Khusu` Friday 4August 2023
Khusu` Friday 4August 2023
Khusu` Friday 4August 2023
In the Name of Allah who are the Most Beneficent the Most Merciful. All Praise and Thanks be to Allah,
The One and Only Creator and Lord of the Universe. I bear witness that there is no deity of worship
besides Allah who is One by Himself without any comparison or association. I also bear witness that
Sayyidina Muhammad is Allah`s slave and messenger, the Imam of all Prophets and believers. May the
Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him, his family, companions and those that follow his message
until the coming of the Hour.
“ َأ ُيَها الَّن اُس ِاَّت ُقْوا اللَه َفَقْد َفاَز َمِن الَّت ٰقىO People fear Allah! Only the righteous will be victorious.”
“ َوٱْس َتِعيُنو۟ا ِبٱلَّص ْبِر َوٱلَّص َل ِةۚ ِإَو َّن َها َلَكِبيَرٌة ِإ َّل ا َعَلى ٱْلَخٰـِشِعيَْنAnd seek help in patience and prayer (Salah) and
ٰو
indeed this is challenging and difficult except for the Al-Khashi’in.” The Salaah and Sabr, are two means
through which the believer can seek the help of Allah and attain closeness. The fact that Allah Azza wa
Jalla mentions Salaah and Sabr is already an indication that, for whatever your needs are - your first
course of action should be to have patience and if you are a person of action, perform Salaah. Bear in
mind that our Lord also mentions that it is extremely difficult to uphold these two principles, if you do
not possess the quality or virtue of Khushu’.
Khushu’ is that quality that will secure victory for the believer in this life and the Hereafter as mentioned
by Allah Azza wa Jalla in the Holy Quran Surah Al-Mu’minun verses 1-9:
َقْد َأ ْفَلَح اْلُمْؤِمُنْوَْن اَّلِذْيَن ُهْم ِفْي َصَلاِتِهْم ٰخ ِش ُعْوَْن “Successful indeed are the believers, those when they
pray (Salaah) display total humility and tranquillity.” It will also be the first quality that will be removed
from peoples’ hearts and not a single person coming to Masjid will be able Salaah with total devotion
and humility as per Hadith by Abu Darda:
ِه َرُجلًا َخاِش ًعا َرَواُهZ َأ َّو ُل ِعْلٍم ُيْرَفُع ِمَن الَّن اِس اْل ُخُش وُع ُيوِش ُك َأ ْن َتْدُخَل َمْس ِجَد َجَماَعٍة َفلَا َتَرى ِفي:َقاَل َأ ُبْو َدْرَداء
“ الِّتْرِمِذىThe first knowledge to be removed from the people will be Khushu', and soon you will enter
the congregational Masjid, but not see any man in it with Khushu.” Why is it that important to possess
this quality and especially when you are performing your Salaah? And what really does Khushu’ mean?
Khushu according to many a scholar is to have peace of mind, serenity, tranquillity, calmness, dignity, to
be humble especially in Salaah and with presence of mind. There should be no distractions and to be
absorbed in your Ibadah with total conviction, humility, submission and obedience. You have to empty
your heart from anything besides Allah and not pay attention to anything else besides Allah.
Remember the promise of Shaytan when he said to Allah (SWT) in Surah Al-A’raf verse 17:
ُثَّم َلٰأِت َّنَي ُهم ِّمۢن َبْيِن َأ ْيِديِهْم َوِمْن َخْلِفِهْم َوَعْن َأ ْيَمٰـِنِهْم َوَعن َشَمٓاِئِلِهْمۖ َوَلا َتِجُد َأ ْك َثَرُهْم َشٰـِكِريَْن
“I will approach them from their front, their back, their right and their left, and then You (Allah) will find
them most ungrateful.
Salaah indeed is one of the greatest and most practical pillars of Islam, and Shaytan, one of his most
significant plots is undoubtedly to divert people from Salaah by all possible means and to whisper to
them during their prayer so as to deprive them of the joy of this worship and cause them to lose the
reward for it, he wants to disrupt your concentration because he knows Salaah to be a great form of
Remembrance of Allah (Dhikr) َو َأ ِقِم الَّص َلاَة ِلِذْكِرْيand establish Salaah for my remembrance, also َو
َلِذْكُر اللِه َأ ْك َبرand My Remembrance is the greatest and a weapon assisting the believer to ward off all
kinds of evil and distractions. ِإ َّن الَّص َلاَة َتْنٰه ى َعِن اْلَفْح َشاِء َو اْلُمْنَكِر َو اْلَبْغِيVerily the Salaah will keep you
away from all that is indecent, evil and oppression.
The station of Khushu is in the heart and its influence will be reflected in our prayers. If the heart is
corrupted by disobedience, negligence and whispers of Shaytan, then the prayer will also be corrupted
and hence be rejected. Other scholars would argue that Khushu’ in Salaah means total consciousness of
Allah during your Salaah with a heart that is alive with the remembrance of Allah.
Dear brothers and sisters in Islam, how many times did we not perhaps perform our Salaah only to find
ourselves wandering off in our own thoughts and worries and concentrating on family issues, work,
food, Dunyah or even something worse – Haraam or something I saw on television? If you experiencing
any difficulty in concentrating in your Salaah – remember you are not alone, there are people who are
experiencing the same problems you are facing and I believe is haunted many times by these questions:
“ Why can’t I concentrate in my Salaah and how can I attain ‘Khushu`, Khudu and Sakinah’ in my
Salaah?”
- Sincerity of intention. It must not become just another ritual, perform to get over and done with;
do not rush and not perform ruku’ and sujud properly because this is the worst form of thievery
as per Hadith in Musnad of Imam Ahmad:
: «َأ ْس َوُأ الَّن اِس َسِرَقًة اَّلِذي َيْسِرُق ِمْن َصَلاِتِه» َقاُلوا: َقاَل َرُسوُل الَّل ِه َص َّلى الَّل ُه َعَلْيِه َوَس َّل َم:َوَعْن َأ ِبي َقَتاَدَة َقاَل
َرَواُه َأ ْحمد." َلا يتم ركوعها َوَلا سجودها:َيا َرُسوَل الَّل ِه َوَكْيَف َيْسِرُق ِمْن َصَلاِتِه؟ َقاَل
Abu Qatada reported God’s Messenger as saying, “The one who commits the worst theft is he
who steals from his prayer.” When asked how one could steal from his prayer he replied, “By not
performing his bowing and his prostration perfectly.”
- Seek the pleasure of Allah when you start. Understand that you are standing in front of the Lord
of all creation Who gave you a special invitation to be in conversation with Him. Think of what
you will seek or ask from Him if you were in His presence and you could see Him. Do not
purposefully beautify your prayer if you think people will be watching you, try to pray in such a
way that people do not see you.
- Control or limit outside disturbances. Switch of television and radio and if necessary in a closed
room. Unfortunately, we live in a time where the majority of us are obsessed with our gadgets
and constantly being connected to every social network possible, or seeing the latest and coolest
thing on the net. Even though these gadgets can be used for good, our inability to control our
usage can have a damaging impact not only on our Khushoo’ but our lives in general.
- Laziness, lack of focus, loss of patience and major procrastination are just a few examples of side
effects that are a result of this addiction . Remove all those distractions on the wall, around you
and even on the carpets. Get rid of unpleasant smells around you.
- Do not only be content with your Salaah, try to do as many good deeds as possible.
- Reflect on everything been recited in Salah.
- Make proper and complete preparation before you Salah. Do not Salah on empty stomach,
except in Ramadan. Make sure that you eat properly and correctly and that the food that you ate
will not make you lazy. Properly relieve you; this can be a dangerous distraction if not properly
attended to.
- Be conscious what you are wearing and make sure you properly attired.
- Focus on place of Sujood, do not scratch or look around.
- Pray on time. Plan your day around your Salaah and do not try to squeeze your prayer into your
day.
- Pray at the Masjid. This is the place where you connect with your Creator. A place we you leave
the material world outside and enter into a spiritual world.
- Relax your mind. Do not rush towards the prayer place, before praying take 3 deep breaths, nice
and slowly pause to gather yourself, set your body right and get into the zone. Let the stress
leave your body and remember that you will now enter into a conversation with Allah (SWT).