How to Truly Focus in Salah This Ramadan — The Secret No One Tells You

How to Truly Focus in Salah This Ramadan — The Secret No One Tells You

How do we attain Khushu' in our Salah? How do we experience the sweetness of our Salah? When Allah describes in the Quran people who have Khushu' — people who taste the sweetness of Salah — He tells us they are people who are constantly remembering the afterlife, the second life that is to come. He says people of Khushu', people who stand in Salah with humility and focus and fear, are people who are constantly thinking about the next life.

As we begin the early days of Ramadan, the excitement, the enjoyment, the feel of community, the sweetness of the fast, the love of the Quran — it envelops us from every corner and from every direction.

As we stand up for the night prayer, at the beginning of the night prayer, we are excited, we are listening, we are in full focus. But as the moments go by and the minutes go by, we start to lose that focus and we start to lose that motivation. Many of us try to focus and have the objective and the goal of a certain number of Rak'ahs, a certain number of units of Salah, a certain number of pages that we want to recite.

But there is something greater than this that we have to look for, we have to search for, we have to find, we have to seek in this Ramadan. It is not the number of Rak'ahs we have to look for — it is the Khushu', the humility, the connectedness that we find in Salah. But this very Salah that we talk about, that we want to enjoy in the nights of Ramadan and the days of Ramadan, this Salah will feel like a burden, a heavy burden, except for one group of people — the Khashi'in.

Who Are the Khashi'in?

Khasha'a in Arabic is to feel humble, to feel softened, to feel focused by something or someone else. When Allah describes the true believers in the Quran, the first description He gives them is: the true believers are successful. But who are they? They are the people who find Khushu' — humility and focus and connection to Allah — in their Salah.

The greatest thing that we achieve this Ramadan is not praying eight Rak'ahs every night, or 20 or 46. Even two Rak'ahs prayed with Khushu' — with humility and connectedness and the love and the fear of Allah — is better than 100 Rak'ahs prayed without that Khushu'. Allah says that the Salah — this Salah that we pray — it will feel heavy, boring, exhausting, tiring, unless you enjoy that Salah with Khushu'.

Even when it comes to the recitation of the Quran, we think that the recitation of the Quran is about completing a number of pages, a target, a quantity every day. But what does Allah want us to do when we recite the Quran? Allah says: Hasn't the time come? Look at the question that Allah asks. Isn't the time come yet for the believers' hearts to feel humbled — Khushu' — when Allah's words are recited to them?

So it's not about the number of pages, and it's not about the number of Rak'ahs, and how long and how many prayers that we pray. But it is about experiencing this Khushu' in our Salah.

The Hadith of the Man Who Prayed Without Khushu'

Did we know that the Prophet ﷺ, when he saw somebody pray without Khushu', he told them: "You have not prayed." The famous Hadith al-Musi' Salatahu — the man who was not praying properly — the Prophet ﷺ told him: "Go back and pray, for you have not prayed."

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 793; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 397)

And he went and he prayed again, and the Prophet ﷺ said again: "Go back and pray, you have not prayed yet." And the third time, the man said: "Teach me to pray, because this is all I know." What did the Prophet ﷺ do differently in his prayer? Only one thing — according to many scholars — he taught him al-Tuma'ninah: how to move gracefully, slowly, with focus, with peace.

When the Prophet ﷺ says, "Pray as you have seen me pray," many of us only focus on where he placed his hands. Was it here? Was it here? Or was it there? Did he raise his hands here? Or here? Or here? But we forget that when he said "Pray like I have prayed" — do you know how long he would stand in Salah? Do you know how much he would weep in Salah? Do you know how long his Sajdah was? Do you know how long his Ruku' was? You missed all of that and you only remembered where to place your hands.

Khushu' — The Defining Quality of Success This Ramadan

Al-Khushu' is the defining quality between the person who succeeds this Ramadan and the person who fails. Al-Khushu': to experience a connection, a humility, a fear and a love of Allah while you are standing in front of Him. When Allah describes the greatest people to walk this earth — the Prophets — Allah says:

They were racing to do good deeds. They would call on Us in fear and in hope, and they were constantly humble in front of Us.

Do you know what is the first type of knowledge that will be stolen away from this Ummah? It is Al-Khushu' — such that a day may come where you might enter a Masjid and you will find everyone moving, everyone stretching and standing, but not a single person in the Masjid will be experiencing Khushu'. How true his prediction. How scared we should be.

The Prophet ﷺ warns us that when Allah takes knowledge from us, it is not the recitation of the scripture, it is not the movement in Salah — but it is the essence of recitation and the essence, the heart of Salah, which is to feel the fear and the love of Allah while we stand in front of Him.

How dangerous it is that we live in a time where you come to the Masjid excited to pray Taraweeh, and you spend an hour or two hours, but not for five minutes did we experience anything in our hearts.

How Do We Attain Khushu'?

Step One: Remember the Afterlife

When Allah describes in the Quran people who have Khushu', people who taste the sweetness of Salah, He tells us they are people who are constantly remembering the afterlife, the second life that is to come. He says people of Khushu', people who stand in Salah with humility and focus and fear, are people who are constantly thinking about the next life.

How busy we are with our day-to-day chores, our day-to-day errands, our WhatsApp messages, our means of living, our children, ourselves — our day-to-day life consumes us. And this is why the Prophet ﷺ told us to go and visit the grave. And when we stand in front of Allah, this is the first thing that we have to remember: I am standing in Salah now — there will come a day when I will really stand in front of Allah. This is just the rehearsal, this is just the practice.

I am standing in front of Allah now, but there will come a day when I will stand in front of Him with no clothes on, sweating — my sweat will reach my neck. When we hear the Adhan — اللهُ أَكْبَر، اللهُ أَكْبَر — this Nida', this call, should remind us of another call that we will hear one day: the day in which the caller will call us to stand in front of Allah for our accountability. That day, the call — you will not be able to refuse.

Every step that we take to Salah, until we stand in front of Allah, it should remind us of the final day in which we stand in front of Him. Are we looking forward to that meeting, or are we wanting to avoid that meeting?

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6507; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2683)

Whoever looks forward to meeting Allah, Allah looks forward to meeting them too. And whoever is avoiding this idea of meeting Allah, Allah dislikes to meet them too. We meet Allah five times a day, but it is just a practice for the final day in which we will meet Him.

Be connected to the Akhirah — the afterlife, the Day of Judgement, paradise and hell. Remember: that is what really matters, that is what it is all about. Your Salah will be different to anybody else's.

Step Two: Learn the Meanings of What You Say in Salah

Try to learn the meanings of what you are saying in Salah. What does سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الْعَظِيم mean? What does سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الْأَعْلَى mean? What does it mean when we say what we recite? The more we know the meanings of what we are saying, the more we will feel the impact of those meanings in our hearts.

Shame on us — shame on us — that we pray Salah for 10, 20, 30, 40 years, but we are not bothered to know and to find out what it means. Every one of us should know the meanings of what we say in front of Allah.

Imagine if you were today to go and meet somebody very important — some dignitary, some very important person, your manager, your grandparent — and you didn't speak their language. You would find a translator, you would find an interpreter, you would find some way to know what you are saying to them, because you want your message to reach them. But we are satisfied when we speak with Allah to not know and to not think about what am I saying to Allah.

Step Three: Take Your Time in Salah

For many of us, when Ramadan comes, we look and we search for the "turbo imam." In every city there is one masjid where the Taraweeh finishes in 25 minutes — the favorite masjid for many. We look for that imam. How can we get done quick? How can we speed through? We look for the masjid praying 20 so we can pray 8 and leave.

We are not used to standing in front of Allah and taking our time. We are not used to giving the time to Allah. And so if we want to experience Khushu' in Salah, our movements have to slow down. Where is the rush? We are alive. We are breathing. We only have 30 days. Why the rush?

When we stand in front of Allah, we should remember how did the Prophet ﷺ stand in front of Allah. As Aisha narrates: when he would stand in Salah, he would stand for so long we would think he is never going to go into Ruku'. He would read Al-Baqarah, Al-Imran, An-Nisa', Al-Ma'idah — all while standing. And then he would go into Ruku' and we would think he is going to stand there forever — that he is not going to stand up again. And then he would get up.

The slowness of Salah is so important. One day Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr was praying Salah and he was stood still for so long that a child walked past him and thought he was a statue — he was like the trunk of a tree — because he was so still, so calm, so slow in his movements.

Today, our Salah resembles an aerobics workout — some form of exercise for the lower back. But the Salah of the Prophets could be seen and could be observed: they were slow, they were gentle, they were taking their time.

The Salah of the Hypocrite — A Warning

We should fear for ourselves, my dear brothers and sisters, that the Salah that we pray is the very description the Prophet ﷺ gave for the Salah of the Munafiq, the hypocrite. How did he describe it? Somebody waits till the end of time for a Salah, and then they peck on the ground four times like a chicken. These are the words of the Prophet ﷺ — he pecks on the ground four times like a bird. And there is no remembrance of Allah in this Salah, there is no consciousness of Him in Salah, there is no fear of Allah in Salah, there is no love of Allah in the Salah. It is a movement, an exercise, an aerobic, a chore, a tick box. Done, done, done, done.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 622)

The first thing we are going to be asked about on the Day of Judgement is our Salah. Allah is not just going to ask us: did you pray or did you not? Allah will ask us: what was the quality of this Salah? What was the nature of this Salah? How much time did you spend in this Salah? How often were you moved in Salah? How often did you weep in Salah? I never saw a tear fall down from your eyes.

Summary — Three Steps to Khushu'

Salah is empty without Khushu'. Recitation of the Quran is empty without Khushu'. What is Khushu'? It is the feeling of humility and fear and love when we stand in front of Allah.

How can we achieve Khushu'? Three steps:

Number one — remember the afterlife. Remember the Last Day. Remember the day you will stand in front of Him. Every time you say اللهُ أَكْبَر, remember there will be another day you will say اللهُ أَكْبَر.

Number two — know the meanings of what you are saying in Salah. Know the meanings of what you are speaking to your Master.

Number three — take your time. Where is the rush? There will come a time when we will be in a rush — that will be the Day of Judgement and we will be running away from each other. But right now, take your time. Enjoy the sweetness. Move slowly. Enjoy the moments with Allah. Because those moments are only limited.