I’m sure it’s not just me who struggles with concentration in Salah, right? Right? Is it? Oh, ok. I’m going to assume it’s just me.
I can’t tell you how often it is that I find my mind wandering away from the sacred space, and wondering how many rakats I’ve completed, or whether or not I’ve actually done the first tahiyyat; or worse, sometimes I even get confused on the number of sujuds I do in the rakah. Was that the first or the second? Oh, well, I’ll do another just in case.
When it comes to acts of worship, reason some of the scholars, always err on the side of more, not less. That is, in a case of 1 vs 2, where 2 is required, and you’re certain you’ve done at least one, but aren’t so sure you’ve done the second, lean more towards 1 and (re)do another, to be absolutely certain.
I agree with that assessment.
Of course, it’s nothing but laziness on my part. And that’s scary cuz you know the people who are characterized by laziness in Salah? Hypocrites. And I don’t wanna be one of them. 😭😭😭
SubhaanAllah!
I should really work on improving my Salah, tbh. It certainly is indicative of a weakness of Īmān and connection between me and God, before Whom I am supposed to be standing when engaged in worship.
When you really think about it, there’s no more personal sacred space you can occupy on this Earth than one the size of a prayer rug, doing Salah. Be that in the mosque, at home, or elsewhere. We are taught that Salah is literally a direct communication between the creature (us) and the Creator of Everything. Which it is.
The analogy they used to give to impress upon us the gravity and the sanctity of Salah and the Being before Whom we stand, and how awareness of such should affect our very beings once we intend to do it, is to imagine how in awe and present we would be in the presence of, say, a king, or some other honorable body.
Now put your mind to how you ought to feel and be, they say, when your audience is, literally, God.
Worship as if you are beholding God, said The Prophet (PBUH); but if you behold him not, (be aware that) He beholds you. That’s Ihsān. That’s the sublime level we need to reach in our relationship with our Creator.
God help us!
But if you ever needed proof of the existence and activity of the devil, the Shaitan, pay attention to the kinds of thoughts that plague your mind as soon as you raise up your hands in takbeer and declare the magnificence of God: Allahu Akbar!
Oh, how easily do our concentration drift away from the prayer as soon as we begin. The devil is terrible with his devices. Sometimes it seems the wildest thoughts never occur to you till you stand on that rug and start praying. I’ll spare you the details of mine cuz you don’t. wanna. know.
And too often the more you try to block these thoughts, the more vivid they seem.
Or may be it really is not the devil to blame. May be it’s me. Truth is, whatever the mind is fed thru the senses, is what the mind dwells upon most of the time, including during even the most sacred (pre)occupations.
If that’s FC Barcelona, why, you be picturing their games and wins and losses and hating Messi for walking around like a diva during games they need to win while all the other players, especially Griezmann, be running their shins off – even during Salah, for God’s sake. Ughhh!
And y’all know these are not even the worst of thoughts to occur during Salāh, especially for one who spends a lot of time on Instagram. Ahem. What? Me? *Shrugs*
This is worse during the more silent prayers, like Zuhr and Asr. What with having already done it so many times that it’s become pretty routine, it seems so easy to just go through the motions while barely paying attention, with actual awareness of the prayer sometimes being limited to no more than the takbeer and the tasleem.
What Sūrahs did I recite again? I can’t even remember!
Smdh!
I need help, yo!
AstaghfirAllah!
