to struggle to bring concentration from one thing to another.

This example was given by the speaker, and seems extremely logical. No wonder I find it hard to switch tracks within a minute and expect that my mind would stop wondering about things that i was involved in talking about for hours, for the sake of 15-20 minutes of my salah.

Just thought I'd share this, in case this helps anyone else.

Try avoiding (if possible, unless job/social surroundings require being vocal) aimless talk devout of zikr of Allah. Even if you do zikr in between talking to people in something as simple as SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah, Allahu Akbar. It may make it a easy transition to concentrate on salah when the prayer time arrives.

May Allah (swt) make it easy for us to concentrate and develop khushoo during salah.

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Re: An acceptable salah, and Khushoo

Salaam Alaikum,

[quote]
Hudhayfah said: “ I prayed with the Messenger of Allaah peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) one night… he was reciting at length. If he recited an aayah that mentioned tasbeeh, he would say Subhaan Allaah; if it mentioned a question, he would ask a question; if it mentioned seeking refuge with Allaah, he would seek refuge with Allaah.” (Reported by Muslim, no. 772). According to another report, [Hudhayfah] said: “I prayed with the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and if he recited an aayah that mentioned mercy, he would ask for mercy; if he recited an aayah that mentioned punishment, he would seek refuge with Allaah, and if he recited an aayah that mentioned deanthropomorphism of Allaah, he would say Subhaan-Allaah.” (Ta’zeem Qadr al-Salaah, 1/327). This was reported concerning qiyaam al-layl (prayer at night).
[/quote]

How do you interact with an ayah during Salah? Do you interact with it speaking aloud, in the same tone as recitation, or do you pause for a moment and think about it in your heart/mind?