Khushoo in Salah - Shaykh Mustafa Abu Rayyan

Khushoo in Salah

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. My brothers and sisters, I start by praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for indeed Allah is deserving of our constant praise and gratitude. And I send blessings and salutations upon our beloved Messenger Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam.

My brothers and sisters, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has commanded us many things in the Quran and among the greatest things that Allah has commanded us — which is one of the most, if not the most often repeated command — is أَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ, establish the prayer. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about the prayer in many different ways. One aspect of the prayer that is given focus is the khushoo' in the salah.

The Purpose of Salah

What state are we in when we are praying? We pray at the very least five times a day. If you add the nawafil and the qiyam you do at night and everything else, the rawatib, then you might be praying a lot more than that. The prayer itself, my brothers and sisters — these acts of worship that we are doing, the bowing, the sujood, the recitation, the dhikr — it is meant to have an effect on you and it is meant to better you.

It is meant to be a connection between you and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It is definitely not empty rituals that we do. And the point of having khushoo' — which is being focused, having humility, understanding what you are doing, why you are doing it, and who you are standing in front of.

Your prayer has to add value to you. If there is no difference between when you prayed and after, and if you don't feel anything, then this is something you must rectify. We all want success. We want success in this world and we want success in the world to come. May Allah grant us that. May Allah grant us the falah and the success of Jannah.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, Indeed, the believers are successful. And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala started describing the qualities of those believers. And the first quality Allah mentions is:

Indeed, the believers are successful — they are those who have khushoo' in their salah.

Assessing Ourselves

Now, my brothers in Allah, to have khushoo' in your salah, first, I want everyone here to genuinely assess themselves and ask themselves: How is my salah? How much of it am I actually focused? How much of the statements that I say do I know their meaning? Am I actually pondering over them? How often am I present in my salah? And how often am I absent — thinking about the world, the dunya?

If the answer is that you're praying physically, but your mind is elsewhere, then you have to take steps to change that. Because what you're missing is the ruh of the salah, the soul of the salah. Everything that we do — from the wudu, coming early, to the ahkam of the salah, standing still, standing upright, looking at the place of sujood — all of these are meant to help you have khushoo' in your salah. So if the moment you say Allahu Akbar, you start thinking about your shop, or your business, or your work, or your family, then you are essentially not benefiting from your salah.

Now, inshallah, Allah will forgive you for your shortcomings. Hence why we say astaghfirullah the first thing after the salah — when we say assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah, assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah — the first statement we make is astaghfirullah, because we ask Allah to forgive us. Because we know we are not able to worship Allah the way Allah deserves, and we know we have shortcomings, which is why we do istighfar. But that being said, there is definitely room for improvement, ikhwani wa akhwati fillah, my brothers and sisters.

Allah Responds to You in Surah Al-Fatihah

Now I want you to think about this hadith of Abu Hurairah radiallahu anhu, where the Prophet ﷺ is describing what is actually happening when you are reading Al-Fatihah in your salah. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is speaking in this hadith. Allah is saying: when my servant says Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen, in every salah, Allah replies:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 4, Hadith 775)

Now imagine you're just thinking about that a bit. Every time you say Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen, you know that Allah is replying: "Hamadani abdi" — my servant has praised me. You cannot be distracted.

And then you say Ar-Rahmanir Raheem — Allah is the Most Merciful, the giver of mercy. Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says: "My servant has honoured me, exalted me."

And then similarly, until you get to:

Oh Allah, You alone we worship. Now when you say that, are you thinking about that? That you're saying, admitting — oh Allah, You alone I worship. You alone we, as believers, worship. Iyyaka na'bud. Wa iyyaka nasta'een. And oh Allah, You alone we ask help of. And we need Your help in everything, including our worship, including my prayer, including my khushoo'. Oh Allah, grant me that help. Are you remembering those meanings?

And when you say that, Allah replies: "Hatha bayni wa bayna abdi" — this is between Me and My servant. Because when you worship Allah, the worship is for Allah, and Allah promises that He will help you. And then when you ask specifically what type of help you want and you say Guide us to the straight path, now you're asking Allah to guide you to and along the straight path — the path of the prophets, and not those that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was angry upon, and those that went astray. When you finish the surah, Allah will say: "Hatha li'abdi, wa li'abdi mas'al" — this is for My servant, and for My servant is what he asked.

Allah is speaking to you. You are speaking to Allah. What room is there for you to think about your dunya?

The Salah as Qurratu Ayn

This, ikhwan fi Allah, is why it is important we keep in mind that this salah that you are praying is the single most important moment in your life. The Prophet ﷺ used to call the salah qurratu ayni — qurratu ayn is described as that which is the most beloved to you.

When Musa's alayhis salam mother had to put him in the basket — her own son — and we all know how parents love their son, let alone mothers, and this looked like guaranteed death — qurratu ayn, she described it as the coolness of her eyes. This is the highest form of love. The Prophet ﷺ is saying: my love is the prayer. This is because of the spiritual meaning within the prayer, ikhwan fi Allah, that we are too often missing.

Examples from the Salaf

Let us look at some of the companions and how they saw the prayer, and some of the Salaf, ikhwan fi Allah. One of the Salaf was asked: do you not get distracted in your prayer? And he was surprised. He said: is there such a thing, any speech, anything, that is more beloved to me than the Quran? How can I get distracted?

Another one of the worshippers among the Salaf was asked: do you lose focus in your prayer? And he said: does that happen? And he asked back: do you mean, do I get focused thinking about Jannah, and the rivers, and the hoor al-'een, and the Day of Judgement? Is that what you mean? They said: no, that's not what we mean. We mean, do you get distracted by dunya? His understanding of losing focus was that as the Quran is being recited, he starts thinking about Yawm al-Qiyamah and about Jannah and about the Hellfire. And this was a distraction to him. He said: do you mean that? How do you get distracted by dunya? And he couldn't understand this.

Because what is the dunya compared to Allah? You start your prayer by making a declaration that we all believe in — Allahu Akbar — Allah is the Greatest. When you say those words, Allah is the Greatest — how is it possible then that you're thinking about something that isn't great? That you're distracted by your dunya? This is something we must rectify.

I say this, and I ask Allah to forgive me and you. And I ask forgiveness of Allah for all my sins. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.

Second Part of the Khutbah

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. My brothers in Allah, attaining khushoo' in prayer — the scholars discuss, is it wajib? Or is it encouraged? And the majority of the scholars — I say all of them, if not the vast majority of them — say it is wajib. You must have a level of khushoo' in your prayer.

And there is a general principle that the scholars also agree upon:

The only thing about your prayer that you earn in reward is that which you are present for.

So the moment you are absent in your prayer, there is no reward going for you. There is no reward there for you. So, my brothers in Allah, it is very important we appreciate this concept. And we need to start thinking about how we can improve our prayer, how we can benefit from our prayer, how we can pray the prayer that Allah describes as:

Indeed, the prayer prohibits you, stops you from falling into sin and immorality. If after the prayer you are heading into sin, then that means something is wrong with your prayer. Something is wrong with the connection that you should be establishing between you and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Man Who Was Absent Only in Salah

One more example among the Salaf: when he would enter into his home, his children and his family would always be quiet and respectful because of how much haybah — how much honour and respect — they had for the head of the household, their father or their husband. But the moment he entered into salah is when you would hear laughter. They would be laughing and joking and playing when he would enter the salah, because they knew for sure:

This is when he is absent. This is when he is absent. When he enters into salah, he is not with us. Now can you imagine that type of prayer — where you are so immersed in speaking to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that you are not even aware, or you don't even care, what is happening around you?

This is why some of the ulema in their tafsir of:

they say al-khushoo' is:

The one who is not aware of who is on his left or right during the salah.

Practical Steps to Attain Khushoo'

Now, how can we get there? What are some steps that we can take to get there, because we also have to be practical?

Number one: learn the meaning of the adhkar that you are saying and think about them when you are saying them. When you are saying:

Indeed, Allah hears those who praise Him — then you need to remember you were just praising Him and you are going to praise Him again, and Allah hears you. Allah doesn't only hear you when we say sami'a — Allah is the All-Hearing. He is not only All-Hearing; He is سَامِعُ الدُّعَاءِ and He is مُجِيبُ الدُّعَاءِ — He hears you and He accepts your call and He responds to your call and accepts your du'a. So you need to keep that in mind.

Another benefit: during sujood, make your du'a. Do not just say the adhkar — absolutely make du'a, because the closest you are to your Lord is when you are in sujood. Use that as an opportunity.

Another one: learn the basic meanings of the surahs that you often recite. There was a sahabi who was promised Jannah because of his love for Surah Al-Ikhlas — a surah we all use in our salah and we all recite and have memorised. He was promised Jannah because he would recite it in every salah, to the point where some of the sahabah said: why are you doing this? This is not what the Prophet does — why are you always reciting Surah Al-Ikhlas? They went to the Prophet ﷺ and asked him. The Prophet ﷺ asked him: why are you doing it? He said: it describes my Lord. I love this surah of Allah because it describes my Lord. And the Prophet ﷺ said: your love for this surah is the reason you are going to go to Jannah.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 774)

So keep these meanings in mind when you are reading Al-Fatihah, when you are reading the Quran, when you are making ruku' and sujood.

Also: if you can, learn a basic level of Arabic or tafsir, because that will help you understand the recitation of the Imam.

Also: before you come to salah, come early. Prepare for it. Avoid all distractions — put your phones off. Make it something serious. You turn your phones off in meetings; turn your phones off and get rid of distractions. You are standing in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Closing Du'a

This, ikhwan fi Allah, is how, inshallah ta'ala, we are going to improve our khushoo' in our prayer — which inshallah will lead to what Allah has promised. Like we said in the beginning: indeed the believers are successful — those that have khushoo' in their salah.

I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us among those that have khushoo' in their salah. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to forgive our sins and give us less distractions from this world and make us like the sahabah that we have been talking about. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to forgive our sins.