33 Ways of Developing Khushoo’ in Salaah

Bismillaah il-Rahmaan il-Raheem

In the Name of Allaah, Most Gracious Most Merciful

Praise be to Allaah, Lord of the Worlds, Who has said in His book (interpretation of

the meaning), “…and stand before Allaah with obedience” [al-Baqarah 2:238] and

has  said  concerning  the prayer  (interpretation of  the meaning): “…  and  truly  it  is

extremely heavy and hard except for al-khaashi’oon…’ [al-Baqarah 2:45]; and peace

and blessings be upon the leader of the pious, the chief of al-khaashi’oon, Muhammad

the Messenger of Allaah, and on all his family and companions.

Salaah  is  the  greatest  of  the  practical  pillars  of  Islam,  and  khushoo’  in  prayer  is

required by sharee’ah. When Iblees, the enemy of Allaah, vowed to mislead and tempt

the sons of Adam and said “Then I will come to  them from before them and behind

them,  from  their  right and  from  their  left…”  [al-A’raaf 7:17,  interpretation of  the

meaning], one of his most significant plots became to divert people from salaah by all

possible means and to whisper to them during their prayer so as to deprive them of the

joy of this worship and cause them to lose the reward for it. As khushoo’ will be the

first thing to disappear from the earth, and we are living in the last times, the words of

Hudhayfah (may Allaah be pleased with him) are particularly pertinent  to us: “The

first thing of your religion that you will lose is khushoo’, and the last thing that you

will  lose  of  your  religion  is  salaah.  There may  be  a  person  praying who  has  no

goodness  in him, and soon you will enter  the mosque and not find anyone who has

khushoo’.” (al-Madaarij, 1/521).

Because of what every person knows about himself, and because of  the complaints

that  one  hears  from  many  people  about  waswaas  (insinuating  thoughts  from

Shaytaan) during the salaah and the loss of khushoo’, the need for some discussion of

this matter is quite obvious. The following is a reminder to myself and to my Muslim

brothers, and I ask Allaah to make it of benefit.Allaah  says  (interpretation of  the meaning): “Successful  indeed  are  the  believers,

those who offer  their salaah  (prayers) with all solemnity and  full submissiveness.”

[al-Mu’minoon 23:1-2] – i.e., fearing Allaah and in a calm manner. Khushoo’ means

calmness, serenity, tranquillity, dignity and humility. What makes a person have this

khushoo’  is  fear of Allaah and  the  sense  that He  is always watching.  (Tafseer  Ibn

Katheer, Daar al-Sha’b edn., 6/414). Khushoo’ means that the heart stands before the

Lord in humility and submission. (al-Madaarij, 1/520).

It was reported that Mujaahid said: “’…and stand before Allaah with obedience” [al-

Baqarah 2:238 – interpretation of the meaning]’ – part of obedience is to bow, to be

solemn  and  submissive,  to  lower one’s gaze  and  to humble oneself out of  fear of

Allaah, may He be glorified.” (Ta’zeem Qadr al-Salaah, 1/188).

The site of khushoo’ is the heart, and its effects are manifested in the physical body.

The  various  faculties  follow  the  heart:  if  the  heart  is  corrupted  by  negligence  or

insinuating whispers from Shaytaan, the worship of the body’s faculties will also be

corrupt. The heart  is  like a king and  the faculties are  like his  troops who follow his

orders and go where  they are commanded. If  the king  is deposed, his followers are

lost, which is like what happens when the heart does not worship properly.

Making a show of khushoo’ is condemned. Among the signs of sincerity are:

Concealment of Khushoo’

Hudhayfah (may Allaah be pleased with him) used to say: “Beware of the khushoo’ of

hypocrisy.” He was asked, “What is the khushoo’ of hypocrisy?” He said, “When the

body shows khushoo’ but there is no khushoo’ in the heart.” Fudayl ibn ‘Ayaad said:

“It was disliked for a man to show more khushoo’ than he had in his heart.” One of

them saw a man showing khushoo’ in his shoulders and body, and said, “O So and so,

khushoo’  is here” – and he pointed  to his chest, “not here” – and he pointed  to his

shoulders. (al-Madaarij, 1/521)Ibn  al-Qayyim  (may Allaah  have mercy  on  him)  said,  explaining  the  difference

between the khushoo’ of true faith and the khushoo’ of hypocrisy: “The khushoo’ of

true faith is when the heart feels aware and humble before the greatness and glory of

Allaah, and is filled with awe, fear and shyness, so that the heart is utterly humbled

before Allaah and broken, as it were, with fear, shyness, love and the recognition of

the blessings of Allaah and  its own  sins. So no doubt  the khushoo’ of  the heart  is

followed  by  the  khushoo’  of  the  body.  As  for  the  khushoo’  of  hypocrisy,  it  is

something that is put on with a great show, but there is no khushoo’ in the heart. One

of  the  Sahaabah  used  to  say,  ‘I  seek  refuge  with  Allaah  from  the  khushoo’  of

hypocrisy.” It was said to him, ‘What is the khushoo’ of hypocrisy?’ He said, “When

the body appears to have khushoo’ but there is no khushoo’ in the heart.’ The person

who  truly feels khushoo’ before Allaah  is a person who no  long feels  the flames of

physical desire; his heart is pure and is filled with the light of the greatness of Allaah.

His own selfish desires have died because of the fear and awe which have filled his

heart  to overflowing so  that his physical  faculties have calmed down, his heart has

become dignified and feels secure in Allaah the remembrance of Him, and tranquillity

descends upon him from his Lord. So he has become humble (mukhbit) before Allaah,

and the one who is humble is the one who is assured. Land that is “mukhbit” is land

that is low-lying, in which water settles, so the heart that is “mukhbit” is humble and

content, like a low-lying spot of land into which water flows and settles. The sign of

this is that a person prostrates to his Lord out of respect and humility, and never raises

his head until he meets Him. The  arrogant heart, on  the other hand,  is one  that  is

content with its arrogance and raises itself up like an elevated portion of land in which

water never settles. This is the khushoo’ of true faith.”

As for overdoing it, and the khushoo’ of hypocrisy, this is the attitude of a person who

tries to make a great show of khushoo’, but deep down he is still filled with desires.

So on the outside he appears to have khushoo’, but the snake of the valley and the lion

of the forest reside within him, watching for prey. (Al-Rooh, p. 314, Daar al-Firk edn.,

Jordan).“Khushoo’  in prayer happens when  a person  empties his heart  for  it  (prayer), and

focuses on  it  to  the exlusion of all else, and prefers  it  to everything else. Only  then

does he find comfort and joy in it, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be

upon him)  said:  ‘…  and my  joy has been made  in  salaah.’”  (Tafseer Ibn Katheer,

5/456. The hadeeth is in Musnad Ahmad, 3/128 and Saheeh al-Jaami’, 3124).

Allaah has mentioned al-khaashi’eena wa’l-khaashi’aat  (men  and women who  are

humble (before their Lord)), and described this quality as one of the qualities of those

who are chosen. He  tells us  that He has prepared  for  them  forgiveness and a great

reward (i.e., Paradise). [See al-Ahzaab 33:35].

One of the benefits of khushoo’ is that it makes prayer easier for a person. Allaah tells

us  (interpretation of  the meaning): “And  seek  help  in  patience  and  al-salaah  (the

prayer), and truly it is extremely heavy and hard except for al-khaashi’oon [i.e., the

true  believers,  those  who  obey  Allaah  with  full  submission,  fera much  from His

Punishment, and believe in His Promise and in His Warnings]” [al-Baqarah 2:45].

The meaning is that the burden of prayer is heavy indeed, except for those who have

khushoo’.  (Tafseer  Ibn  Katheer,  1/125).  Khushoo’  is  very  important,  but  it  is

something that is easily lost and is rarely seen, especially in our own times, which are

the  last  times. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The

first thing to be lifted up (taken away) from this ummah will be khushoo’, until you

will see no one who has khushoo’.” (Al-Haythami said in al-Majma’, 2/136: It was

reported by al-Tabaraani  in al-Kabeer, and  its isnaad is hasan. See also Saheeh  al-

Targheeb, no. 543. He said it is saheeh).

Rulings on Khushoo'

According  to  the most  correct view, khushoo’  is obligatory. Shaykh  al-Islam  [Ibn

Taymiyah], may Allaah have mercy on him, said: “Allaah, may He be exalted, says

(interpretation of the meaning): ‘And seek help in patience and al-salaah (the prayer),

and  truly  it  is extremely heavy and hard except  for al-khaashi’oon …’ [al-Baqarah

2:45]. This implies condemnation of those who are not khaashi’oon… Condemnationonly applies when something obligatory is not done, or when something forbidden is

done.  If  those who do not have khushoo’ are  to be  condemned,  this  indicates  that

khushoo’  is  obligatory  (waajib)…  The  fact  that  khushoo’  is  obligatory  is  also

indicated by  the aayaat  (interpretation of  the meaning):  ‘Successful  indeed are  the

believers,  those  who  offer  their  salaah  (prayers)  with  all  solemnity  and  full

submissiveness…  These  are  indeed  the  inheritors, who  shall  inherit  the  Firdaws

(Paradise). They shall dwell therein forever.’ [al-Mu’minoon 23:1-2, 10-11] Allaah,

may He  be  glorified  and  exalted,  tells  us  that  these  are  the  ones who will  inherit

Firdaws  (Paradise),  which  implies  that  no-one  else  will  do  so…  Khushoo’  is

obligatory  in  prayer,  and  this  includes  calmness  and  khushoo’  [the  original  says

‘khushoo’;  perhaps  what  is  meant  is  khudoo’ meaning  submission,  humility].

Whoever pecks  like a crow  in his sujood (prostration) does not have khushoo’, and

whoever does not  raise his head  fully  from  rukoo’  (bowing) and pause  for a while

before going down into sujood is not calm, because calmness implies doing things at a

measured pace, so the person who does not do things at a measured pace is not calm.

Whoever  is not calm does not have khushoo’  in his rukoo’ or sujood, and whoever

does not have khushoo’  is a sinner… Another  indication  that khushoo’  in prayer  is

obligatory  is  the  fact  that  the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)

warned those who do not have khushoo’, such as the one who lifts up his gaze to the

sky (in prayer), because this movement and raising of the gaze goes against the idea

of khushoo’…” (Majma’ al-Fataawa, 22/553-558).

Concerning the virtues of khushoo’ and as a warning to the one who neglects it, the

Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Five prayers which Allaah

has made obligatory. Whoever does wudoo’ properly for them, prays them on time,

does  rukoo’ properly and has perfect khushoo’,  it  is a promise  from Allaah  that he

will  be  forgiven,  but whoever  does  not  do  this,  has  no  such  promise  –  if Allaah

wishes, He will  forgive him, and  if He wishes, He will punish him.”  (Reported by

Abu Dawood, no. 425; Saheeh al-Jaami’, 3242).

Concerning  the virtues of khushoo’,  the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be

upon him) also said: “Whoever does wudoo’ and does it well, then prays two rak’ahsfocusing  on  them  completely  [according  to  another  report:  and  does  not  think  of

anything else], will be forgiven all his previous sins [according to another report: will

be  guaranteed  Paradise].”  (Al-Bukhaari,  al-Bagha  edn.,  no.  158;  al-Nisaa'i,  1/95;

Saheeh al-Jaami’, 6166).

When we look at the things that help us to have khushoo’ in prayer, we find that they

may  be  divided  into  two  types:  things  that  help  you  to  have  and  to  strengthen

khushoo’, and warding off  the  things  that reduce and weaken khushoo’. Shaykh al-

Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) explained the things that help

us to have khushoo’:

“Two things help us to [develop khushoo’]: a strong desire to do what is obligatory,

and weakness of distractions.

With regard to the first, the strong desire to do what is obligatory:

[this means  that]  a  person  strives  hard  to  focus  on what  he  is  saying  and  doing,

pondering on the meanings of the Qur’an recitation, dhikr and du’aa’s, and keeping in

mind the fact that he is speaking to Allaah as if he sees Him, for when he is standing

in prayer, he is talking to his Lord.

Ihsaan means ‘that you worship Allaah as if you see Him, and if you cannot see Him,

He can see you.’ The more the slave tastes the sweetness of salaah, the more attracted

he will be to it, and this has to do with the strength of his eemaan.

The means of strengthening eemaan are many, and this is why the Prophet (peace and

blessings of Allaah be upon him) used  to say, ‘In your world, women and perfume

have been made dear to me, and my joy is in prayer.’ According to another hadeeth,

he said, ‘Let us find comfort in prayer, O Bilaal’ – he did not say, ‘Let us get it over

and done with.’

With regard to the second, weakness of distractions:This means striving to push away all distractions that make you  think of something

other  than  the  prayer  itself,  and warding  off  thoughts  that  keep  you mind  off  the

purpose of  the prayer. This  is something which differs from one person  to another,

because the extent of waswaas has to do with the extent of one’s doubts and desires

and the heart’s focus and dependence on what it loves, and its efforts to avoid what it

dislikes.” (Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 22/606-607)

On the basis of this division, we will now discuss some of:

The Means of Developing Khushoo'

1 – Striving to gain that which gives and strengthens khushoo’

This can be achieved in several ways, such as the following:

Preparing oneself for prayer properly

For example:

By repeating the words of the adhaan after the muezzin;

By  pronouncing  the  du’aa’  to  be  recited  after  the  adhaan:  “Allaahummah Rabba

haadhihi’l-da’wati’l-taammah  wa’-salaati’l-qaa’imah,  aati  Muhammadan  il-

waseelata wa’l-fadeelah, wab’ath-hu’l-maqaam al-mahmood alladhi wa’adtah  (O

Allaah, 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)”;

Reciting du’aa’ between the adhaan and the iqaamah;

Doing wudoo’ properly, saying Bismillaah before it and making dhikr and saying the

du’aa’ after it, “Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha ill-Allaah wahdahu laa shareeka lah wa ash-

hadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhu wa rasooluhu (I bear witness that there is no god

except Allaah alone, with no partner or associate, and I bear witness that Muhammadis His slave and messenger)” and “Allaahummaj’alni min al-tawwaabeena waj’alni

min al-mutatahhireen (O Allaah, make me of those who repent and make me of those

who purify themselves)”;

Using siwaak to cleanse and perfume the mouth  that  is going  to recite Qur’aan in a

short while, because  the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Purify your mouths for the Qur’aan.” (Reported by al-Bazzaar, who said: we do not

have it with any better isnaad than this. Kashf al-Astaar, 1/242. Al-Haythami said: its

men are thiqaat. 2/99. Al-Albaani said: its isnaad is jayyid. Al-Saheehah, 1213);

Wearing one’s best and cleanest clothes, because Allaah says  (interpretation of  the

meaning):  “O  Children  of  Adam!  Take  your  adornment  (by  wearing  your  clean

clothes) while  praying…”  [al-A’raaf  7:31]. Allaah  is most deserving of seeing us

“take  our  adornment”  for  Him.  Clean,  pleasant  smelling  clothes  are  also  more

comfortable and relaxing, unlike clothes for sleeping or working in.

We should also prepare ourselves by covering our ‘awrah properly, purifying the spot

where we  are  going  to  pray,  getting  ready  early  and waiting  for  the  prayer,  and

making the rows straight and solid, without any gaps, because the shayaateen come in

through the gaps in the rows.

Moving at a measured pace during prayer

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to move at a measured

pace during salaah, allowing every bone to return to its place. (Its isnaad is classed as

saheeh in Sifat al-Salaat, p. 134, 11th

 edn. Ibn Khuzaymah also classed it as saheeh as

mentioned by al-Haafiz in al-Fath, 2/308). He commanded those who were not doing

their prayer properly to do this too. He said, “None of you has prayed properly until

he does this.” (Reported by Abu Dawood, 1/536, no. 858).

Abu Qutaadah  (may Allaah  be  pleased with  him)  said:  “The  Prophet  (peace  and

blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘The worst type of thief is the one who stealsfrom his prayer.’ He said, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, how can a person steal from his

prayer?’ He said, ‘By not doing rukoo’ and sujood properly.’” (Reported by Ahmad

and al-Haakim, 1/229; Saheeh al-Jaami’, 997).

Abu  ‘Abd-Allaah al-Ash’ari  (may Allaah be pleased with him)  said: “The Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, ‘The one who does not do rukoo’

properly, and pecks in sujood, is like a starving man who eats only one or two dates; it

does not do him any good at all.’” (Reported by al-Tabaraani in al-Kabeer, 4/115. In

Saheeh al-Jaami’ it says, hasan).

The one who does not move at a measured pace in his prayer cannot have khushoo’

because haste is a barrier to khushoo’ and pecking like a crow is a barrier to reward.

Remembering death whilst praying

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) 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).

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) also advised Abu Ayyoob

(may Allaah  be  pleased with  him):  “When  you  stand  up  to  pray,  pray  a  farewell

prayer.”  (Reported by Ahmad, 5/412; Saheeh  al-Jaami’,  no.  742)  – meaning  the

prayer of one who  thinks  that he will not pray  another prayer. The person who  is

praying will no doubt die, and there is some prayer that will be his last prayer, so let

him have khushoo’ in the prayer that he is doing, for he does not know whether this

will be his last prayer.Thinking about  the aayaat and adhkaar being  recited during  the prayer and

interacting with them

The Qur’aan was  revealed  to be pondered over. Allaah  says  (interpretation of  the

meaning): “(This is) a Book (the Qur’aan) which We have sent down to you, full of

blessings  that  they may ponder over  its Verses, and  that men of understanding may

remember.”  [Saad  38:29]. No one can ponder over  its verses unless he has  some

knowledge of the meaning of what he is reciting, so that he can think about it and be

moved  to  tears by  it. Allaah says  (interpretation of  the meaning): “And  those who,

when  they  are  reminded  of  the  aayaat  (proofs,  evidences,  verses,  lessons,  signs,

revelations, etc.) of their Lord, fall not deaf and blind thereat.” [al-Furqaan 25:73].

Thus the importance of studying Tafseer (Qur’aanic commentary) is quite clear. Ibn

Jareer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “I am astonished at people who read the

Qur’aan  and  do  not  know  what  it  means.  How  can  they  enjoy  reading  it?”

(Muqaddimat Tafseer al-Tabari  by Mahmood  Shaakir,  1/10.  For  this  reason  it  is

important for the reader of Qur’aan to look at a Tafseer, even if it is abridged, when

he is reading. For example, he could read Zubdat al-Tafseer by al-Ashqar, which is

abridged  from  the Tafseer  of  al-Shawkaani,  and  the Tafseer  of  al-‘Allaamah  Ibn

Sa’di, entitled Tayseer al-Kareem al-Rahmaan fi Tafseer Kalaam al-Mannaan. At the

very least he could consult a book explaining the unusual words such as al-Mu’jam

al-Jaami’ li Ghareeb Mufradaat al-Qur’aan by ‘Abd al-‘Azeez al-Seerwaan, which is

a compilation of four books of unusual words used in the Qur’aan).

Another way  of  helping  oneself  to  ponder  over  the meanings  is  to  repeat  aayaat,

because  this will  help  one  to  think  deeply  and  look  again  at  the meanings.  The

Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to do this. It was reported

that  he  spent  a  night  repeating  one  aayah  until  morning  came.  The  aayah  was

(interpretation of the meaning): “If you punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You

forgive  them, verily You, only You are  the All-Mighty,  the All-Wise.” [al-Maa’idah

5:118]. (Reported by Ibn Khuzaymah, 1/271 and Ahmad, 5/149; Sifat al-Salaah, p.

102).  [Translator’s note: Shaykh  al-Albaani’s book Sifat  al-Salaah  is  available  in

English under the title The Prophet’s Prayer described by Shaikh Muhammad Naasir-ud-Deen al-Albaani, translated by Usama ibn Suhaib Hasan, Al-Haneef Publications,

Ipswich, UK, 1993]

Another way  of  helping  oneself  ponder  over  the meanings  is  to  interact with  the

aayaat. 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).

One of the Sahaabah – Qutaadah ibn al-Nu’maan (may Allaah be pleased with him) –

prayed  qiyaam  at  night  and  did  not  recite  anything  but Qul  Huwa  Allaah  Ahad,

repeating it and not adding anything more. (Al-Bukhaari, al-Fath, 9/59; Ahmad, 3/43)

Sa’eed  ibn ‘Ubayd al-Taa’i said: “I heard Sa’eed  ibn Jubayr  leading  them  in prayer

during the month of Ramadaan, and he was repeating this aayah (interpretation of the

meaning):  ‘… they will come to know, when iron collars will be rounded over their

necks, and the chains, they shall be dragged along, in the boiling water, then they will

be  burned  in  the Fire.’  [Ghaafir  40:70-72].” Al-Qaasim  said:  “I  saw  Sa’eed  ibn

Jubayr praying qiyaam al-layl and reciting (interpretation of  the meaning): ‘And be

afraid of the Day when you shall be brought back to Allaah. Then every person shall

be paid what he earned…’ [al-Baqarah 2:281], and repeating it twenty-odd times.” A

man of Qays who was known by the kunyah Abu ‘Abd-Allaah said: “We stayed with

al-Hasan one night, and he got up to pray qiyaam al-layl. He prayed and did not stop

repeating this aayah until just before dawn (interpretation of the meaning): ‘… and if

you count the Blessings of Allaah, never will you be able to count them…’ [Ibraaheem

14:34]. When morning came, we said, ‘O Abu Sa’eed, you did not recite any morethan this one aayah all night.’ He said, ‘I learn a great deal from it: I do not glance at

anything but I see a blessing in it, but what we do not know about Allaah’s blessings

is far greater.’” (Al-Tidhkaar li’l-Qurtubi, p. 125).

Haroon ibn Rabaab al-Usaydi used to get up at night to pray Tahajjud, and he would

repeat this aayah until daybreak (interpretation of the meaning): “… ‘Would that we

were but sent back (to the world)! Then we would not deny the aayaat (signs, verses)

of our Lord, and we would be of the believers!’” [al-An’aam 6:27], and weeping until

daybreak.

Another way of helping oneself to ponder over the meanings is to memorize Qur’aan

and various adhkaar to be recited during different parts of the prayer, so that one may

recite them and think about their meanings.

There  is no doubt  that  these  actions –  thinking  about  the meanings,  repeating  and

interacting with the words – are among the greatest means of increasing khushoo’, as

Allaah  says  (interpretation  of  the meaning):  “And  they  fall  down  on  their  faces

weeping and it adds to their humility [khushoo’]’” [al-Isra’ 17:109].

The following is a moving story that illustrates how the Prophet (peace and blessings

of Allaah be upon him) had khushoo’, as well as explaining how  it  is obligatory  to

think of  the meaning of  the aayat.  ‘Ataa’ said: “  ‘Ubayd  ibn  ‘Umayr and  I entered

upon ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) and Ibn ‘Umayr said to her, ‘Tell us

of the most amazing thing you saw on the part of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and

blessings of Allaah be upon him).’ She wept and said, ‘He got up one night and said,

“O ‘Aa’ishah, leave me to worship my Lord.” I said, “By Allaah, I love to be close to

you, and I love what makes you happy.” So he got up and purified himself, then he

stood  and  prayed. He  kept weeping  until  his  lap  got wet,  then  he wept  and  kept

weeping until the floor got wet. Bilaal came to tell him that it was time to pray, and

when he saw him weeping, he said, “O Messenger of Allaah, you are weeping when

Allaah has forgiven you all your past and future sins?” He said, “Should I not be a

grateful slave? Tonight some aayaat have been revealed  to me; woe  to  the one whorecites them and does not think about what is in them (interpretation of the meaning):

‘Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth…’” [Aal ‘Imraan 3:190… or al-

Baqarah  2:164].’” (Reported by Ibn Hibaan. He said in al-Silsilat al-Saheehah, no.

68: this is a jayyid isnaad).

One  example  of  interacting with  the  aayaat  is  to  say  “Aameen”  after  al-Faatihah,

which brings a great reward. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah

be upon him) said: “If the imaam says ‘Aameen,’ then say ‘Aameen’ too, for whoever

says  ‘Aameen’ and  it coincides with  the  ‘Aameen’ of  the angels, will have all his

previous  sins  forgiven.”  (Reported  by  al-Bukhaari,  no.  747). Another  example  is

responding to the imaam when he says “Sami’ Allaahu liman hamidah (Allaah hears

the one who praises Him)”; the members of the congregation should say, “Rabbanaa

wa  laka’l-hamd  (O our Lord,  to You be praise).” This also brings a great  reward.

Rifaa’ah  ibn Raafi’  al-Zirqi  said:  “One  day we were  praying  behind  the  Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). When he raised his head, he said, ‘Sami’

Allaahu  liman hamidah,’ and a man behind him said, ‘Rabbanaa wa  laka’l-hamdu

hamdan katheeran  tayyiban mubaarakan  fih  (Our Lord  to You be much good  and

blessed praise).’ When he finished, he said, ‘Who  is  the one who spoke?’ The man

said, ‘Me.’ He said, ‘I saw thirty-odd angels rushing to see who would write it down

first.’” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, al-Fath, 2/284).

Pausing at the end of each aayah

This  is more helpful  in understanding and  thinking about  the meaning, and  it  is  the

Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), as Umm Salamah

(may Allaah be pleased with her) described how the Messenger of Allaah (peace and

blessings of Allaah be upon him) would  recite, “Bismillah il-Rahmaan il-Raheem”,

and according to one report, he would pause, then say, “Al-hamdu Lillaahi Rabbi’l-

‘Aalameen, al-Rahmaan, al-Raheem.” Then according to one report, he would pause,

then  say, “Maaliki  yawm  il-deen,”  and he would break up his  recitation aayah by

aayah. (Reported by Abu Dawood, no. 4001; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-

Irwaa’, where its isnaads are described. 2/60).Pausing at  the end of each aayah  is Sunnah even  if  the meaning continues  into  the

next aayah.

Reciting in slow, rhythmic tones (tarteel) and making one’s voice beautiful when

reciting

As Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “… and recite the Qur’aan (aloud) in

a slow, (pleasant tone and) style.” [al-Muzzammil 73:4]. The recitation of the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was clear, with each letter pronounced

distinctly.” (Musnad Ahmad, 6/294, with a saheeh isnaad. Sifat al-Salaah, p. 105).

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) “would recite a soorah in

such  slow  rhythmic  tones  that  it  would  be  longer  than  would  seem  possible.”

(Reported by Muslim, no. 733).

This slow, measured pace of recitation is more conducive to reflection and khushoo’

than a hurried, hasty reading.

Another way of helping oneself to have khushoo’ is by making one’s voice beautiful

when reciting. This is something that was advised by the Prophet (peace and blessings

of Allaah be upon him), as when he said, “Beautify the Qur’aan with your voices, for

a fine voice increases the Qur’aan in beauty.” (Reported by al-Haakim, 1/575; Saheeh

al-Jaami’, no. 3581).

Beautifying it with one’s voice does not mean elongating the vowels and giving it a

tune in the manner of corrupt people; it means beautifying one’s voice with the fear of

Allaah, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Truly, the

one who has one of the finest voices among the people for reciting the Qur’aan is the

one whom  you  think  fears Allaah when  you  hear  him  recite.”  (Reported  by  Ibn

Maajah, 1/1339; Saheeh al-Jaami’, no. 2202).Knowing that Allaah responds to prayers

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah, the Blessed

and Exalted has said: ‘I have divided the prayer between Myself and My slave, into

two halves, and My  slave  shall have what he has asked  for.” When  the  slave  says

‘Praise be  to Allaah, Lord of  the Worlds,’ Allaah says, ‘My slave has praised Me.’

When the slave says, ‘The Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy,’ Allaah says, ‘My

slave  has  extolled me.’ When  the  slave  says,  ‘Master  of  the Day  of  Judgement,’

Allaah says, ‘My slave has glorified me.’ When  the slave says, ‘It  is You alone we

worship and it is You alone we ask for help,’ Allaah says, ‘This is between Me and

My slave, and My slave shall have what he asked for.’ When the slave says, ‘Guide us

to the Straight Path, the path of those whom You have favoured, not the path of those

who receive Your anger, nor of those who go astray,’ Allaah says, ‘All these are for

My slave, and My slave shall have what he asked for.’” (Saheeh Muslim, Kitaab al-

Salaah, Baab wujoob qiraa’at al-Faatihah  fi kulli rak’ah). [Words in italics are the

translation of the meaning of Soorat al-Faatihah – Translator].

This is a great and important hadeeth. If everyone kept it in mind when he prays, he

would attain immense khushoo’ and al-Faatihah would have a great impact on him.

How could it be otherwise, when he feels that his Lord is addressing him and giving

him what he is asking for?

This “conversation” with Allaah must be respected and accorded its proper value. The

Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When any

one of you stands to pray, he is conversing with his Lord, so let him pay attention to

how he speaks to Him.” (al-Haakim, al-Mustadrak, 1/236; Saheeh al-Jaami’, 1538).

Praying with a barrier (sutrah) in front of one and praying close to it

Another thing that will help one to have khushoo’ is paying attention to the matter of

having a sutrah and praying close to it, because this will restrict your field of vision,

protect you from the Shaytaan and keep people from passing in front of you, which

causes a distraction and reduces the reward of the prayer.The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When any one of you

prays,  let him pray  facing a  sutrah, and  let him get close  to  it.”  (Reported by Abu

Dawood, no. 695, 1/446; Saheeh al-Jaami’, no. 651).

Getting close to the sutrah is very beneficial, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of

Allaah be upon him) said: “When any one of you prays facing a sutrah,  let him get

close  to  it  so  that  the  Shaytaan  cannot  interrupt  his  prayer.”  (Reported  by  Abu

Dawood, no. 695, 1/446; Saheeh al-Jaami’, no. 650).

The Sunnah  in getting close  to  the sutrah  is  to have  three cubits between  it and  the

spot where one prostrates, or to allow enough space for a sheep to pass between the

two, as is reported in the saheeh ahaadeeth. (Al-Bukhaari; see al-Fath, 1/574, 579).

The Prophet  (peace  and blessings of Allaah be upon him)  advised  the one who  is

praying not to allow anyone to pass between him and his sutrah. He said: “When any

one of you  is praying, he  should not allow anyone  to pass  in  front of him, and he

should prevent him as most as he can. If he insists, he should fight him, for he has a

companion [i.e., shaytaan] with him.” (Reported by Muslim, 1/260; Saheeh al-Jaami’,

no. 755).

Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “The wisdom in using a sutrah is

to lower your gaze and not to look beyond it, and to prevent anyone from passing in

front of you… and to prevent the Shaytaan from passing in front of you and trying to

corrupt your prayer.” (Sharh Saheeh Muslim, 4/216).

Placing the right hand on the left hand on the chest

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), when he stood up to pray,

used to place his right hand on his left hand (Muslim, no. 401), and place them on his

chest  (Abu Dawood, no. 759;  see also  Irwa’  al-Ghaleel, 2/71). The Messenger of

Allaah  (peace  and  blessings  of  Allaah  be  upon  him)  said,  “We  Prophets  were

commanded… to place our right hands on our left hands in prayer.” (Reported by al-Tabaraani  in  al-Mu’jam  al-Kabeer,  no.  11485.  Al-Haythami  said:  Al-Tabaraani

reported it in al-Awsat and its men are the men of saheeh. Al-Majma’, 3/155).

Imaam Ahmad  (may Allaah have mercy on him) was  asked  about  the meaning of

placing one hand on top of the other when standing in prayer. He said: “It is humility

before the Almighty.” (Al-Khushoo’ fi’l-Salaah by Ibn Rajab, p. 21).

Ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “The ‘ulamaa’ said: the meaning of

this  posture  is  that  it  is  the  attitude  of  the  humble  petitioner,  it  is more  likely  to

prevent fidgeting, and it is more conducive to khushoo’.” (Fath al-Baari, 2/224).

Looking at the place of prostration

It was reported from ‘Aa’ishah that “the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of

Allaah be upon him) 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).

When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) entered the Ka’bah,

his eyes never left the place of his prostration until he came out again. (Reported by

al-Haakim in al-Mustadrak, 1/479. He said it is saheeh according to the condition of

the two shaykhs, and al-Dhahabi agreed with him. Al-Albaani said, It is as they said.

Irwaa’ al-Ghaleel, 2/73).

When  a  person  sits  for Tashahhud,  he  should  look  at  the  finger with which  he  is

pointing as he is moving it, as it was reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of

Allaah  be  upon  him)  “would  point with  the  finger  next  to  the  thumb  towards  the

qiblah, and focus his gaze upon it.” (Reported by Ibn Khuzaymah, 1/355, no. 719. The

editor said:  its  isnaad  is saheeh. See Sifat al-Salaah, p. 139). According  to another

report he “pointed with his index finger and did not allow his gaze to wander beyond

it.” (Reported by Ahmad, 4/3, and by Abu Dawood, no. 990)Note

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 khushoo’?

The answer  is  that  this goes against  the Sunnah  that was reported from  the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) that was just referred to above. 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,  al-‘Allaamah Abu  ‘Abd-Allaah  Ibn  al-Qayyim,

which will explain the matter further. He (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “It is

not part of  the Prophet’s  teaching  to close  the eyes during prayer. We have already

mentioned how he used to look at his finger during the Tashahhud and the du’aa’, and

he would not let his gaze wander beyond his finger… Another indication [of the fact

that he kept his eyes open] is the fact that he stretched his hand forth to take the bunch

of  grapes when  he  saw Paradise,  and  he  also  saw Hell  and  the woman  (who  had

tormented) the cat, and the owner of Stick (al-Mihjan).  Likewise, he pushed away the

animal that wanted to pass in front of him whilst he was praying, and he pushed back

the boy, and the young girl, and the two young girls. He used to wave to those whom

he saw greeting him (whilst he was praying). There  is also a hadeeth  that describes

how  the Shaytaan  tried  to  tempt him whilst he was praying, so he grabbed him and

strangled him, as he had seen him with his own eyes. From these ahaadeeth and others

we learn that he did not close his eyes when he prayed.

The fuqahaa’ differ as to whether closing the eyes during prayer is makrooh. Imaam

Ahmad and others did count it as makrooh, and said: “This is the action of the Jews,”

but others  allowed  it  and did not  count  it  as makrooh. The  correct view  is  that  if

keeping the eyes open does not affect a person’s khushoo’, then this is better, but if

keeping the eyes open affects a person’s khushoo because of decorations, adornments

etc. in front of him, which distract him, then it is not makrooh at all for him to close

his eyes. The opinion that indeed it is mustahabb in this case is closer to the principlesand aims of sharee’ah than saying it is makrooh. And Allaah knows best. (Zaad al-

Ma’aad, 1/293, Daar al-Risaalah edn.)

Thus 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 khushoo’.

Moving the index finger

This is something which is neglected by many worshippers because they are ignorant

of its great benefits and its effect on khushoo’.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “It is more powerful

against  the Shaytaan  than  iron”  (reported  by  Imaam Ahmad,  2/119, with  a  hasan

isnaad, as stated  in Sifat al-Salaah, p. 159),  i.e., pointing with  the forefinger during

the Tashahhud is more painful to the Shaytaan than being beaten with a rod of iron,

because it reminds the slave of the Unity of Allaah and to be sincere in his worship of

Him alone, and this is what the Shaytaan hates most; we seek refuge with Allaah from

him.” (al-Fath al-Rabbani by al-Saa’idi, 4/15).

Because of this great benefit, the Sahaabah, may Allaah be pleased with them, used to

enjoin one another to do this and were very keen to remember to do this thing which

so many people nowadays take so lightly. It was reported that “the Companions of the

Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to enjoin one another, i.e.,

with  regard  to  pointing with  the  finger  during  the  du’aa’.”  (Reported  by  Ibn Abi

Shaybah with a hasan  isnaad, as stated  in Sifat al-Salaah, p. 141. See al-Musannaf,

no. 9732, part 10, page 381, Dar al-Salafiyyah, India, edn.)

The Sunnah in pointing with the forefinger is that it should remain raised and moving,

pointing towards the qiblah, throughout the Tashahhud.

Varying the soorahs, aayaat, adhkaar and du’aa’s recited in prayerThis makes  the worshipper  feel  that he  is encountering new meanings and moving

between different topics mentioned in the aayaat and adhkaar. This is what a person

misses out on  if he only memorizes  a  few  soorahs  (especially  the  short ones)  and

adhkaar. Varying what one recites is the Sunnah and is more conducive to khushoo’.

If we study what  the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah of upon him) used  to

recite in his prayer, we will see this variation. For example, with regard to the opening

du’aa’, we find examples such as the following:

“Allaahumma baa’id bayni wa bayna khataayaaya kamaa baa’adta bayn al-mashriqi

wa’l-maghrib. Allaahumma naqqani min khataayaaya kamaa yunaqqaa al-thawb al-

abyad min al-danas. Allaahumma’ghsilni min khataayaaya bi’l-maa’ wa’l-thalj wa’l-

barad (O Allaah, separate me (far) from my sins as You have separated (far) the East

from the West. O Allaah, cleanse me of my sins as white cloth is cleansed from dirt.

O Allaah, wash me of my sins with water, snow and ice).”

“Wajahtu wajhi li’lladhi fatara al-samawaati wa’l-ard haneefan, wa maa ana min al-

mushrikeen.  Inna  salaati  wa  nusuki  wa mahyaaya  wa mamaati  Lillaahi  Rabb  il

–‘aalameen, laa shareeka lahu wa bidhaalika umirtu wa ana awwal al-muslimeen (I

have set my face towards the Originator of the heavens and the earth sincerely and I

am not among  the mushrikeen.  Indeed my prayer, my  sacrifice, my  living and my

dying are for Allaah, the Lord of the Worlds: no partner has He. With this I have been

commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims (those who submit to Him).”

“Subhaanak Allaahumma wa bi hamdika wa  tabaaraka  ismuka wa  ta’aala  jadduka

wa laa ilaaha ghayruk (Glory and praise be to You, O Allaah, blessed be Your name

and exalted be Your majesty. There is no god besides You).”

And other du’aa’s and adhkaar which the worshipper can use at various times.

Among  the soorahs which  the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah of upon him)

used to recite during Salaat al-Fajr we find a great and blessed number.The longer mufassal soorahs (soorahs from the last seventh of the Qur’aan), such as

al-Waaqi’ah [56], al-Toor [52] and Qaaf [50], and shorter mufassal soorahs such as

Idhaa al-shamsu kuwwirat [al-Takweer 81], al-Zalzalah [99], and al-Mi’wadhatayn

[the last two soorahs].

It was reported that he recited al-Room [30], Yaa-Seen [36] and al-Saaffaat [37], and

on Fridays he would recite al-Sajah [32] and al-Insaan [76, a.k.a. al-Dhahr] in Fajr

prayer.

It was reported that in Salaat al-Zuhr, he would recite the equivalent of thirty aayaat in

each of the two rak’ahs, and that he recited al-Taariq [86], al-Burooj [85] and wa’l-

layli idhaa yaghshaa [al-Layl, 92].

In Salaat al-‘Asr, he would recite the equivalent of fifteen aayaat in each rak’ah, and

he would recite the soorahs already mentioned in connection with Salaat al-Zuhr.

In Salaat al-Maghrib, he would recite short mufassal soorahs such as al-teeni wa’l-

zaytoon [al-Teen  95],  and  he  recited  Soorat Muhammad  [47], al-Toor  [52], al-

Mursalaat [77] and others.

In  ‘Ishaa’ he would  recite medium-length mufassal  soorahs,  such as al-shamsu wa

duhaahaa [al-Shams 91], idhaa’l-samaa’u  inshaqqat [al-Inshiqaaq  84].  He  told

Mu’aadh to recite al-A’laa [87], al-Qalam [68] and al-layli idhaa yaghshaa [al-Layl,

92].

In qiyaam al-layl, he used  to recite  the  long soorahs. It was reported  that he (peace

and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to recite 200 or 150 aayaat, and sometimes

he used to shorten the recitation.

He used to vary the adhkaar he recited in rukoo’. In addition to “Subhaana Rabbi al-

‘Azeem  (Glory be  to my Supreme Lord)”  and  “Subhaana  Rabbi  al-‘Azeem wa  bi

hamdih  (Glory  and  praise  be  to my  Supreme  Lord)”,  he would  say:  “Subbooh,Quddoos, Rabb il-Malaa’ikati wa’l-Rooh  (Perfect, Blessed, Lord of  the Angels and

the Spirit),” or, “Allaahumma  laka  raka’tu wa  bika  aamantu wa  laka  aslamtu wa

‘alayka  tawakkaltu anta Rabbi. Khasha’a sam’i wa basari wa dammi wa  lahmi wa

‘azmi wa ‘asabi Lillaahi Rabbi’l-‘Alaameen (O Allaah, to You have I bowed, to You

I have submitted, in You I have believed, to You I have submitted and in You I have

put my trust. Humbled are my hearing, my seeing, my blood, my flesh, my bones and

my nerves for Allaah, Lord of the Worlds).”

When  standing  upright  from  rukoo’,  after  saying  “Sami’a  Allaah  liman  hamidah

(Allaah  listens  to  the one who praises Him)” he would say, “Rabbanaa wa  laka’l-

hamd (Our Lord, and to You be all praise),” or sometimes, “Rabbanaa  laka’l-hamd

(Our Lord, to You be all praise),” or, “Allaahumma Rabbanaa [wa]  laka’l-hamd (O

Allaah our Lord,  [and]  to You be all praise).” Sometimes he would add  the words:

“Mil’a al-samawaati wa mil’a al-ard wa mil’a maa shi’ta min shay’in ba’d ([Praise]

filling  the  heavens,  filling  the  earth,  and  filling  whatever  else  You  wish)”,  and

sometimes he would add, “Ahl al-thanaa’i wa’l-majd, laa maani’a limaa a’tayta wa

laa mu’tiya limaa mana’t, wa laa yanfa’u dhaa’l-jaddi minka’l-jadd (Lord of Glory

and Majesty! None  can withhold what You  grant,  and  none  can  grant what You

withhold; nor can the possessions of an owner benefit him in front of You).”

In sujood, in addition to “Subhaan Rabbi al-A’laa (Glory be to my Lord Most High)”

and “Subhaana Rabbi al-A’laa wa bi hamdih (Glory and praise be to my Lord Most

High),” he would say “Subbooh, Quddoos, Rabb  il-Malaa’ikati wa’l-Rooh (Perfect,

Blessed, Lord of the Angels and the Spirit),” or “Subhaanak Allaahumma Rabbanaa

wa bi hamdik, Allaahumma’ghfir li (Glory and raise be to you O Allaah, our Lord. O

Allaah forgive me)” or “Allaahumma laka sajadtu wa bika aamantu wa laka aslamtu,

sajada wajhi  lilladhi khalaqahu wa  sawwarahu wa  shaqqa  sam’ahu wa basarahu,

tabaarak Allaahu ahsaan al-khaaliqeen (O Allaah, to You I have prostrated, in You I

have believed and to You I have submitted. My face has prostrated to the One Who

created it and gave it shape, then brought forth its hearing and its vision. Blessed be

Allaah, the Best to create),” and others.When sitting between the two prostrations, in addition to “Rabb ighfir li, Rabb ighfir

li  (Lord,  forgive me,  Lord,  forgive me),”  he  would  say,  “Allaahumm  aghfir  li

warhamni wajbarni wa arfa’ni wahdini wa ‘aafini wa arzuqni (O Allaah, forgive me,

have mercy on me, strengthen me, raise my rank, guide me, pardon me, sustain me).”

A number of versions of the  tashahhud have been narrated, such as: “Al-tahiyyaatu

Lillaahi wa’l-salawaatu wa’l-tayyibaat al-salaamu ‘alayka ayyuha’l-Nabiyyu …etc.

(All compliments, prayers and pure words are due to Allaah. Peace be upon you, O

Prophet…)” and “Al-Tahiyyaat al-mubaarakaat al-salawaat al-tayyibaatu Lillaahi,

al-salaamu  ‘alayka  ayyuha’l-Nabiyyu…etc.  (All  compliments,  blessed  words,

prayers, pure words are due  to Allaah. Peace be upon you, O Prophet…)” and “Al-

tahiyyaat al-tayyibaat al-salawaatu Lillaahi, al-salaamu ‘alayka ayyuha’l-Nabiyyu…

etc. (All compliments, good words and prayers are due to Allaah. Peace be upon you,

O Prophet …).”

So the worshipper may use one form one time and another at another time, and so on.

There  are  a  number  of  versions  of  the  prayers  sent  upon  the  Prophet  (peace  and

blessings of Allaah be upon him), such as:

“Allaahumma  salli  ‘ala Muhammad wa  ‘ala  aali Muhammad  kamaa  salayta  ‘ala

Ibraaheem wa ‘ala aali Ibraaheem,  innaka Hameedun Majeed. Allaahumma baarik

‘ala Muhammadin wa  ‘ala aali Muhammadin kamaa baarakta  ‘ala  Ibraaheem wa

‘ala  aali  Ibraaheem  innaka  Hameedun  Majeed  (O  Allaah,  send  prayers  on

Muhammad and on the family of Muhammad, as You sent prayers on Ibraaheem and

the  family  of  Ibraaheem,  verily You  are Worthy  of  Praise  and  Full  of Glory; O

Allaah, send blessings on Muhammad and on the family of Muhammad, as You sent

blessings on Ibraaheem and the family of Ibraaheem, verily You are Worthy of Praise

and Full of Glory).”

Or:

“Allaahumma  salli  ‘ala Muhammad  wa  ‘ala  aali  baytihi  wa  ‘ala  azwaajihi  wa

dhuriyatihi kamaa salayta ‘ala aali Ibraaheem, innaka Hameedun Majeed wa baarik

‘ala Muhammadin wa  ‘ala  aali  baytihi wa  ‘ala  azwaajihi wa  dhuriyatihi  kamaa

baarakta ‘ala aali Ibraaheem innaka Hameedun Majeed (O Allaah, send prayers onMuhammad and on his family, wives and progeny, as You sent prayers on the family

of  Ibraaheem, verily You  are Worthy of Praise and Full of Glory; O Allaah,  send

blessings on Muhammad and on his family, wives and progeny, as You sent blessings

on the family of Ibraaheem, verily You are Worthy of Praise and Full of Glory).”’

Or:

“Allaahumma  salli  ‘ala Muhammad  al-Nabiyy  al-Ummi wa  ‘ala  aali Muhammad

kamaa salayta ‘ala aali Ibraaheem, wa baarik ‘ala Muhammad al-Nabiyy al-Ummi

wa  ‘ala  aali Muhammadin  kamaa  baarakta  ‘ala  aali  Ibraaheem  fi’l-‘aalameen,

innaka Hameedun Majeed  (O Allaah,  send  prayers  on Muhammad  the Unlettered

Prophet  and  on  the  family  of Muhammad,  as You  sent  prayers  on  the  family  of

Ibraaheem,  and  send  blessings  on Muhammad  the Unlettered  Prophet  and  on  the

family of Muhammad, as You sent blessings on the family of Ibraaheem among the

nations, verily You are Worthy of Praise and Full of Glory).”'

Other  similar  versions  have  also  been  narrated,  and  the Sunnah  is  to  vary  among

them, as stated above. There  is nothing wrong with  reciting one version more  than

others, because  it  is more strongly proven and better known  in  the books of saheeh

ahaadeeth, or because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) taught

one version rather than others to his Sahaabah when they asked him about it, and so

on.

(All of the above texts etc. have been taken from Sifat al-Salaat al-Nabi (peace and

blessings of Allaah be upon him) by Shaykh Muhammad Naasir al-Deen al-Albaani,

which he compiled from the books of hadeeth).

Performing sujood al-tilaawah when reciting an aayah where this is required

One of the etiquettes of reciting Qur’aan is to perform sujood al-tilaawah (prostration

for  recitation)  when  one  recites  an  aayah  containing  a  “sajdah”  (place  where  a

prostration is required). In His Book, Allaah describes the Prophets and the righteous

as  follows  (interpretation  of  the  meaning):  “…  When  the  Verses  of  the  Most

Beneficent  were  recited  unto  them,  they  fell  down  prostrating  and  weeping.”[Maryam 19:58]. Ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “The scholars

agreed that we should prostrate here [when reciting this aayah] so as to follow their

example.” (Tafseer al-Qur’aan al-‘Azeem, 5/238, Daar al-Sha’b edn.)

Sujood al-Tilaawah in prayer is very important because it increases khushoo’. Allaah

says (interpretation of the meaning): “And they fall down on their faces weeping and

it adds to their humility [khushoo’].” [al-Israa’ 17:109].

It  was  reported  that  the  Prophet  (peace  and  blessings  of  Allaah  be  upon  him)

prostrated when  he  recited  Soorat  al-Najm  [53]  in  his  prayer. Al-Bukhaari  (may

Allaah have mercy on him)  reported  in his Saheeh  that Abu Raafi’ said: “I prayed

‘Ishaa’ with Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) and he recited Idhaa al-

samaa’u inshaqqat [al-Inshiqaaq 84] and prostrated. I asked him about it, and he said,

‘I prostrated behind Abu’l-Qaasim  [the Prophet]  (peace and blessings of Allaah be

upon him), and I will continue to do so until I meet him again.” (Saheeh al-Bukhaari,

Kitaab al-Adhaan, Baab al-Jahr bi’l-‘Ishaa’).

It is important to maintain the practice of sujood al-tilaawah, especially since it causes

annoyance  to  the  Shaytaan  and  suppresses  him,  thus weakening  his  hold  on  the

worshipper. Abu Hurayrah said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of

Allaah be upon him) said: ‘When the son of Adam recites a sajdah, the Shaytaan goes

away  weeping,  saying,  “Woe  to  him!  He  was  commanded  to  prostrate  and  he

prostrated, so Paradise is his; I was ordered to prostrate and I disobeyed, so Hell is my

fate!”’” (Reported by Imaam Muslim in his Saheeh, no. 133).

Seeking refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan

The Shaytaan  is our enemy, and one of  the aspects of his enmity  is his whispering

insinuating  thoughts  (waswaas)  to  the worshipper at prayer  so as  to  take away his

khushoo’ and confuse him in his prayer.Waswaas is a problem that befalls everyone who turns to Allaah 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 salaah, and not give up. His sticking to it will ward off the Shaytaan’s

plots from himself. “… Ever feeble indeed is the plot of Shaytaan.” [al-Nisaa’ 4:76 –

interpretation of the meaning].

Every  time  the  slave wants  to  turn his  thoughts  towards Allaah,  thoughts of other

matters come sneaking  into his mind. The Shaytaan  is  like a bandit  lying  in wait  to

launch an ambush: every time the slave wants to travel towards Allaah, the Shaytaan

wants to cut off his route. For this reason, it was said to one of the salaf: “The Jews

and Christians say  that  they do not suffer  from  the problem of waswaas.” He said,

“They are speaking the truth, for what would the Shaytaan want with a house that is in

ruins?” (Majma’ al-Fataawa, 22/608).

This  is a good analogy. It  is as  if  there are  three houses:  the house of a king, filled

with  his  treasure  and  savings,  the  house  of  a  slave,  containing  his  treasure  and

savings, and an empty house with nothing in it. If a thief comes to steal from one of

the three houses, which one will he choose? (al-Waabil al-Sayib, p. 43).

When  the slave stands up  to pray,  the Shaytaan  feels  jealous of him, because he  is

standing in the greatest position, one that is closest [to Allaah] and most annoying and

grievous to the Shaytaan. So he tries to stop him from establishing prayer in the first

place,  then  he  continues  trying  to  entice  him  and make  him  forget,  and  “making

assaults on him with his cavalry and infantry” [cf. Al-Isra’ 17:64], until he thinks of

prayer  as  less  important,  so  he  starts  to  neglect  it,  and  eventually  gives  it  up

altogether. If the Shaytaan fails to achieve this, and the person ignores him and starts

to pray, the enemy of Allaah will come and try to distract him, by reminding him of

things that he did not remember or think of before he started praying. A person may

have  forgotten about  something altogether, but  the Shaytaan will  remind him of  it

when he starts praying, so as to distract him from his prayers and take him away from

Allaah, so that his heart will no longer be in his prayers, and he will lose out on the

honour and reward of Allaah turning toward him, which is only attained by the onewhose heart  is really  in his prayer. Thus he will finish his prayer no better off  than

when he  started, with his burden of  sins not  reduced  at  all by his  salaah, because

prayer only expiates for sins when it is done properly, with perfect khushoo’, and the

person stands before Allaah in body and soul.” (Al-Waabil al-Sayib, p. 36).

The Prophet  (peace  and blessings of Allaah be upon him)  taught us  the  following

methods of combatting the wiles of Shaytaan and getting rid of his waswaas:

Abu’l-‘Aas (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported that he said, “O Messenger of

Allaah, the Shaytaan interrupts me when I pray, and I get confused in my recitation.”

The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “That is a

shaytaan whose name is Khanzab. If you sense his presence, seek refuge with Allaah

from him, and spit [dry spitting] towards your left three times.” [Abu’l-‘Aas] said: “I

did that and Allaah took him away from me.” (Reported by Muslim, no. 2203)

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) also told us about another of

the Shaytaan’s tricks and how to deal with it. He said, “When any one of you gets up

to pray, the Shaytaan comes and confuses him – i.e., mixes up his prayer and creates

doubts in his mind – so that he does not know how many [rak’ahs] he has prayed. If

any one of you experiences that, he should do two prostrations whilst he is sitting.”

(Reported by al-Bukhaari, Kitaab al-Sahw, Baab al-Sahw fi’l-Fard wa’l-Tatawwu’).

Another of  the Shaytaan’s  tricks was described as follows. The Prophet (peace and

blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If any one of you is praying and feels some

movement  in  his  back  passage,  and  is  uncertain  as  to whether  he  has  broken  his

wudoo’ or not, he  should not  end his prayer unless he hears a  sound or  smells an

odour.”

Indeed, his tricks may be very strange indeed, as the following hadeeth makes clear.

Ibn ‘Abbaas reported  that  the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)

was asked about a man who thought that he had broken his wudoo’ when he had not

done so. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:“The Shaytaan may come to any one of you when he is praying and open his buttocks

and make him think that he has broken his wudoo when in fact he has not. So if this

happens to any one of you, let him not end his prayer unless he hears the sound of it

with his ears or smells the odour of it with his nose.” (Reported by al-Tabaraani in al-

Kabeer, no.11556, part 11, p. 222. He said in Majma’ al-Zawaa’id, 1/242, its men are

the men of Saheeh).

Note

There is a devilish trick which “Khanzab” plays on some worshippers:

He  tries  to  distract  them  by making  them  think  of  acts  of worship  other  than  the

prayer that they are performing, by making them think of some issues of da’wah or

knowledge, so that they start to think deeply about those matters and stop focusing on

the prayer they are performing. He even confuses some of them by suggesting to them

that  ‘Umar used  to make plans  for  the army whilst he was praying. We  should  let

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah explain this matter and set the record straight:

“With regard to what was reported, that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab said, “I make plans for

the army whilst I am praying,” this was because ‘Umar was commanded to engage in

jihaad  and  he  was  the  leader  of  the  believers  (ameer  al-mu’mineen,  i.e.,  the

khaleefah), so he was also  the  leader of  jihaad. So  in some respects he was  like  the

one who prays  the prayer of  fear  (salaat al-khawf) whilst also watching out  for  the

enemy, whether or not there is actual fighting. He was commanded to pray, and also

to engage  in  jihaad, so he had  to carry out both duties as much as he could. Allaah

says (interpretation of the meaning): ‘O you who believe! When you meet (an enemy)

force, take a firm stand against them and remember the Name of Allaah much, so that

you may be  successful.’ [al-Anfaal 8:45].  It  is known  that one  cannot  achieve  the

same peace of mind during jihaad as at times of peace and security, so if it happens

that a person’s prayer is lacking because of jihaad, this does not mean that his faith is

lacking.For  this  reason, standards may be  regarded as being slightly  relaxed  in  the case of

prayer at times of danger as compared with times of peace. With regard to prayer at

times of danger, Allaah says  (interpretation of  the meaning):  ‘… but when you are

free from danger, perform al-salaah. Verily, the prayer is enjoined on the believers at

fixed hours.’ [al-Nisa’ 4:103]. So the one who is commanded to establish prayer at

times of peace is not commanded to do so in the same manner at times of danger.

Moreover, people are of varying levels in this regard. If a person’s faith is strong, he

will  have  the  proper  presence  of mind when  he  prays,  even  if  he  thinks  of  other

matters. Allaah had caused the truth to reside firmly in ‘Umar’s heart, and he was al-

muhaddith al-mulham (‘the inspired speaker’), so there is nothing strange in a person

of his calibre making plans for the army whilst performing the prayer. He was able to

do this, whilst others are not, but undoubtedly when he did not have these concerns to

think about, his presence of mind in prayer would be greater. And no doubt the prayer

of  the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) at  times of safety was

even more perfect that at times of danger, in terms of external appearance. If Allaah

has made allowances with regard to some of the external movements of the prayer at

times of fear, how then about the internal aspects?

In  conclusion,  therefore,  if  a  person who  is  pressed  for  time  thinks  about  some

obligatory matter whilst he  is praying,  this  is not  the  same as a person who  is not

pressed for  time  thinking during prayer about some matter  that  is not obligatory. It

may be that ‘Umar could not give thought to making plans for the army except at that

time,  because  he  was  the  leader  of  the  ummah  with  many  obligations  and

responsibilities. Anyone  could  find himself  in  a  similar  situation,  according  to his

position. People always think during prayer about things that they do not think of at

other times, and some of this could come from the Shaytaan. A man told one of the

salaf that he had buried some money, but he had forgotten where he had buried it. He

told him, ‘Go and pray,’ so he went and prayed, and he remembered where it was. It

was said [to the salafi], ‘How did you know that?’ He said, ‘I know that the Shaytaan

will not  leave him  alone when he prays without  reminding him of  something  that

matters  to him, and  there  is nothing more  important  to  this man  than  rememberingwhere  he  had  buried  his money.’ But  the  good  slave will  strive  to  attain  perfect

presence of mind in prayer, just as he strives to do everything else properly that he is

commanded  to do. And  there  is no help and no strength except  in Allaah,  the Most

High, the Almighty.”

(Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 22/610)

Thinking of how the salaf were when they prayed

This will increase one’s khushoo’ and motivate one to follow their example. “If you

were to see one of them when he stood up to pray and started reciting the words of his

Master, it would cross his mind that he was standing before the Lord of the Worlds, so

he would be filled with overwhelming awe.” (Al-Khushoo’  fi’l-Salaah by Ibn Rajab,

p. 22).

Mujaahid (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “When one of them stood in prayer,

he would be too fearful of his Lord to allow his eyes to be drawn to anything, or to

turn aside or  to  fidget by playing with pebbles or anything else or  to  think of any

worldly matter, unless he forgot, during prayer.” (Ta’zeem Qadr al-Salaah, 1/188)

When Ibn al-Zubayr stood up to pray, he would be like a stick (i.e., immobile) with

khushoo’. Once he was prostrating when a missile from a catapult was  launched at

him, when Makkah was being besieged, and part of his garment was torn away whilst

he was praying,  and he did not  even  raise his head. Muslimah  ibn Bashshaar was

praying in the mosque when part of it collapsed, and the people got up [and fled], but

he was praying and did not even notice. We have heard that one of them was like a

garment thrown on the floor; one of them would end his prayer with the colour of his

complexion changed because he had been standing before Allaah. One of them would

not know who was standing to his right or left when he prayed. One of them would go

pale when he did wudoo’ for prayer, and it was said to him, “We see that when you do

wudoo’ a change comes over you.” He  said, “I know before Whom  I am going  to

stand.” When the time for prayer came, ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib would be visibly shaken,

and the colour of his face would change. It was said to him, “What is the matter withyou?’ He  said,  “By Allaah,  there has  come  the  time of  the  amaanah  (trust) which

Allaah offered to the heavens and the earth, and the mountains, but they declined to

bear  it and were afraid of  it, but I bore  it [cf. Al-Ahzaab 33:72].” When Sa’eed al-

Tanookhi prayed,  there would be  tears  rolling down his cheeks onto his beard. We

heard that one of the Taabi’een, when he stood up to pray, his colour would change,

and he would say, “Do you know before Whom I am going to stand and with Whom I

am  going  to  talk?” Who  among  you  has  fear  and  respect  like  this?  (Silaah  al-

Yaqazaan li Tard al-Shaytaan, ‘Abd al-‘Azeez Sultaan, p. 209)

They said to ‘Aamir ibn ‘Abd al-Qays, “Do you think to yourself during prayer?” He

said, “Is there anything I like to think about more than the prayer?” They said, “We

think  to ourselves during prayer.” He said, “About Paradise and al-hoor  (“houris”)

and so on?” They said, “No; about our families and our wealth.” He said, “If I were to

be run  through with spears,  it would be dearer  to me  than  thinking  to myself about

worldly matters during prayer.”

Sa’d ibn Mu’aadh said: “I have three qualities, which I wish I could keep up all the

time,  then  I would  really be  something. When  I  am praying,  I do not  think  about

anything except the prayer I am doing; if I hear any hadeeth from the Messenger of

Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), I do not have any doubts about

it; and when I attend a janaazah (funeral), I do not think about anything except what

the janaazah says and what is said to it.” (Al-Fataawa li Ibn Taymiyah, 22/605).

Haatim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “I carry out what I am commanded; I

walk with fear of Allaah in my heart; I start with the [correct] intention; I magnify and

glorify Allaah; I recite at a slow and measured pace,  thinking about  the meaning; I

bow with khushoo’; I prostrate with humility; I sit and recite the complete tashahhud;

I say salaam with the [correct] intention; I finish with sincerity towards Allaah; and I

come back fearing lest [my prayer] has not been accepted from me, so I continue to

strive until I die.” (Al-Khushoo’ fi’l-Salaah, 27-28).Abu Bakr al-Subghi said: “I lived through the time of two imaams (leaders) although I

was  not  fortunate  enough  to  hear  them  in  person:  Abu  Haatim  al-Raazi  and

Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazi. As for Ibn Nasr, I do not know of any prayer better

than his.  I heard  that a hornet stung him on his  forehead and blood started flowing

down his  face, but he did not move.” Muhammad  ibn Ya’qoob al-Akhram said: “I

have never seen any prayer better than that of Muhammad ibn Nasr. Flies used to land

on his  ears,  and he did not  shoo  them  away. We used  to marvel  at how good his

prayer and khushoo’ were. His fear [of Allaah] in prayer was so great that he would

put his chin on his chest as if he were a piece of wood standing up.” (Ta’zeem Qadr

al-Salaah, 1/58). Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him),

when he started  to pray, used  to  tremble so much  that he would  lean right and  left.

(Al-Kawaakib  al-Durriyah  fi Manaaqib  al-Mujtahid  Ibn  Taymiyah,  by Mar’i  al-

Karami, p. 83, Daar al-Gharb al-Islaami).

Compare this with what some of us do nowadays, looking at our watches, adjusting

our clothes, fiddling with our noses, thinking of deals and counting our money whilst

praying, or tracing the patterns of decorations on carpets and ceilings, or trying to see

who is beside us. Think of how anyone would behave before some great leader of this

world – would he dare to behave in such a manner then?!

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” (Reported by Muslim, 1/206, no. 7/4/2)

•  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 havenothing 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.” (Reported by Imaam Ahmad;

Saheeh al-Jaami’, 1626).

•  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.” (Reported by al-Bayhaqi

in al-Sunan  al-Kubraa, 3/10;  see  also Saheeh  al-Jaami’).  Al-Manaawi  said:

“What  is  meant  is  that  every  time  a  pillar  (essential  part)  of  the  prayer  is

completed, part of his sins fall from him, until when he finishes his prayer, all his

sins will be removed. This is in a prayer where all the conditions are met and the

essential  parts  are  complete. What we  understand  from  the words  “slave”  and

“stands” is that he is standing before the King of Kings [Allaah] in the position of

a humble slave.” (Reported by al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-Kubraa, 3/10; see also

Saheeh al-Jaami’).

•  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.” (Reported by al-Tirmidhi, Kitaab al-Da’waat, 1/426; classed as hasan in

Saheeh al-Tirmidhi, 2686).

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].”

(Reported by Muslim, Kitaab al-Salaah, Baab maa yuqaalu fi’l-rukoo’ wa’l-sujood.

No. 215). And he said: “… As for sujood, strive hard  to make du’aa’  in  it, for  it  is

bound  to be answered  for you.”  (Reported by Muslim, Kitaab al-Salaah, Baab al-

Nahy ‘an qiraa’at al-Qur’aan fi’l rukoo’ wa’l-sujood, no. 207).

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).” (Reported by

Muslim, Kitaab al-Salaah, Baab ma  yuqaalu  fi’l-rukoo’ wa’l-sujood, no. 216). He

also  used  to  say,  “Allaahumma’ghfir  li maa  asrartu  wa maa  a’lantu  (O Allaah,

forgive me what I have done in secret and done openly).” (Reported by al-Nisaa'i, al-

Mujtabaa, 2/569; Saheeh al-Jaami’, 1067).

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 theheavens  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 haveoccurred 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…

Warding  off Distractions &  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.’”  (Reported by al-Bukhaari, Fath al-

Baari, 10/391).

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.” (Reported by Muslim

in his Saheeh, 3/1668).

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.”

(Reported by Abu Dawood, 2030; Saheeh al-Jaami’, 2504).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.”  (Al-Waabil  al-Sayib, Daar al-Bayaan

edn., p.22)

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.” (Reports in Saheeh Muslim, no.

556, part 3/391).

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.” (Reported by Muslim, no. 560).

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.” (Agreed upon. Al-Bukhaari, Kitaab al-Aadhan, Baab idhaa hadara

al-ta’aamu wa uqeemat al-salaah; Muslim, no. 557-559).

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.

(Reported by Ibn Maajah in his Sunan, no. 617; Saheeh al-Jaami’, no. 6832).

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.” (Reported

by Abu Dawood, no. 88; Saheeh al-Jaami’, no. 299)

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.” (Saheeh Muslim, no. 560). Without adoubt, this trying to suppress the urge takes away khushoo’. This ruling also applies to

suppressing the urge to pass wind.

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. (Reported by al-Bukhaari, no. 210).

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.”  (Reported  by Abu

Dawood, no. 694; Saheeh al-Jaami’, no. 375. He said, a hasan hadeeth).

- 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…” (Saheeh

al-Bukhaari, Kitaab al-Salaah).

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.” (Fath al-Baari, 3/79).

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.”

(Reported by Abu Dawood, no. 946; Saheeh al-Jaami’, no. 7452).

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, whichwould 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.”

(Reported by al-Bukhaari, Fath al-Baari, 3/72). Ibn Abi Shaybah reported that Abu’l-

Darda’ said: “Even  if  I were  to get  red camels,  I would not  like  to wipe  the gravel

from my  forehead.”  ‘Ayaad  said:  “The  salaf  did  not  like  to wipe  their  foreheads

before they finished praying.” (al-Fath, 3/79).

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.” (Reported by Abu

Dawood, 2/83; Saheeh al-Jaami’, no. 752). According to another report, he said, “Do

not  compete  with  one  another  in  raising  your  voices  when  reciting  Qur’aan.”

(Reported by Imaam Ahmad, 2/36; Saheeh al-Jaami’, 1951).

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.”  (Reported by Abu Dawood, no.  909;  Saheeh  Abi

Dawood).

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.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, Kitaab al-Adhaan, Baab al-Iltifaat  fi’l-

Salaah).

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 evenduring 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.  (Majmoo’  al-

Fataawa, 22/559).

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.”  (Reported  by Ahmad,  5/294;

Saheeh  al-Jaami’, no. 762). According  to another  report, he  said: “What  is wrong

with people who lift their gaze to the heavens whilst they are praying?” According to

another  report,  he  said:  “that  they  raise  their  gaze when  they make  du’aa’  during

salaah?”  (Reported  by Muslim,  no.  429). He  spoke  out  strongly  against  it,  to  the

extent that he said, “Let them stop it, or their eyesight will be taken away.” (Reported

by Imaam Ahmad, 5/258; Saheeh al-Jaami’, 5574).

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.”

(Reported by al-Bukhaari in his Saheeh, no. 397).

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…” (Reported by Muslim, 4/2293). If the Shaytaan enters, he

will be more able to disturb the worshipper’s khushoo’, in addition to laughing at him

when he yawns.

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.” (Reported by Abu

Dawood, no. 947; Saheeh  al-Bukhaari, Kitaab al-‘Aml  fi’l-Salaah, Baab al-Hadhr

fi’l-Salaah).

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.” (Reported by Imaam Ahmad, 2/106 and others. Classed as

saheeh by al-Haafiz al-‘Iraaqi in Takhreej al-Ihyaa’. See al-Irwaa’, 2/94).

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.(Reported by al-Bayhaqi from Abu Hurayrah. Al-‘Iraaqi said, its isnaad appears to be

saheeh).

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. (Reported by Abu Dawood, no. 643; Saheeh al-Jaami’, no. 6883. He said, this

is a hasan hadeeth). In ‘Awn al-Ma’bood (2/347) al-Khattaabi said: “Al-sadl: letting

one's clothes hang down all the way to the ground.” It was reported in Marqaat al-

Mafaateeh (2/236): “Al-sadl  is  completely  forbidden  because  it  has  to  do  with

showing off, and  in prayer  it  is even worse.” The author of al-Nihaayah  said: “It

means wrapping oneself up in one's garment, leaving one’s hands inside and bowing

and prostrating in it.” It was said that the Jews used to do this. It was also said that al-

sadl meant putting  the garment over one’s head or  shoulders, and  letting  its edges

come down in front and over one’s upper arms, so that a person will be preoccupied

in taking care of it, which reduces khushoo’, unlike garments that are tied up properly

or buttoned, which do not distract the worshipper or affect his khushoo’. These kinds

of clothes are still to be found nowadays in some parts of Africa and elsewhere, and in

the way some Arabian cloaks are worn, which distract the worshipper and keep him

busy adjusting  them,  retying  them  if  they become  loose and  so on. This should be

avoided.

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 whenwe 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. (Reported by Ahmad, 3/428).

It was said that when a man always prays in the same place in the mosque, making it

his own,  it  is  like a camel keeping  to  its own  territory.  (Al-Fath al-Rabaani, 4/91).

According to another report: “He forbade me to peck like a cockerel, to sit like a dog

or to turn like a fox.” (Reported by Imaam Ahmad, 2/311; Saheeh  al-Targheeb, no.

556).

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:

When  a  person  suffers  a  great  deal  of  waswaas  (insinuating  thoughts  from

Shaytaan) in his prayer, is his prayer valid or does he have to repeat it?

Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allaah have mercy on him, said:

“It was  said: what do you  say concerning  the prayer of one who has no khushoo’,

does he have to repeat it or not?

With regard to whether it will count for the purposes of reward, it will not be counted,

except for [the parts] where one  is focused and has  the correct attitude of khushoo’

towards one’s Lord.Ibn ‘Abbaas said: ‘You will gain nothing from your prayer except the parts where you

were focused.’

In the Musnad it is reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon

him) 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.”

Allaah has made the success of the worshipper in prayer dependent on his khushoo’,

and has indicated that the one who has no khushoo’ will not be among the successful,

but if it is counted for him for the purpose of reward, he will be one of the successful.

With regard to the matter of whether it counts in terms of worldly rulings and exempts

him  from  having  to  repeat  it,  if  he  focused with  proper  khushoo’  for most  of  the

prayer, it is OK, according to scholarly consensus. The sunnah prayers and adhkaar

recited after prayer make up for anything that is lacking.

But in the case where there was no khushoo’ or proper focus for most of the prayer,

there  is  a  difference  of  opinion  among  the  fuqahaa’.  Ibn  Haamid,  one  of  the

companions of Ahmad, thought it obligatory to repeat the prayer. The fuqahaa’ also

differed with regard  to khushoo’  in prayer, and  there are  two scholarly opinions on

this point. They are to be found in the Hanbali madhhab and others.

These opinions differ as  to whether  it  is obligatory  to  repeat prayers  in which one

encountered a great deal of waswaas. Ibn Haamid among the companions of Ahmad

said that it was obligatory, but the majority of fuqahaa’ do not share this view.

They take as evidence the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon

him) commanded  the one who gets mixed up  in his prayer  to do sajdatay  al-sahw

(two prostrations of forgetfulness); he did not say that the prayer has to be repeated,

even though he said, “The Shaytaan comes to any one of you when he is praying and

says, ‘Remember such and such, remember such and such,’ about something that he

had forgotten, until he misguides him to the extent that he does not know how much

he has prayed.”There is no dispute regarding the fact that there is no reward for the prayer except for

the portion in which a person had proper presence of mind, as the Prophet (peace and

blessings of Allaah be upon him) 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.”

Ibn  ‘Abbaas said: “You will gain nothing  from your prayer except what you  focus

on.” So [the prayer] is not correct if you are looking at it from the point of view that it

has  to  be  perfect,  but  it may  be  regarded  as  valid  in  the  sense  that  we  are  not

commanded to repeat it. (Madaarij al-Saalikeen, 1/112).

It was reported in al-Saheeh that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon

him) said: “When  the muezzin calls  the adhaan,  the Shaytaan runs away farting, so

that he will not hear the adhaan. When the adhaan is over, he comes back. When the

prayer starts, he runs away, but once it is in progress, he comes back, until he comes

between a man  and his own  soul, and  says,  ‘Remember  such and  such,  remember

such and such,’ which he had forgotten, until he cannot remember how much he has

prayed. If any one of you experiences this, let him do two prostrations of forgetfulness

(sajdat al-sahw) whilst he is sitting.”

They said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded him,

with regard to this prayer in which the Shaytaan made him forget how much he had

prayed, to do the two prostrations of forgetfulness. He did not command him to repeat

it. If the prayer was invalid – as they claim – he would have told him to repeat it.

They said: This is the reason for the two prostrations of forgetfulness – to annoy the

Shaytaan for “whispering” insinuating thoughts to a person and coming between him

and his own soul when he is praying. For this reason, these two prostrations are also

called al-murghimatayn (the two annoying ones). (Madaarij al-Saalikeen, 1/528-530).

If you say that the prayer has to be repeated, so as to gain the benefits and rewards,

then that is up to the individual. If he wants to gain those benefits, he can, and if he

wants to miss out, he can.If you say that we have to force people to repeat the prayer and punish them if they do

not, applying to them the rulings on those who forsake prayer, then this is not right.

This is the more correct of the two opinions. And Allaah knows best.

Conclusion

Khushoo’ is a serious, major issue, which is impossible to achieve without the help of

Allaah. Being deprived of khushoo’ is nothing short of a calamity. Hence the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to say in his du’aa’: “Allaahumma

innee  a’oodhu  bika min  qalbin  laa  yakhsha’…  (O Allaah,  I  seek  refuge with You

from a heart  that has no khushoo’…).”  (Reported by al-Tirmidhi, 5/485, no. 3482;

Saheeh Sunan al-Tirmidhi, 2769).

Those who have khushoo’ are of varying levels or degrees. Khushoo’ is an action of

the heart that may increase and decrease. Some people have khushoo’ as great as the

clouds  of  the  sky,  and  others may  finish  their  prayer without  having  understood

anything at all.

“When it comes to prayer, people are of five levels:

The first is the level of the one who wrongs himself and is negligent. He does not do

wudoo’ properly, or pray at the right time or make sure he does all the necessary parts

of prayer.

The second is one who observes the outward essentials of prayer, prays on time and

does wudoo’, but he has lost the battle against his own self and is overwhelmed with

waswaas.

The  third  is one who observes  the outward essentials of prayer, prays on  time and

does wudoo’, and also  strives against his own  self and against waswaas, but he  ispreoccupied with his struggle against his enemy (i.e. the Shaytaan), lest he steal from

his prayer, so he is engaged in salaah and jihaad at the same time.

The fourth is one who when he stands up to pray, he fulfils all the requirements of the

prayer, and his heart is fully focused and alert lest he omit anything, and his concern

is to do the prayer properly and perfectly. His heart is deeply immersed in his prayer

and worship of his Lord.

The fifth  is one who does all of  that, but he  takes his heart and places  it before his

Lord,  looking at his Lord with his heart and  focusing on Him,  filled with  love and

adoration, as if he is actually seeing Him. That waswaas and those thoughts diminish,

and  the  barriers  between  him  and  his Lord  are  lifted. The  difference  between  the

prayer of  this person and  the prayer of anyone  is else  is greater  than  the difference

between heaven and earth. When this person prays, he is preoccupied with his Lord

and content with Him.

The first type is punishable; the second is accountable; the third is striving so he is not

counted as a sinner;  the fourth  is rewarded and  the fifth  is drawn close  to his Lord,

because he is one of those for whom prayer is a source of joy. Whoever finds their joy

in prayer in this life, will find their joy in being close to Allaah in the Hereafter, and

will also find his joy in Allaah in this world. Whoever finds his joy in Allaah will be

content  with  everything,  and  whoever  does  not  find  his  joy  in  Allaah,  will  be

destroyed by his feelings of grief and regret for worldly matters.”

(al-Waabil al-Sayib, p. 40).

Finally, we ask Allaah to make us among those who have khushoo’ and to accept our

repentance. May He reward with good all those who helped to prepare this book and

may He benefit all  those who read  it; Aameen. All praise be  to Allaah, Lord of  the

Worlds.

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