Knowing the advantages of khushoo' in salaah
These include:
- The Prophet 
(peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: “There is no Muslim man who, when the time for a prescribed
prayer comes, he does wudoo’ properly, has the proper attitude of khushoo’, 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”
- The reward recorded is in proportion to the degree of
khushoo’, as the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “A slave may pray and have
nothing recorded for it except a tenth of it, or a ninth, or an eighth, or a
seventh, or a sixth, or a fifth, or a quarter, or a third, or a half.”
- Only the parts of his prayer where he focused and concentrated properly will be of any avail to him. It was reported that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “You will only have from your prayer that which you focused on.”
Sins will be forgiven if you concentrate properly and have full
khushoo’, as the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) 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.”
- The one who prays with khushoo’ will feel lighter when he
finishes his prayer, as if his burdens have been lifted from him. He will feel
at ease and refreshed, so that he will wish he had not stopped praying, because
it is such a source of joy and comfort for him in this world. He will keep
feeling that he is in a constricting prison until he starts to pray again; he
will find comfort in prayer instead of wanting just to get it over and done
with. Those who love prayer say: we pray and find comfort in our prayer, just as
their leader, example and Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said, “O Bilaal, let us find comfort in prayer.” He did not say “Let
us get it over and done with.”
- The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) 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).
Striving to offer du’aa’ at the appropriate times during the prayer, especially in sujood
There is no doubt that talking to Allaah, humbling oneself
before Him, asking things from Him and earnestly seeking His help, all help to
strengthen the slave’s ties to his Lord and increase his khushoo’. Du’aa’ is an
act of worship, and we are commanded to make du’aa’. Allaah says (interpretation
of the meaning): “… call upon Him in humility and in secret…” [al-An’aam
6:63]. The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever does not call on
Allaah, Allaah will be angry with him.”
It was reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) used to make du’aa’ at specific places in the prayer, i.e., in sujood,
between the two prostrations and after the Tashahhud. The greatest of these is
in sujood, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said, “The closest that the slave can be to his Lord is when he is
prostrating, so increase your du’aa’ [at that time].”
One of the du’aa’s which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) used to recite in his sujood was: “Allaahumma’ghfir li dhanbi
diqqahu wa jillahu wa awwalahu wa aakhirahu wa ‘alaaniyatahu wa sirrahu (O
Allaah, forgive me my sins, the minor and the major, the first and the last, the
open and the hidden).”
We have already described some of the du’aa’s that he used to recite between the two sajdahs.
(See section 11).One of the things that he (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) used to recite after the Tashahhud is what we learn from the hadeeth:
“When any one of you finishes the Tashahhud, let him seek refuge with Allaah
from four things, from the punishment of Hell, from the punishment of the grave,
from the trials (fitnah) of life and death, and from the evil of the Dajjal
(‘Antichrist’).” He used to say,
“Allaahumma innee a’oodhu bika min sharri maa ‘amiltu wa min sharri maa lam a’mal (O Allaah, I seek refuge with You from the evil of what I have done and the evil of what I have not done).”
“Allaahumma haasibni hisaaban yaseeran (O Allaah, make my accounting easy).”
He taught Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq (may Allaah be pleased with him) to say, “Allaahumma innee zalamtu nafsi zulman katheeran, wa la yaghfir al-dhunooba illa anta, faghfir li maghfiratan min ‘indaka warhamni innaka anta al-Ghafoor al-Raheem (O Allaah, I have wronged myself very much, and no one can forgive sin but You. Grant me forgiveness from You and have mercy on me, for You are the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful).”
He heard a man saying in his Tashahhud: “Allaahumma inne
as’aluka yaa Allaah al-Ahad al-Samad alladhi lam yalid wa lam yoolad wa lam
yakum lahu kufuwan ahad an taghfir li dhunoobi innaka anta’l-Ghafoor
al-Raheem (O Allaah, I ask You O Allaah, the One, the Self-Sufficient
Master, Who begets not neither is begotten, and there is none like unto Him, to
forgive me my sins, for You are the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful).” He (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said to his companions: “He has been forgiven, he has been
forgiven.”
He heard another man saying, “Allaahumma innee as’aluka
bi-anna laka’l-hamd, laa ilaaha ill anta wahdaka laa shareeka lak al-Mannaan yaa
badee’ al-samawaati wa’l-ard, yaa dhaa’l-jalaali wa’l-ikraam, ya hayyu yaa
qayyoom, innee as’aluka al-jannah wa a’oodhu bika min al-naar (O Allaah, I
ask You as all praise is due to You, there is no god but You Alone, with no
partner or associate, the Bestower, O Originator of the heavens and earth, O
Possessor of Glory and Honour, O Ever-Living, O Self-Sustaining, I ask You for
Paradise and I seek refuge with You from Hell).” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said to his companions: “Do you know by what did he ask Allaah?” They
said, “Allaah and His Messenger know best.” He said, “By the One in Whose hand
is my soul, he asked Allaah by His greatest Name (ismuhu’l-a’zam) which,
when He is called by it, He responds, and if He is asked by it, He gives.”
The last thing he would say between the Tashahhud and the Tasleem was: “Allaahumma’aghfir li maa qaddamtu wa ma akhkhartu wa maa asrartu wa maa a’lantu wa maa asraftu wa maa anta a’lam bihi minni anta’l-muqaddim wa anta’l-mu’akhkhir, laa ilaaha illa anta (O Allaah, forgive me what I have done in the past, and what I will do in the future, and what I have concealed, and what I have done openly, and what I have exceeded in, whatever You know about more than I. You are the Bringer-Forward, and You are the Delayer, there is no god except You).”
(These du’aa’s and others, along with their isnaads, are to be found in Sifat al-Salaah by al-‘Allaamah al-Albaani, p.163, 11th edn.)
Memorizing du’aa’s like these will solve the problem that some people have of remaining silent behind the imaam when they have finished the Tashahhud because they do not know what they should say.
Adhkaar to be recited after prayer
These also help to strengthen khushoo’ in the heart and reinforce the blessings and benefits of the prayer.
Without a doubt, one of the best ways of preserving and protecting a good action is to follow it up with another. So the one who thinks about the adhkaar that come after the prayer will find that they begin with seeking forgiveness three times, as if the worshipper is seeking forgiveness from his Lord for any shortcomings that may have occurred in his prayer or his khushoo’. It is also important to pay attention to naafil (supererogatory) prayers, because they make up for anything lacking in the fard (obligatory) prayers, including any failure with regard to khushoo’.
Having discussed things that help us to have khushoo’, we now move on to a discussion of
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Warding off distractions and things that adversely affect khushoo’
Removing anything that may distract the worshipper
Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “ ‘Aa’ishah had a
decorated, colourful curtain which she used to cover the side of her house. The
Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said to her, ‘Take it away from me, because its
decorations keep distracting me when I pray.’”
Al-Qaasim reported that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with
her) had a cloth with decorations on it, which she used to cover a small sunken
alcove (used for sleeping or storage). The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) used to pray facing it, and he said, ‘Take it away from me, because
its decorations keep distracting me when I pray.’ So she took it away and made
pillows out of it.”
Another indication of this is the fact that when the Prophet
(peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) entered the Ka’bah to pray in it, he saw two ram’s horns.
When he had prayed, he told ‘Uthmaan al-Hajabi, “I forgot to tell you to cover
the horns, because there should not be anything in the House to distract the
worshipper.”
This also includes avoiding praying in places where people pass through, or where there is a lot of noise and voices of people talking, or where they are engaging in conversations, arguments etc., or where there are visual distractions.
One should also avoid praying in places that are very hot or
very cold, if possible. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) told us to delay praying Zuhr in summer until the hottest part of the
day was over. Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “Praying when
it is intensely hot prevents a person from having the proper khushoo’ and
presence of mind, and he does his worship reluctantly, so the Prophet wisely
told them to delay praying until the heat had lessened somewhat, so that they
could pray with presence of mind and thus achieve the purpose of prayer, i.e.,
having khushoo’ and turning to Allaah.”
Not praying in a garment that has decorations, writing, bright colours or pictures that will distract the worshipper
‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: “The Prophet
(peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) stood up to pray wearing a checkered shirt, and he looked at
the patterns in it. When he had finished his prayer, he said, “Take this shirt
to Abu Jaham ibn Hudhayfah and bring me an anbajaani (a garment with no
decorations or checks), because it distracted me when I was praying.” According
to another report: “These checks distracted me.” According to another report:
“He had a checkered shirt, which used to distract him whilst he was praying.”
It is better not to pray in a garment that has pictures on it, and we should be especially careful to avoid garments with pictures of animate beings, like many garments that are widely available nowadays.
Not praying when there is food prepared that one wants to eat
The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: “Do not pray when there is food prepared.”
If food has been prepared and served, or if it is offered, a
person should eat first, because he will not be able to concentrate properly and
have khushoo’ if he leaves it and gets up to pray when he is wanting to eat. He
should not even hasten to finish eating, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: “If the dinner is served and the time for prayer comes, eat
dinner before praying Salaat al-Maghrib, and do not rush to finish your meal.”
According to another report: “If dinner has been put out and the iqaamah has
been given for prayer, eat dinner first and do not rush to finish it.”
Not praying when one needs to answer the call of nature
No doubt one of the things that can prevent proper khushoo’ is
praying when one needs to go to the washroom. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) forbade praying when one is suppressing the urge to urinate or
defecate.
If anyone is in this position, he should first go to the
bathroom and answer the call of nature, even if he misses whatever he misses of
the congregational prayer, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: “If any one of you needs to go to the toilet, and the prayer has
begun, he should go to the toilet first.”
If this happens to a person whilst he is praying, he should
stop praying, go and answer the call of nature, purify himself then pray,
because the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “There is no prayer when there is
food prepared or if one is suppressing the urge to expel waste matter.”
Not praying when one feels sleepy
Anas ibn Maalik said, “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: “If any one of you feels sleepy when he is praying, he should
sleep until he [is rested enough to] know what he is saying,” i.e., he should
take a nap until he no longer feels drowsy.
This may happen when one is praying qiyaam al-layl, at the time when prayers are answered, and a person may pray against himself without realizing it. This hadeeth also includes fard prayers, when a person is confident that he will still have enough time to pray after taking a nap.
(Fath al-Baari, Sharh Kitaab al-Wudoo’, Baab al-wudoo’ min al-nawm).Not praying behind someone who is talking (or sleeping)
The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade this; he said: “Do not pray
behind one who is sleeping or one who is talking.”
- because one who is talking will distract the worshipper with his talk, and one who is sleeping may expose something that will distract the worshipper.
Al-Khattaabi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “As for praying behind people who are talking, al-Shaafa'i and Ahmad ibn Hanbal considered this to be makrooh, because their talk distracts the worshipper from his prayer.”
(‘Awn al-Ma’bood, 2/388).As regards not praying behind someone who is sleeping, a number of scholars thought that the evidence for this was weak
(including Abu Dawood in his Sunan, Kitaab al-Salaah, Tafree’ Abwaab al-Witr, Baab al-Du’aa’, and Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Baari, Sharh Baab al-Salaah khalf al-Naa’im, Kitaab al-Salaah).Al-Bukhaari, may Allaah have mercy on him, quoted the hadeeth
of ‘Aa’ishah in his Saheeh, Baab al-Salaah khalf al-Naa’im: “The Prophet
(peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) used to pray whilst I was lying across from him on his bed…”
Mujaahid, Taawoos and Maalik thought it makrooh to pray facing someone who was sleeping, lest he expose something that would distract the worshipper from his prayer.
(Fath al-Baari, ibid.)If there is no risk of that happening, then it is not makrooh to pray behind someone who is sleeping. And Allaah knows best.
Not occupying oneself with smoothing the ground in front of one
Al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) reported from
Mu’ayqeeb (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said concerning a man’s smoothing the ground when he prostrates, “If
you have to do that, then do it only once.”
The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: “Do not wipe (the ground) when you are praying, but if you have
to, then do it only once.”
The reason for this prohibition is so as to maintain khushoo’, and so that a person will not make too many extra movements in prayer. If the place where one is going to prostrate needs to be smoothed, it is better to do this before starting to pray.
This also applies to wiping the forehead or nose when praying.
The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to prostrate in water and mud, which would
leave traces on his forehead, but he did not bother to wipe it off every time he
raised his head from sujood. It remained there because he was so deeply absorbed
in his prayer and his khushoo’ was so strong that he took not notice of it. The
Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: “Prayer is an occupation in itself.”
Just as a worshipper should avoid anything that will distract him from his prayer, by the same token he should avoid disturbing others. This includes:
Not disturbing others with one’s recitation
The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: “All of you are speaking to your Lord, so do not disturb one
another, and do not raise your voices above one another when reciting” or he
said, “in prayer.”
Not turning around during prayer
Abu Dharr (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger
of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Allaah continues to turn towards His
slave whilst he is praying, so long as he does not turn away, but if he turns
away, [Allaah] turns away from him.”
Turning away during prayer is of two types:
The turning away of the heart to something other than Allaah.
The turning away of the eyes.
Both of them are not allowed, and are detrimental to the reward
for the prayer. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) was asked about turning away during prayer, and he said: “It is
something that Shaytaan steals from a person’s prayer.”
The one who turns away with his heart or his eyes during prayer is like a man who is called by the ruler and made to stand before him, and when the ruler starts to address him, he turns away, looking to the right and the left, not listening to what the ruler is saying and not understanding a word of it, because his heart and mind are elsewhere. What does this man think the ruler will do to him?
The least that he deserves is that when he leaves the ruler, he is hated and no longer valued. One who prays like this is not equal to one who prays with the proper presence of mind, turning to Allaah in his prayer in such a way that he feels the greatness of the One before Whom he is standing, and he is filled with fear and submission; he feels too shy before his Lord to turn to anyone else or to turn away. The difference between their prayers is as Hassaan ibn ‘Atiyah said: “The two men may be in one congregation, but the difference in virtue between them is as great as the distance between heaven and earth. One of them is turning with all his heart towards Allaah, whilst the other is negligent and forgetful.”
(Al-Waabil al-Sayib by Ibn al-Qayyim, Daar al-Bayaan, p. 36).As for turning away for a genuine reason, this is OK. Abu
Dawood reported that Sahl ibn al-Hanzaliyyah said: “We started praying – Salaat
al-Subh (Fajr) – and the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) was looking at the ravine.” Abu Dawood said: “He had sent a horseman
at night to guard the ravine.” This is like when he carried Umaamah bint
Abi’l-‘Aas, and when he opened the door for ‘Aa’ishah, and when he came down
from the minbar whilst praying in order to teach them, and when he stepped back
during Salaat al-Kusoof (prayer at the time of an eclipse), and when he grabbed
and strangled the Shaytaan when he wanted to interrupt his prayer. He also
ordered that snakes and scorpions should be killed even during prayer, and a
person who is praying should stop and even fight one who wants to pass in front
of him whilst he is praying. He told women to clap during prayer [if they spot a
mistake on the part of the imaam], and he used to wave or gesture to people who
greeted him whilst he was praying. These and other actions may be done in cases
of necessity, but if there is no necessity, then they are just idle gestures
that cancel out khushoo’ and are therefore not allowed during prayer.
Not raising one's gaze to the heavens
The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade us to do this and issued a
warning against it. He said: “When any one of you is praying, he should not lift
his gaze to the heavens, lest he lose his sight.”
Not spitting in front of one when praying
This is incompatible with khushoo’ and good manners before
Allaah. The Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When any one of you is praying, let
him not spit in front of himself, for Allaah is before him when he prays.”
He also said: “When any one of you stands up to pray, he should not spit in front of himself, because he is talking to Allaah – may He be blessed and exalted – as long as he is in his prayer place; and he should not [spit] to his right, because there is an angel on his right. He should spit to his left, or beneath his feet, and bury it.”
(Reported by al-Bukhaari, al-Fath, no. 416, 1/512).He said: “When one of you stands to pray, he is talking to his Lord, and his Lord is between him and the qiblah, so none of you should spit in the direction of his qiblah, but to his left or under his feet.”
(Reported by al-Bukhaari, al-Fath al-Baari, no. 417, 1/513).If the mosque is furnished with carpets and so on, as is the norm nowadays, if a person needs to spit, he can take out a handkerchief or whatever, spit into it, and put it away again.
Trying not to yawn when praying
The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: “If any one of you feels the urge to yawn during prayer, let him
suppress it as much as he can, lest the Shaytaan enter…”
Not putting one’s hands on one’s hips when praying
Abu Hurayrah said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) forbade putting the hands on the hips during prayer.”
Ziyaad ibn Subayh al-Hanafi said: “I prayed beside Ibn ‘Umar
and I put my hand on my hip, but he struck my hand. When he had finished
praying, he said, “This is crossing in prayer. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) used to forbid this.”
It was reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said that this posture is how the people of Hell rest; we seek refuge
with Allaah from that.
Not letting one’s clothes hang down (sadl) during prayer
It was reported that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) forbade letting one’s clothes hang down during prayer or for a man to
cover his mouth.
The reason why it is forbidden to cover one’s mouth was explained by the scholars as being because that prevents a person from reciting Qur’aan and doing sujood properly.
(Marqaat al-Mafaateeh, 2/236).Not resembling animals
Allaah has honoured the son of Adam and created him in the best
way, so it is shameful for the son of Adam to resemble or imitate animals. We
have been forbidden to resemble or imitate a number of postures or movements of
animals when we pray, because that is contrary to khushoo’ or because it is ugly
and does not befit the worshipper who is praying. For example, it was reported
that the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade three things in prayer:
pecking like a crow, spreading one’s forearms like a carnivore, or always
praying in the same place like a camel keeping to its own territory.
This is what we were able to mention about the means of attaining khushoo’, so that we may strive for them, and about the things that detract from khushoo’, so that we can avoid them.
There is another issue that has to do with khushoo’, to which the scholars attached so much importance that it is worthy of mention here: