Salah
Ways to Concentrate in Your Prayer
Prophet (PPBUH) said, "Ihsaan is to worship Allah as if you can see Him, for although you cannot see Him, He can see you.”
Salaah is obligatory upon all Muslims
In Sura Al Baqarah one of the first qualities of a Muttaqin has been defined as those “Who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them”
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, a thirteenth century philosopher, said about salaah, “A slave stands in front of Allah on two occasions. The first during salaat (prayer), and secondly on the Day of Judgement. Whosoever stands correctly in the first, the second standing will be made easier for him. And whosoever disregards the first standing, the second standing will be extremely difficult.”
Muhammad Salih Al-Munajjid, in his book “33 Ways to Concentrate In Your Prayer” has given some pointers on how to improve on our salaah:
- Preparing for Salah
- Tranquility in Salah
- Remembering Death during Salah
- Pondering and Reflecting Upon the Qur’an’s Verses and Adhkaar of Salah
- Dividing the Recitation of the Qur’an into Verses
- Reciting the Qur’an in Slow, Measured, Rhythmic Tones
- Knowing that invocation during Salaah is Answered
- Praying Facing a Sutrah and Keeping Close to it
- Placing the Right Hand over the Left Hand on the Chest
- Looking at the Place of Sujud
- Moving the Forefinger
- Reciting Different Surah, and making adhkaar and Du’aa during Salaah
- Making Sujud when coming across a Verse of Sujud
- Istia’dha from Satan (Seeking Refuge with Allah from Satan
- Contemplating On Our Salaf’s State during Salaah
- The Advantages of Keeping Khushu’ during Salaah
- Striving to make Du’ah in particular positions, especially in Sujud
- Du’ah after Salaah
- Removing what distracts a Worshipper
- Avoidance of Praying in a Garment with Drawings, Writing, Colors or Pictures, which could distract One in Prayers
- Avoidance of Praying when Prompted by the Call of Nature
- Avoidance of Praying when Feeling sleepy
- Avoidance of Praying behind a Sleeping or a Talking Person
- Avoidance of occupying Oneself with Levelling the Earth
- Avoidance of disturbing others with Loud Recitation
- Avoidance of turning around in Salaah
- Avoidance of raising one’s eyes to the sky
- Avoidance of spitting during Salaah
- Striving to avoid Yawning during Salaah
- Avoidance of putting one’s Hands on the Waists
- Avoidance of Trailing Garments during Salaah
- Avoidance of Imitating Animals
Related Links:
- How can a Muslim pray with proper presence of mind. Very good references.
- How To Achieve Khushoo (Deep Focus) In Prayer by Abu Bakr Zoud. The video is a bit long but worth it.
- Tips to Increase Khushoo in Salah – Shaykh Hasan Ali. Short but excellent advice on increasing concentration in salah.
- The Form and Spirit of Salah. By Sheikh Khaleel-ur-Rahman Chishti. A good reference book with details of salah of the Prophet (PBUH)
- The Importance of Prayer. References from the Qur’an and Sunnah.
- The status of prayer in Islam. References from the Qur’an and Sunnah.
- Concentration in Salah Sulaiman Moola
