How to Improve Your Focus while Establishing As-Salat
And enjoin As-Salat (the prayer) on your family, and be patient in offering them. We ask not of you a provision; We provide for you. And the good end (i.e. Paradise) is for the pious – Qur’an 20[Taha]:132
As-Salat — the prayer, is the only act of worship ordained by Allah from the heavens. When He wanted to enjoin the prayer upon the believers, He invited His beloved Messenger Muhammad peace be upon him through the famous night journey from Mecca to Baytul Maqdis in Jerusalem unto the heavens. And if you look through the whole of the Qur’an, Allah never instructed us to pray the Salat. He often says “iqamatis salat” meaning establishing the prayers with its condition, obligation, and pillars perfectly. It means observing the quality of the prayer to strengthen your relationship with your Lord. So As-Salat is not just a motion ritual but an act that if consciously guarded will transform your life here in this world by tasting its sweetness and also reaping the fruits in the afterlife as well.
Khushoo is such a gift that draws you nearer to the pleasure of Allah. It’s a shortcut that a few people master and many do not exert efforts to learn or practice it. All you need to do is walk toward that path and strive to master it. Allah described the believers with a synonym of being successful with emphasis on how they pay attention to khushoo on their salawaat.
Successful indeed are the believers. Those who offer their Salat with all solemnity and full submissiveness…and those who strictly guide their salawaat (five compulsory prayers at their fixed stated times). These are indeed the inheritors. Who shall inherit the Firdaus (paradise) and dwell therein forever. – Qur’an 23[Al-Mu’minoon]:1–2…9–11
The scholars have explained to us what khushoo means. It is to lower yourself in humility before Allah focusing on your worship. Being aware that Allah sees you and you’re doing this solely for His sake. It’s a very difficult matter such that the prophet mentioned to us that it will be one of the knowledge that will be taken away from the hearts of people. Khushoo is not limited to salat alone but all aspects of our lives. It affects a believer before salat, during it, after that, until the day he meets Allah. This is the ideal situation and a work in progress.
Now, let’s examine how we can improve our Khushoo with respect to Salat:
- Recognizing the Greatness of Allah: A person who realizes who Allah is will not be passive towards His Lord when it comes to worship. He makes adequate preparation to go and stand before the Lord of the Universe in communication. Imagine you meeting the head of state and standing in front of him. You’d definitely want to be in your best form. The more your Knowledge of Allah and His attributes, the better your khushoo. This is why Zainul Abideen’s face turns pale whenever he makes wudoo in preparation for salat. And when they asked him why? He said: Don’t you know The One before whom I’m about to stand before salat? Aren’t you aware of The One I’m about to bow and prostrate to?
- Having knowledge of Salat: This is a very important basic step towards attaining khushoo. Knowing the obligatory aspects, conditions, requirements, pillars, sunnah aspects, and so on. This includes knowing the meaning of what you’re uttering in prayer. You’re saying Allahu Akbar – meaning that Allah is the greatest. Greater than anything else on your mind. The companions used to weep while reciting the Qur’an on salat because they understood the gravity of the words of Allah. That connection with salat proved their humble submissiveness to Allah.
- The Preparation: What do we do before praying? We perform wudoo. This is a form of purification of the body and soul. You wash your body parts with clean water away from impurities. Right from the time you’ve made the intention for wudoo, it’s as if you’re already in prayer. Therefore, avert all distractions and focus on performing your wudoo appropriately in order to maximize your reward.
Jabir ibn Abdullah reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The parable of the five prayers is that of a river running at your door in which one cleanses himself five times a day.” – Muslim
4. Pray as you see me praying: Me here isn’t referring to the writer. This is a statement made by the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him. We cannot perfect our prayers except that we emulate the way in which the prophet prayed. A man came to the masjid to pray one day and then came to greet the prophet. Allah’s Messenger asked him to go back that he has not prayed. This happened thrice until the man said: “By Him Who sent you with the Truth, I cannot offer the prayer in a better way than this. Please, teach me how to pray.” Then the Prophet peace be upon him taught him how to pray with emphasis on being at ease without rushing towards completing the prayers. Here’s a highly recommended book that gives detailed descriptions of the Prophet’s prayer.
5. Avoid the Distractions: Begin your Salat with Dua’ Al-Istiftah after the Takbiratul Ihram and before reciting Al-Fatiha. Like we have things that can enhance khushoo, there are also things that can avert it. If the heart is filled with sins and evil whispers, it will be difficult for it to humble itself before Allah. So offload those sins and negativities that have distracted you from focusing. The music, the girls, the money – you name it! Avoid fidgeting and looking around. Lower your gaze to focus on the place of prostration. Silence your phone or turn it off. Even a vibration alert is a distraction that could hallucinate your focus. Be aware that there’s a demon that comes in between your prayers to distract you and Allah’s Apostle peace be upon him gave us the antidote if this happens.
Uthman b. Abu al-’As reported that he came to Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) and said: Allah’s Messenger, the Satan intervenes between me and my prayer and my reciting of the Qur’an and he confounds me. Thereupon Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said:, That is (the doing of a) Satan (devil) who is known as Khinzab, and when you perceive its effect, seek refuge with Allah from it and spit three times to your left. I did that and Allah dispelled that from me. – Muslim
6. Practice Concentration and Dua’: A key ingredient for khushoo is concentration. This is you trying your utmost best to focus on one thing – The Salat. It keeps you conscious of Allah seeing you even though you can’t see Him. It takes a conscious and consistent effort to master this. Even after you do, you may still falter. So one key point is to always bring your mind back to the salat whenever it whiles away. Practicing concentration in your daily routine will help you master it in your salat as well.
Ask Allah to grant you khushoo and taste the sweetness of salat. The Prophet peace be upon him used to supplicate:
Oh Allah! I seek refuge in you from knowledge that is not beneficial. And from a heart that will not experience humility. And I seek refuge with you from a soul that is never satisfied. And I seek refuge with you from a prayer that is not answered. – Muslim
7. Pray as if it’s your last: Do not approach salat as if it’s a boring chore. Do it with enthusiasm because you may never have a chance to pray the next. The Noble Messenger peace be upon him often admonished his companions to pray as if this will be their last prayer on earth. One of the salafs used to observe the salat with a feeling that he’s standing before Allah and the angel of death is right behind him. With an imagination that paradise is on his right side and the fire is on the left. This also helps in improving your focus while on salat.
Abu Ayyub reported: A man came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and he said, “O Messenger of Allah, teach me and make it concise.” The Prophet said, “When you stand for your prayer, pray as if you are saying farewell. Do not say anything for which you must apologize, and give up any desire to acquire what people have.” – Ibn Majah
We ask Allah The Most High to count us among the people of khushoo and make us steadfast upon observing our salawaat in that state.
Yaumaul Jum’ah 6th Jumadal Thani 1444H // Friday 30th December 2022
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