Just after the imam’s takbeer, it was my wedding day. Family and friends were congratulating me, I was dressed in my white wedding gown, “my husband to be” kept cracking jokes beside me, I could not stop smiling, he did not like to show his teeth when we took pictures, I whispered to him, I said; do you mind showing your teeth? he smiled, part of his teeth showed. I immediately signaled to the photographer to snap…lolz. Oops! What? I am praying, is this the second or third rakah? Oh my GOD! AstagfuruLLAH, audhubillahi min as-shaytan ar-rajim.

OK! Shaytan, jokes apart, I need to concentrate on my prayers right now!!! , But, come to think of it, so by tomorrow insha ALLAH, I will be in Paris for my honey moon? Unbelievable! I hope the “hotel san Regis, Paris” makes sense. May we have safe journey! WHATT!!! Did the imam just say the tesleem? Denoting that the prayer is over? Did we pray four rakahs? Oh my goodness! AstagfuruLLAH.

God please forgive me, please I might not have the full 27 rewards but please accept my ibaadat. God please forgive me, if I continue like this how would I attain al-janah? How would I be a successful believer? How will I fit into those ALLAH describes in suratul-mu’minun. GOD, I’m sorry AstagfuruLLAH.

Brothers and sisters in Islam, this is a very serious issue, this is a form of jihad that has to be fought .Getting distracted in salat is bound to happen. How well you can handle these distractions when they come is what makes one’s salat of good quality. According to an hadith of the prophet (s.a.w); Uthman ibn Al-aas (R.A) said ‘O messenger of ALLAH, verily the devil comes between me, my prayer and my recitation making me confused. The messenger of Allah (s.a.w) replied; that is a devil called khanzab, so if you sense his presence then seek refuge in Allah from him and spit on your left side three times. (Sahih Muslim) .This hadith shows that distractions during prayer have existed ever since prayer existed.

And shaytan by the way is described to be very patient, he is never tired of trying to distract you while you pray so please don’t be tired to stop him , he will try different methods and be patient in case one doesn’t work till you fall into his trap, may ALLAH save us from shaytan ,the acursed!

Allah described the qualities of a successful believer in chapter 23 of the holy book(suratul mu’minun) verses 1-11,one of the characteristics of a successful believer as said in verse 2 of chapter 23 is “offering salat with all solemnity and full submissiveness”...That is with dignity and in a seriously composed manner. Verse 9 of the same chapter also states how important it is to strictly guard our salawat. Let’s strive to attain as much concentration as we can so as to be part of the inheritors of paradise as said in verses 10&11 of suratul mu’minun).

It has been reported that one of the sahabah while he was praying, he was stung by a scorpion and guess what? He did not feel a thing! Masha Allah, may Allah bestow us with such “khushu’u”. And by the way, latest research done on scorpions venom showed that it is neurotoxic, causes paralysis and some species can even kill, but see what full concentration during salat did to this sahabah; he did not feel a scorpion sting!

Salat is the second pillar of faith, it should be taken extremely serious. It is said that the only difference between a non-believer and a believer is salat. Its depth of importance is shown, when God said the first good deed to be accounted for on the day of judgement is salat. If one’s salat is sound then every other thing might go unquestioned, on the other hand if one’s salat is faulty, then other things would be questioned. Salat should actually be prepared for, some of our pious predecessors , would take a nap so as to feel strong for the coming salat, some of them would be in the mosque waiting for the adhan of the next salat to be called.

The importance of having full concentration in salat cannot be over-emphasized. Salat without concentration is like a body without a soul. Brothers and sisters in Islam, please let’s strive to attain as much concentration as possible during our salat. May Allah make it easy (amin).

UMM TARTILAH.
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Nice topic, how does OP try to ensure that she maintains concentration on Salat? I would like to learn from other people as well.

It's one difficult thing to do, full concentration during salat, the best thing to do to minimize loss of concentration is to recite the surah too silently (if you are praying behind the imam). We should always seek refuge from the evil of shaytan anytime we are about to start praying. Wa llahu alam

this should be a good start to start,develop and maintain attention while praying:

Soaring to the Only Beloved:
http://www.al-islam.org/soarbeloved/