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In the Name of Allaah, Most Gracious Most Merciful

This document was written using extracts from the book “Al-Khushoo’ Humility and Devotion in Prayer”, by Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

INTRODUCTION

Salaah is the greatest of the practical pillars of Islam, and khushoo’ in prayer is required by sharee’ah. When Iblees, the enemy of Allaah, vowed to mislead and tempt the sons of Adam and said “Then I will come to them from before them and behind them, from their right and from their left” (Surah A’raaf 7:17). One of his most significant plots became to divert people from Salaah by all possible means and to whisper to them during their prayer, to deprive them of the joy of this worship and cause them to lose the reward for it. Hudhayfah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The first thing of your religion that you will lose is khushoo’, and the last thing that you will lose of your religion is Salaah. There may be a person praying who has no goodness in him, and soon you will enter the mosque and not find anyone who has khushoo.” (Al-Madaarij, 1/521).

Khushoo’ means calmness, serenity, tranquillity, dignity and humility. What makes a person have this khushoo’ is fear of Allaah and the sense that He is always watching. (Tafseer Ibn Katheer, Daar Al-Sha’b edn., 6/414).

The site of khushoo’ is the heart, and its effects are manifested in the physical body. The various faculties follow the heart: if the heart is corrupted by negligence or insinuating whispers from Shaytaan, the worship of the body’s faculties will also be corrupt. The heart is like a king and the faculties are like his troops who follow his orders and go where they are commanded.

CONCEALMENT OF KHUSHOO’

Hudhayfah (may Allaah be pleased with him) used to say “Beware of the khushoo’ of hypocrisy, where the body shows khushoo’ but there is no khushoo’ in the heart.” One of them saw a man showing khushoo’ in his shoulders and body, and said, “O So and so, khushoo’ is here” – and he pointed to his chest, “not here” and he pointed to his shoulders. (Al-Madaarij, 1/521)

Ibn Al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said, explaining the difference between the khushoo’ of true faith and the khushoo’ of hypocrisy: “The khushoo’ of true faith is when the heart feels aware and humble before the greatness and glory of Allaah, and is filled with awe, fear and shyness. As for the khushoo’ of hypocrisy, it is something that is put on with a great show, but there is no khushoo’ in the heart. A person prostrates to his Lord out of respect and humility, and never raises his head until he meets Him. The arrogant heart, on the other hand, is one that is content with its arrogance and raises itself up like an elevated portion of land in which water never settles”.

Allaah has mentioned Al-khaashi’eena wa’l-khaashi’aat “men and women who are humble (before their Lord)”, and described this quality as one of the qualities of those who are chosen. He has prepared for them forgiveness and a great reward (i.e.Paradise). (Al-Ahzaab 33:35).

RULINGS ON KHUSHOO’

According to the most correct view, khushoo’ is obligatory. Shaykh Al-Islam (Ibn Taymiyah), may Allaah have mercy on him, said: “Allaah, may He be exalted, says ‘And seek help in patience and Al-Salaah (the prayer), and truly it is extremely heavy and hard except for Al-khaashi’oon. ’ (Al-Baqarah 2:45).

The fact that khushoo’ is obligatory is also indicated by the aayaat ‘Successful indeed are the believers, those who offer their Salaah (prayers) with all solemnity and full submissiveness.

These are indeed the inheritors, who shall inherit the Firdaws (Paradise). They shall dwell therein forever.’ (Al-Mu’minoon 23:1-2, 10-11)

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It was reported that Mujaahid said: “’…and stand before Allaah with obedience” (Al-Baqarah 2:238)’ – part of obedience is to bow, to be solemn and submissive, to lower one’s gaze and to humble oneself out of fear of Allaah, may He be glorified.” (Ta’zeem Qadr Al-Salaah, 1/188).

Khushoo’ is obligatory in prayer, and this includes calmness. Whoever does not raise his head fully from rukoo’ (bowing) and pause for a while before going down into sujood is not calm, because calmness implies doing things at a measured pace, so the person who does not do things at a measured pace is not calm. Whoever is not calm does not have khushoo’ in his rukoo’ or sujood, and whoever does not have khushoo’ is a sinner.

Concerning the virtues of khushoo’ and as a warning to the one who neglects it, the Prophet (pbuh) said: “Five prayers which Allaah has made obligatory. Whoever does wudoo’ properly for them, prays them on time, does rukoo’ properly and has perfect khushoo’, it is a promise from Allaah that he will be forgiven, but whoever does not do this, has no such promise – if Allaah wishes, He will forgive him, and if He wishes, He will punish him.” (Reported by Abu Dawood, no. 425; Saheeh Al-Jaami’, 3242).

Concerning the virtues of khushoo’, the Prophet (pbuh) also said: “Whoever does wudoo’ and does it well, then prays two rak’ahs focusing on them completely (according to another report: and does not think of anything else), will be forgiven all his previous sins (according to another report: will be guaranteed Paradise).” (Al-Bukhaari, Al-Bagha edn., no. 158; Al-Nisaa'i, 1/95; Saheeh Al-Jaami’, 6166).

MEANS OF DEVELOPING KHUSHOO':

1. PREPARING ONESELF FOR PRAYER PROPERLY

a) By repeating the words of the adhaan after the muezzin;

b) By pronouncing the du’aa’ to be recited after the adhaan: “Allaahummah Rabba haadhihi’l-da’wati’l-taammah wa’-salaati’l-qaa’imah, aati Muhammadan il-waseelata wa’l-fadeelah, wab’ath-hu’l-maqaam Al-mahmood alladhi wa’adtah” (O Allaah, Lord of this perfect call and the prayer to be offered, grant Muhammad the privilege (of interceding) and also the eminence, and resurrect him to the praised position that You have promised).

c) Doing wudoo’ properly, saying Bismillaah before it and making dhikr and saying the du’aa’ after it, “Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha ill-Allaah wahdahu laa shareeka lah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhu wa rasooluhu” (I bear witness that there is no god except Allaah alone, with no partner or associate, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and messenger)” and “Allaahummaj’alni min Al-tawwaabeena waj’alni min Al-mutatahhireen” (O Allaah, make me of those who repent and make me of those who purify themselves)

d) Using siwaak to cleanse and perfume the mouth. The Prophet (pbuh) said: “Purify your mouths for the Qur’aan.” (Reported by Al-Bazzaar, who said: we do not have it with any better isnaad than this. Kashf Al-Astaar, 1/242. Al-Haythami said: its men are thiqaat. 2/99. Al-Albaani said: its isnaad is jayyid. Al-Saheehah, 1213)

e) Wearing one’s best and cleanest clothes, because Allaah says “O Children of Adam! Take your adornment (by wearing your clean clothes) while praying” (Al-A’raaf 7:31). Allaah is most deserving of seeing us “take our adornment” for Him. Clean, pleasant smelling clothes are also more comfortable and relaxing, unlike clothes for sleeping or working in.

f) We should also prepare ourselves by covering our ‘awrah’ properly, purifying the spot where we are going to pray, getting ready early and waiting for the prayer, and making the rows straight and solid, without any gaps, because the shayaateen come in through the gaps in the rows.

2. MOVING AT A MEASURED PACE DURING PRAYER

The Prophet (pbuh) used to move at a measured pace during Salaah, allowing every bone to return to its place. (Its isnaad is classed as saheeh in Sifat Al-Salaat, p. 134, 11^th edn. Ibn ______________________________________________________________________________________________Khushoo in Salaah Page 17

Khuzaymah also classed it as saheeh as mentioned by Al-Haafiz in Al-Fath, 2/308). He commanded those who were not doing their prayer properly to do this too. He said, “None of you has prayed properly until he does this.” (Reported by Abu Dawood, 1/536, no. 858).

Abu Qutaadah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The Prophet (pbuh) said: ‘The worst type of thief is the one who steals from his prayer.’ He said, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, how can a person steal from his prayer?’ He said, ‘By not doing rukoo’ and sujood properly.’” (Reported by Ahmad and Al-Haakim, 1/229; Saheeh Al-Jaami’, 997).

3. REMEMBERING DEATH WHILST PRAYING

The Prophet (pbuh) said: “Remember death in your prayer, for the man who remembers death during his prayer is bound to pray properly, and pray the prayer of a man who does not think that he will pray any other prayer.” (Al-Silsilat Al-Saheehah by Al-Albaani, 1421. It was reported from Al-Suyooti that Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar classed this hadeeth as hasan).

The Prophet (pbuh) also advised Abu Ayyoob (may Allaah be pleased with him): “When you stand up to pray, pray a farewell prayer.” (Reported by Ahmad, 5/412; Saheeh Al-Jaami’, no. 742) meaning the prayer of one who thinks he will not pray another prayer. The person who is praying will no doubt die, and there is some prayer that will be his last prayer, so let him have khushoo’ in the prayer that he is doing, for he does not know whether this will be his last prayer.

4. THINKING ABOUT THE AAYAAT AND ADHKAAR BEING RECITED DURING THE PRAYER AND INTERACTING WITH THEM

The Qur’aan was revealed to be pondered over. Allaah says “(This is) a Book (the Qur’aan) which We have sent down to you, full of blessings that they may ponder over its Verses, and that men of understanding may remember.” (Saad 38:29). No one can ponder over its verses unless he has some knowledge of the meaning of what he is reciting, so that he can think about it and be moved to tears by it. Allaah says “And those who, when they are reminded of the aayaat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of their Lord, fall not deaf and blind thereat.” (Al-Furqaan 25:73). Thus the importance of studying Tafseer (Qur’aanic commentary) is quite clear. Ibn Jareer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “I am astonished at people who read the Qur’aan and do not know what it means. How can they enjoy reading it?” (Muqaddimat Tafseer Al-Tabari by Mahmood Shaakir, 1/10).

Another way of helping oneself to ponder over the meanings is to repeat aayaat, because this will help one to think deeply and look again at the meanings. The Prophet (pbuh) used to do this. It was reported that he spent a night repeating one aayah until morning came. The aayah was “If you punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them, verily You, only You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.” (Al-Maa’idah 5:118). (Reported by Ibn Khuzaymah, 1/271 and Ahmad, 5/149; Sifat Al-Salaah, p. 102).

Another way of helping oneself to ponder over the meanings is to memorize Qur’aan and various adhkaar to be recited during different parts of the prayer, so that one may recite them and think about their meanings. There is no doubt that these actions – thinking about the meanings, repeating and interacting with the words – are among the greatest means of increasing khushoo’, as Allaah says “And they fall down on their faces weeping and it adds to their humility (khushoo” (Al-Isra’ 17:109).

The following is a moving story that illustrates how the Prophet (pbuh) had khushoo’, as well as explaining how it is obligatory to think of the meaning of the aayat. ‘Ataa’ said: “‘Ubayd ibn ‘Umayr and I entered upon ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) and Ibn ‘Umayr said to her, ‘Tell us of the most amazing thing you saw on the part of the Messenger of Allaah (pbuh).’ She wept and said, ‘He got up one night and said, “O ‘Aa’ishah, leave me to worship my Lord.” I said, “By Allaah, I love to be close to you, and I love what makes you happy.” So he got up and purified himself, then he stood and prayed. He kept weeping until his lap got wet, then he wept and kept weeping until the floor got wet. Bilaal came to tell him that it was time to pray, and when he saw him weeping, he said, “O Messenger of Allaah, you are weeping when Allaah has forgiven your past and future sins?” He said, “Should I not be a grateful slave? Tonight some aayaat have been revealed to me; woe to the one who recites them and does not think about what is in them ‘Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth’” (Aal ‘Imraan 3:190 or Al-Baqarah 2:164).’” (Ibn Hibaan said in Al-Silsilat Al-Saheehah, no. 68: this is a jayyid isnaad). ______________________________________________________________________________________________Khushoo in Salaah Page 18

One example of interacting with the aayaat is to say “Aameen” after Al-Faatihah, which brings a great reward. The Messenger of Allaah (pbuh) said: “If the imaam says ‘Aameen,’ then say ‘Aameen’ too, for whoever says ‘Aameen’ and it coincides with the ‘Aameen’ of the angels, will have all his previous sins forgiven.” (Reported by Al-Bukhaari, no. 747). Another example is responding to the imaam when he says “Sami’ Allaahu liman hamidah (Allaah hears the one who praises Him)”; the members of the congregation should say, “Rabbanaa wa laka’l-hamd (O our Lord, to You be praise).” This also brings a great reward. Rifaa’ah ibn Raafi’ Al-Zirqi said: “One day we were praying behind the Prophet (pbuh). When he raised his head, he said, ‘Sami’ Allaahu liman hamidah,’ and a man behind him said, ‘Rabbanaa wa laka’l-hamdu hamdan katheeran tayyiban mubaarakan fih (Our Lord to You be much good and blessed praise).’ When he finished, he said, ‘Who is the one who spoke?’ The man said, ‘Me.’ He said, ‘I saw thirty-odd angels rushing to see who would write it down first.’” (Al-Bukhaari, Al-Fath, 2/284).

5. PAUSING AT THE END OF EACH AAYAH

This is more helpful in understanding and thinking about the meaning, and it is the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh), as Umm Salamah (may Allaah be pleased with her) described how the Messenger of Allaah (pbuh) would recite, “Bismillah il-Rahmaan il-Raheem”, and according to one report, he would pause, then say, “Al-hamdu Lillaahi Rabbi’l-‘Aalameen, Al-Rahmaan, Al-Raheem.” Then according to one report, he would pause, then say, “Maaliki yawm il-deen,” and he would break up his recitation aayah by aayah. (Reported by Abu Dawood, no. 4001; classed as saheeh by Al-Albaani in Al-Irwaa’, where its isnaads are described. 2/60). Pausing at the end of each aayah is Sunnah even if the meaning continues into the next aayah.

6. RECITING IN SLOW, RHYTHMIC TONES (TARTEEL) AND MAKING ONE’S VOICE BEAUTIFUL WHEN RECITING

As Allaah says “and recite the Qur’aan (aloud) in a slow, (pleasant tone and) style.” (Al-Muzzammil 73:4). The recitation of the Prophet (pbuh) was clear, with each letter pronounced distinctly.” (Musnad Ahmad, 6/294, with a saheeh isnaad. Sifat Al-Salaah, p. 105). The Prophet (pbuh) “would recite a soorah in such slow rhythmic tones that it would be longer than would seem possible.” (Reported by Muslim, no. 733). This slow, measured pace of recitation is more conducive to reflection and khushoo’ than a hurried, hasty reading.

Another way of helping oneself to have khushoo’ is by making one’s voice beautiful when reciting. This is something that was advised by the Prophet (pbuh), as when he said, “Beautify the Qur’aan with your voices, for a fine voice increases the Qur’aan in beauty.” (Reported by Al-Haakim, 1/575; Saheeh Al-Jaami’, no. 3581).

Beautifying it with one’s voice does not mean elongating the vowels and giving it a tune in the manner of corrupt people; it means beautifying one’s voice with the fear of Allaah, as the Prophet (pbuh) said: “Truly, the one who has one of the finest voices among the people for reciting the Qur’aan is the one whom you think fears Allaah when you hear him recite.” (Reported by Ibn Maajah, 1/1339; Saheeh Al-Jaami’, no. 2202).

7. KNOWING THAT ALLAAH RESPONDS TO PRAYERS

The Prophet (pbuh) said: “Allaah, the Blessed and Exalted has said with regards to Surah Al-Fatihah: ‘I have divided the prayer between Myself and My slave, into two halves, and My slave shall have what he has asked for.” (Saheeh Muslim). This “conversation” with Allaah must be respected and accorded its proper value. The Messenger of Allaah (pbuh) said: “When any one of you stands to pray, he is conversing with his Lord, so let him pay attention to how he speaks to Him.” (Al-Haakim, Al-Mustadrak, 1/236; Saheeh Al-Jaami’, 1538).