Islam signifies the subjection of all activities in all walks of life to the Law of God Almighty, and leaving nothing to the whims and fancies of anyone else. God has commanded the believers to declare:
This means that a Muslim is a person who has submitted his or her whole self and whole life to God; so that the first duty of a Muslim is to lead a life of obedience to God alone.
And the above quoted commandment also implies that it is wrong to consider our lives to consist of water-tight compartments, saying that “this is the part of my life within the bounds of religion where I am bound to obey God, and these are the secular areas of life where God’s laws are irrelevant.”
The twin sources of Islam — the Quran and the Sunnah — teach that when God Almighty is accepted as the Creator, Sustainer, and Lawgiver, we cannot go after “other gods”.
Of course, such a change is bound to have its impact on our life, both internal and external; but for those who wish to lead a good life here, Islam is the way.
The important point to note here is that Islam does not impose on its adherents rituals for the sake of rituals , as they are likely to be performed mechanically without understanding their meaning in life.
That is to say, if our rituals do not have any impact on our day-to-day life, they are of little value. Similarly, if we do our daily duties that are outside the borders of religious ritual with sincerity and faith expecting reward from God, they too become acts of worship .
Prophet Muhammad once told his Companions that they will be rewarded even for having sexual intercourse with their wives.
The Companions were astonished. They asked:
They replied, “Yes”. “So” he said:
This all-inclusive approach to worship encourages people to purify and spiritualize their whole lives. But this is not to disparage ritualistic worship.
In fact, rituals, if performed with a full understanding of their inner significance, equip the worshipers with a moral and spiritual power that help them to carry out their daily activities in the various spheres of life informed by the guidance of God.
When believers perform all the activities of their lives seeking the pleasure of God, then all their deeds become worship. Naturally, this also includes the rituals they perform, such as prayer.
Of all the forms of ritual worship in Islam, Prayer is unique. It is typical of Islam and is entirely different from the usual kind of Prayer familiar in other religions.
The prostration in Prayer symbolizes the worshiper’s total and unconditional submission to God Almighty. Of course, certain supplications are recited in Prayer, following the Prophetic teaching.
But the objective of Prayer is not this-worldly. Muslims can pray to God for the solution of the immediate problems they confront any time, in any language. But they are not authorized to change the language of the utterances in Prayer, nor can they change its form or content.
Muslims have to strictly adhere to its form as taught to by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
The important aspect of a believer’s faith is his or her relationship with God; and nowhere is this relationship exemplified as in Prayer. Prayer in Islam lifts a person spiritually towards his or her Creator and if it is done with devotion and sincerity, his or her heart will be filled with the love of God and the hope of Paradise.
Praying five times a day helps Muslims to constantly remember God and seek His forgiveness and pleasure. Besides, it offers an occasion for repentance, so that they earnestly ask Allah for forgiveness of the sins they committed. Prophet Muhammad said:
The most important aspect of a person’s relationship with God, is his or her strong faith and sincerity. This relationship with God is clearly borne out and strengthened by Prayer. If the Prayer is performed with true devotion to God and with a sincere heart, it will have a lasting effect on the person .
Certainly a person’s God-consciousness awakened by Prayer strengthens him or her against temptations arising from the weakness of the flesh.
Thus, it is the Prayer that enables believers to keep in constant touch with their Creator and to keep steady in the face of the temptations and the pressures life.
Quran prayer pray sincerity Strong Faith
About Professor Shahul Hameed
Professor Shahul Hameed is an Islamic consultant. He also held the position of the President of the Kerala Islamic Mission, Calicut, India. He is the author of three books on Islam published in the Malayalam language. His books are on comparative religion, the status of women, and science and human values.
Air whooshes over my head. I can feel the circumambulation of the blades of my old fan rustle my khimar. My eyes focus on the rough, oatmeal colored rug that feels like a massage under my feet.
I stand, I bow, I prostrate. I repeat. What can I cook for dinner? Will it even be any good? I need to focus. I Bow. Is that a stain on the rug or a bug?! No matter how much I clean, I am never able to keep up. Focus.
If I have to wake up early on Thursday, what time should I go to bed or can I just get away with drinking more coffee? Either way, my mind will be foggy so what does it matter? Focus!
I prostrate . My phone buzzes from the other room. Who is that? Focus!! How difficult it must be to focus in prayer when you have children running around. FOCUS. I stand. I recite. And I repeat.
17 years in practice and I am still in a constant fighting with my mind as khushu slips in and out during prayer.
Sometimes it feels like everyone has this down and I am the only sad sack that is still trying to get it right. I am a child at the salah while everyone else has matured vastly in their practice. I am in a sea of experts pretending to fit in.
My mind drifts with these thoughts outside of prayer : Everyone is better than you. You are pathetic and a failure at even the basic, fundamental practice of your faith. Why do you even try? You have already failed. Why get back up just to fail again?
These thoughts are of course absurd. Most people have a hard time with khushu in prayer and the only true failure is quitting. Fighting or doing your best is success. But if I let them, these mean-spirited ruminations will take over. They develop like a fast-growing vine, strangling the life out of everything in its path.
For me and the many like me, it is not the connection to Allah (SWT) or even the prayer that gets in the way. It is this dark internal dialogue. For those who have yet to establish the prayer in their lives, it is usually this same issue. The discouraging thoughts like:
“Why start now? Do you even think you can be consistent? Probably not, so why even try?…”
It is funny that most of us let this mean voice in our heads bully us around when in real life, most of us would never let other people talk to us like that.
Who would stand around and listen to someone say awful things like:
“You’re so dumb! And fat! No one will ever love you. I don’t even know how you have accomplished what little you have. Must have been a fluke.”
But many people allow these thoughts to take over the dialogue in their mind and control them. The thing is that we actually have more control over this dialogue than we think.
Whether it is in salah, or praying regularly, or even just our own self-image, we let this voice – whether it is Satan or just our own internal dialogue – push us around.
How to Stop it?
But why? And how can we stop this pattern of putting ourselves down with mean and defeating thoughts in life and in deen ?
The answer is simpler that many assume.
Just like getting rid of a creeping, strangling vine; this negative dialogue can be beaten back. Every time a negative thought pops up in our mind, actively thinking of something affirming, positive, or constructive will cancel out the negative.
Rewrite the dialogue!
This sounds like overly simplified self-help-y nonsense. Guess what? That’s the dark dialogue telling you to quit before you can succeed. That is the mean girl voice we all have in us, telling us to not even bother because we aren’t strong enough to make a change.
Redirecting negative, self-defeating thoughts takes time and practice. But every time you think you aren’t enough, tell that thought to sit down and shut up, because Allah (SWT) made you enough.
Anytime that mean-girl chatter in your mind tells you that you will never be able to be consistent in prayer so why try, tell her to get lost because if Allah (SWT) has made it obligatory that means you are capable.
When you are standing in prayer and the thoughts of the day creep in even if they aren’t negative, it’s the same voice trying to distract you from the life-affirming action you are doing. Replace it. Think of what you are saying instead. Think of standing before God. And think of your connection with Him.
I still struggle with this internal distraction during prayer and beyond. But with practice, it has become easier. I have allowed myself to grow in confidence and khushu’ . But I also know it is a lifelong struggle.
This is a kind of jihad to affirm that, as a part of Allah’s (SWT) creation, we were all created perfectly the way we are with success written into our DNA. We just have to Hayya ‘ala-l-Falah —Hurry to success.
God is present in every aspect of our daily lives. He did not create the world as an experiment, step back, and watch what would happen. He is intimately involved; and as Muslims we are called by the Quran and the example of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to always be aware of God’s presence.
Likewise, God created humans with free will , expressed primarily in our ability to accept or reject His messages and commands. You don’t have to pray, fast, or give charity; but not doing so will mean paying the consequences in both this life and the next.
The balance between free will and the ever-presence and dominance of God’s power is one that has perplexed scholars of theology for centuries. Different schools of thought formed around each position and were in existence before the coming of Islam with the ancient Greeks.
Over time Muslims, as we are also called to do in the Quran, developed a middle path; we accept both the ultimate power of God’s will as well as humanity’s ability (and necessity) to shape our own destiny.
In our current world, where individuality reigns triumphant over all other concerns, the importance of maintaining that balance has become ever the more critical.
The Quran has provided us with the key to resetting the scales and bringing our lives back to where they should be. Through the practice, known as Dhikr, or the remembrance of God, we can help train our minds and spirits to avoid obstacles to our faith and guide us back to the Straight Path of Islam.
Dhikr takes many shapes and forms. This article outlines just some of the ways that each of us can incorporate remembrance into our daily lives.
1- Reading the Quran God’s words are, as mentioned by the Prophet Muhammad, the best of speech. I might suggest, as I have in the past, that dedicating time to reading passages of the Quran every day is an important practice. That still holds true; but even reciting the shortest of passages or chapters in a moment of tension can alleviate stress and help center yourself.
Take chapter Al-Ikhlas (Chapter 112), the shortest chapter of the entire Quran. Even though it contains only four verses, it constitutes one third of the message contained in the Quran:
God is absolute, One, without origin or progeny, and unlike anything else that exists in Creation.
This is the core of Tawhid (Unity of God) and one-half of everything that you need to become a Muslim (with the other accepting His Messenger).
2- Learning, Understanding, and Reciting the Names of God Ninety-nine in total, the Names of God cover every aspect of His power and influence. Learn them, understand what they mean; use them regularly when calling out to God in your Du’a, or merely when you have a quiet moment alone.
One of the more interesting aspects you will realize about these names is their comprehensiveness. Unlike other religious traditions that see God as only a source for good in the world, you will find many names of God in Islam that seem to stand out differently like “The Most Proud (Al-Mutakabbir)” and “The Abaser (Al-Khafid).” This is because the focus is not the value judgement of God’s power; but rather understanding that God’s power is absolute , and that to find another source of power equal to or greater than God is to commit the sin of associating partners with Him.
3- Connect Yourself to the Prophet (PBUH) As a moral example for all of humanity the life, sayings, and actions of the Prophet Muhammad act as an important way to grow in faith and remember God.
Pick up the famous book of 40 Hadith by Al-Nawawi for starters; learn what scholars for centuries have recommended as essential for every Muslim to know about their Prophet.
Learn what you can about the Prophet’s life and circumstances. Then, make simple adjustments to your life to incorporate the Prophet’s Sunnah . This could be something as simple as doing the “extras” when you perform wudu or prayer; or even smiling more and being calm and collected in times of tribulation.
4- Find a Community of Remembrance Finally, re-establishing your balance with God can never be completed alone. Find yourself a community or a group of friends that help you focus on your faith.
For some people that means finding a Sufi circle that conducts regular Dhikr sessions. From those who want to sit quietly and remember God, to physically active groups that will have you sweating by the end of their sessions, there are Sufi groups for a range of different tastes . It doesn’t have to be this way and Sufi practices are not for everybody.
Keeping close to your local mosque community and gathering together for a dinner can be just as beneficial. Maintaining and fostering those connections to other Muslims, no matter how hard it can be at times, is also one of the best ways to remember God.
In conclusion, the lives we live are constantly thrown out of balance. The pressure is on almost everywhere to forget about God and others; and we focus only on pleasing our own personal material desires.
Only through Dhikr and the constant remembrance of God can this balance be re-established. There is no one specific way to accomplish this; and the Quran and Sunnah have given us a collection of tools.
Each one works for a different person at a different time, but all at the end of the day have one goal in mind: Helping you realize that it is not you that is the center of Creation, but God.
Jabir ibn `Abdillah reported that the Prophet used to teach the Companions to make Istikharah Prayer in every matter, just as he would teach them the chapters of the Qur’an. He said,
“If you are about to make a decision, pray two rak`ahs, outside of the obligatory prayers, then say,
‘O Allah! I seek guidance by virtue of Your knowledge, I seek ability by virtue of Your power, and I ask of Your great bounty. For You have power, and I do not. You know, and I do not. You are the Knower of all that is hidden.
O Allah, if You know that this decision is good for me in my faith, worldly life, and the Hereafter, then make it easy for me, make it happen, and bless me through it.
And if You know that this decision is bad for me in my faith, worldly life, and the hereafter, then distance it from me and keep me away from it, then ordain for me goodness wherever it may be, and make me content. “ (Al-Bukhari)
The decision-making prayer, Istikharah , is an indispensable tool that every Muslim must have to navigate their life.
Life Decisions and Our Limited Knowledge
Life is made up of decisions. For many people, we only notice the decisions when they have huge, long-term consequences. But decisions of all kinds are there, filling up every moment and affecting our life.
In making a decision, big or small, we can only estimate its probable result. Based on our limited knowledge, we cannot predict the future nor be sure what the effects of our choices will be.
We may know what we want right now, but how will we know if that person, that job, that car, or that project will be good for us in the future? How can we make our important decisions victim to our flawed expectations and the randomness of life?
Imagine if we could find out what was the right decision—not the decision that would make us temporarily happy or achieve a short-term goal, but the choice that would be in the best interest of our faith and livelihood, and also lead us to the greatest level of contentment.
Wouldn’t we check our decisions at every turn of the road? That is why we resort to the prayer of decision-making.
What Is Istikharah Prayer?
The prayer is simple. Perform ablution, pray two rak`ahs (cycles of prayer), and recite the words of the supplication.
With this ritual, we surrender fully to God, placing our soul and our hopes in His hands, and then surrendering in peace to whatever the outcome will be.
All of the stress and anxiety in trying to predict the future and consider every possibility vanishes because we have put our trust in the Most Knowledgeable, the Gentle.
Now we are consulting in our decision the One who knows the unseen, knows the future, and knows our own selves, hopes, and fears.
Istikharah is to admit that we are unqualified to make the best choices, hence we ask Allah to take charge of our affairs.
Istikharah FruitIt is not a dream or a sign that we wait for, but rather we place our soul in the charge of God and trust that He will guide us to what is right in His way.
Once we have made the prayer, we can stop worrying and be at ease. We use our wisdom, insight, advice from others, and problem-solving skills to make the best decision we can.
Whatever we choose from that point onward will be part of His wisdom and compassion for us, and will be best for our life in this world and the Hereafter. The relief and inner peace that Istikharah brings to our soul is priceless.
In his well-known book, Al-Hikam (Words of Wisdom), sheikh Ahmad Ibn `Ataa’illah As-Sakandari says:
The best way to ask Him is through expressing your distress, and the fastest way to acquire His gifts is through expressing your humility and need.
The word of wisdom under discussion is about du`aa’ (supplication). It is not about the etiquette of supplication, but it is about the condition of the heart during supplication.
Allah asks the disbelievers about their own experiences:
{Who is it that responds to the distressed when he calls out to Him, and who removes the ill, and has made you inherit the earth? Could there be any divine power besides Allah? } (An-Naml 27: 62 )
In this verse Allah makes it clear to the disbelievers that when they sincerely asked Allah for help at times of distress, He answered them. If this is the case with disbelievers in distress, what about if a believer is in distress and asks His Lord for help!
Therefore, distress gets the supplication answered quickly. The Sheikh says: “The best way to ask Him is through your distress”.
If you are in distress and ask Allah sincerely, while feeling the need for His help after the means have failed you, then rest assured that Allah will answer your supplication.
This applies not only to asking Allah for worldly help but also for help with matters of faith as well. The best way to ask Him to guide you is also through distress, need, humility, and hope in His mercy. This is best illustrated in the Prophet’s supplications in different situations.
In the battle of Badr the Prophet turned towards the qibla (prayer direction), stretched his arms out and began his supplication to his Lord:
“O Allah, accomplish for me what You have promised me.
O Allah, bring about what You have promised me.
O Allah, if this small band of Muslims is destroyed, You will never be worshipped on the earth! “
He continued his supplication to Allah for a long time, until his mantle slipped down from his shoulders. (Reported by Muslim)
This is a supplication from someone in distress, and it was a supplication that was answered swiftly.
Then the Sheikh explains other useful clues for supplication. He says: “And the fastest way to acquire good traits is through expressing your humility and need”.
Some scholars comments on the verse, {Charity is for the poor } (At-Tawbah 9: 60) saying that: If a human gives charity to a poor person in need, what about if the poor person shows his need to Allah? Surely Allah will give him out of His bounties, even more than what another human might give him.
According to the prophetic traditions we know, the person who performs supplication should face the qibla (prayer direction), stretch his hand while praying to Allah, and start the supplication with praising Allah and invoking peace and blessings on the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
It is also recommended to invoke peace and blessings on the Prophet in the middle and at the end of the supplication. This is the apparent acts of supplication. However, what is of more importance is the condition of the heart when praying to Allah, which we often ignore to follow the example of the Prophet in.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to recite certain prayers at certain situations, such as getting up in the morning, going to bed, wearing his clothes, taking off his clothes, looking at the mirror, washing himself, sleeping, seeing a new moon, in the evening, in the morning, going out, coming back home, and so on.
It is not enough that we follow the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) by memorizing and uttering these supplications. We must acquire the spirit behind them, which is to be connected with Allah at all times.
If we trace the history of supplication, we will not find any person, even previous Prophets, who had this continuous stream of supplications, as much as Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). If we survey the Psalms, the Torah, and the Gospel, we will not come across so many supplications as we come across when we survey Prophet Muhammad’s tradition, peace be upon him.
Moreover, we also learned that Prophet Muhammad’s supplications were accompanied by deep emotions. `Ataa’ asked `A’ishah, the Prophet’s wife, once about the most astonishing event she witnessed about the Messenger of Allah. She cried and said:
Whatever was not astonishing about him? One night he came and got in bed with me. My skin touched his and he said: “O Abu Bakr’s daughter, let me off! Let me worship my Lord.” I said: “I love being with you, but I prefer to do as you wish”.
I let him. He got up and took ablution without wasting water. Then he started praying and crying. He cried so much that his tears flew down through his chest.
Then he bent for ruku` and cried. After that, he prostrated for sujud and still cried. Then he raised his head and still cried. He continued to cry until morning. When it was time for the Morning Prayer (fajr), Bilal came and recited the adhan (call to prayer).
And then I said: “O the Messenger of Allah! What makes you cry? Allah has forgiven your past and future sins.” He said: “Shall I not be a thankful servant to Allah? Shall I not give Him thanks?”. (Al-Bukhari)
Prayers may be answered immediately and may be answered eventually. When Allah does not answer your prayers immediately, be certain that Allah is choosing the best for you. Allah has always been choosing the best for you. Allah says about Himself: {In His Hand is all good .} (Aal `Imran 3: 25)
And Allah’s giving may be in this world or in the world to come, and the choice is His: {And Your Sustainer creates whatever He wills; and He chooses} (Al-Qasas 28: 68) Certainly, His choice is far better and more excellent than ours.
Prayer is an essential and central part of our everyday life as Muslims.
We pray five times a day. 35 times a week, and around 1,825 times a year. How can we make the most out of this precious gift Allah has given to us? How can we truly feel connected to Allah, the most Merciful? And how can we go beyond the mere movements and be present with our hearts and feel the pleasure that comes with this connection?
What Does Sweetness of Prayer Mean? One way we can understand ‘sweetness of prayer’ is through the Arabic word khushu khushu in his/ her prayer (Quran 23: 2 ).
Khushu means to have full concentration in prayer, humbly focusing only on Allah, being humble or submissively humble in prayer. It is this feeling that perfects our prayer and that really connects us to our Creator. It means that we will try to forget everything about this world and focus only on Allah.
If we succeed in carrying out such a prayer, we will feel refreshed. Our spiritual batteries will be re-charged. We will feel filled with spiritual light that illuminates our actions, words, and thoughts. And, inshaAllah, we will belong to the successful ones.
How Can We Achieve the Sweetness of Prayer? To achieve the sweetness of prayer is not impossible. However, it might need some time. It might happen only once in a while and it might need some work. For some people, it might just come natural. However, all of us should make a serious effort to feel khushu , sweetness, of and in prayer. Here are a few practical tips to come closer to our goal of finding sweetness of prayer:
1- Create the Right Atmosphere
Whenever you can, give your prayer the attention it deserves. If you pray at home, prepare your room for prayer.
After all, you will be standing in front of your Creator. Make sure your room is neat and clean. Add some nice fragrance. Have you own prayer niche that you decorate in a beautiful and pleasant way. You can put calligraphies there. Have some prayer beads. Have your favorite scent. Your Quran should be there as well.
Make this space your mosque in your home. You will see that it makes a huge difference to pray in such a space instead of just praying in the middle of the living room. If you pray the obligatory prayers in congregation in the mosque, make sure that you keep some sunnah, extra, prayers to perform at home.
2. Have Your Special Prayer Clothes Similar to creating your prayer space, you should have your special prayer clothes. Wearing these clothes after ablution will help you get in the right mode. Your focus will automatically be directed towards prayer and towards meeting your Lord in prayer.
I usually use a white prayer gown from Indonesia with some delicate embroideries. One of my teachers from Indonesia once explained to me why she likes to wear the white prayer gown.
She said that the white reminds her of death because we will be shrouded in white sheets after our soul has left our body. And, according to her, white is also one of the colors of paradise. So, she wants to be reminded of both death and paradise during her prayer. I found that a beautiful explanation.
3. Have the Proper Prayer Mat This point might be irrelevant to some of you. But for those who get easily distracted by visual forms, it is essential. Choose a prayer mat that does not distract you .
My favorite prayer mat is a simple, plain brown-golden mat without any ornaments or visual elements. There is nothing that can distract my eyes wandering and my mind wondering what the forms on the carpet might resemble.
4. Have Some Quiet Time Before Prayer Several years back, I was invited to talk about my conversion story to a group of ladies. During the Q&A session, one lady took me by surprise with her question. She asked me how to improve concentration in prayer. She explained that she always thinks of other things during her prayer.
I was not prepared for these kind of questions and had only recently started to learn more about coming closer to Allah.
However, Allah inspired me to ask her what she would do before her prayer. And she answered that she usually watches TV before praying.
By answering my question, she answered her own question: “Oh… now I understand. Watching TV before prayer is what distracts me from focusing on Allah.”
It is not just watching TV. But our constant, immediate availability online through our phones is a huge distraction. If possible, we need to try to have some quiet time, some off-line time before meeting our most merciful Creator.
5. Remember Allah Outside of Prayer I would like to share one last point that it is absolutely essential that we remember Allah outside of our prayer also. We need to remember Him as much as possible. Reading Quran. Doing dhikr
Try to remember Allah as much as possible because Allah mentions in His holy Quran (3:191 ) those who remember Him standing and sitting, and lying on their sides.
May He make us of those who remember Him at all times and may He make all of us of the righteous.
