Salam aleikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh brothers and sisters in islam

In the Name of Allaah, Most Gracious Most Merciful

Praise be to Allaah, Lord of the Worlds, Who has said in His book “…and stand before Allaah with obedience” [al-Baqarah 2:238] and has said concerning the prayer“… 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] , 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 distinguished brothers and sisters, and I ask Allaah to make it of benefit....Amin

Allaah says “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] 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.

Take for instance your boss gives you an assignment that needs to be done in a specific manner and completed before a set deadline. Then you receive the instructions, and glance over them hurriedly while thinking, ‘”Ah! Piece of cake, no problemo!” Then you go ahead and submit the assignment with an ear-to-ear grin thinking, “Great, gotten over with it right on time!” But then to your surprise, you are told that your work will not be accepted because your file is neither complete, nor does it comply with the instructions! It is deficient in every sense. Now you are in double trouble: not only have you run out of time, but your efforts have been wasted. Then the fear of not receiving that next salary. You come to realize that if you had paid attention to the instructions properly, you could have excelled in this simple assignment. A wise one would make sure to read, understand, and diligently follow the instructions next time rather than losing hope.

If we translate the above scenario into our salaah , we understand that the missing factor that prevents us from succeeding through in sal'aah assignment is humility or khushoo. By not understanding the importance of khushoo in our salaah, we risk rejection of this beautiful act of worship and may experience a decrease in our Iman.

Salaah is the key to our success in this world and the next. But if we do not look after this key or lose it, we’ll not be able to unlock the doors that lead to the good in this life and the next – it’s as simple as that. Poor quality of salaah is like not reaping full benefits of a powerful life management tool given to us by the Creator of Life Himself! Undoubtedly, when our salaah is in good condition, we’ll notice that all the other life affairs also naturally fall into their right places with ease, InshaAllah. Times of ease become more joyful and times of difficulties become easy, or at the very least become bearable.

Allah says : "It is the believers who are successful: those who are humble in their prayer” [ Al mumin 23:1-2]

Here are some practical tips to maintain khushoo

1.) Knowledge
Increase in Islamic knowledge; learn about Allah, tawheed, His Names and Attributes, and various aspects and sciences of the sunnah. Why? Because Allah says:

"it is only the learned amongst His servants who truly fear Allah”[Fatir :28]

With regards to gaining knowledge, even our Prophet had a teacher to understand the Deen of Allah: it was angel Jibrail . Therefore, we must seek knowledge under the guidance of Islamic teachers and scholars (without relying too much on Shaykh Google).

2.) On Time:
Pray on time and plan your life around salaah timings and not the other way around. Prioritize pleasing Allah over pleasing people. We can’t say, “But I have work, I have to meet so-and-so etc.” because before all of that came about, we already knew about our salaah timings; so that’s not a valid excuse. But in situations that are out of our control, such as an exam, try to ask the moderator if a few minutes can be allowed for salaah. That way we would have at least tried our best rather than not trying at all.

3.) Seek Refuge in Allah:
Seek refuge in Allah from Satan by saying “Aa-udhubillahi min As-Shaitanir Rajim” before starting the salaah and during the salaah too when needed. Also say Bismillah (In the name of Allah) before beginning the salaah.

4.) Be Mindful:
Contemporary psychologists use a very simple technique called “Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy” to help people stay focused in the present moment rather than being engrossed in foggy thoughts of past or future while losing touch with reality. It means to simply remind yourself to come back to the present moment as soon as you realize that your thoughts have drifted away from what is happening right now. With practice, InshaAllah we can benefit from this technique to maintain our khushoo. Start by being mindful of Allah when you make the intention for ablution; be attentive while doing the ablution; then recite the recommended dua after completing the ablution. At all times of the day, keep away from anything that makes you forget the remembrance of Allah. Satan will use various tricks and tactics to divert us, so we have to be aware of his methods. The moment you realize that the heart and mind have wandered off, try to bring your attention back. The more often you do this, the more your humility will improve insha Allah.

5.) Understand:
Read the tafsir (exegesis) of Surah Al Fatiha; understand each Ayah and pause in between. (Tafsir by Ibn Kathir is recommended.) Remember, well-begun is half done! Read translations to understand all the surahs that you recite during salaah. Try to offer Tahajjud and recite the Quran during those hours of the night, as that is a good time for understanding the words of Allah.

6.) Visualize:
Always try to remind yourself that you are standing in front of Allah , pray as though you see Him; and if you cannot do that, then be aware that He is definitely seeing you. As you recite, visualize the Arabic words of each surah. Do not close your eyes, but focus on the place of sujood.

7.) Never Stop:
Be wary of sticking to your salaah, particularly in times of distress – it will help a lot in dealing with the situation as mentioned in the Quran:

Seek Allah’s help with patient perseverance and prayer. It is indeed hard except for those who are humbly submissive.”[Al baqarah :45]

Help children develop their humility and concentration from a young age. Do not force them to offer salaah, rather inspire them to come to salaah.

8.) Good Pace:
Be attentive and relaxed by maintaining a good pace between salaah actions, giving a minimum of 5 seconds or more per action. Every time you say ‘Allahu Akbar’, say it from your heart. Make your sujood a bit longer than usual, recite duas in it and also before the final tasleem.

9.) It Could be the Last:
Before approaching salaah, remember the inevitable reality: death. Allah created us only to worship Him.Perform every salaah as you would perform your last salaah. We may not know when, but one day we will be praying our last one.

After each Salaah, develop a habit of reciting the supplications as recommended by our Prophet .

After reading this post and understanding what it says, it is really up to us to take a moment and step outside of our self, honestly analyze the quality of our Salaah, level of our Iman and the impact of these on our life as a whole. We’ll all agree that correct knowledge is absolutely lovely, but it will be of no use to anyone at all until we actually decide to implement what we now know. It is only then that knowledge becomes lovelier and in turn beautifies us from inside and out.

Do not lose hope or give up if these tips do not work at first or do not provide an immediate solution. Remember that the seed of khushu will grow only after a gentle rain of consistent reminders seep into the heart by Allah’s Will.

May Allah accept our ibadah and make us among the mutaqins [Amin]... Maa Salam

Ameen ya Allah, jazakallahu kheir, very informative

Aameen

JazakAllahu khayra

Aamin. Masha'Allah!

wa iyyakum