[adarmaSen]

Sometimes when I'm doing Salah, I just don't feel like my heart is in it. I do have the intention to pray, but I just feel like I'm saying the words and going through the motions. I'm sure other people experience this as well. What can I do to change this? Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

[SkatrySkith]

Sometimes when I'm doing Salah, I just don't feel like my heart is in it. I do have the intention to pray, but I just feel like I'm saying the words and going through the motions. I'm sure other people experience this as well. What can I do to change this? Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

Asalamu Alekium , my suggestion would be , try to understand full meanings of and translation of Surah FAtiha , 4 Quls ( Al kafirun , Al naas , Al falak , Al akhlas ) and other small surah like Surah kausar , and when you recite them during salah , recite them by translating its meaning ,this way you can know what you are saying to your Allah

when you say Allahu Akbar , say from heart admit from heart that really Allah is great

when you say subhana rabiyal azeem and rabiyal aala , say from heart ., That Yes all praise is to Allah

[Liabmeasez]

Sometimes when I'm doing Salah, I just don't feel like my heart is in it. I do have the intention to pray, but I just feel like I'm saying the words and going through the motions. I'm sure other people experience this as well. What can I do to change this? Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

Everyone experiences this from time to time. You just need to soldier through it. the reward will be greater than when your "heart is in it". Just have patience and eventually you will get pleasure from the salah again. This is what the mashayikh have taught us.

Also, like ar.malhan said, focus on what you are saying. Also, try to do more zikr outside of the salah.

[Nubtoubrem]

Assalam alikum wa rahmat Allah,

inshAllah, do lots of dhikr. our hreartrs allah SWt made exclusively for himself. unfortunatly we have filled our heart with all kinds of attachment but Allah. no wonder during salat our heart doers not know how to connect to Allah and shetan by using all kind of desires that are around our heart separate us from Allah and connect us to dunya. also in your free time get used to making at least b30 minutes of dhikr. sit down in your prayer mat and leave dunya get your heart used to seatness of his remembrance . do it so much that your heart get forgets dhikr of dunya that has been doing for so many years and instead get used to the reality of subhanAllah, alhamdulillah, allah, allah, astaghfirallah. also some things that increase our ghafla and destroy our heart are TV, music, marketplaces, too much talk. etc. inshAllah tommorrow i will sumerize a section on love of Allaqh in this beautiful forum. please read it inshallah it will help. May Allah SWt bless you and take us as his friend and guve us his friendship and sweatness of his remembrance

[interznakinfo]

sister,

Subhan'Allah, you've probably just described a condition which affects majority of the Muslim population today. Masha'Allah, recognizing this issue and trying to do something about it is Insha'Allah a great means of reward in itself.

You can google things like "how to improve salat" and "khushu in salah", etc, and Insha'Allah you will find many tips to do so. Entire books upon books have been written on this subject, so I won't attempt to give you any 'tips', because I'm in desperate need of these tips myself.

Alhamdulillah, what's been helping me lately is reading the "Virtues of Salat" section from the "Faizal-e-amal" book (which is commonly used at masajid to read from during taleem, and heavily used by tablighi jamat). This section basically contains many different ahadith on salat, how the salat of the sahabah was, etc. What helps is simply reading at least a few of these daily (preferably read each hadith about 3 times to really let it sink into your head), pondering upon them, and then trying to remember what you learned from them (or any inspiration you gained from them) when you're about to make salat. Insha'Allah you will notice a difference.

Here's a link to this book:

http://www.central-mosque.com/sunnah/fazaile_namaz.pdf

Remember to always, always make dua to Allah after each salat and just all the time, to accept our broken salat and to teach us how to really make salat which He will be pleased with, and which will be of benefit to us in this life and in the hereafter. It is only Allah who can teach us and give us the tawfeeq to understand and implement what we learn. We are nothing without His help.

Salah of a Few Eminent Sahabah

Mujahid, describing the salah of Abu Bakr (radiyallahu anhu) and that of Abdullah Ibn Al-Zubayr (radiyallahu anhu) says: "They stood in salah motionless like pieces of wood stuck in the ground."

Ulama agree that Abdullah Ibn Al-Zubayr (radiyallahu anhu) learnt to say his salah from Abu Bakr (radiyallahu anhu) who in turn learnt it direct from Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam).


It is said about 'Abdullah Ibn Al-Zubayr that he remained in sajdah for so long, and kept so motionless, that birds would come and sit on his back. He would sometimes remain in sajdah or ruku all night long. During an attack against him, a missile came and hit the wall of the masjid wherein he was saying his salah. A piece of masonry flew from the wall and passed in between his beard and throat. He neither cut short his salah, nor was he the least perturbed.

Once he was saying his salah while his son Hashim was sleeping near him. A snake fell from the ceiling and coiled round the child. The child woke up and shrieked, and the whole household gathered round him. They killed the snake after a great hue and cry. Ibn Al-Zubayr, clam and quiet, remained engaged in his salah all the while. When he had finished it , he said to his wife: "I heard some noise during my salah, what was that?"

His wife said: "May Allah Ta'ala have mercy on you! The child's life was in danger, and you took least notice of it."

His answer was: "Had I turned my attention to anything else, what would have remained of the salah."


Umar (radiyallahu anhu) was stabbed at the close of his career, and this same wound caused his death. He bled profusely and remained unconscious for long intervals. But when he was told that it was time for salah, he would perform it in that very condition, and say: "There in no portion in Islam for the person who discards salah."


Usman (radiyallahu anhu) would remain in salah all night long, finishing the whole of the Quran in one rak'ah. It is reported about Ali (radiyallahu anhu) that he would turn pale and tremble at the time of salah. Somebody asked him the reason, and he said: "It is the time to discharge that trust which Allah Ta'ala offered to the skies and the earth and the hills, but they shrank from bearing it, and I have assumed it."


Somebody asked Khalf Ibn Ayyub: "Do not the flies annoy you in your salah?" His answer was: "Even the sinful persons patiently bear the lashes of the government, to boast of their patience afterwards. Why should I be made to move about by mere files when standing in the presence of my Sustainer?"


When Muslim Ibn Yasar would stand up for salah, he would say to his family: "Keep on talking, I shall not hear what you say." Once he was saying his salah in the main masjid of Basrah. A Part of the masjid wall fell down with a crash' and everybody ran pell mell for safety, but he never even heard the noise.


Somebody asked Hatim Al-Asamm as to how did he say his salah. He replied: "When the time for salah comes, I perform my wudu and go to the place where I have say my salah. I sit down for some time, till all the parts of my body are relaxed. Then I stand up for salah, visualising the Ka'bah in front of me, imagining my feet upon the bridge over jahannam, with jannah to my right, and jahannam to my left, and 'Izrail' (the angel of death) close behind me, and think that it may be my last salah. Then I say my salah with full sincerity and devotion. And in finish my salah between fear and hope about its acceptance." May Allah bless us all with true khushu and khuzu in our salat. Ameen.

[puzobok]

Ameen to the duas.

This is a great thread. Sister, thank you for posting the question and thank you to everyone else for all the great suggestions.

What I find helpful (and these have already been suggested here), Alhamdulillah, are as follows:

• Just before I make niyyat, I try to re-read the translation of Surah Fatiha (or any other surah/ayat) following the words with my eyes slowly, while reciting it in Arabic. Then, I make my niyyat and start salaat reciting slowly while thinking of the meaning of the surah/ayat in English. Strangely, I end up thinking of half of the surah in English and the other half in Turkish while actually reciting it in Arabic. Alhamdulillah, this helps me stay focused on what I am saying. I'm still working on the other parts of the salaat. Insha'Allah, learning Arabic would be very beneficial in this regard too.
• Whenever I feel my concentration slipping, I close my eyes and try very hard to re-focus. And, I recite audibly (not yelling, just enough to hear myself speaking the words).
• There are a few dua's I like to do dhikr with (not during salaat, but it seems dhikr helps with concentration for salaat too). For these, I usually read the dua in English once and then start, trying to focus on the meaning the whole time. If I ever feel like I'm losing concentration, I just look at the translation again.

Insha'Allah, I will look up the Virtues of Salaat too.

[Scukonah]

Some excerpts from Shaykh Yunus Patel :

Thoughts in Salaah

If these thoughts occur during Salaah, and the person tries fighting these thoughts, then the Salaat will come to an end but these thoughts will not. At the end of the Salaat, the person will then say that the entire Salaat went by in thinking about what was coming into his mind. This is the end result of fighting these thoughts …the person is so occupied with thoughts that he forgets that he is supposed to be having a conversation with Allah Ta’ala.

The moment these thoughts surface and you realize that you are going on some other track in the Salaat, then immediately bring your mind back to the Salaat. Instead of fighting these thoughts, ponder over the Surah that you are reading. It is, therefore, always preferable to read a Surah in our Sunnat or Nafl Salaat which we are not very fast at reading or which we do not normally read; much like a Hafez who is reciting his newly learnt ‘sabaq’ (lesson).

For so many people, the only Surahs they read in Salaat are Surah Kauthar and Surah Ikhlaas. Because they know these and because these Surahs have a minimum number of ayaah (verses) required, they keep reading the same in every Salaat – Sunnat, Witr and Nafl, even Fardh. In so doing the person generally only realizes that he has completed his Salaat when he makes the final Salaam.
If he now reads Surah Teen in his Witr Salaat, or he recites Wal Aadiyat in his Sunnat Salaat, then because this is not his normal reading habit, he is going to concentrate and read.

Also, learn the meaning of at least those Surahs which are normally read in Salaah. Having learnt the meaning, reflect and ponder over the message conveyed.

Thirdly, contemplate that you are standing before Allah Ta’ala and this is how we are going to stand on the Day of Judgement, accountable and answerable for all that we have done. Bring the Azmath (Greatness) of Allah Ta’ala into the heart and then, Insha-
Allah, that Salaat will improve.

Wasaawis (whisperings) will come but if we are going to fight them, then even outside our Salaah they will continue to harass,
upset and disturb us. We just have to ignore them.

Source:
Combating the Whisperings of Shaytaan